I find I like this story better than "Redemption", but mostly because I don't have the entire damn plot figured out. Maybe I'll make "Masks" run for ~30 chapters, maybe?

I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR ANY OF ITS PROPERTIES!

Just this story. Enjoy!

The white concrete walls of Greystone Maximum Security Penitentiary loomed over our car as Mom parked in the visitors' lot. I exited the Honda, staring in awe at the immense fortification of Greystone's west side.

We got through the gate and guardhouse with little trouble. After all, Mom was one of the best, if not the best, homicide detective among the Radiant Garden Police Department's 9,000+ officers.

In my humble opinion, Lightning Farron was the coolest mom ever. She could handle a video game controller like it was no one's business, shame even Aqua's sense of fashion, and make other kids green with envy of me for having such an awesome mom. I can't even list all the other qualities that make her amazing, so I just put those three.

But she had one flaw: she couldn't see through my masks of emotion. Just as she turned to face me and ask if I was excited to meet my father again after nine years, I set up a mask of excitement.

"Damn straight!" I declared, drawing stares from a few staff walking by.

The truth was, however, I was none too happy to have to visit my dad.

I know, I should be ashamed of myself for feeling that way. It was just…I had gotten too used to the household being composed of only me, Mom, and Aqua. And I wanted it to stay that way; I didn't need a fourth family member.

Yeah, I know, I'm an asshole for secretly rejecting my own dad. I know he loved me, but I just can't find it in me to return that devotion.

Sigh…back to out visit.

I was scared stiff of what I might find in the prison. Thanks to too many crime/mystery novels, backed up by the might of my imagination, I thought I would walk into a room full of tattooed gangbangers and serial killers, all eyeing my body with less than friendly intentions. Add that to the fact that I'd last visited the place when I was no older than three; this was essentially my first time to the prison, having only hazy memories of my first visit to my dad.

So I was surprised when I entered the visitors' room to find a tranquil, inviting, even homey atmosphere.

I looked to my left and saw a young couple playing with a small boy no more than a year old. On my right was a trio of young men, telling jokes to each other and laughing.

"Isn't a prison supposed to be a scary place?" I said under my breath. Everywhere I looked, I only saw nice, normal people.

A catcall slashed apart my reverie. I whipped my head around surprise, looking for its source.

That source turned out to be a pair of men. One of them yelled, "Hey, Aqua! Lookin' fine, girl!"

I was about to yell back at them to leave my sister alone when she leaned over and whisper to me with a grin, "It's okay, they always do that."

She promptly yelled back, "Dream on, Yazoo! You FAIL at being a lady's man! FAIL!"

The one she'd spoken to, Yazoo, leaned back and moaned in mock pain.

Aqua chuckled and took me by my wrist, pulling me further. "Come on," she urged.

I followed reluctantly as we got closer to a reinforced door.

Mom walked up to a small booth next to the door and conversed to a guard there. The guard nodded and pressed a button, speaking into a small microphone.

He turned to me and said, "Excited?"

Goddammit, did EVERYONE have to ask?

"Y-yeah," I stammered, staying true to my mask of excitement.

A minute went by. I sweated in time to the seconds. Where was he?

Suddenly the door swung open and I jumped, startled.

Standing in the doorway, his wrists cuffed, was my dad, Zack Fair.

The guards flanking Dad unlocked his handcuffs, and he bounced forward into the visitors' room, hugging my mom and Aqua. I was six feet back from the group hug, looking at the reunion like I wasn't even a part of it.

My dad looked over Aqua's shoulder and caught sight of me. "Namine!" he shouted, with his infamous (or so Mom said) grin. "C'mere, kiddo!"

I obeyed with a faux smile plastered all over my masked face.

My dad enveloped me with a smothering hug that threatened to suffocate me.

"Dad, need…air," I choked. He immediately released me.

I was barely five feet tall, but my dad was at least six and a half. He had to kneel in order to look me in the eye.

"Well, it looks like both my daughters have blossomed into fine young ladies!" he proclaimed with a grin.

"And, as usual," Mom said with a sigh, "I did all of the work while you lazed around."

Dad groaned melodramatically and placed a hand over his heart like he'd been shot. He keeled over onto the ground and lay there, unmoving.

A few seconds passed and he didn't get up. I began to grow concerned.

"Is he dead?" I asked Mom.

"No, he's just faking it," she answered. Her voice was full of conviction.

After a while though, even she got nervous. She walked over to Dad and tapped his chest with her toe.

"Zack?" No answer.

She bent down and poked him.

"Zack?" He still didn't answer.

She kneeled down and pinched him on the cheek.

"Za—"

Mom never got to finish, because Dad planted his lips squarely on hers.

They stayed like that for exactly two seconds. Mom closed her eyes, seemingly in pleasure—and then socked my dad, leaving a large red welt on his face.

She immediately leaped back, clutching her mouth with an expression of mock horror.

The entire room was silent as every occupant stared at the spectacle in surprise.

And then loud, raucous guffaws shook the very walls. I bent over, clutching at my stomach as uncontrollable laughter shook my tiny frame.

I didn't notice as we drove into the garage, because I was already half-asleep. I staggered out of the Honda in a haze, heading upstairs to my room.

By the time I booted my computer in preparation to do what was left of my English homework, I was fully awake. Then I began to reflect on the visit.

Pretty much the only thing I shared with Dad was our blue eyes, and those weren't even the same shade. My figure obviously didn't resemble his, but I had the feeling that if he'd been my mom (shudder), his silhouette still wouldn't have looked like mine.

I had always resembled my mom more than my dad, and I had always been closer to her too. Aqua didn't have that problem; she, too, resembled my dad as much as a porcupine a shark, but she had a close relationship with both Mom and Dad. Maybe it was because she had known Dad since she was little.

And that, I realized, was the source of my uneasiness around Dad. I had never gotten to know him at all, today's visit being basically the first time I had ever seen him.

I was a bit shaken by the discovery that I essentially had lost a member of my family as surely as if they were six feet under, but I didn't cry like you might expect. To my apathetic view of the world, it was just another fact of life.

And such a simple thing like that isn't worth crying over like the little girl I had once been.

Or so I told myself.

Dinner was spaghetti with shredded parmesan cheese. In case you're wondering, all of us, except Dad, hated meat. Mom cooked for once, putting on her little-used apron.

The very sight of a badass like Mom in an apron was a visual oxymoron. I snickered, knowing she was probably mortified at looking like some old housewife.

Another thing that was awesome about Mom was that even though she cooked, on average, around two and a half times per month, her food was still incredible. How the hell did she stay in practice?

I read the assigned ten chapters of The Iliad while stuffing myself with noodles. I knew I was annoying Aqua to no end by doing that, and I enjoyed every moment of it. It wasn't every day that I got a chance to piss off my older sister, as it was usually the other way around.

As I trudged back to my bedroom, with spaghetti up to my larynx (my voice box), I heard the ring of my phone. I charged up the stairs, heedless of the stomachache I'd have later for that, and answered. It was Kairi, so I made sure to hold the phone a safe distance from my ear.

I didn't hear her first words, so I brought the phone closer to my ear. Big mistake.

"HI NAMINE!" Kairi screamed.

I screamed too, but in agony rather than glee. That wily bitch!

"Hi, Kairi," I replied weakly.

"Ohmigod, I'm so nervous, tomorrow's Picture Day!" she squealed.

WHAT? Oh hell, I totally forgot about that.

"Really?" I gasped. "That means I have to set my alarm clock extra early to avoid Mom and Aqua."

"Oh come on, Namine. Doll yourself up a bit! Last year you looked like…like…like…"

"A boy?"

"Yes! You had on no makeup, no perfume, no stylish clothing, nothing!"

I groaned. "Kairi, I want to look like that!"

"But you can't! All the cute boys will be there, Roxas too. Don't you want to charm him?"

"Goddammit, Kairi, for the last time, I am NOT, repeat NOT, INTERESTED IN HIM!"

Silence. Then…

"Liar, liar, pants on fire…"

I hung up. There was no chance of making her shut up once past the "liar, liar" event horizon.

Thank you, ken08002 and LovelyIn'Sanity, for supporting my writing! I'll do everything in my power to keep "Masks" at your expectations, or higher, or die trying! XD THANK YOU!

As for Zack being Namine's dad, if enough people holler in outrage I'll change him to Cloud or someone else. But really, don't you think Zack is a good foil for Lightning?