RoxasXNamine. ENDGAME PART 1.

By the way, am I being rude by not responding to reviews?

Am I supposed to?

If I'm supposed to and I'm not, then I'm so sorry! Please forgive me…

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.

Just this story. Enjoy!

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The first thing I noticed after the darkness cleared was the blinding light.

Scratch that—that's not light, that's…

Crap…

White walls, white floor, white ceiling, all polished to a mirrored sheen.

I was in the white room again. Now where were those faces?

I waited and waited and waited, seemingly for millennia, but not a single one of those creepy faces showed up.

I'm not complaining, of course. Remember last time?

"Hello?" I called, half jokingly. "Anybody home?"

At first there was no response, but then I picked up a tap-tap-tap noise, like the sound of shoes hitting the floor.

I whirled around to see…

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

Zack ambled towards me, head hung in shame.

"Dad?" I asked. I ran towards him. "What's wrong?"

The words he mumbled were so quiet I couldn't hear them at first.

"Dad? Speak up."

"I thought you'd be happy to see me," he muttered. Dad violently shook his head.

"I'm a fool!" he screamed. Tears streamed down his face, and he grabbed my shoulders. "Namine, tell me, where did I go wrong? I only wanted our family to be happy! Why aren't you? WHY?"

"I-I don't know—gaaaahhh!" I yelped as his hold tightened. "Dad, let go, you're hurting me!"

Zack immediately released me with an even sadder expression.

"But how was I supposed to know I was hurting you?" he whispered. "You never told me, Namine."

I was horrified by his state. "Dad…" I said. "I-I-I…wait!"

Dad was disappearing from the feet up into a gray mist.

"You never told me…" The words echoed in my ears.

"Dad, wait!"

But he was gone, and there was nothing I could do to bring him back.

I sighed and sat down; I might as well be comfortable while waiting…for something.

"Whore!" The insult came out of nowhere.

I jerked around, pissed off. "Who said that!" I shouted.

"Slut!"

"Come out and say that to my face!"

"Bitch!"

"Fuck off!"

Sniggers in a pair of familiar voices wafted through the air.

"Kairi? Xion?" I said. I momentarily forgot what they had called me, and then… "What the hell was that for?"

"Because you're a slutty bitch," Kairi answered in a singsong voice. I whipped around to see her walking towards me.

With a roar of anger I charged at her, fist raised, but before I could reach her and rip that smug smirk off her face with a well-aimed hook, something slammed into me from the side.

I crashed onto the ground, Xion on top of me. She pummeled me with punches, screaming incoherently all the while.

Winded, I tried my best to defend myself, shielding my face from her blows, but a foot shifted into my ribs. I cried out and grabbed at my side.

A punch slammed into my chin, knocking me unconscious for a moment.

I woke up to find my supposed friends towering over me with enraged glares.

"Why?" I asked, crying not only from the pain of my injuries, but also from the pain of betrayal. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Xion kicked me hard in the thigh. I shrieked in pain and clutched at my leg.

Kairi leaned down and punched me in the stomach. I gagged and automatically moved my hands to protect my midsection.

The two continued to kick and hit me. Eventually I stopped resisting and just let the pain from each strike wash over me.

Eventually they stopped and laughed at me. "Look at you—not so high and mighty now, are you?" Kairi taunted.

"We taught you, you arrogant bitch, didn't we?" Xion smirked.

"But why?" I whispered through a split lip. "Why? I thought you were my friends!"

Their faces turned sad, just like Dad's had.

"So did we…" my friends murmured. Then their feet began to fade away…

"Wait!" I jumped to my feet, gasping a bit from the pain of what may have been a broken rib, but determined to keep Xion and Kairi here anyways. "Don't go!"

But they disappeared anyways, no matter how I screamed for them to return.

I curled up, sobbing, wishing with all my heart somebody would just come to comfort me.

"Namine?"

The sweet voice was a welcome change from the taunts and insults from moments before.

"Dajh?" I replied, pleasantly surprised.

It really was the little guy.

"Dajh!" I cried, running up to him and embracing him. "It's you! Thank you!"

He didn't respond.

"Dajh?" I said, kneeling down to look him in the eye. "What—what's wrong?"

Deep down in my subconscious, I already knew what was going to happen. But I didn't listen to myself.

"Dajh?"

The kid looked into my eyes.

His face was burning with purest hatred.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped, slapping away my hand. "Go away!"

I stunned and more than just a little hurt. "Why?" I croaked.

"I hate you!" he shouted.

I recoiled. What did I do to him?

"GO AWAY!" Dajh screamed. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I backed away. "Dajh…" I said again. A single tear slid down my cheek. "Please…"

"Please what?" he snarled. "Bitch!"

I burst into tears and ran away, sobbing between breaths.

Dajh's voice echoed after me. "AND DON'T COME BACK!"

I ran for what seemed like miles, not stopping, never tiring. Running in this hellhole was the only release I had.

Little by little I slowed down, until I finally stopped moving altogether. I sat down and buried my face in my arms, crying my heart out.

"Hi there!" somebody chirped.

Through the veil of my tears I could make out the gauzy image of my sister.

"Aqua!" I cried, leaping at her and wrapping her in a giant hug.

She shoved me away. "You're getting my shirt wet," Aqua said in a disgusted voice. "Do you know how much it cost?"

I backed away, not understanding why my sister was being so hostile. "But…" I said softly.

"But what?" she scowled. She sighed in frustration. "Never mind, you'll never understand," she muttered, walking away.

"Aqua, wait! Don't leave—!"

"Bye!" she called back, waving a hand at me without even turning around.

"Sis, no!" But my pleading was in vain.

Like all the rest of the people I cared about, Aqua vanished.

I collapsed, but I didn't cry anymore; I was too tired to.

Why had everybody abandoned me? Why did everyone hate me?

Was it because of something I had done?

Was it because of how I acted towards them?

"You got it," a gentle voice sighed.

"Who is it this time?" I asked sarcastically. "Lemme guess, Vanitas?"

"Nope," the mystery guy replied. "Just some guy you hate."

I turned to see Roxas lying beside me, cushioning his head in his hands.

"What are you doing here?" I sighed. "Come to torture me like all the others?"

"No…" he frowned, sitting up. "And that cut looks really bad. Here, lemme put a Band-Aid on it…"

I let Roxas work with a first-aid kit I had no idea how he had acquired. His touch was soft and gentle; nothing like how I'd treated his injuries when he tried to cut his wrists.

"Well?" Roxas asked suddenly, jolting me out of my reverie. "What do you say?"

"Thanks," I muttered.

He laughed. "You're welcome."

We lay there for who knows how long, just watching the ceiling. I got bored after a while.

"So why are you here?" I questioned.

Roxas twisted his neck to look at me. "I'm here to help you," he said.

"Really? How?"

"By…hell, I don't know. I was never good at explaining things. Maybe this'll help…"

I giggled at his embarrassment. He gave me an annoyed look.

"Stop laughing," he growled, playfully cuffing me. Then his expression turned evil.

"Roxas?" I said suspiciously. "What are you—?"

He lunged at me, fingers wiggling.

My laughs and squeals of delight resonated through the vast expanse of the white room. Roxas was an expert tickler; he knew my weak points as well as Aqua did.

Eventually he stopped, letting me catch my breath.

I exhaled. "That was fun…" I murmured. I noticed that Roxas had turned away. "Roxas? What's wrong?"

"I—I have to show you this…" he mumbled, blinking rapidly. Something wet was in his eye.

Before I could ask, we went…somewhere.

Roxas and I were above a bed, looking down at someone obscured by a chandelier.

"Namine…" Roxas's voice muttered. Startled, I looked at Dream-Roxas, but he hadn't spoken.

I realized that Roxas, the real one, was sitting beside the bed.

"Namine," he said again. "I love you…and I'm ashamed that I can only tell you that a second time when you can't even hear me."

I wanted to shout to him, "Yes I can, idiot!", but for some reason, my voice didn't work.

That was because Dream-Roxas had pinched my lips shut between his fingers. I glared at him, but he just motioned for me to look down again.

"I think I fell for you the moment I saw you," the real Roxas said slowly. "You were so strong, so tough…not like those other bimbos at school. You were beautiful."

An unbidden tear materialized in my eye.

"Just so I could be with you, I failed sophomore year. Twice," Roxas reminisced. He smirked. "The teachers were PO'd, but I didn't give a shit."

Another tear.

His voice softened. "The only thing that mattered was seeing you. Whenever you smiled, even if it wasn't directed at me, my day went from bad to great or from great to perfect."

Another tear.

"Hell, even if you scowled at me, or even just looked at me, my heart flew." He chuckled. "Now I'm getting sappy, but I don't care. In my eyes no sacrifice is ever enough for you."

A fourth tear.

"I don't even know if it's infatuation. If it is, that's too bad," he sighed. "But I do know this. Right now, you mean everything to me. Everything in my life orbits around you—even my life itself."

A fifth tear. I savagely wiped it away, as it was blocking my view of Roxas.

"But seeing you like this…" His voice cracked a moment. "I can't take it," he sobbed. "I was too late—you had a heart attack before I could do anything. I failed!"

I wanted to reach out and stroke his cheek, tell him that he hadn't failed, that hell, I was right here, you lovable jackass!

"I can't take it," he said again. "I failed, I—I have to be punished for it. The beach dock—no one will see me. I can join you there. Goodbye, Namine."

I ripped Dream-Roxas's hand off of my mouth, but before I could scream "No!"…

We were back in the white room. My cry of horror was lost in its volume.

"I never knew he felt this way," I whispered, twisting a lock of blonde hair around my finger. "I mean—he told he loved me before, but—but—but—"

Dream-Roxas put a consoling hand on my shoulder. "There, there," he said comfortingly, letting me cry out my sorrows for the third time in a row.

"I have to go back," I declared once I'd finished. "I have to stop him!"

Dream-Roxas grinned. "That's the spirit!" he shouted. His voice lowered. "But first…you have to do something else…"

I knew what he was talking about. I still had no face.

A piece of skin appeared on the ground.

My face.

I shuddered as I picked it up. It felt warm, soft, just the right weight, and so sickeningly, nauseatingly natural.

"Go on," Dream-Roxas encouraged with a pat on the back.

I drew the thing up to my head. I hesitated for a moment, thinking, this is crazy!

But I had to do it—I had no choice if I was to save Roxas from his own suicidal depression.

The face didn't feel icky and horrible at all; in fact, it felt damn good, as if some part of me had just been returned.

Okay, that was exactly what happened, but you know what I mean.

The hyperspace streaks appeared again, and I knew I was about to reenter the waking world.

I gave Dream-Roxas one last grateful hug. "Goodbye," I said. "And thanks…for everything."

"You didn't need to thank me," he grinned. "You already got this yourself."

I grinned back and waved a little.

The last thing I saw was Dream-Roxas giving me a supportive thumb's-up.

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I don't think I quite emphasized Namine's detachedness from everybody, so this chapter probably seems a bit random…

Well, anyways, I think this is a well-written piece of hurt/comfort, if I do say so myself.

But what say you?

Speaking your mind only takes one little motion…to that little button called "Review" below this story…that's right, click it, you know you want to…

Am I being patronizing? If so, I apologize.

By the way, I'm uploading two different stories, "Lost and Found" and "This is Our Story". If you would kindly read 'n review them, I'd much appreciate it. I want to know which one sounds better to you guys.

Unfortunately, "The Wanderer" won't be uploaded until I finish both of those stories because the way I intend to end it will result in massive spoilers. If BBS does, in fact, come out in North America by midsummer then I will slave to complete it. If not, too bad. Sorry.

And yes, that thumb's-up was a reference to Terminator 2. Poor John.