A/N: Writing this chapter made me a little squeamish, so take that as a forewarning.

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Red Paint.

Roxas woke up with a start; he bolted straight out of bed with his eyes wide open and his chest rising and falling rapidly. Sweat drenched his shirt as he glanced around, raising an eyebrow when he realized he was in his room. He turned towards the window and found out that it was already evening; the sky was a dark, dark blue and the stars were beginning to pop up.

Sora opened the door soon afterward with a glass of water. "Hey." He strode over to his brother and handed him the water before pulling up the desk chair by the bedside. "How are you feeling?"

Xion suddenly walked in; she looked a little anxious at first but when she saw Roxas sitting upright in his bed her expression relaxed. "Oh, you're okay. That's good."

The blond shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "How...how did I-"

"You called me, remember?" Sora reached towards the desk and held up Roxas' phone, "Then I found you unconscious by the sidewalk and I brought you home."

"You were out for awhile," Xion explained as she moved to sit on the edge of her blond brother's bed, "Mom was worried sick about you."

"Where is she?"

"Downstairs - you'd probably want to go talk to her when you're well enough," The dark-haired girl jerked her thumb towards the door, "And y'know - she probably wants to know you're still alive."

Roxas ruffled his hair again as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up slowly, and when he realized he was strong enough to walk he nodded over to his siblings. "I think I'll do that now - thanks for your help, I don't know where I'd be without you two."

"Face-up in a gutter somewhere, probably." Xion shrugged.

"Or thrown in a ditch." Sora added.

"Ha-ha." Roxas rolled his eyes as he left his room. The moment his feet touched the first floor of the house his mother came out from the kitchen and captured him in a suffocating hug. He nearly dropped his empty glass from surprise. "Agh - M-Mom - too...tight!"

"S-sorry," She pulled away from him and he noticed how her eyes were red-rimmed, "I was just so worried about you."

He rubbed the back of his neck and gave his mother a sheepish smile. "I'm fine, Mom, there's nothing to worry about." He walked into the kitchen to drop his glass in the sink, and his mother followed him.

"What happened to you? Why did you just suddenly pass out?"

Roxas rumpled his hair as he sat across from his mother at the dining table. "I have no idea - I was just walking and I got this really bad headache, and then I started to see something, something weird. It kept flashing in and out of my head, but whenever it came back my headache would get worse." He frowned and began to fiddle with his hands. "All I could see was two lights coming towards me."

He swore he saw his mother's face grow pale for a few seconds. "Maybe you've been having nightmares."

"I dunno - I don't think I've really been sleeping lately."

His mother's eyes lowered to her hands. "Do you...do you think you need to see a doctor about this?"

Roxas' eyes widened and he shook his head furiously. "No, no! It's nothing serious, Mom-"

"Roxas, you haven't been sleeping and you're getting random headaches and odd flashbacks. How is it not serious?"

"It isn't," He assured her, "I...it's probably just the stress from trying to finish my volunteer hours and everything. I kinda told one of the doctors at the psych ward about my sleeping problem, and he keeps telling me it's stress. I mean, he can't be wrong, right? He's the doctor around here." He laughed a little shakily and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm pretty sure this'll all go away once I finish volunteering."

His mother looked unconvinced but she nodded anyway. "Alright, if you say so." She sighed and rose from her seat, shaking her head. "Anyway, I need to head out again. Are you going to be okay on your own?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Sora and Xion are gonna be here if anything happens, right?"

She swallowed and nodded. "Yes, yes they will be. I'll be out late, so you're going to have to make dinner for yourself."

"That's fine with me. Later, Mom."

"Bye, honey." She left the kitchen quickly, and Roxas stared in confusion as she hastily grabbed her keys off the hook hanging on the wall and closed the door behind her. Huh, at least he wasn't the only one that was acting abnormal lately.

"Where'd Mom hurry off to?" Sora had somehow appeared by the doorway without him noticing, and Xion was right beside him.

"Oh - she said she was going out. She didn't say where, though." Roxas frowned and tousled his hair. "She's been out a lot lately, hasn't she?"

"Maybe she's got some kind of secret boyfriend." Xion snickered, and both brothers stared at her in shock. "What? It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I don't know," The brunet shrugged, "I mean, after two failed relationships you'd think she'd have enough."

Their half-sister glared at him. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Sora - and to our mom, out of all people! Sure, she's had a couple of botched marriages but that doesn't mean she should give up."

"She wasn't married when she had you, remember?" Roxas pointed out, "Didn't the guy just leave her, or something?"

Xion's face fell. "Oh yeah. I totally forgot about that."

Sora scratched the side of his head. "And then Dad came along and things went well for a few years, and then suddenly everything just fell apart. It's weird how things work like that."

"That's just the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose." The dark-haired girl shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Mom will open up eventually - she never keeps secrets from us."

"Yeah." Roxas yawned and stretched his arms, but then he froze halfway; there was a strange, faint noise coming from upstairs. "Hey, do you hear that?"

The brunet chuckled. "And you say you don't need to see a doctor-ow!" Xion had elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shut up, Sora - I can hear it too." She craned her head towards the stairs. "I think your phone's ringing, Roxas."

"Huh? Who would be calling at this time?" The blond dashed out of the kitchen and hopped the stairs two steps at a time. He scrambled into his room, grabbed his phone and held it up to his ear. "H-hello?" He was slightly out of breath from all that running.

"Roxas?" It was Zexion, and he sounded a little frantic. "Where are you?"

"At home," The blond quirked up an eyebrow, "Why?"

"We...we have an emergency," Zexion explained; he sounded a little distracted and frightened at the same time, and that was saying something since he was never one to show much emotion in the first place, "We need you right away."

His words only confused Roxas more. "Why do you need me? Aren't there a ton of professionals in the hospital who can take better care of the patients?"

"She won't listen to anybody," Zexion replied agitatedly, and the blond's heart nearly stopped when he realized who the young intern was talking about, "There's nobody in the entire hospital who can get through to her. You're the only one, Roxas - I know she'll pay attention to you."

"Okay, just...just tell her to hold on for me, alright? I'll be there soon. Tell her I'll be there very soon." He cancelled the call and shoved his phone into his pocket before jogging down the stairs. When his hand was inches away from the doorknob he heard his brother and sister rushing out from the kitchen.

"And where do you think you're going?" Xion asked sternly with her arms crossed over her chest.

"There's an emergency at the psych ward and they need my help," Roxas explained quickly, "There's something wrong with Naminé."

Sora chuckled darkly and shook his spiky head. "Of course - he'd only be this rushed if Naminé was in trouble."

"Shut up - tell Mom I'll be home late." He locked the door and raced to his car. He was ripping through the streets, driving at least ten to fifteen kilometres above the speed limit but he didn't care; Naminé needed his help, and he was going to give it to her.

The second he parked his car in the back lot he scrambled out, nearly forgetting to lock his door, and sped towards the front doors. He frantically searched the front desk for the grey-haired intern but he was nowhere to be found. Roxas' heartbeat was thudding louder in his ears with every passing second and his hands flexed into rigid claws by his sides; he needed to find Naminé.

"Roxas," Zexion came jogging out from a random hallway, "That was fast."

"I came as quickly as I could," The blond replied as he tried to calm his racing pulse, "Wh-where is she?"

"In her room - come." He followed the intern down a hallway and into the elevator; he noticed that Zexion was holding a few papers in his hands, and his white coat was stained with something red; he had a faint idea of what it was, and the thought made him sick to his stomach.

"Er, what exactly is the emergency?" Roxas asked nervously; he couldn't take his eyes off the red stains on the intern's coat.

Zexion sighed and shook his head. "It's...it's kind of hard to explain. It's something you'll have to see for yourself." The doors parted and both boys walked through; the intern led the blond down another set of hallways, and when they reached the hall with Naminé's room the first thing Roxas noticed was the small group of nurses and doctors huddled in front of a door near the end of the hallway.

"Whoa." Was the only thing that was able to come out of the blond's mouth.

"Nearly every doctor working tonight is here but they can't get through to her," Zexion explained sadly, "She just keeps doing what she's doing like she's the only one in the room." They approached the crowd, and the intern gestured towards the nervous boy beside him. "He's here."

Ansem emerged from the sea of lab coats and when he spotted Roxas his shoulders depressed with relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're here-" He threw an arm around the boy's shoulders and guided him through the various doctors, "-Naminé's been unresponsive."

"What has she been doing?" Roxas asked; there were a couple doctors blocking him from the entrance to her room.

Ansem sighed and ran a hand through his slick hair. "Son, it won't be easy for you to see this, I assure you," He sighed again and gently eased his way in between the doctors that were standing in front of the doorway, "She's having another episode, and this time it's one of the...more complicated ones."

"Huh-" Roxas glanced upwards, and he nearly fell back from what he was seeing.

Naminé was seated on the floor on the opposite side of her room, leaning against the wall and clutching something in her hand. The arm that was not holding the object was resting across her thighs, face-up and shiny with blood that was gushing out of a large abrasion in her wrist. Her skirt was almost completely soaked and dried blood clung to the ends of her hair. The blood loss made her paler than usual and her shoulders were trembling aggressively. What made the scene more sickening was the fact that she was using her blood to paint a part of the wall; beside her she had painted a small picture of a house: in front of it were four people grouped together, much like a family. There were two girls, and behind them was a sad-looking mother and an angry-looking father. One of the girl's hair was coloured in while the other's was just outlined.

Ansem's hand pushed on Roxas' back and it brought the boy back to reality; he stumbled forward and swallowed hard as he approached the small blonde, who was distractedly staring into space. He noticed with horror that she was still picking at her arm with the small object. When he was close enough he noticed that she was holding a tiny paintbrush; the end was thin enough to penetrate flesh if one stabbed themselves hard enough.

"N-Naminé," Roxas stuttered as he knelt in front of her; he could feel the tears stinging his eyes as he searched the blonde's face, "Naminé, hey, I'm right here." He snapped his fingers; her eyes twitched but she didn't face him. "Naminé," He called again, reaching forward and grabbing her face with his hands; she finally looked at him and his chest throbbed painfully when he read the lack of presence in her eyes, "What are you doing?" He asked softly as the tears began to fall.

"I-I-" She mumbled, her eyes lowering to her arm, "I needed...I need red paint. I need red paint. Red paint." She repeated over and over again in the same low, distracted voice and she raised her hand to take another stab at her arm but Roxas stopped her. She glared up at him and tried to wriggle away from his grasp. "L-let go - I need to finish, need to finish my painting-" Her voice cracked and she writhed violently in his hands, "-I-I need to finish - red paint-"

"I'll get you some red paint," He said firmly as he wiped his tears away, "Only if you stop hurting yourself." He grabbed her face again and forced her to look at him. "Are you listening to me, Naminé?" His voice hardened, though the tears were still falling, "You're not listening, aren't you?" When she did not answer he shook her a little, but she was still not looking in his direction. "Listen to me!" He demanded, "Dammit, Naminé, if you don't listen to me right now I'm leaving you. There's no point in me staying here if you're not going to pay attention." Of course he wasn't telling the truth, but he had no choice but to threaten her.

Her big, tearful blue eyes stared straight into his and her bottom lip was trembling. She dropped the bloody paintbrush and grabbed his shoulder, shaking her blonde head. "Don't leave," She begged, and leaned forward to rest her cheek against his chest. She wrapped her good arm around his waist and clung to him as she sobbed into his shirt. "D-don't leave me, please. I don't want you to go," She hiccuped through her tears, "I don't want you to go. Please, please don't leave. Don't leave me, Roxas, please."

His heart went out to her, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He hushed her as he hugged her close to him, stroking her blood-encrusted hair and resting his cheek against the side of her head. He didn't care if she got blood on his clothes; he wanted to make sure she was okay. "Will you promise not to hurt yourself anymore?" He sniffled and briefly reached upwards to wipe his own tears away.

She nodded against his chest. "No more hurting." She assured him as she cuddled closer against his body; she kept her damaged arm close to her chest so she would not get any blood on him. Her trembling ceased a little, much to his relief.

"They're going to have to clean you up first, okay?" Roxas told her softly as he gestured for Ansem to come inside, "They'll fix you up and then I'll give you your paint. How does that sound?"

Naminé shook her head. "I don't want to paint anymore. I'm tired." She began to shake again and her arm tightened around him. "But I don't want to go away from you."

"It'll only be for a little while," He promised her as he helped her to her feet, "They're just gonna give you a bath to get all this nasty stuff off of you, and then once you get dressed in some new clothes I'll be back."

A few nurses held onto her upper arms, and she nodded slowly. "O-okay," She answered unsurely, "But...you'll be here for sure, right? Promise me you will be."

He reached for her hand and wrapped his pinky around hers. "I promise." He gave her a reassuring smile before the nurses led her out of her room, and when she was gone he exhaled shakily and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. His legs were trembling and his heart was racing; the room felt like it was spinning.

"Roxas," He glanced upwards and found Ansem standing a few feet in front of him; behind him Xehanort and Xemnas were examining the painting on the wall, "Are you alright? I understand how exhausted you must feel, both physically and mentally; if you wish to go home you-"

"No," The blond shook his head, "I promised her I'd stay. I'll just call my mom later - there's no need to worry about me."

"I guess that would be better," Ansem sighed, "Naminé does seem to be very fond of you. I've never seen her so emotional, so talkative before - your presence really does make a difference, you know."

He flushed. "I want to help her, Ansem, I really do. She doesn't deserve this."

"She most certainly doesn't." The older man agreed; he paused for a minute, hesitating, and then he spoke up. "Roxas...I'm afraid there's something I've been hiding from you."

The blond raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ansem sighed again and shook his head, as if he was disappointed in himself. "I told you once before that I had no idea who she was the day before the police found her, but really I have some sort of a theory."

Roxas immediately stood up. "How?"

"When the police found her she was wearing a schoolbag, which gave us the assumption that she was walking home from school, and then she got sidetracked, leaving her out on the streets for the rest of the evening. I have her things in my office if you wish to see them. They might be of some interest to you."

"Yes," The blond nodded eagerly, "I want to see them. Please."

Ansem gave him a sad smile. "I'll be sure to bring you back before Naminé finishes cleaning up."

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A/N: I know, I know - another cliffhanger - but you know what? Too bad. =)

This chapter has been inspired by Our Lady Peace's In Repair.