Authors Note: Once again, not quite 10 reviews, but it's Saturday, so, yeah...Thanks to: soraroxas365, kiki, 1st class Soldier Girl, SexyZexy, SpringBorn, ShimmerMist, and kingdomdisney for reviewing! And thanks also for those who read bot didn't review. All of you are awesome!. Okey dokey, so here is chapter 5! It's the longest one yet, so I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I STILL do't own anything Kingdom Hearts related...well...except my games that is. But other than those, just Katy :)
Back in the computer room at the old mansion, DiZ was, as usual, monitoring Sora's restoration on his many different computer screens.
"His progress is astounding." DiZ remarked to the cloaked man, who Katy affectionately dubbed 'Cloaky'.
"So what happened?" Cloaky asked, tossing a very familiar blue orb into the air and catching it before slipping it into a very familiar munny pouch.
"Naminé's encounter with Roxas put his heart in contact with Kairi's and that, in turn, affected Sora. You see?"
"Naminé. She's a wonder." Cloaky remarked
"She wasn't born like other Nobodies. She can interfere with the hearts and memories of Sora and those aligned with him."
"If she does, I'll kick her ass into the middle of next week." Katy said, striding into the room.
"Ah, Katyana. I see you made it back safely." DiZ said, monotonously
"No thanks to you. You could have created some backup…or sent Cloaky to come help me. Axel could have done some serious damage if you hadn't come when you did."
"And that's why I came. So I was your 'back up' as you said."
Katy rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall next to the computer screens.
"Katyana, why don't you go check on Naminé's progress? I believe she's in the white room." DiZ suggested
Katy narrowed her eyes at his not-so-subtle attempt to get her out of the room, but nodded and went to go find Naminé.
After a few moments of silence, Cloaky asked the million-dollar question
"Whose Nobody is she? Naminé?"
DiZ looked over at the hooded man.
"I could tell you. But first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?"
Slowly, Cloaky lowered his hood to reveal that he was the same guy who plunged a 30-inch sword through Katy's chest.
Sort of. Not really
"It's Ansem." Cloaky—er—Ansem *cough* Riku *cough* replied.
This caused DiZ to burst into laughter. When he finally got it under control, he nodded
"It's an honor, Ansem!"
Roxas jerked awake, breathing heavily. The last thing he remembered was falling off the clock tower…
"I was dreaming…" He muttered to himself. "But which parts were the dream?"
Roxas went about his normal morning routine, trying to snap himself out of the fog that seemed to have settled over his brain. When he got to the Usual Spot, he was shocked to see Katy sitting with his friends, talking calmly to Hayner about something. Roxas blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Hayner didn't let just anybody hang out in their spot. Katy, feeling his gaze, looked up and grinned
"Hey, Roxas!"
"Uh…hi?"
"What, not happy to see me?" She teased, pushing her lavender bangs out of her eyes.
"No…I'm just…I'm shocked that Hayner actually let you in." He retorted, laughing a little.
Pence snickered as well, causing Hayner to glare at all three of them.
Roxas was about to ask what they were doing today, when Olette stomped in looking extremley pissed. The whole room got quiet, everyone wracking their brains for what they'd done to make the brunette girl so upset. Then Hayner opened his big mouth…
"Only three days left of summer vacation—so don't even mention that assignment!" He warned, crossing his arms and looking away
"But we agreed we'd get it finished today." Olette protested, hands on her hips.
Roxas cut in, interrupting with an absurd question
"Yesterday…I fell of the station tower, didn't I?" He asked
They all, save Katy, looked at him as though he'd grown a second head.
"You wouldn't be here if you did." Hayner replied, pointing out the obvious.
"But, man, that was a close one." Pence added.
"Stop changing the subject!" Olette said, sternly.
"Okay, already!" Hayner groaned. "We'll do the homework. Stupid independent study."
Katy snorted
"Dude, you're complaining about an independent study? Last summer, I had to write four essays for my English class. You're not allowed to complain."
"Fine, if you think it's so easy, you can help us." Hayner shot back.
"Fine, I will." Katy replied, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at the blonde.
"Anybody got any bright ideas for a topic?" Hayner asked, looking at each of them in turn.
While Pence started blabbing on about the seven wonders of Twilight Town, Roxas crossed the room and sat next to Katy.
"So, I guess your elusive streak is over?" He teased, shoving her arm lightly
Katy laughed and nodded.
"I was trying to stay away, you know? Figured your friends might get mad if you started hanging out with someone else." She joked back
"Ha, ha. But, seriously…" Roxas lowered his voice. "You seem to know what's going on around here. You knew what those things were called, you always show up when I'm in trouble, that Axel guy knew your name—"
"He knew yours, too." Katy cut him off
"That's beside the point. You know what's wrong with me…and…you need to tell me…" He trailed off.
He looked at her, really looked at her and just like the day they first met, he felt like he knew her.
"You…you…I had a dream about you the other night. You were with him. You know him." He stuttered, tripping over his words.
Before she could answer, Olette came over and told them that they were heading out to Station heights to start looking for the seven wonders.
Olette Hayner and Pence set off in one direction and sent Roxas and Katy off in the opposite one, saying that they'd meet up later. After an awkward silence, Katy cleared her throat.
"So…aren't these the steps Pence was talking about? The ones that counted different going up and down?" She asked
"Well, yeah, but…See this guy we know, Rai, was the one that counted and…he's not exactly the brightest…" Roxas began
"So he counted wrong?" Katy snickered
"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas replied, grinning a little.
"Okay, no worries. What's are some of the other ones he was going on about?"
"Uh…"the friend behind the wall" was one. Apparently there's this wall in Sunset Terrace that throws dodge balls at you."
"Okay, cool. Let's go."
As they made their way to the terrace, they started talking about the struggle match.
"Sorry I missed your fight with Setzer, I needed to get home. My…sister was causing trouble and I needed to go help sort it out." Katy explained.
"Hey, no problem. You didn't really miss much anyway. The guy was a joke, he tried to bribe me into letting him win."
"Wow, what a loser." Katy agreed
"Yeah, tell me about it. So, yeah after that they gave me the belt and the trophy. The trophy was kinda lame so I took the orbs off of it and gave one to Hayner, Pence, and Olette. I have one too. Here…"
Roxas searched his pockets for the blue orb, but couldn't find it.
"It must have fallen out or something…" He muttered to himself.
"Yeah, or something." Katy replied under her breath.
When they finally made it to the terrace, they began their search for the wall. Roxas went down an alleyway and tapped on the brick wall.
"Dead end. Maybe we should—" He was cut off when a white dodge ball came through the wall and nearly hit him in the head.
And it didn't stop there. They just kept coming in different formations, pushing them back when they made contact.
"C'mon! Maybe it'll stop if we can touch the wall." Roxas said to Katy, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him
He was right. When they came in contact with the wall, the balls stopped.
And of course that's when Pence came running around the corner. They told him what happened and while he was giving them some half assed explanation as to why this happened, Katy looked back at the wall and could have sworn she saw a dark corridor closing.
"Okey dokey, why don't we go find some of the other ones?" She suggested, hurriedly pulling Roxas away from the wall.
"Hey, what's the rush?" Roxas asked, grabbing onto Katy's wrist so she would stop
"Nothing. Don't you want to get this done?" She asked, trying to look innocent.
Roxas sighed.
"Look, Katy. You really need to tell me what the hell's been going on here, lately."
"I wish I could, Roxas. I really, really do, but believe me when I say that you're better off not knowing. Everything will make sense soon, I swear, but when it does can you promise to forgive me? For not telling you?"
Roxas looked at her for a long time, searching for any kind of answer in her big, green eyes but found nothing. Closing his eyes in defeat, he nodded.
"Yeah, I promise."
Katy managed to give him a small smile and they started off to look for the next "wonder"
They entered the so-called moaning tunnel and all they found was one of Seifer's cronies.
"Vivi?" Roxas called out to the creepy boy
Vivi began laughing and, before they knew it, he freaking cloned himself and attacked them.
When they finally managed to rid themselves of the Vivi-copies, Katy busted out laughing.
"Oh my God. That was so creepy and weird!" She said between giggles, literally falling on the floor.
"If it was so creepy, then why are you laughing?" Roxas asked, amused
"I have no freaking clue." Katy replied, pulling herself off the floor, still snickering.
Just as they were about to leave, the real Vivi came around the corner.
"What is it, Roxas?" He asked, walking up to them. He held out a struggle bat. "Did you need this? Planning on getting in some practice, I bet."
"Er, no," Roxas began "It's just that…there were so many of you…"
Vivi looked confused
"Huh? So…many of me? I don't get it. Anyway, I'm done with this, Roxas. You can take your time." Vivi said, handing Roxas the struggle bat and walking away.
As he left the tunnel, Pence ran up.
"So the mystery voice was just Vivi practicing." He reasoned
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain the clones." Katy mumbled
"Clones?" Pence asked
"Listen there were a whole bunch of Vivi clones here just a minute ago…" Roxas began telling Pence
And that's when Katy saw Vivi turn into a Dusk and leave through a dark corridor.
Katy paled and restlessly waited for Roxas to finish talking before she pulled him to their next destination.
It continued just like this for the next half hour the next wonder consisted of a shadow Roxas, which was exactly like the Antisora. It was creepy and Katy couldn't damage it. The next one was a sack that apparently moved on it's own. They found out it was actually a dog. Both times Pence turned up and explained away all of the weird stuff and only Katy saw the shadow Roxas reappear at the fountain and the dog turn into a Dusk. The Organization was obviously watching them.
"You know, that last wonder wasn't exactly wonderful." Roxas said to Pence after they freed the dog—er Dusk from the sack.
"I understand, say no more! But this next one's gonna be really great! Wonder number Six!
Katy rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh.
"We got another lead!" Hayner called as he and Olette ran up.
"The Ghost Train Mystery"… Olette exclaimed
"Everyone knows about wonder number six." Pence said, trying to hide a grin
"Yeah, well I didn't." Hayner protested, crossing his arms
"Did you find out where the train runs?" Roxas asked
Olette nodded
"You can see it from Sunset Hill."
"Great, let's go!" Katy said taking off, the others following.
They reached Sunset Hill and all four collapsed on the grass.
"If the rumors are true, it'll be here any minute." Hayner said
"They say the train is empty." Pence said in a spooky voice. "No driver, no conductor, no passengers…NO RETURN."
So they waited…and waited…and WAITED
"We gotta make it to the beach next year." Olette remarked.
"Yeah, we better get jobs the second vacation starts." Hayner agreed. He looked over at Katy and grinned. "You can come with us too if you want…if your gonna be here."
Katy laughed and nodded
"Thanks, Hayner. You make me feel loved." She joked causing the others to laugh.
"Good evening, slackers. What are you ding out here?" Seifer asked, looking down at them.
"Gee, where did he come from?" Katy mumbled "Freaking ninja."
"What do you care?" Hayner drawled back.
"I don't. Tell me anyway." Seifer replied
"We're waiting for the ghost train." Katy said, a slight smirk on her face
Seifer looked over at her and raised an eyebrow
"I've never seen you before. What's a pretty girl like you doing hanging out with these lamers?" Seifer taunted, taking a step closer to Katy.
"Gag me with a spoon. Only in your dreams…lamer." Katy retorted, smiling sweetly
Seifer took another menacing step towards her, looking royally pissed off. Roxas shot up and stood in front to the purple-haired girl, glaring right back.
"Why does looking at you always tick me off?" Seifer sneered
"I dunno, maybe it's destiny." Roxas answered in a bored tone
Seifer scoffed
"Destiny? In that case, let's be friends. I don't feel like cooperating with destiny."
"When have you ever cooperated with anything?" Hayner demanded, smirking
Seifer just rolled his eyes and walked away.
"Look!" Roxas exclaimed, running over to look over the wood railing.
Katy peered over too and saw it. It was a strange looking train that appeared to be completely empty. The Ghost Train.
"It's really true. And there's really no one aboard. What's the catch? There's got to be a catch, right?" Roxas continued to babble.
Hayner, Pence, and Olette looked at each other, sharing worried glances. Katy closed her eyes, coming to the conclusion that they didn't see the train.
"Let's go to the station!" Roxas said, already running in that direction.
When they got there, the train was sitting idle on the tracks.
"C'mon, Let's go in." Roxas said, starting towards the door.
Hayner grabbed his wrist and pulled him back
"What are you doing?" Roxas demanded
"You'll get hurt." Hayner said, softly looking at his friend with concern.
And just like that, the train was gone. In a blink of an eye.
"The train will be arriving shortly." A mans voice said over the intercom.
Sure enough, the real train pulled in seconds later and let off its passengers.
"C'mon." Pence said, quietly
"A train came from the beach. It had no driver, right?" Roxas asked, desperately
"Let's go." Hayner said firmly
"Right?" Roxas asked, invading Olette's personal space, causing her to jump back and shake her head slowly.
Hayner angrily grabbed Roxas by the arm and pulled him onto the train. The ride back was silent.
They got off the train, Hayner Pence and Olette walking ahead of Roxas and Katy.
"Let's go home and work on the paper." Hayner suggested
"The rumors were bogus. The end." Pence said, only half joking
"We can still make it sound good if we write about all the work we did." Olette protested.
"What about the last one? The seventh wonder?" Roxas asked from behind them
"Who cares?" Hayner yelled, angrily
"I do, C'mon Pence."
"Roxas…" Olette tried to reason
Pence sighed
"It's at that haunted mansion."
The three of them took off Leaving Roxas alone with Katy.
"C'mon, Roxas. I'll go to the mansion with you." Katy said, giving him a kind smile.
Roxas smiled back and the pair headed over to Market Street.
"You saw it, didn't you? The train. I saw you looking at it." Roxas said as they approached the woods.
Katy sighed and nodded
"Yes, I saw it."
"Then why didn't you say something?" Roxas demanded, angrily
Katy looked down at her shoes.
"I'm sorry. You're right, I should have said something."
Roxas sighed and shook his head
"No, I'm sorry for yelling. Let's just get to the mansion, okay."
Katy nodded and the two entered the hole in the wall that led to the woods.
They got to the Old Mansion and gazed up at the rather beautiful house that was behind the locked Iron Gate, looking for something unusual. Roxas was the one to break the silence.
"Katy, the boy I was talking about earlier, in the Usual Spot, you know him, don't you?"
Katy sighed deeply and nodded
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"Roxas…I—It's really hard…for me to talk about him."
"When we were fighting Axel. He said something about your boyfriend not wanting you to hang around with me. Is he your boyfriend?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Katy snapped, turning away from him so he wouldn't see the tears that had suddenly sprung into her eyes.
"He is, isn't he?" Roxas said, waling over and placing a tentative hand on her shoulder.
"Yes. He is." Katy said, trying and failing to keep her voice steady
"What happened to him?"
"He-he had to go away for awhile. I couldn't go with him, I was meant to do something else. But now, things aren't going like they're supposed to and I'm just so afraid that he's never coming back…or that when he does, he won't be the same."
Katy was crying freely now and Roxas didn't know how to respond.
"I'm sure he'll come back. He's crazy if he doesn't." Roxas remarked, trying to make her feel better.
Katy laughed a little through her tears and nodded
"Thanks, Roxas." She said, turning around and giving him a hug.
Roxas was a little startled, but wrapped his arms around her anyway.
It felt…normal. Familiar.
They pulled apart and Katy wiped the rest of the tears out of her eyes.
Then Pence scared the shit out of them.
"You know we were all gonna come here and investigate here tomorrow. It IS the most suspicious place." Pence remarked, tying to cheer Roxas up.
"Right…" Roxas agreed half-heartedly
"Even Seifer's gang was gonna help." Pence asked.
"Really, Seifer?" Katy asked, bemused and trying hard not to show that she'd been crying a few seconds ago.
"Yeah, Hayner asked him to."
There were a few moments of silence before Roxas asked
"So, what are we lookin' for?"
"Well, they say there's a girl that appears at the second floor window…even though no one's lived here for years."
Katy stiffened. She had a good idea who this mysterious girl was.
"Roxas, I think we should go. This place gives me the creeps."
"No…let's just stay a little longer." He answered distractedly, eyes glazing over
Katy knew Naminé was drawing him in. She leaned in close and whispered in Roxas's ear;
"Don't fall for her act, Roxas. She's never what she seems."
Then she could tell he'd been pulled in.
'When I get back later, Blondie is so dead.'
KHKHKHKH
He was in a white room. Drawing were strewn everywhere, drawings of familiar people. Katy's voice floated back to him.
"Don't fall for her act, Roxas. She's never what she seems."
"Roxas…" A familiar female voice called to him.
"Naminé?" He asked, eyes settling on a picture of what looked like Axel and…him? "Is that…me? And Axel's there too."
"You are best friends."
Roxas laughed
"Very funny."
"Don't you want to know the truth? About who you really are?" Naminé asked
"No one knows me better than me." Roxas replied a bit defensively
"Of course."
"But…I don't get what's been happening to me lately."
His eyes found another drawing on the wall
"You know these three, don't you?" Naminé asked
"Yeah. Sora, Donald, and Goofy."
"And in the one next to it?"
"That's Sora and Katy. They're all from the dreams."
"About a year ago…some things happened. I had to take apart the memories chained together in Sora's heart. But now…I'm putting them all back exactly the way that they were."
Once again, Katy's voice echoed back to him.
"He-he had to go away for awhile. I couldn't go with him, I was meant to do something else. But now, things aren't going like they're supposed to and I'm just so afraid that he's never coming back…or that when he does, he won't be the same."
Naminé continued.
"It's taken me a long time, but pretty soon, Sora will be his old self again. The process has been affecting you, too, Roxas."
"You mean…the dreams?"
"Yes…you and Sora are connected. And…in order for Sora to become completely whole again…he needs you."
"Me? What for?"
"You hold half of what he is. He needs you, Roxas."
"Naminé?"
There was a flash and suddenly Roxas was sitting across from Naminé at the long white table in the middle of the room.
"Naminé…who are you?" Roxas asked.
"I'm a witch. With power over Sora's memories and those around him."
"A witch?"
"That's what DiZ called me. But I don't know why I have this power. I just do. I'm not even sure if there's a right way for me to use it."
"Well, I can't help you there." Roxas replied. "It's funny. Suddenly I feel like I don't know myself at all. I guess I would like to know. What do you know about me…that I don't?"
Naminé's gaze dropped to her hands.
"You…you were never supposed to exist, Roxas."
"What? How could you even say such a thing? Even if it were true…" Roxas asked, extremley hurt by the witch's words.
"I'm sorry. I guess some things really are better left unsaid.
And on that happy note, the white room faded around him and next thing he knew Pence was shaking him.
"Roxas! Roxas! Did you see her?"
What was he doing out here again? Oh, right! The assignment…
"Yeah, watch the window closely."
Pence gazed up and the window and frowned.
"Aw, lame. It's just the curtains moving. There must be a draft somewhere. I'm surprised this old place even has curtains."
"Yeah…" Roxas replied, distracted
"Well, let's head back to the usual spot. Hayner and Olette are waiting."
Roxas's eyes flicked over to Katy who was standing a ways away from them.
"Yeah, I'll be right there. I just want to talk to Katy first."
Pence nodded and left the two alone. Katy broke the long silence that followed.
"What did Naminé tell you?"
"She told me that I'm half of what Sora is. That he needs me." Roxas took a shuddery breath. "She said I was never supposed to exist."
Katy closed her eyes in sympathy.
"I was afraid she would."
"Katy…what's going to happen to me?" Roxas asked.
Katy looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears again.
"I don't know, Roxas. I honestly don't know."
Roxas stared at her, almost fearfully and took a few steps away.
"I-I think you need to go."
"Yeah, me too." Katy replied. She began to walk in the direction of the woods. Before disappearing in the trees, she looked back.
"I'm really sorry, Roxas."
Roxas didn't respond. He didn't move until he was sure she was gone. Trekking back into town, he started towards the usual spot.
"Hey, Roxas. Pence told us what happened. Hope your not too bummed."
"No, I'm alright."
"Hey, where's Katy?" Pence asked
"She had to go home. Something about her…sister." Roxas replied, realizing the sister Katy had mentioned before was most likely Naminé.
"Oh, okay, well do you want to go find Hayner? He's probably at the station."
Roxas nodded and the three made their way to the station tower where they found Hayner eating ice cream.
"Tomorrow we search the town." Hayner said, hearing them walk up.
"Day after's the fair." Pence remarked
"The last day of summer." Olette added
"Don't say that! You'll give me an ulcer!" Hayner groaned.
"Not if you explode from all that ice cream first." Pence teased
As his three friends laughed, Roxas remained silent. He had a bad feeling about tomorrow. A really bad feeling.
"Why did you show him the train? Cloaky, sorry, Ansem asked DiZ
"Because he missed the trip to the beach." DiZ replied.
"That's almost kind of you." Ansem remarked dryly.
"Now. What about you? Are the holes in your memory starting to fill in?" DiZ inquired.
"Yes. The haze is clearing."
"The same thing is happening to everyone who had ties to Sora. Very soon, to them, he'll be like a very good friend who's gone away for a year."
Ansem sat down across from DiZ
"I've waited and now I want to know. What is it that you want?"
"Revenge." DiZ replied, bitter.
"Revenge?"
DiZ nodded and no more was said on the matter.
"Now, for the finishing touches. It's time we dispose of Naminé. She did a splendid job with Sora but it's high time she disappeared. Roxas isn't the only one who wasn't meant to exist. Take care of it, Ansem."
That was around the time that Katy stomped into the house, teas running down her face. She said nothing to the two men; she simply stomped up the stairs and entered the white room. Naminé looked up from a drawing, startled.
"You did it, are you happy now?" Katy demanded.
"He had a right to know, Katy. He needs to have a choice!"
"Naminé, if he has a choice what do you think he'll choose? Huh? To disappear? Of course not! You just ruined everything; I hope you're happy. The worlds are all going to fall into darkness. Organization XIII will get stronger and probably kill all of us for working against them and it's ALL YOUR FAULT." Katy shrieked, breathing heavily.
Naminé remained silent and Katy slumped against the nearest wall, sliding to the floor. She buried her head in her arms and cried. Cried for everything she'd lost and everything she was going to lose. Naminé came over a knelt next to her.
"I'm…sorry. I just thought—" The blonde began
"No. You're not sorry. You're just sorry you got caught." Katy said, her voice emotionless as she got up and started to the door. Before she left, she turned back;
"You and Roxas were never meant to live happily ever after, Naminé. No matter what you say could ever change that. He's a part of Sora, not his own person. I'm not trying to be mean, or possessive, or shallow but that's the truth. Roxas can't love you any more that Sora can."
She left the white room and Naminé knew she was right. She just didn't want to accept it.
Restoration at 97%
A/N: Just so you know, I don't dislike Namine at all. She's actually my favorite character in the game :) Ten reviews this time? PLEASE?