Chapter 11: Waiting For The Break

Previously: Aerith smiled brightly. "I'm so glad to hear that," Aerith shook her head, "but um Cloud wasn't there something you wanted to say? You were trying to tell me earlier, I think."

Cloud swallowed as the whole room suddenly focused on him.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS

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"Well….ah…," Cloud began, nervously weaving a hand through his hair, "I have some good news and some bad news."

Aerith's eyes were no longer placid as she gazed up at her husband, "What's going on Cloud?"

"Aer," he sighed, "I wanted to tell you earlier but…I," Cloud paused, unable to force the rest of the words out of his mouth.

"Yes," Aerith prompted as her lips pursed anxiously.

Roxas frowned as he heard his father's continuous sounds of anxiety. The blond wasn't entirely sure what was bothering his father, but strangely enough, he already felt a foreboding sense of responsibility had dawned upon him—like it was his fault.

Roxas tried shaking the thought off. He was being ridiculous. This couldn't possibly have anything to do with him, could it?

Cloud played with his food, tracing his fork absentmindedly across the splotch of mashed potatoes on his plate. It was obvious the blond man didn't want to speak. Yet, he wasn't quite sure how he would be able to tell his family what had happened.

He was the man of the house, the provider, and for Cloud to simply come out break the news to the people he was supposed to be taking care of well…it just wasn't an easy task.

Larexene set her glass of water on the table abruptly after a moment of watching her father hesitate.

"Just say it already, will ya? I don't have all day."

"Larexene!" Aerith chided, sending her daughter a stern look. Larexene only rolled her eyes at the action and crossed her arms.

"Any day now, pops?"

Cloud forced a smile onto his face and nodded, "You're right Larexene. I just need to come out and say it," Cloud paused briefly to take a small breath, as he met his family's eyes, "I-I…lost my job today…and…" Cloud stopped, unable to continue.

"And?" Aerith whispered fearfully.

Cloud remained quiet for a moment, before licking his suddenly dry lips to speak. "And…the bank…Aer, the bank wants to foreclose on the house."

Silence. The whole room was enveloped in utter, silence. Not even Larexene had anything to say. No sassy, sarcastic remarks. Aerith had gone still, her entire frame stiff as she let out shallow breaths.

Roxas clenched his hands from under the table. This was his fault wasn't it? His family was going to lose their house because of him. Because of his medical bills. Because he just had to go that party. Roxas' jaw clenched as he replayed the scene again in his mind—of his stupidity.

He just had to get into that accident didn't he?

Roxas felt disgusted with himself as he felt a wave of nausea suddenly hit him. He was going to be sick. Roxas abruptly rose from his chair, nearly knocking the vase in the center of the table over.

His parents looked over at him as he desperately tried to free himself from his position at the table.

Aerith reached out a hand across the table, her jade eyes reflecting a mixture of anxiety and panic "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Roxas attempted a small smile, "Nothing…I just don't feel very good right now. I-I think I need to go to bed."

Aerith nodded her head as she drew back her hand hesitantly, "Alright, just…call if you need anything and," Aerith paused to look at her eldest child, "Larexene—"

Larexene stood up and pushed back from her own seat, "I got it. C'mon dweeb." Larexene's voice became softer as she began to usher her brother out of the living room and up the stairs.

Although the blonde wouldn't show it, she was worried about what was going to happen to not only herself but her family as well. Larexene's hands gripped her brother's shoulders tighter. Roxas winced.

"Sorry," Larexene grumbled.

"It's okay…" Pause. "Lar, what's gonna happen, do you think with us? Are we really gonna lose our house?"

The guilt was evident in the boy's voice, but Larexene didn't seem to notice. She looked at her brother with a solemn expression, "I don't know. It could happen. I mean it's not impossible, but…I guess what happens just happens. Not a whole lot you can do about it so I wouldn't worry too much. It'll all work out…eventually."

"Yeah…" Roxas sighed, "Eventually."

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From down in the Strife kitchen, silence still reigned supreme. Aerith's eyes had averted from her husband's face and to the tablecloth as she lightly traced patterns across the fabric.

Aerith wasn't sure what she was going to do. Her husband had lost his job and they had two children to think about. Especially Roxas. How would they ever be able to afford any sort of optical surgery, if they had no money or even a house?

Sure, Aerith had her part-time job at Tifa's flower shop, but the brunette was pretty sure her paycheck wasn't exactly a major contributor to the couple's income.

"I…wanted to tell you earlier, you know. But I—" Cloud shook his head, leaving his sentence unfinished as he lifted his eyes to the beige colored ceiling.

Aerith gave her husband a wry smile, "I know honey…it's…fine. It's not your fault, things just happen."

Cloud's hands which were on the table tightened into fists, "But to us? Now?"

Aerith sighed, "I know, I know…but something good has to happen eventually, right?"

Cloud smiled weakly as he looked up at his wife and let out a sigh of his own, "I sure hope so Aer, I sure hope so."

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Kairi paced nervously along the sidewalk, her heart thrashing loudly against her chest. It was 7:20 am, thirty minutes before school started and she was still waiting for Sora.

Kairi checked her pink Dior watch again. She had been waiting nearly thirty minutes for the chocolate haired boy to arrive so far and was already starting to lose her nerve.

She knew it was her mission to 'befriend Sora' or rather pump him for information. She knew this was just a job. A task assigned from Naminé. She knew it wasn't meant to mean anything and yet, Kairi didn't seem able to contain the butterflies in her stomach. The feeling that something was going to happen.

And all she had to do was…wait.

"Sora…," Kairi looked up to cloudless azure sky as another breeze swept through and tousled her wine colored hair, "Where are you?"

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Squeak. The faucet knobs are turned and a steady narrow waterfall washes over her hands. It's only 7:00 am in the morning but Naminé is already vigorously working on applying her layers of makeup.

Her face was clean right now, spotless, no guise or colorful palates to hide behind. It was the time in the morning that Naminé tried to hurry past. She hated seeing her face so bare. So exposed.

It made her wonder why for so many years she hadn't worn makeup. Why she had refused to conform and let herself be, held in the safeties that makeup always seemed to provide for her now.

Naminé swept the blush across the apples of her cheeks adroitly and quickly followed up with a layer of concealer to remove the red blotches by her eyes. She had been silly that's why. Naminé had believed that people never judged you based on your appearance. That they looked beyond your awkward exterior and instead only at your heart. Naminé had believed that no matter what people would like her for she really was and not what she could become.

But, as time passed by Naminé had learned her mother was right; vanity was the only key to prosperity. It had taken her so long to realize this but by the time that middle school came around Naminé was ready.

She was ready to take the world by storm. She was ready to hide behind her guise and leave truth, love and friendship behind. She had embraced everything that she had resisted and with this cold embrace she finally was able to bury the remains of who she used to be—and now she was… happy.

Naminé gazed up her reflection and gave a weak cherry colored smile, "There, perfect."

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"Huh, I didn't know you lived around here Kairi," Sora said as he and auburn haired girl walked down the sidewalk together towards school. The pink hues in the sky were just beginning to fade along the horizon and the only noise to be heard throughout the neighborhood was the sound of the two teen's shoes against the sidewalk pavement.

Kairi flushed and tugged a loose strand of hair, "Uh…well actually I was just visiting a…friend."

Sora responded with a quizzical look, "At seven in the morning?"

Kairi mentally slapped herself but managed to maintain her composure, "Well…it was actually my grandma. She's a bit of an…early riser."

Sora shrugged, seeming to buy the lie, "Fair enough, so I assume you visit her a lot then or is this just a onetime deal?"

Kairi felt her heart beat pick up pace. He sounded almost…hopeful. Like he wanted to spend time with her. Kairi knew it would be wrong to lie any further, but…walking to school with Sora…everyday? How could she possibly pass that up?

"Actually, I do this every morning right before school."

"Really? You know if you want to…and since we both go this way to school…we could ah…" Sora trailed off and scratched the back of his head nervously as he tried to hide his growing blush.

Kairi restrained a giggle and only gave the brunette a knowing smile, "I would love to."

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Naminé stormed through the hallway in her new Betsy Johnson leather boots. The blonde girl still could not believe her parents. Sure, she had distracted herself for a while, but once they had arrived home everything had reached its boiling point.

Naminé Misaki had lost her cool. She had, for those few moments, lost herself to weak Naminé. To the girl she used to be. The girl who came home to a parent-less home in tears and who spent endless days trying to convince her parents that she was worth it. She was worth their time.

It had made the blonde sick that she had allowed such feeble emotions control her. She shouldn't have cried the way she did. She shouldn't have been so weak.

Naminé pushed her way through the oncoming throng of students almost absentmindedly and although she tried placing her mind elsewhere her mother's words still stung fresh in the back of her mind.

"You are too old for this Naminé! I've had enough of your nonsense, you need to just grow and accept the fact that there are things more important in your father and I's lives than spending every waking moment with you."

With you. Naminé gripped her purse tighter against her chest and squeezed her eyes tight for a moment before letting out a deep breath.

She could do this. She was Naminé Misaki, right? She was the queen and queen's didn't cry. They couldn't.

Naminé couldn't.

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Another three months. Another update. I'm not even going to go into the reasons why this so late because it's really just the same reason as always. School and life. But just to say, as always that I'm extremely sorry for not updating sooner. I hate leaving for so long, and still appreciate every single review and reader still sticking with me:)

But anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'm still a bit iffy on my own liking of it but at least we're starting to see Naminé develop a little more and the same with Roxas.

Also, I know this is random but I'm just going to announce a bit of a personal goal of mine for this story. I've decided I'm going to have goals in terms of reviews. Now, I'm not going to be all 'if I don't get such and such amount of review I won't update.' But I really just sort of want to share the goal and if anyone wants to review and help me reach it then that's be great. If not, then whatever, I understand my horrible updates aren't much a motivator. It's not the end of the world. I just think it's nice to well you know have a goal.

Review goal: 150

Random KH Fan Girl: Thank you, I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the chapter. Yeah, I thought it would be good to see the contrast between the two's lives that way and we all hope she gets better '-_-. Haha yep, Kairi beat her good and I'll be honest and say she's not my favorite character either. Thank you again and I know it's just so amazing to have a story that so many people enjoy.

Artism: Thank you, it's always nice to know that a chapter turns out well. Haha don't I know that, but thank you for understanding. I hate always being so late but then I always have things to do in terms of homework and projects and tests and quizzes. But yeah, not too much sympathy quite yet, but there'll be some coming hopefully soon. And I know, they're not as up front as they used to be and I agree it's not even always words but actions that hurt.

Sakura: thank you, I'm glad you think so. Haha they are quite the rivals, aren't they? But thank you again and hopefully things will updated sooner.

Nobody: Really? I'm super flattered. I'm happy you enjoy so much of my work and thank you for the review as well. I appreciate it tons!