Chapter 17: The Festival Part 2

"Roxas, are you okay?" Naminé asked as she hovered worriedly over the fallen blond. It hadn't been the first time she had seen him trip, but, unlike most of his landings, this one had been an unfortunate face-plant onto the park's gravely trail.

"I'm okay," Roxas responded with an embarrassed chuckle, "but…do you mind giving me a hand?" Naminé placed a hand over her mouth to hide the fit of giggles she had suppressed during his initial fall and gently helped her companion up off the ground. "Thanks," Roxas said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head once he was on his feet again.

Naminé smiled and brushed a loose strand of blonde hair away from her face. "It was nothing, but…this seems to happen to you a lot, doesn't it?" When she noticed the slight redness permeating his cheeks, Naminé finally released a small childish giggle. "Don't worry about it, not everyone is very coordinated."

"Except you," Roxas pointed out as his lips slipped into a childlike pout.

Looking down at their entwined hands, Naminé released a small sigh as her lips suddenly stretched into a distant frown, "That's not true…I wasn't…always very graceful either…or popular." She said the last word almost silently, but, with his heightened senses, Roxas still managed to catch it. True, it was startling for the blind boy to hear such an honest and vulnerable statement from her, but…maybe this was his chance to get to know her better?

When she tried pulling her hand away from his, Roxas tightened his hold and spoke in a quiet, nearly inaudible voice. "What happened?"

"It was just…," Naminé stopped and mentally shook her head. She could not go down this road. She couldn't remember. She was the Queen now and Queens did not look back on their years of solitude and humiliation. The wound was still too deep, and answering any questions would only be like pouring salt on it. "Can we…?" Naminé visibly shook her head this time as she quickly tried to regain control of her emotions, "Can we like, go find the ice cream shop? I…I don't really like want to talk about this right now."

Roxas' grip on her hand loosened slightly, but he still held on as he gave an understanding smile to his female companion. He probably had been a bit too brash with his question. She was only now subtly starting to show signs of becoming the person he had known her to be, and if she wasn't at the stage in her metamorphosis where she was comfortable talking about whatever had happened to her, then so be it. Roxas was patient. He could wait.

"I'm sorry," Roxas apologized, "I didn't mean to pry, but…um, yeah we should probably keep going. The shop closes pretty early anyway."

Naminé nodded her head and cast a weak smile at Roxas. It made her feel so pathetic that he had felt the need to apologize to her. She should have kept her cool better. "You don't have to be sorry…I just don't like talking about it, but um…like you said we should probably keep…going."

"Well, I still shouldn't have said anything, but thanks. I really appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt. I would never want to jeopardize our relationship over something stupid I said. I mean, you're really nice Naminé and…I'd hate to lose you." Roxas quietly explained, oblivious to the blush blossoming across her porcelain cheeks or the visible fidgeting of her hands.

'Why does he have to be so sweet? No guy has ever been this…genuine with me before, and the only thing I feel is horrible because I'm…nothing like him. I can't even be honest with him and tell him about the real me.' "I'm not that…," Naminé trailed off, a pang of guilt striking at her heart as the truth refused to slip from her lips, "Thanks."

Again, completely unaware of the internal war his words had caused, Roxas smiled charmingly and swung their intertwined hands as he boldly took a step forward. "No problem! Now, let's get going before it's too late! I've been dying to have bowl of Sea Salt ice cream for ages!"

Naminé arched an eyebrow as some of the tension was relapsed from her shoulders at his remark, "Sea Salt…ice cream? What kind of flavor is that?"

Roxas almost gaped in pure astonishment at her ignorance of the most amazing flavored ice cream in the world, but opted, instead, for an eager grin. "Oh, you'll see."

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"I can't believe it took us an extra fifteen minutes to finds this place and you were looking right at it!" Naminé exclaimed incredulously, swallowing another spoon full of sea salt ice cream before allowing a few giggles to escape her lips. "It's like you're blind or something," she commented before shivering slightly from the ice cream, "Brr…this stuff is so good, but now I'm getting super cold."

Roxas beamed, putting another large spoonful of his own turquoise colored ice cream into his mouth before he tactfully tried to dodge her blind comment. "See, I told you it was good."

"Yeah, but…seriously, how did you not notice it? It was right in front of you!" Another smile pierced her features but Naminé didn't even notice. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time and…it felt nice. For once, she could have a conversation with a guy without him checking her out every five seconds or making shallow comments on her looks. She was still the Queen of course, but there was a subtle lightheartedness that had begun to build in her chest. He had always made her feel different, but, being out here…outside of school, was different. It's almost as if she was given permission to act a little silly, a little less cold, a little more… like herself.

Naminé knew, of course, that she couldn't be entirely truthful, but this was still something, at least to her. She never knew how he felt about any of this though. To her, his feelings were so enigmatic, so unfathomable that it felt like she could never quite fully decode him.

"I must have been spacing or something, I guess," Roxas admitted chuckling nervously. Oh, how he wished she didn't notice those things! It would make his life so much easier, but Roxas did acknowledge that something like this was sure to be common the more time they spent together. He only hoped it wouldn't lead her to expose his secret. Not yet.

"Still," Naminé said shaking her head as she placed a hand over her mouth to avoid laughing at her crush's expense.

Roxas rolled his eyes in fake annoyance as he playfully swatted her words away, "Alright, alright I'm oblivious, but, since I'd say that, that's pretty obvious, I've got a much more serious question to ask you, Miss Misaki." Pointing his spoon forward, Roxas smiled and arched an eyebrow.

"And what question would that be?" Naminé asked, crossing her arms across her chest as a similar expression painted itself on her face.

"What is…," Roxas began, leaning in close enough to smell the vanilla perfume wafting from her skin, "your favorite thing to do?"

"My favorite thing to do?" Naminé repeated, "Um…well…" 'Drawing…drawing is your favorite thing to do,' Her mind boldly declared but Naminé still felt that any type of art was for freaks…and Naminé was not a freak. "Shopping I guess," Naminé replied smoothly, but, on the inside, her heart was assaulted by painful onslaughts of guilt. She couldn't be honest about anything that regarded the real Naminé, could she?

"Oh," Roxas simply replied, his dejected tone only increasing the pain produced by the stabbing guilt in her heart. "Nothing else?" He asked again, "I mean…you don't even like reading, sports, drama, or…drawing?" The last word slipped off of his tongue before he could stop it and Roxas could tell, by the way the way the once lighthearted atmosphere around them thickened, he shouldn't have said anything at all.

"N-Nothing else," Naminé lied as she quickly attempted to stifle her erratic heartbeat. Why did he have to bring up drawing? She would have felt better saying she didn't like anything else if he just hadn't brought up drawing, but he did and it made the guilty blonde wish she could disappear into an endless abyss.

Roxas' lips pulled down into an apologetic frown, "Sorry, I don't mean to be nosy or anything. I was just curious, but um…anyway, what kind of music do you like then? You said you liked singing, right?"

Naminé flushed at his need to apologize again and was thankful no one from school had been there to witness her pathetic display. "Yeah, I like singing and…I guess I really like Pop a lot, especially Adele. She's super good," Naminé answered, steadying her voice as she quietly pushed aside her empty ice cream dish for the waitress to take.

"Yeah, Adele's definitely got some amazing vocals," Roxas commented with an encouraging nod, "I really like Isaac Slade from The Fray too. His voice is so unique."

A small smile began to blossom across Naminé's lips as she nodded in agreement, "And, the lyrics to his song are good too and not super stupid and pointless."

"You mean to say you don't like super pointless songs?" Roxas inquired jokingly.

Naminé rolled her eyes with false petulance, "Surprisingly not."

"Well, that's—"

BUZZ…BUZZ…BUZZ.

Roxas' brows furrowed in confusion as he pulled out his vibrating phone. 'Who could be calling—'

"Xion!" Roxas abruptly blurted aloud, earning a both confused and irritated look from Naminé.

"What does she want?" Naminé asked icily as she leaned back against her side of the blue and white striped booth unhappily. Xion really knew how to ruin moment, didn't she?

Pressing a button on the phone, Roxas quickly responded to his obsidian haired friend. "Yeah...I'm here at the ice cream shop with Naminé, remember?"

"Oh…yeah, do you need a lift out of there or is she gonna drive you home too?"

The tone of Xion's voice clearly betrayed how frustrated she was at his current situation, but Roxas merely held a smile in his voice as he answered her smoothly. "That would be nice Xion; I don't want Naminé to have to waste any more gas bringing me back anyway. What time is it?"

"It's not a big deal," Naminé interrupted, "I can take you home if you like?"

"9:30 pm?" Roxas grimaced before answering Naminé with an apologetic smile, "It's okay, I wouldn't want to make you late for school and besides, I have to give Xion the…part of my project that we're doing for…English class." 'Liar.'

Naminé raised both eyebrows, "We have a project for English class?"

"Well," Roxas swallowed nervously as his mind desperately strung together a plausible excuse, "Xion and I do…it's for a little extra credit." He was such a horrible, horrible liar.

"I guess that makes sense why you would want her to drive you back home," Naminé stated, bitterness infecting her tone as she hastily grabbed her purse and slid out of the booth.

Roxas quickly said goodbye to Xion before attempting to placate Naminé. "I really enjoyed our night together, Naminé. I'm really glad we could go to the festival."

"Yeah, me too," Naminé murmured quietly as she refrained from pursing her well glossed lips unhappily. She should be happy. The night went great, but…Xion. Xion had ruined it.

Clumsily, Roxas exited his side of the booth, nearly toppling over as he hastily and maladroitly grasped her well accessorized hand. Naminé bit back her surprise at his action but turned around to look at her crush coolly. "Please don't be mad, Naminé. I know you don't like Xion, but she and I…we're good friends too," Roxas pleaded softly, unaware of the heat suddenly flooding to her cheeks.

"Who said I ever disliked Xion?" was her quiet reply.

Roxas chuckled, "It's kind of obvious, I just wish I knew why. I think you two could be really good friends if you tried."

"We've already…," Naminé quickly bit back her words and shook her head. Talking about her past friendship with Xion Yamazaki was so not something she wanted to get into tonight. "I should probably get going…if you're still getting a ride." Roxas gently released her hand and Naminé had to stifle a frown from the sudden lack of warmth.

"Alright, well I'll see you at school tomorrow then," Roxas replied before another smile flitted across his face, "Don't forget though, on Friday we're gonna practice a song for music class, okay?"

Naminé nodded as a small smile tugged at her own lips, "I'll make sure not to forget."

"Good and, oh, what's your favorite meal?"

"My favorite meal?" Naminé repeated, her tone betraying a hint of confusion.

Roxas nodded and beamed at the blonde, "Yes, your favorite meal. My Mom said she wanted to know so she could make it for dinner on Friday."

Naminé blinked back her surprise. His mother hadn't even met her and yet she was already so willing to do such a kind thing for her. "I-I'm fine with anything, really. Your Mom doesn't need to make anything special for me."

"I know," He simply answered, "but she said she wants to, so what's your favorite meal?"

Again, Naminé had to suppress her surprise, but this time a small smile crept across her lips. "I really like pasta, especially spaghetti."

"Really? Me too!" Roxas exclaimed excitedly, "I'll tell my Mom when I get home so she can get the supplies ready to make it for Friday."

"That sounds great; I can't wait to meet your family," Naminé said happily, adjusting the strap of her purse before heading outside, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See ya!" Roxas called as he waved, hopefully, in her direction.

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"I have to admit," Xion confessed, "I didn't really think you'd be able to survive after spending so much time with ice queen. I think I would have rather jumped off a cliff than spend as much time with as you did tonight." The two teens were comfortably seated in Xion's grey Mustang as the raven haired girl drove silently down the empty road. Beside her in the passenger seat, Roxas leaned his forehead against the window's glass; his dead eyes set on passing pavement flying beneath the car's tires but unable see anything other than the eternal black void his blindness had crippled him with.

For a moment, no words left his lips. His voice as dead as his sight as the car's engine quietly hummed its repetitive tune. Xion gripped the steering wheel tighter at her companion's silence until her knuckles became a deathly white. Maybe she had gone too far? Said something too brash, too bold. He was friends with her, even if she was a horrible person. Another minute passed by.

"You know," he quietly began, quickly earning the complete attention of the dark haired female, "She's really…not as bad you think. Actually, she's really," He paused and finally allowed a smile to flit across his face as his tone lightened, "Fun to be around and I think she just puts on a face for the people around her, you know? I don't think she's really the cruel person everyone makes her out to be."

This time, it was Xion who remained silent for a few minutes before speaking. Her tone was acidic and held a clear amount of incredulity. "I highly doubt that. I mean, no offense, but Naminé is just a stupid, self-absorbed, superficial snob. She doesn't care about anyone else unless they're rich, popular or 'hot.'" Xion spat out the last word of her diatribe with an extra sour note permeating her tone, but Roxas only smiled comfortably at her words.

"If all of that is true," Roxas countered calmly, "then why would she bother asking for tutoring in music class? I mean stupid people don't usually care about tutoring do they? Moreover, why would she even bother hanging out with me if I'm poor?"

"Because you're…" Xion stopped herself before she said the word 'hot,' but was quickly fueled with anger once the rest of the blond boy's words sunk in. "Wait…don't tell me she wants tutoring from you?"

Roxas chuckled obliviously, "Who else would teach her?"

"B-But you're blind!" Xion stuttered angrily.

"So, that doesn't mean I'm deaf," Roxas shot back evenly, "As long as she brings an IPod for me to listen to the song she wants to sing, I can just play by ear."

"Still!" Xion hissed, "Why does it have to be you? I'm sure there'd be plenty of other kids willing to teach her! I mean Ronald Lionheart is like obsessed with her and—"

Roxas scowled as his voice suddenly became tainted with irritation. "I'm teaching her Xion, and, to be quite frank, I'm really starting to get annoyed with this big feud you have with Naminé! You're both my friends and I'm not going to stop being friends with either of you just because the other doesn't like it!"

"I was just…trying to protect you from her," Xion muttered sullenly in response.

With his acute hearing, however, Roxas still managed to catch her words and sighed as his lips pulled into an apologetic frown. "I really appreciate you looking out for me, Xion…but I have to help Naminé. I promised myself I would save her because she was my childhood friend and…I know what it's like to be obsessed with superficial things-"

"But," Xion replied softly, "Do you really think that you can bring her back? I mean, you haven't seen her in so long Roxas…she's changed."

"I know that she's changed Xion, but…I've already started to see who the real Naminé is and I can't give up now," Roxas explained, his thoughts involuntarily drifting to the flaxen haired girl as he spoke.

Removing one hand from the steering wheel, Xion rubbed the side of her face in exasperation. "I'm really not going to change your mind about this am I?"

"Thank you, Xion," Roxas said quietly as a gossamer like smile flitted across his visage. Xion didn't verbally respond but there was a small secret smile that tugged at her own lips.

'Even if you two become close, I won't stop fighting for you, Roxas…I can't let her win you that easily.'

KHKHKHKHKHKHKH

"See you tomorrow Xion," Roxas called out once the sound of Xion's car had drifted farther down the driveway. Xion honked loudly in response and Roxas couldn't help but laugh to himself quietly as he clumsily fumbled with the doorknob.

Once inside of his home, Roxas carefully maneuvered his way towards the kitchen, but stopped suddenly when he heard several voices coming from the living room. 'I wonder who's here?'

Feeling his way back to the front entry, Roxas quietly inched his way into the living room. More voices piped in. Roxas' brow furrowed, 'Mom…Dad… and—"

"Well, well looks like the sightless wonder has finally gotten his dumb ass home."

Roxas grimaced and fought the acidic tone threatening to permeate his own response. "Vanitas."

"Knock it off Vanitas," Cloud warned sternly as he glowered threateningly at his eldest son.

"Tch," Vanitas rolled his gold eyes sarcastically, "Don't get your panties all in a bunch old timer. It's called a joke. Ever heard of it?"

Cloud opened his mouth to reply, but Tifa, the raven haired boy's mother, quickly interceded. "Vanitas, be respectful. He's still your father."

"Yeah, sorry Mom, but the last time I checked it was my jackass of a 'father' who cheated on you and knocked her up," Vanitas pointed accusingly towards Aerith as his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, "while you two were still married!"

Everyone in the room fell silent. Roxas fidgeted anxiously and he could only imagine the array of fireworks that were sure to explode at Vanitas' knife-like words. If he could have, Roxas would have spared a glance to his father and mother to see their reactions. But, even blind, Roxas was sure he knew what their responses would be.

These fights weren't common, but even as a child; Roxas had been the unfortunate witness to some of the verbal fireworks that erupted from the mention of this topic. It had actually only been for the past seven or eight years that everyone had finally begun to get along again, with exception of Vanitas of course. Vanitas had always hated him, his sister and his mother. And…to some degree, Roxas understood why. His father had, had an affair with his mother—Tifa' best friend—and started a new family with her. What Roxas didn't understand, is why he and his sister also had to suffer a great deal of verbal abuse from their older brother when they didn't even ask to brought into this entire mess?

"Vanitas," Tifa finally spoke in a tightened voice, "We all know what happened, but I thought we agreed to move on from it, remember?"

"And besides, we're all family now, right?" Aerith tried adding with a tense smile.

Vanitas snorted, "Family with you? As if I'd ever want to be that close with the slut my asshole of a father screwed around with or either of your half-breeds!"

Aerith gasped aloud and tears suddenly began to cascade down her cheeks as she choked out a sob. Cloud instantly went to wrap an arm around his wife protectively and glared blue daggers at his obsidian haired son as his hands shook with blatant rage. "Get the hell out of my house, Vanitas," He spat acidly.

"Like I'm scared of you," Vanitas mocked as he barked out a malicious laugh, "You're no man at all, you're just a pathetic coward who left his wife and—"

"Shut up, Vanitas!" Roxas abruptly hissed, surprising even himself as the mordant words fell from his lips. He really was sick of how Vanitas treated his family and the fact that Tifa put up with so much of it. Roxas knew she was a strong woman, but when it came to restraining her son, she was hopelessly weak.

Vanitas cackled and Roxas felt his whole body stiffen as he realized the demise he had brought upon himself. "Looks like the super freak over here has something to say to me, isn't that right, little brother?"

"Knock it off Vanitas," Cloud warned again as he cast his ex-wife a meaningful glare. Her amber eyes narrowed stubbornly in response, but it was evident she felt guilty for making her brunette friend cry.

"Or you'll what?" Vanitas challenged with a sneer before looking back to Roxas, "You were saying something, half-breed?"

Roxas bit his lower lip, for once wishing his older sister were present to give Vanitas a needed tongue lashing. "I…I said, shut up."

Vanitas laughed again before he swung an arm around Roxas' shoulders and whispered maliciously into the blond's ear. "I wouldn't be telling me to shut up, kid. I'll kick your blind ass so hard you'll be lucky if you can even move."

"I'm not afraid of you," Roxas retorted coolly, "I may be blind but I can get around just fine without my sight."

"Like you do at school?" Roxas froze and Vanitas pulled away from his brother as he cackled maliciously "That's right, I know all about you're little plan to pretend you're not blind."

Roxas waited a moment but after a minute, his curiosity got the best of him and he finally asked, "You do?"

"Of course, I do kid and you know what? It's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of!"

Inwardly, Roxas seethed but his mouth twitched slightly as he sarcastically remarked, "Coming from the village idiot himself, I guess that really means something, doesn't it?" Without another word, Vanitas angrily snatched his brother's arm and threw him to the floor violently as his once mocking face contorted into pure fury. Instantly, Cloud let go of Aerith and quickly locked his arms around Vanitas to restrain the raven haired boy from inflicting further damage.

"Leave. Now," Cloud commanded with gritted teeth to Tifa, as he pushed Vanitas towards her and quickly went to guard his blind son. "And I don't want to see either of you until he" Cloud jabbed an accusing finger at the glowering boy, "learns some self-restraint!"

Tifa cast an astonished look to her ex-husband before it quickly melted into anger, "That's fine with us, Cloud! It's not like you've ever been much of a father to him anyways since you started your new family!"

"GET OUT!" Cloud snarled furiously and watched with shaking hands as his ex-wife and son left the house. Everyone in the Strife household fell quiet again.

"Um…Dad?" Roxas interrupted after a moment, feeling awkward as he said it but clearly needing a little help off the ground.

Cloud blinked and looked down at his son with an apologetic smile, "Oh…right. Sorry about that."

"It's no problem," Roxas said shaking his head once he was upright again, "I just wish Vanitas didn't always have to get so violent."

Cloud sighed, clearly exhausted as he flopped down onto one of the nearby chairs, "Me too and I wish Tifa would do something about him. She practically lets him get away with murder and the things he said…" Cloud abruptly trailed off as his tone became darker.

"Were stupid," Aerith finished with a weak smile before turning to their son, "But, all else aside, how was your little outing, sweetheart?"

"Good, I had a lot of fun and she said her favorite dish was spaghetti so, I was hoping you'd be able to make it for Friday when she comes over to practice the song for music class," Roxas returned the smile and could visibly feel himself relaxing even if he knew his parents remained tense.

"That'll be fine. I have all of the ingredients already , but remember no one can come over next week since we're moving in with your Uncle Leon and Aunt Riona, alright?"

Roxas blinked back his astonishment, "We're already moving? But…did the bank…?"

"They're giving us thirty days to get out of here," Cloud explained briskly, "and we want to be out of there as soon as we can. Your aunt and uncle already said it was okay, so we're all going to start packing up this weekend."

"Oh…" Roxas nodded, "I see."

"It'll be great, hun," Aerith encouraged but Roxas could tell she was faking it. Aerith loved her older brother Leon but…Leon did not exactly love Cloud. He had always blamed the spiky haired blond for tainting his little sister and Riona wasn't too fond of him either due to the fact that she's very close to Tifa…

"Well," Aerith continued with false cheerfulness, "I think I'm going to get started packing things up in our room and I'll start dinner in a little bit."

Both males nodded and Roxas called out an 'Okay' as he heard his mother's light footsteps disappear up the stairs.

Cloud finally released another sigh as he buried his head in his hands, "She's going to start crying again, isn't she?"

Roxas didn't respond but wore a guilty frown as he heard his mother's heart wrenching sobs echo throughout the house.

'Yeah...she is…'

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"I'm home!" Naminé announced as she entered through the set of French styled doors and into the marble tiled foyer. "Lucille?" Naminé called again, this time for the family's head maid. After a soundless moment, Naminé's plucked blonde brows furrowed in confusion and she headed into her family's ornate living room.

One of the other maids, Ariel, was in the room, but Naminé could tell she was nervous about something by the way she was hastily dusting her mother's various trinkets that were normally stored in their crystal case near the flat screen TV that sat in the center of the room against one of the floral patterned walls.

"Is something wrong, Ariel?"

Ariel nearly dropped the glass ballerina figurine she was holding as she loudly sputtered, "M-Miss N-Naminé! Y-You're already h-home!"

"It's like almost ten, Ariel," Naminé replied with growing suspicion, "Why wouldn't I be home by now?"

"N-No reason," Ariel stuttered again as she attempted a nonchalant smile.

Naminé raised an eyebrow before shaking her head, "Something's wrong, now tell—"

"I hope you like the wine, my dear. It's imported from Italy and I was told it has an utterly exquisite taste." Naminé's eyes instantly widened at the sound of the familiar voice coming from the dining room.

'Father's home? But, he said he'd be away for a business trip and mother…she had already left for her trip to the spa last night…' Naminé swallowed as she felt her heart drop sickeningly into her stomach. 'It can't be…'

Without another word to Ariel, Naminé began to quietly walk towards the sound of her father's voice until Ariel hastily wrenched her away and gave her a meaningful look. "Please, Miss Naminé stop. Your father…" She trailed off before releasing a shaky breath, "He's…"

Naminé jerked her arm away. "He's what? Too—"

"Mmm, you were right. This wine is exquisite, have you ever brought any for your wife?" A smooth female voice asked with a coy purr. Naminé visibly paled in response and could feel her body slowly becoming numb as her mind raced for any form of rationality to explain what she was hearing.

Mr. Misaki chuckled, "I wouldn't waste my money on that woman. She's not even worth my time anymore these days."

"I'm surprised you two are even still together, hasn't she figured out us out yet?" The woman's voice almost sounded impatient as she said this and Ariel winced as she saw her young ward begin to tremble at her words.

"Kyoko always was a little slow," Mr. Misaki explained snidely, "but it's convenient for the time being until I can get a proper divorce attorney. I wouldn't want to hand nearly all my fortune to that insufferable woman."

"Miss Naminé," Ariel whispered sadly as she noticed the blonde tightly shake her head, beginning to back away slowly before abruptly sprinting up the staircase and into her room.

'This can't be happening…my Father…he's…' Naminé shakily went to sit on the edge of her bed, ignoring the incessant yips of her little dog as she began to repeatedly weave a well-manicured hand through her corn silk colored hair.

Naminé knew her parents' relationship wasn't perfect. They were never overly affectionate to one another and rarely spent long stretches of time together, but…to think that her father would actually go so far as to have an affair? Naminé couldn't believe it. Did her father ever consider anyone but himself?

"Who am I kidding?" Naminé murmured aloud to herself, laughing weakly as she walked towards her closet. "I might as well get my mind off of it because he's never going to change."

KHKHKHKHKH

A few hours later and Naminé had completely reorganized her closet. Her father never came to see if she was home, but Naminé forced herself to not notice his lacking presence. He wasn't worth crying about. It was only after reordering her closet, however, that Naminé began to notice the various childhood objects scattered about. Her first sketchpad had been neatly tucked between a few boxes and the art set her parents had bought her in the eighth had been buried underneath a mound of last season's couture. Yet, the last memento Naminé found caused a vague sense of déjà vu to overcome her.

It was an old crinkled photo, obviously from her early childhood, due to her miniature size, but…in it, she was building a sandcastle with a little boy around her age. His face wasn't visible because he had been looking away when the photo was taken, but Naminé still felt like she knew him from somewhere. The sunshine colored hair and…what color eyes did he have?

Naminé released a frustrated sigh before setting the photo onto the lowest shelf of her closet. "Why can't I remember? And why is it that whenever I look at this photo all I can think of is that song Roxas played in music class?"

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5, 389 words later (Almost 12 pages) and this chapter is finally finished! I hope it was worth the wait! I tried to make it as exciting as I possibly could. The good news is that with my paper coming to an end, I won't have as many issues updating (I hope). I want to update more frequently than I do because you guys are so incredible! I mean 253 reviews! That's crazy and for the 117 Favorites and 120 alerts…I'm so grateful to see that people like this story! It's a lot of work sometimes but it's worth it to see all of the reviews, favorites and alerts from you guys! So…THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

As for the story, I want to first say that while I do prefer Clerith, I have absolutely nothing against Cloti. I actually like it to some degree and Tifa is beyond awesome, so…I hope no one's mad about her being his ex or anything. It really just made the most sense in terms of who he would have been married to. Also, I hope everyone thought Vanitas' role made a good twist and the last bit with Naminé showed some more of her human side. She's really starting to change, but it'll be a while before we see the real Naminé, especially in front of other people.

Next chapter: Naminé's going over to Roxas' house and that will entertaining with his family trying not to mess up and say anything they shouldn't. Also, I'll probably mention the party coming up at Selphie's house…Oh boy…

Review goal: I think it would be awesome to see Half Alive get 277 reviews? I guess we'll see what happens, but as always I'll keep trucking regardless with writing this story:) It's just way too much fun not to write.

Also, if you guys are bored or whatever, I have the second chapter up on my new story called Into The Lion's Den posted. The first chapter essentially gives you a feel of the setting and what Naminé has to initially do and the second takes place in the dictator's castle and introduces Xemnas, his wife and Roxas of course:) So…like I said, if you're bored and waiting for the next chapter of Half Alive, Into The Lion's Den might be something you like:)

Review Replies:

Jenni: Thank you so much for your review and definitely! It's good that they found each other:)

some random person

Victoria5624: XD I know…I'm so slow! But don't sell yourself short! Yours are so good and funny! I always laugh when I read them:) Thanks though…it took me a while with the whole verb thing and descriptiveness, and lol. It is a kind of funny line and yeahhh….he's not the best guy in the story. XD I get that and I agree. He's just so klutzy lol and aww thank you! Funny because I wrote that four years ago before entering high school. She is indeed.