Chapter 18: Memories

"Mommy, Mommy! Look over there it's a sandbox! Can I go play in it, pwease?" A four year old Naminé asked her mother with a pleading expression.

Mrs. Misaki's pale blue eyes, a mirror of her daughter's, barely strayed from the luminescent screen of her PDA. "That's fine dear, just don't wander off."

The young Naminé bobbed her little head eagerly, ignoring her mother's lack of interest as she happily scurried across a patch of recently mowed grass. The smell made Naminé's nose twitch slightly, but she resisted the urge to sneeze as she came upon her desired location.

The sandbox wasn't much. A simple, ordinary red square encasing no more than a pound or two of artificial white sand, but it still excited the little blonde as she quickly slipped her sandals off and placed them outside the sandbox. Giggling quietly to herself, Naminé carefully climbed into the sandbox. The white sand felt cool and easily became caught in between her bare toes. Naminé smiled happily at the sensation and wiggle d her toes as she carelessly plopped down in the sand.

Humming a nonsensical tune to herself, Naminé artfully began to mold the sand into what looked to be a promising sandcastle. A few moments later, however, Naminé concentration shattered as she heard a soft voice stutter behind her.

"C-Can I h-help too?"

The four year old little girl's eyebrows furrowed, but only for a second as a big grin flitted across her face. "Sure!" She chirped eagerly, "We can make the biggest most awesomest sandcastle ever!"

The boy finally smiled but his eyes remained on the ground as he ran a hand through his sunshine colored hair, "O-okay…um…well…I'm R-"

Naminé's sapphire orbs abruptly snapped open. Her hands were clutching the fabric of her sheets before she looked down at them, forcing her coiled muscles to relax.

Releasing a tired sigh, Naminé shook her head in bewilderment. 'Such a strange dream…I wonder why I had it…?'

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"You're looking for the book Night, correct?" The grey haired librarian asked as her eyes briefly flickered from the glowing screen of one of the school's computers to the jade colored eyes of Olette.

Olette nodded shyly and quietly spoke an affirmative, "Yes ma'am."

"Hmm…," the librarian pursed her chapped lips as her aged fingers skillfully scrolled down a list on the computer, "I'm assuming it's the one by Elie Wiesel?"

"Yes."

"It should be in the history section. Just look closely, it shouldn't be too hard to find," the librarian instructed before reverting her complete attention back to the monitor.

Olette didn't look back at the librarian as she left, but muttered a quick "thank you" which went completely unheard. Olette sighed. She could only hope this book wasn't too hard to find. She needed it for book report she was doing on the Holocaust this semester and Olette did not want to be among one of the misfortune miscreants who waited until the day before to actually get started on her project.

Weaving into the history section of library, Olette immediately began to peruse the seemingly infinite rows of books. 'World War I…World War II…Revolutionary War…?' Olette furrowed her eyebrows. 'It has to be here! It's not like it's obscure or something…'

"Looking for something?" A voice from behind her suddenly hissed.

Olette spun around sharply and nearly gasped, "Hayner! W-What are you…what are you d-doing here?"

"What? Am I not allowed in the library now too?" Hayner sneered mockingly, "Though I think the better question to ask is why are you here? Hasn't the 'Queen' banned all contact with books yet?"

Olette huffed petulantly at her former friend's insinuation. "No she hasn't, but…I don't really understand why you would care anyway…we…we're not friends anymore, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Hayner retorted with a spiteful snort, "It's not like you betrayed us privately."

Olette bit her lip and bowed her head in shame at the memory. At the indelible choice she had made that day freshmen year.

"You know we like love you Lett," Naminé began in a sugar coated tone, "But those loser friends of yours have like got to go."

Olette shook her head in disbelief, "B-But…why? We've been friends since kindergarten and—"

Naminé placed a dainty hand on the brunette's shoulders and eyed her with a serious sapphire gaze, her sugary tone quickly dissipating. "Look, Olette. I know this isn't like easy but think about it! If you dump those losers, you'll become so popular that they won't even matter."

"Plus," Selphie added with a malicious smile, "Anyone that disses our group for a couple of pathetic freakazoids automatically commits social suicide."

"Exactly," Naminé affirmed with a satisfied smirk, "And we'd hate to see that happen to you, Lett."

Olette swallowed and looked to the only non-vicious member of the group, Kairi. The red head, however, quickly averted her gaze and shrunk back closer to Naminé. She wanted to help Olette. She wanted to tell her to transfer schools, flee the country but no words left her lips. She was far too afraid to suffer the consequences. Like Olette, she too did not wish to be condemned to the lunch table near the school's dumpster until she graduated.

"Now, here's what I want you to do…"

"I…I didn't want to do it!" Olette defended, blinking rapidly as she tried to suppress an onslaught of tears, "Honest! I…I was just…I was just—"

Hayner rolled his eyes and his face contorted into a bitter sneer. "Save it Olette. We know why you humiliated us the way you did, but…I guess it turns out that the grass really isn't greener on the other side, huh?"

"I guess not," Olette whispered as a lone tear streaked down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and hid her jade eyes from his cold gaze. Her shoulders trembled slightly but Olette refused to break down. The next words that left her lips almost inaudible, broken. "I…I just wish, I could take it back."

Hayner sighed, his back against one of the bookshelves as his once cold expression melted into sorrow. "Me too...but what's done is done. We can't be friends anymore, Olette."

Olette's hands shook and she clenched them tighter until there were visible crescent shaped indents decorating the inside of her palm. 'This…This isn't how it should be!' "I'm sorry!" Olette looked up, "Hayner…?" Her jade eyes darted around the surrounding area, but the slick haired blond was nowhere in sight. 'He's gone…' Olette slid to the ground and buried her head in her hands dejectedly. "Hayner…please…forgive me…"

"I can't be f-friends with either of y-you anymore!"

Pence gasped, dropping his ramen noodle bowl onto the cafeteria's linoleum tiled floor. "W-What!"

"Why?" Hayner asked but he didn't look at Olette. No. He looked at her malevolent leader.

Naminé smirked but didn't even bother looking at the offended teen. "Why don't you tell them, Lett?"

Olette stiffened. Tell them? Tell her best friends since infancy that she could no longer associate with them because they were losers? That if she even breathed the same air as them for another second she would be forced to commit social suicide and be condemned to the cafeteria table beside the dumpster outside?

Internally, Olette was waging a war against herself. Was popularity really worth it? Was it really what she thought it would be? Was this…was losing two of the most important people in her life really going to bring her happiness?

'I…I don't know if I can do this anymore!'

"Olette?"

"Lett?"

"I-I'm s-sorry, but…um…I can't be friends with either of you guys anymore because you're…you're both p-pathetic l-losers."

Hayner gasped. Olette didn't bother to see his reaction though. She knew if she did, she would turn back and beg for their forgiveness.

"She said," Naminé articulated snidely, "she doesn't want to be friends with you anymore because you're LOSERS!" At this, Naminé, Selphie and even Kairi made an 'L' with their left hands. Olette felt frozen but felt a small jab in the rips from Selphie. A clear signal that she was to join in. Weakly, Olette made an 'L' with her left hand and lifted it to her forehead. She nearly gasped aloud, however, at the hurt in her ex-best friend's eyes, especially Hayner. The whole cafeteria continued to roar with laughter at the display and Naminé's verbal daggers only seemed to fan the flames as what was only supposed to be a few seconds of pain turned into an endless eternity.

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"Okay…so here's what Sora's told me so far...," Kairi began in a whisper. She was currently in study hall with Naminé where the two girls were huddled together in their usual spot. Several gossip hungry students nearby constantly stole glances in their direction but neither girl appeared to notice them.

They were far too into their own conversation to bother with any desperate wannabes. Kairi drew in another breath and leaned in closer to the blue-eyed queen. "He played soccer for the Destiny High Eagles for about two years, was involved in theater productions since eighth grade, has played piano since he was two and apparently, he's always been an honor roll student."

Naminé, who had simply been nodding, abruptly stopped and looked to Kairi with wide blue eyes. "H-Honor roll? Like…as in straight A's honor roll?"

Hesitantly, Kairi nodded and watched as the color drained from the blonde girl's well painted face. '…What am I going to do! If he finds out how horrible my grades are, he'll think I'm like stupid or something!' And, while Naminé had condemned any notion of becoming a 'good student,' the thought of having her beloved crush stigmatize her with a scarlet letter of stupidity was a far worse option. She wanted him to think she was smart. Something that, of course, had never been an issue with any of her other previous boyfriends. They didn't want a relationship built on deep and meaningful conversations. They were fine with a hollow, vapid relationship that only found its worth in the popularity gained and numerous party invitations that were extended.

'They never really cared about me…not the way he does.' "Well, I guess I'll like have to find a tutor to bring my grades up," Naminé declared in a whisper. Yes. For him, she would do that.

Kairi's eyes brightened and her jaw nearly fell slack at her Queen's bold statement. Naminé had never been interested in school…well in grades rather. 'Maybe she really is beginning to turn over a new leaf?' "You know…I could help you in English if you wanted?" Kairi quietly offered after overcoming her brief stunned silence, "It's one of my best subjects and um…I think I could explain it to you well enough."

"I would like that," Naminé said a small, subtle smile played at her glossy pink lips. Admittedly, she was a little surprised that one of her entourage had made such a kind offer, but…Kairi had always been most genuine of her friends. Olette was nice of course, but Naminé was always plagued with the feeling that Olette's friendship had blossomed into nothing more than a shallow display. And Selphie? Naminé wasn't so sure about Selphie anymore. The normally bubbly brunette had been acting very strange lately. Running off at strange times. Constantly chatting about with Yuna Suzuki and Rikku Tanaka, two other popular girls from their grade. It confused Naminé to some degree, but she hadn't bothered Selphie about it. She figured it probably wasn't important anyway.

"We can start meeting at my house then, maybe even this weekend if you have time." Kairi suggested with a hesitant shrug.

Naminé nodded, casting a cold glare to the vulture like eyes of their spectators, before responding. "Sunday works best for me."

"Great! And…um you can always text me with any questions you have too. You know I always respond pretty quickly."

Naminé nodded again as the bell rang, signaling the end of study hall. Students quickly filed out of the classroom, leaving a only a few desperate zealots wishing to devour any last ounce of juicy tidbits of gossip. Both Naminé and Kairi gathered their own materials and started towards the door until Naminé stopped just outside the classroom's entrance. She drew in a shaky breath, and Kairi, sensing the lack of her Queen's presence behind her, abruptly paused and turned to look at said blonde. "Something wrong, Naminé?"

The remaining gossip hungry students froze their own motions and instantly fixed their attention on Naminé. The blonde queen inwardly released a sigh before gently closing her sapphire eyes. She hated appearing weak. She hated people thinking she wasn't in control, but she also hated the sense of guilt silently stabbing her once dead conscience. She knew what she had to say and the foreign words rolled almost painfully off her tongue. "T-Thank you, Kairi."

Kairi blinked, stunned. "N-No problem."

Another subtle smile danced along her lips, but Naminé didn't reply as she seamlessly wove herself into the sea of students flooding the hallways.

'Strange…I've never thanked one of my friends before…not since Roxas arrived anyway…'

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'Prime Minister of Japan since 19…Ugh…' Roxas shook his head, abruptly ceasing the rapid movement of his fingers across the lightly indented surface of his brail history textbook. 'I just can't seem to focus at all today.' Though, how could he with his home life in even more chaos than it had been before? His father was constantly at odds with Tifa over the phone, his Mom was continually wallowing in guilt, Vanitas was well…he was Vanitas and no matter how hard Roxas tried, he couldn't seem to help his family at all.

He knew what his parents had done was wrong. Sure, they were in love but having an affair? That wasn't right, even if he and his sister owed their own existences to their father's infidelity. Yet, Roxas also knew that nothing could be done now about it—unless somehow they were able to acquire a time machine.

'I only wish I could make things a little better, then there wouldn't be so much tension all the time and maybe Vanitas would even act sane.' Not that Roxas had high hopes for that ever happening.

Releasing a sigh, Roxas closed his eyes and leaned back against his seat. He could hear the noisy shuffling of his teacher as she mercurially flitted to his fellow classmates. What he didn't notice, however, was that the erratic footsteps were heading in his direction. No, he was far too absorbed in his own thoughts to realize anything.

"Are you doing alright, Mr. Strife?"

Roxas nearly fell out of his desk but hastily grasped onto the metal railing lining the side. "H-Huh? Oh yeah! I'm perfectly okay, great even!" He chuckled nervously as he felt her burning gaze on him. 'Please leave me alone…'

A tense moment passed before his normally perky teacher gave a disconcerted nod and said in a suspicious tone, "Well…if you have any troubles later, come and talk to me, kay?"

Roxas nodded his head obediently and smiled anxiously. He could only hope that his eyes, though lacking sight, didn't give any of his true emotions away. He could never tell anymore if they did or if it even mattered since he was blind.

Once the teacher had walked away, the bell rang and Roxas relinquished another longer sigh from his lungs as he awkwardly stowed his brail textbook in his bag and slung it onto his back. It was Roxas' lunch hour now and the blond was greatly relieved that his mind could finally wander more freely without the consequence of an annoying lecture from his teachers.

"Are you sure you're okay, Roxas?"

"Huh?" Roxas stopped a few feet from the entrance and took a moment to process the familiar voice addressing him. "Aqua…Oh, um yeah I'm fine."

"It doesn't seem like it," Aqua commented clearly skeptical, "The way you responded before to the teacher made it seem like something's bothering you."

'Can't anyone leave me alone today?' "I'm fine, really," Roxas said as he forced a smile into his voice.

Aqua sighed, evidently not buying his words but deciding it would be best not to press the blond any further. "Well…I'll see you later then." Both teens briefly smiled at the pun before Terra and Ventus came into the room and escorted Aqua out into the next corridor. However, as they were leaving, Terra couldn't resist a snide "Screw up, yet?" to Roxas who merely responded with a mordant remark of his own. Ventus, of course, only chimed in to say hello before his attention quickly diverted to the blue haired object of his affections.

After the trio had left, Roxas waited patiently near the door for his cousin to arrive. He knew it usually took Sora a few minutes since his class was on the other side of the campus. Plus, Roxas had asked his cousin to be inconspicuous when he came to get him, something that the blind boy realized after his first day at Twilight, was not Sora's forte. Luckily, his classroom wasn't located near any crowded hallways, but, instead, was nestled in an isolated little section of the campus by the chess club's meeting room.

"Hey cuz, ready to go to lunch?"

Roxas turned his head towards the sound of Sora's voice and nodded his head. "Yeah…"

A silent moment passed between the two boys as they walked down the next corridor; Sora cast his cousin a weary look as he noted the blond's nervous fidgets. Would it be appropriate to bring up what happened with his cousin's family? Was he even allowed to mention anything? His mother had warned him about being a bit too brash in these types of situations…

"Worried?" Sora hesitantly asked.

Roxas' head shot up and shook his head, but Sora could tell his cousin was holding back. After all, the blond always did have the habit of biting his lower lip when he was worried about something.

"You're biting your lip," Sora noted, adding quickly before the blind boy could protest, "You always bite your lip when you're worried about something."

Roxas sighed sullenly. "You know what it's about Sora."

"Maybe not," Sora replied with a shrug.

If Roxas could have, he would have cast his cousin a withering look. He knew Sora well enough to know when the brunette was lying. "I'm sure your parents would have told you Sora. There not exactly the secret type when it comes to my family's feud," Roxas said morosely.

"Oh, yeah…if that's what you're talking about," Sora smiled as a nervous laugh was released from his lips, "Then…um…yeah, I did hear about it."

Roxas rolled his eyes and snorted at his cousin's behavior. "I really don't care that you know Sora. I'm actually glad that you do."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah…it's nice to talk to someone about it, even if that someone just so happens to be my goofy cousin," Roxas confessed as a small smile of amusement flickered across his face.

Sora grinned in response, "Well, I'm glad to hear you say that and…hey! I'm not goofy! For you information, I am a very mature individual who—"

"Still sleeps in Mickey Mouse pajamas," Roxas finished; his smile turned into a smirk.

Sora huffed in annoyance. "How would you even know? You…well you're...you know!"

Roxas shrugged nonchalantly, his smirk still intact. "I didn't but you're defensiveness pretty much says it all."

"Roxas!" Sora whined at his cousin before playfully punching his arm. Roxas chuckled and eventually Sora couldn't help but crack his usual goofy grin. The two cousins hadn't been able to engage in such lighthearted banter in since Roxas' accident and it felt nice to finally have things start to become normal again.

"Do you think…," Roxas began quietly, once their laughter had subsided, "that things will ever get better in our family? I mean we all say we're fine, but I know what happened isn't exactly easy to forget and even your parents still don't seem to trust my Dad."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck and the smile once painted on his face quickly melted into a serious frown. "I think…eventually things will get better. I mean, yeah, my parents don't exactly like your Dad but we're all still family, so we're never gonna turn our backs on each other. Plus, these things always blow over. Remember the last big fight they had? Sure, it was bad but everything worked in the end, right?" Sora asked.

"I guess," Roxas admitted, "but…that was years ago. Now, it's like things have gotten worse, especially since Vanitas has taken it upon himself to remind our family of what happened every time we see him."

"True, but…can you really blame him?" Sora asked, interceding before Roxas could vehemently provide a rebuttal, "The guy didn't exactly get the long end of the stick in that whole situation, and, no offense, but your Dad wasn't exactly father or year to him either when he was growing up."

"We never treated him bad when he came over, and my Mom always made his favorite meals when he came over," Roxas defended weakly.

"I never said he was treated badly. I just meant that your Dad always…kinda…sorta played favorites with you and Larexene, that's all."

"How would you even remember that?" Roxas mumbled, "We were kids Sora."

The brunette cousin shrugged his shoulders before abruptly pulling his cousin away from an incoming swarm of students. "Kids or not," Sora countered, "It was pretty obvious and I even remember Tifa coming over to my house to complain to my parents about it."

"Well…," Roxas said with clear irritation, "What am I supposed to do then? I can't magically go back in time and fix everything."

"No, but you can try to find some common ground with him," Sora suggested.

Roxas resisted the urge to snort at what he believed to be a ludicrous idea. "Common ground? With Vanitas?"

"Why not?" Sora asked blithely, "It's not like it would kill you to try and plus, maybe making amends will be the first step to fixing things."

"Maybe…"

Again, the two cousins were enveloped into silence as they continued their pace to the cafeteria. A few of their classmates stopped to stare at the duo as they passed, whispering amongst each other. Unlike Sora, however, Roxas was keenly aware of the poison dripping off their gossip hungry lips. He knew they were curious at his crestfallen expression—Did something happen with Naminé? Did she dump him? Was he suddenly unworthy of admiration and positive recognition amongst the student body? His upper lip almost twitched in amusement as he heard the flurry of rumors fly from one vulture-like student to the next. It almost made him want to laugh aloud but he retrained and attempted to focus on his cousin's rhythmic steps.

"You two headed off to lunch?"

Sora was the first to respond as he turned around to face the scowling blond, "Yeah, are you guys going too?"

"Today is Pizza Day," Pence said jokingly.

Sora chuckled before grabbing Roxas' arm and pulling him forward. Roxas staggered slightly at the abrupt motion and blinked a few times as he fought off a wave of disorientation. "We better get going then before it's all gone."

"You wanna sit with us today?" Hayner asked, his gaze pointedly fixed on Roxas.

Roxas shifted uncomfortably as he felt Hayner's intense gaze slowly burning holes in his face. Sora gave prompted him with his elbow and Roxas coughed before forcing himself to smile. "I'd like to, but…" He trailed off, pulling at the collar of his shirt nervously.

"But?" Hayner prodded mordantly.

"But," Roxas continued apologetically, "I promised Naminé that we'd eat together today."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Hayner spat cynically, "It's like you two are joined at the hip now."

"We could always eat lunch together some other time," Pence offered.

"Yeah," Sora added, "Maybe tomorrow would work?"

Hayner snorted, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "Whatever. Don't even bother. It's obvious that the ice queen has you wrapped around her finger already."

"It's called being friends Hayner," Roxas shot back coldly, "Something that you evidently don't seem to understand very well."

"Tch, like you're any better!" Hayner jeered. A crowd of students had now begun to watch the fight with interest. They had always assumed their future king as a placid, kind and seemingly imperturbable type of guy—which he was, for the most part. But, just like anyone else, Roxas still had a temper of his own. It may have been more subdued since the accident, but that didn't mean that it didn't exist. In fact, before the blind boy had turned over a new leaf, he had been an expert at throwing verbal knives.

"Not any better?" Roxas snorted, wishing he could flash the brown eyed boy the snide smirk on his face directly, "At least I'm willing to—"

"And we're going to lunch now!" Sora hastily interceded before wrenching his cousin down the hallway. Students parted quickly, seemingly mesmerized as their eyes followed the two boys until they disappeared around the next corner.

Once they were far enough, Sora let his cousin go. Roxas stumbled slightly but was able to steady himself against one of the sunset painted walls. The blond breathed in for a minute, listening for the sound of eavesdropping gossips; there were none. Sora had taken them to one of the hallways that lead to the few vacant classrooms in the school.

"Feeling calmer now?" Sora asked expectantly.

"You didn't have to do that," Roxas muttered angrily, "I can handle myself."

Sora gave an uncharacteristic snort, "Yeah, uh-huh. You and Hayner duking it out would have ended real well."

"I said I was fine," Roxas snapped.

"This is stupid; you two are friends and besides, Hayner always says rude stuff. It's nothing to have gotten so upset about."

Roxas shook his head in frustration. "You don't understand. I know Hayner is rude but…I'm just so sick of people saying hurtful things about Naminé. She's my friend now and…" He stopped abruptly, his next words caught in his throat.

"And…?" Sora prompted.

"She's really nice and sweet and…" He curtailed his speech again, forcing the words bubbling behind his lips to remain trapped.

"You like her," Sora finished with a sigh.

Roxas' veiled eyes grew wide and he sputtered helpless as his cheeks began to turn crimson. "W-What! I-I don't…I m-mean…I mean we d-don't—"

"Save it cuz," Sora cut in with a weary smile, "You like her and you know it."

"B-But—"

"Not that I understand your taste in girls," Sora murmured mostly to himself, "But…to each his own I suppose and maybe you will be able to change her?"

"I really don't like her like that!" Roxas said with an irritated huff.

Sora arched an eyebrow, and though Roxas was unable to physically see his cousin staring, he was able to feel the burning gaze of incredulity until finally….

"Fine!" He blurted, "I do like her like that! Happy now?"

Sora looked to his flustered cousin and smiled as he pulled him from his spot against the wall. "Quite. Now, let's go to lunch before all the pizza is gone."

Stumbling alongside the brunette, Roxas still couldn't fight the faint blush lingering in his cheeks. 'I can't believe I just admitted that…out loud.'

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"Where is he?" Xion complained as her blue eyes assiduously scanned the cafeteria for her blind friend. Sitting beside her, the student body president sat with his two friends and the two teens that joined their table only moments earlier.

Hayner, one of the teens that had just joined the table, snidely remarked, "I wouldn't bother looking for him. He's sitting with his precious Naminé today."

"C'mon Hayner," Pence chided as he took a bite full of pepperoni pizza, "It's not our right to judge who he hangs out with." Hayner rolled his eyes but didn't reply.

Xion, however, was becoming increasingly perturbed. What was so special about sitting with Naminé? Sure, he wanted to 'change' her, but how would having lunch with the snobby Ice Queen accomplish that? 'Besides…he promised he'd sit with me today and I won't let Naminé ruin that.'

"Hey Xion," Ven called out quietly, abruptly breaking the obsidian haired girl from her thoughts. She looked to the student body president expectantly and Ven nervously coughed as he pointed to the other side of the cafeteria. "He's over there if you…um want to talk to him."

Instantly, Xion stood up from her seat and began weaving towards the clueless blond who was currently waiting at the end of the lunch line for his cousin. It always made him feel slightly awkward to have to wait for his cousin, even if it was to receive his own school lunch (since Sora usually bought a double entrée if it was something Roxas also liked). Roxas sighed and weaved a hand through his hair impatiently. 'Sora certainly takes his time…'

"Roxas, there you are!"

Roxas nearly jolted in surprise as Xion suddenly grabbed one of his arms from behind. Her tone was airy, but Roxas could tell that something was up with the raven haired female. "Xion, it's good to see you. What's up?"

"Not too much," Xion replied nonchalantly, "You almost ready to go sit down?"

Roxas scratched the back of his head wearily. He should have known the obsidian haired girl would find out that he was sitting with Naminé today. "Almost. I'm just waiting for Sora to bring me my lunch; I forgot money again."

"Cool, well I'll wait for you guys so I can show you to our table."

"Um…That would be nice but…," Roxas cleared his throat and rolled back his shoulders uncomfortably, "I' actually eating with Naminé today."

"Again?"

Roxas shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

"But you promised to sit with m—us today Roxas," Xion protested as she tightened her grip on his arm.

"I know," Roxas said with a guilty sigh, "but it's just…Maybe we can all sit together today?"

Xion opened her mouth to object the idea, but quickly stopped herself. As much as she disliked Naminé, it would make her beyond irritated to have to sit with the raven haired girl and Xion couldn't exactly pass up an opportunity to annoy the 'Queen,' now could she?

"Okay," Xion conceded with a secret smirk, "I'll sit with you guys today too. It'll be fun."

Slightly surprised, Roxas blinked and nodded his head. "Um…That's great then. We'll just wait for—"

"That lunch lady is so slow!" Sora complained loudly, "It seriously took forever just to get a few pieces of pizza and—Oh hey Xion!"

Xion stifled a burst of laughter and smiled. "Hey yourself, are you ready to lead us to our table?"

"Wait…," Sora said his voice betraying bemusement, "You're sitting with us today?"

"Yeah, I invited her if that's alright?" Roxas asked.

"Well, I don't know how happy Naminé will be but I suppose we can give it a try."

Xion smirked. "I'm sure she'll let me."

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The one thing Naminé loved about lunch was that it gave her the chance to properly rule over her court and remind them of her popularity status. It was also a good way to keep herself informed of any juicy rumors that had arisen earlier during the day. Stabbing a piece of lettuce, Naminé brought the fork to her lips and chewed thoughtfully as she listened Selphie happily babble about the party she was planning to host this Saturday—a party that Naminé, of course, had an automatic invitation to.

"And it's gonna be like so hot!" Selphie bragged, jade eyes secretly sneaking glances at Naminé to see if any jealousy had infected the blond. Naminé's expression, however, remained impassive.

"Sounds like I have my plans set for Saturday then," Naminé declared, loud enough for her court and a few of the surrounding tables to hear. Instantly, the attention shifted back to the Queen and Naminé couldn't help but smirk as Selphie inwardly seethed. "I'm sure Roxas will come too; I'll probably ask him like after lunch—"

"Ask me what?" Once the melodious voice of her crush permeated the area, Naminé's gaze immediately snapped towards him.

"Roxas!" Naminé exclaimed in a delighted tone and patted the empty seat on her right, "I'm glad you're here, sit dow—" Naminé abruptly stopped mid-sentence as her blue eyes locked onto the female standing beside him. 'Xion…,' Naminé mentally growled.

"Do you have room for one more?" Xion asked sweetly, latching onto Roxas' arm once more as she ignored several death glares from the other popular kids.

"What is she doing here?" Naminé spat before looking to her crush's cousin.

"It was Roxas' idea," Sora accused. He hated to throw his cousin under the bus, but he also hated the thought of public humiliation even more. 'Besides,' Sora's mind reasoned, 'she actually likes him; she wouldn't do anything to him…hopefully'

"I just felt bad about not sitting with my other friends too," Roxas explained, oblivious to the curious spectators hanging onto his every word. Would the Queen listen? Or, would he officially be dethroned before he even accepted the crown? For many of the students, it was quite the conundrum because Naminé was well…Naminé, but ever since the new boy had came, their Queen had seemingly began to soften. "So," he continued with a gentle smile, "I figured it would be a good idea if we all sat together…err at least with Xion anyway." He quickly amended.

Naminé clenched her manicured hands underneath the table, conflicted. It always seemed her willpower was crumbling when he asked her for something. She could say no, couldn't she? Simply cite her distaste for the obsidian haired female as reason enough not to allow her to sit with them. It wouldn't confuse any of her subjects if she said no—unlike the seemingly numerous things she let slide. 'I can say no,' Naminé reassured herself, 'I'm the Queen…It's like in my job description.'

"Well, "Naminé began forcing certainty into her voice, "As much as…As much as…" In her mind, Naminé was becoming slightly panicked. The words behind her lips, the refusal, the snide jab at Xion were trapped. Bubbling but never being released in a string of regal and authoritative decrees. 'What is going on with me! Usually I'm not so…pathetic.'

"You know what," Naminé abruptly declared shaking her head before looking down to Xion condescendingly, "I actually think we do have a spare seat for you Xion. We usually give it to one of the wannabes as like charity, but I guess it would suit you just fine."

Xion rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Wow, don't I feel honored."

"You should," Naminé snapped as she silently gauged her court's reaction. No one seemed too disturbed with Xion's presence, now that it was simply an act of charity. However, Naminé could only wonder what was going through Roxas' head. Was he mad at her for indirectly insulting Xion or was he just glad there was no big fight between the two of them?

"So, are you going to come and sit down now, Roxas?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah," Roxas said with a smile, "I will and um…thanks for letting Xion sit with us today. I know she's not your favorite person in the world."

Naminé swatted his comments away, carefully watching her court's faces, "Eh, like I said, we do stuff like that occasionally anyway."

"Cool…So, um, anyway, you were going to ask me something earlier, weren't you?" Roxas asked, once he had carefully, albeit clumsily, eased himself into the chair beside her.

"Oh yeah, I was just like wondering if you wanted to go a party with me on Saturday? It's at Selphie's house."

"Saturday, huh?" Roxas scratched the back of his head, "I'm sure that would be fine, I'll just have to check with my folks in case they need me for something."

"Alright, well, when you know call me," Naminé said, tearing off a sheet of paper from the notebook cleverly lodged in her purse before sliding it across the table to the blind boy.

Though unable to see the feminine penmanship decorating sheet of paper, Roxas couldn't help but become slightly flustered at the thought of having her phone number. "O-Okay," He stuttered, quickly stuffing the sheet of paper in his back pocket, "I'll do that." "Looks like I'm going to need Sora's help.'

KHKHKHKHKHKHKH

"So Selph," Naminé began looking to the bubbly brunette as they walked down the hallway, "what are you planning to wear at your party, anyway?"

Selphie cocked her head thoughtfully before shrugging her lightly tanned shoulders, "I don't really know. Probably something like designer though, you?"

"I'm not positive either, but like maybe I'll go to the mall after school today and try to figure something out," Naminé replied nonchalantly.

Selphie nodded her head and made a mental note to do the same. "I'm sure whatever you wear will look hot Nams."

"Don't I always look hot?" Naminé asked flipping her platinum hair as her gaze flickered over to Kairi's and narrowed deviously. "What kind of outfit are you like thinking of wearing, Kai?"

"I'm not sure," Kairi admitted with a shrug, "I was thinking of wearing something blue though."

"That's Sora's favorite color too, isn't it?" Naminé inquired innocently. From beside her Selphie smirked. Kairi was so gonna get it!

"W-What!" Kairi yelped, "That n-not why I'm—"

"Save it Kai, I know you like Sora," Naminé said and crossed her arms.

Kairi's heart nearly missed a beat. Was it that obvious? Kairi had always done her best to be discreet but maybe she hadn't been careful enough? Maybe Naminé was going to humiliate her right now while they were still in the public eye? "I-It's not like t-that!" Kairi sputtered helplessly, "We're just—"

"It's fine Kairi," Naminé interjected with a small smirk, "I don't care if you want to date him. I'm like so over him anyway."

A faint blush blossomed across the red head's cheeks at the idea. Finally, she could actually be open about her feelings towards Sora. "O-Okay, thanks," Kairi smiled; the tension in her body quickly began to uncoil.

Naminé shrugged and tossed her light blonde hair to the side. "Like I said it's-UGH! MY ARMANI SWEATER!" Naminé abruptly shrieked, ice blue eyes set on fire towards the girl who had accidentally tripped into her holding a bright strawberry flavored smoothie; the hot pink quickly spreading across the white silk of Naminé's designer sweater.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl cried desperately, "I-It was an accident!"

"Accident?" Naminé screeched as she helplessly dabbed at the stain with a spare Kleenex, "Do you even know how much this costs!"

"N-No," the girl whimpered as she anxiously twisted a piece of her frizzy red hair, "B-But I'll find a way to p-pay you back! I promise!"

Naminé barked out a cold laugh. "Judging by the way you dress, I don't think that's possible."Several of the students watching cackled at the remarks and the girl could only wish that a sudden black hole would come and swallow her. She should have been more careful! She had already been lucky once when Naminé's Roxas Strife hadn't betrayed her; she shouldn't have pushed it.

"Please!" the girl cried, looking to Naminé's entourage imploringly. No one spoke up. "Just…Just let me do something!"

"Don't worry," Naminé said in overly sugary tone, "I'll make sure you and all your little loser friends will pay for this."

"B-But!"

"C'mon girls," Naminé ordered sharply, "It's time to go!" Selphie shot the girl a wicked grin as she passed, but neither Kairi nor Olette could muster even a confident smile. They knew how Naminé could get.

'And here I thought she was changing…' Kairi sighed.

KHKHKHKHKHKH

"Naminé, my dear, now don't you look ravishing today," Seifer purred.

Naminé, who had just come into the living room, nearly gagged at the sight. Her father had invited him over again? "Where's my father?" Naminé demanded petulantly.

Seifer shrugged and lifted himself off the sofa, "He said something about a business call, but don't worry, I'm here."

"Don't remind me," Naminé mumbled to herself miserably.

"What was that?" Seifer asked coyly before wrapping an arm around the blonde girl's waist, "I didn't hear you."

Naminé rolled her eyes and quickly pushed the taller blond away. "Nothing. I was just saying how happy I am that you're here," Naminé said with a fake smile.

"That's what I thought," Seifer smirked before snaking his arm around her waist again, "Now, what happened with your sweater? I don't recall stains as being a trend now."

Naminé scowled, "Some stupid girl spilled her smoothie on me."

"Hmm…Well that's too bad," Seifer commented smirking as his hand began to slide further down her waist.

Naminé's eyes widened at the action and she quickly stabbed the creeping suitor's foot with the heel of her shoes. He yelped, listing a string of profanities as he helplessly hobbled across the room.

Naminé smirked in satisfaction. "Serves him right."

"Naminé what is going on in here!"

The color drained from Naminé's face and the heartbeat that had been thundering in her chest suddenly missed an erratic beat. This really was just her luck.

"I-It's nothing father!"

Seifer snarled. "Your daughter nearly broke my foot!"

KHKHKHKHKHKKH

A/N: That was a really long chapter (17 pages on word) but I'm glad to have something to show that I haven't been slacking. The update was of course late because of school, but good news is, is that I'm almost done for summer now (days away actually). I'm really hoping I'll actually finish this story by September! I'm not sure if it'll be 35 chapters anymore though just because of the increasing length, but we'll see:)

As always, thank you everyone for your support! The reviews, alerts and favorites are always appreciated!

Review Goal: I'm thinking 280? So 13 reviews? I'm really just hoping to reach 300 reviews soon but we'll just see what happens!:D!

Story: So the party's been hinted at and should be the subject of either the next chapter of the one after that! And..FINALLY Roxas just admits he like likes Namine! As for Naminé, herself, I know it may be hard to decide how you feel in this chapter which is actually a bit of my intent because while she is starting to change, she's still not at the point of completely turning around. Also, there was not as much NxR in this chapter but don't worry, that will change soon enough!

Thanks again so much for everyone's support! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

P.S. Read the the book Night! It's sad but an amazing story!

Review Replies:

swiftwind6: Aww thank you! I'm so glad you think so!

Artism: ARTISM! It has been a while, but I'm glad to see you back on FF:D! Don't worry about FP distracting you, I get that:) Thank you, I initially wasn't even going add Vanitas or any real family strife (haha I made a pun) but then I thought it would make things more interesting that way. XD Agree and yeah that probably is something I should do even if it sucks lol. Thank you! It's nice to hear you say that because I really feel that way myself:)