Chapter 24: Invitation

Naminé wanted to throw up, but she kept the bile down as she forced her eyes to tear themselves away from the glowing screen. The blonde tried to feign innocence despite knowing that it was a lost cause.

"What's so bad about a date?"

Mr. Misaki glowered and his voice lowered dangerously. "This is your future Naminé. You are tampering with your future for some boy. Do you know how stupid that is? I know you're not the brightest girl, but I would have thought even you would understand the importance of this alliance."

"It was Seifer, wasn't it? Naminé asked in a clipped tone, blatantly ignoring the verbal jab at her intelligence. Tears stung behind her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Naminé couldn't show weakness in front of them.

"It doesn't matter who sent it," Mr. Misaki retorted coldly as he placed the cell phone in his back pocket, "The point is, is that you have jeopardized your future, Naminé."

"My future?" Naminé snarled furiously.

"Yes," a sinister voice said from the shadows, "Your future, my dear." Naminé's head snapped towards the far right of her father.

Naminé's eyes widened before they narrowed icily. "Seifer. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I don't know," Seifer nonchalantly shrugged, "just thought I would pop in. See my fiancé and her family. The usual."

"F-Fiancé?" Naminé nearly choked and cast an incredulous look at her father. He refused to meet her eyes. "Mother, did you know about this?"

"Of course," Mrs. Misaki deadpanned heartlessly, "We decided that after this fiasco, the only way to make amends would be to have a wedding."

Seifer slithered from the shadows and wrapped an arm around Naminé's waist. "Right after your graduation. The wedding is already set my dear; all you have to do is say—" Seifer brandished a large diamond ring. "yes."

Horror struck, all Naminé could do was stare at the ring. A symbol of unity and love, the gold shimmered with a sinister glint as though already contaminated by the man holding it. She wanted to scream, run away and never return home.

"This…none of this," Naminé whispered softly," is for my future. You're just using me like you always have, but…I won't go through with this." Naminé pushed Seifer's arm away and crossed her arms across her chest defensively.

The three sets of eyes watching Naminé abruptly darkened, and Seifer seethed, trying to remove one of the arms that was tightly wound around the blonde girl's body. "It's him, isn't it?" Seifer glowered, "That silly boy toy of yours. The one I took a picture of you with."

"So, you were spying on me," Naminé darkly accused and pushed Seifer away again.

Seifer lips twitched. "Of course. You're my fiancée. I did what I had to do."

"Did what you—" Naminé stopped herself and shook her head vehemently. "I'm not yours Seifer and for your information, I have a boyfriend; so burn in hell for all I care!"

Mrs. Misaki gasped and placed a hand to her heart dramatically. "Naminé!"

"You will break up with this boy," Mr. Misaki ordered frigidly.

The tears finally came, ruining shades of eye shadow and mascara with their salty assaults. Seifer stood smugly to her right, and her parents were rigid and merciless.

"No!" Naminé screamed angrily, "I won't do it father! I-I really—" she refrained from using the 'L' word, instead dropping a new series of words from her lips. "He's the one I want to be with. Mother, please!"

"Not everything can go your way Naminé," Mrs. Misaki stated coolly. Her eyes flashed from her daughter's puffy red eyes to the acrylic nails decorating her fingers and Naminé could tell that there would be no support offered by her mother.

"Your mother is right. You will do as your told Naminé or—"

"What?" Naminé interrupted sarcastically as hot tears streaked down her now rosy cheeks. "Lock me up in my room while you and your mistress go on another of your 'business trips?'"

SLAP!

Naminé's head snapped to the right; red blotched her already sanguine cheek and the tears that had been cascading momentarily stopped as shock paralyzed Naminé's body.

"You will be quiet and do as I say," Mr. Misaki's voice quivered with anger, but his eyes weren't on his daughter. His eyes were on the tingling hand that had hit his daughter.

From the corner of her eye, Naminé could see her mother's impassive face and the sympathetic smile of Lucille hidden in the shadows behind her mother. The blonde let out a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut and raced up the stairs. "I hate you!" More tears stained the carpet as she said this, but there was no reply that echoed up the staircase.

KHKHKHKH

"I want compensation," Tifa demanded flatly as her amber eyes fixed themselves on the judge seated in his personal turret above. "My ex-husband did not provide the emotional support that our son required. I'm surprised he even made the child support."

"And you believe this is the reason for your son's reprehensible behavior?" the judge inquired, folding his fingers together as he gazed down at the dark haired woman assiduously. Cloud wanted to release a string of profanities from his side of the room, but felt his wife's hand on his shoulder.

Tifa nodded. "I do. Vanitas would have been perfectly fine if he had, had his father around."

"Mr. Strife?" the judge looked to the blond man and prompted him to speak with a hand gesture.

Cloud angrily shook the memory away and tugged at the black tie coiled around his neck until it was loose enough to tug off. Aerith walked beside him, sneaking surreptitious glances when she thought he wouldn't notice.

"This is ridiculous," Cloud muttered bitterly, "I did my best. I know I wasn't father of the year to Vanitas when he was growing up, but after the divorce, Tifa would barely let me near him. Remember, the year I wanted to take him fishing with Roxas and Tifa didn't even pretend they had other plans. She just said 'not even if hell froze over twice you cheating bastard.'"

"It was all of our faults Cloud," Aerith said gently. The jade eyed woman didn't want to admit it, but everyone had played their parts. It was easy to victimize themselves and place all the blame on Tifa, but it was harder to divvy the responsibility evenly amongst them. "Tifa was hostile but wouldn't you be if she had cheated on you? She shouldn't have intentionally kept Vanitas away from you, but we…we should have waited." When Cloud opened his mouth to speak, Aerith held a finger to his lips pleadingly. "I know we were both miserable in our relationships, but things could have been handled without all the sneaking around. We both could have been honest and ended things before dating again."

"Doesn't mean that would have changed anything," Cloud mumbled dejectedly, but he rubbed his hand across his unshaven face knowing his wife was right.

"Maybe not but to have at least tried to do the right thing…Well," Aerith sighed, "maybe we wouldn't be here right now."

Cloud gave a half-hearted smile and added. "At least the judge gave us time to reconcile before deciding on a ruling. Like he said, Vanitas isn't a minor anymore so there's no rush to make a decision just yet…"

"True," Aerith agreed softly, "but do you really think the judge will be on our side? I know he feels some sympathy for our financial situation, but in the end…he's a judge. He won't let any emotions blind a ruling."

"Who knows? Maybe, we'll be able to reconcile," Cloud said and took his wife's hand. She nodded.

"Maybe…"

KHKHKHKH

Olette's eyes watched as her pink clad character stood excitedly at the top of the platform holding a large gold trophy. The red and green characters on either side of the Olette's pink clad female sighed dejectedly as they held their respective silver and bronze trophies.

"Whose idea was it to play Mario Party anyway?" Hayner mumbled and threw his silver controller to the ground in annoyance.

Pence rolled his eyes as he gripped his purple controller. "It was yours."

"Oh yeah…" Hayner then lifted himself off the ground, dusting several crumbs from his camouflage pants. "Well…I hope you know that I still let you win Lett."

"Tch," Olette turned off the console and put in a new disc, "Aren't you so kind?"

"I'd like to think so, but I don't brag," Hayner retorted with a smirk. Audible groans escaped from the blond's companions.

"Just…play the game," Pence muttered in between his feast of delectable chips.

"Seriously," Olette agreed.

Hayner made another smart comeback but soon, the trio was encased inside the world of another of their favorite video games: Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

"Why do you always pick Zelda?" Hayner complained as his character, the infamous Snake, received another swift blow to the chest from the elfish female.

Olette retorted smartly. "Why do you always pick Snake?"

"He's awesome, that's why."

"Geez," Pence said as he moved Fox towards the lone box sitting at the edge of the Sonic the Hedgehog style arena, "what is it with you two and video games?"

Olette flinched as Snake shot the lithe Zelda with a ray gun and retaliated with a lone bomb pacing along a stretch of pavement. "I don't know. Ask Hayner. He's the one always making a big deal out of everything."

"Am not!" Hayner argued before having Snake perform a neat round house kick to Zelda's head.

Olette rolled her jade orbs. "You keep telling yourself that Hayner."

"Just like you keep telling yourself that you like being a part of the Ice Queen's so-called 'court?'"

"Hayner!" Pence chided and had Fox throw a meandering Mr. Saturn at the back of Snake's head.

Hayner muttered a string of curses as Snake pelted Fox with an assault of fast punches to the chest. "Why is it so bad that I ask that? It's just a question."

"That's not the point," Pence urged, "you're being—"

"It's okay Pence," Olette said softly. She had paused the game for a moment, each of the trio's character's temporarily frozen midair."Hayner's right. I've been trying to convince myself for a while now that I'm happy being a part of Naminé's 'court,' but I'm really not. I've been getting sick of it. I hate treating people the way she treats them. I hate the whole stupid hierarchy."

"Then, why don't you just leave?" Hayner asked quietly. Olette grips the sides of her controller tighter. The fears trapped behind her lips refuse to be verbalized; the only thing Olette can manage to do is press the start button on her controller and resume the game and burrow her worries in the bright glowing graphics.

KHKHKHKH

"Hang tight for a minute okay? I'll go get some refreshments for everyone," Ven instructed as he edged towards the kitchen to fetch said refreshments. His two companions for the evening, Roxas and Xion, gave their consent and thanks before delving into their own conversation.

"This is nice," Roxas commented, blissfully unaware of the figure coming up the driveway, arms loaded with brown paper bags filled with groceries.

Xion's eyes didn't flicker from her phone. "Yeah…Ven's a nice guy. It's just too bad things didn't work out between him and Aqua."

Roxas sagged further into the leather couch. He still felt bad about Ven's current predicament. He tried giving good advice, but of course it hadn't turned out. "I know. I feel horrible about it. Ven's my friend. He needed some good advice and I gave him—"

"Good advice," Xion cut in with a comforting smile, "It was ill timed, but the advice you gave was good Roxas. It just wasn't well timed with Terra's confession."

"So, next time I should consult Terra before I give advice?" Roxas queried with a twitch of the lips.

Xion shrugged and said teasingly. "If you think that will help."

Roxas laughed, enticing Xion to join him. Ven came in and placed the drinks on the coffee table. "What's so funny?"

Before either teen could respond, however, the door swung open. "Venny sweetie," Mrs. Sato announced cheerfully, "I'm h—" The dark haired woman abruptly froze at the sight of the two identical blonds in her home and the grocery bags in her hands landed on the oak floors with an audible thud.

Ven's own expression reflected brief confusion before he understood the source of his mother's horror. "Umm…" Ven swallowed, casting a weary glance at his two companions and his mother. "I'm going to help my Mom with the groceries for a minute. I'll be right back."

"Okay…" Xion murmured as Roxas took a sip out of one of the glasses filled with purple liquid.

When Ven and his mother were in the kitchen, Mrs. Sato demanded her son explain the presence of his long lost twin before she lost her mind.

"It's a long story," Ven sighed, "but we met at school, and we've become good friends now even though he doesn't know we're twins and—"

Mrs. Sato snorted incredulously. "What are you talking about? You look exactly alike. Is this boy blind or something?"

"Actually," Ven scratched the back of his head with a nervous chuckle, "he is blind. I think he said he's been blind for close to a year now."

"I can't believe this," Mrs. Sato said with a relieved laugh.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Ven agreed not quite understanding the extent of his mother's amusement.

Mrs. Sato smiled and pushed back the blond's bangs. "This is perfect Ventus. Now, we won't have go through the hassle of reconnecting again. You'll just—"

"What are you talking about? I want to reconnect. I want to know my birth parents, my siblings," Ven said as those his words could dispel the thoughts from his mother's head.

"But Ventus—"

"I know you and Dad love me. I love you too, but I need to know these people. I need to understand myself better, where I came from. Mom, I'm going to tell Roxas at some point. Not today, but someday because he's the key to reuniting everyone, I can just feel it." Ventus could feel a large weight lift from his chest once the words had left his lips and when he breathed, each wisp of air that entered his lungs was lighter.

Mrs. Sato swallowed back a sob and turned away from her son. "I…we just don't want to lose you Venny."

"And you won't," Ven said determinedly, "We'll just be one big family." Ven then touched his mother's shoulder lightly. "Mom, please. You've given me everything, but this is one thing that I still need."

Mrs. Sato released a strangled breath as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I'll…I'll talk to your father about it."

Ven smiled. "Thanks Mom." He kissed her cheek and headed back into the living unaware that Xion was missing until he spotted the empty space next to Roxas. "Where's Xion?"

Roxas shrugged. "I think she said she was going to the bathroom."

"Oh…okay." Ven picked up a glass filled with purple soda and started to sip at the fizzy liquid.

From her position outside of the bathroom, Xion was muttering to herself in disbelief. "I knew it. I knew there was too much of a coincidence for them not to be twins."

KHKHKHKH

"If you won't break up with this boy, then…we'll have to have him over for dinner won't we?"

Naminé eyed her father suspiciously. She knew he was planning something. "And if I don't ask him?"

"You can consider your inheritance nonexistent. Moreover, I would hate to see a cancellation of your birthday party, especially considering the fact that the custom made invitations came in the mail yesterday…" Mr. Misaki stated with nonchalance that bordered on absolute ice.

Naminé had to swallow back her disgust. Her father would always play dirty. It was a simple fact of the blonde girl's life. "I'll ask him tomorrow at school." Naminé murmured.

Mr. Misaki condescendingly placed a hand on his daughter's head, ignoring her flinch. "Good girl. Now, why don't you go back to playing princess?"

"I still can't believe I have to put Roxas through this," Naminé said to herself as she aimlessly meandered through the halls. Unconsciously, she had placed a hand on the bruised cheek she had covered with an extra layer of concealer. Even Naminé couldn't fathom how her mother was not, in the slightest, fazed by her or her father's outburst. It was as if she completely tuned everything out. She hadn't so much as even flinched when Naminé brought up her father's mistress. Maybe she had always known…Maybe she was having an affair of her own?

Naminé quickly discarded the thoughts from her head once she saw Roxas at the end of the hallway.

"Roxas!" Naminé called. Her boyfriend, though unable to see her turned around and smiled in what he believed to be his girlfriend's direction.

"What's up Nam?"

Naminé hesitated slightly but proceeded to extend her invitation. "I hate to ask this, but would you mind having dinner with me and parents tomorrow night?"

"Sure, but why do you 'hate' to ask? Don't want me to meet your parents?" Roxas asked jokingly.

Naminé drew in a sharp breath. "Trust me, if you didn't have to, I wouldn't be making you. My parents are extremely…judgmental and well…I don't want you to be…I don't know. I just don't my parents to disapprove of you."

Roxas' hand found its way to Naminé's cheek, cupping it gently. "It's fine. Everything will work out. I'll even crank up the charm." Roxas winked and Naminé finally cracked a smile before kissing her boyfriend on the lips tenderly.

"Thank you."

KHKHKHKH

"Naminé seems a lot better lately. I mean I haven't seen her treat even you that nicely before," Sora commented, his hand wound around Kairi's as they walked through the mid afternoon heat encompassing the local park.

Kairi blocked a strong ray of sun with her free hand. "Yeah, she's definitely improved but…I just wish she could be nice to other people too, especially the so called losers of the school."

A flock of bluebirds flew overhead, coloring the graying sky with hints of its original self. "True. She still hadn't gotten to that point, but maybe it'll happen soon? I mean she is dating Roxas."

Kairi arched an eyebrow at boyfriend's words. "I'm surprised. I thought you hated Naminé, now you're supporting her?"

"It's not her that I support so much," Sora explained, "it's more Roxas really. After seeing the affect he's had on her, I think he can really change her."

"You're really an optimist Sora," Kairi said smiling.

Sora mirrored her expression. "Someone has to be."

KHKHKHKH

Sometimes, Xion felt that she was too good of a friend. Sitting on a bench near the courtyard fountain, Xion watched as they kissed. Their lips melting together, his hands wrapped firmly around her waist as she coils a hand around his neck to deepen the kiss.

Xion wanted to gag, throw up, crawl into a hole and if possible, erase every moment from her head. It was horrible watching them, knowing how Naminé was, realizing her own feelings for Roxas. Xion was getting to the point where it was becoming unbearable. To the point where sitting on the sidelines and waiting for them to break up just wasn't cutting it.

Xion held her head in her hands. "What should I do?"

KHKHKHKH

A/N: Feeling super accomplished right now. I wasn't sure with finals and just all the end of the year hubbub if I'd be able to crank out another chapter, but here it is. Fresh out of the oven. It's weird to think that we only have about four or five chapters left (plus the epilogue).

In terms of the story, things are heating up again as more and more drama unfolds. The family dinner will be featured in the next chapter as well as some love triangle time.

Thank you so much for reading, alerting, favoriting and reviewing. I feel so incredibly blessed to have people who are willing to keep reading this.

Please keep reviewing! I would LOVE to see 400 reviews soon!:D

Important Question:

What should the venue for Naminé's birthday party be?

A yacht

Hotel

Arboretum

Naminé's house

Other ideas?

Review Replies:

Batman: lol here's some more to tide you over:D! Thanks for reviewing!:D!