Chapter 27: Coming Alive Again
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Selphie's annoying soprano voice rang from the empty halls of Twilight High as she admired her handiwork splayed all across the entire student body's lockers.
Rikku clapped her hands eagerly and giggled. "You are so like brilliant Selphie!"
"Yeah," Yuna agreed with a toothy grin, "this plan is like BEYOND flawless. I like can't wait for her royal highness to like see all this!"
"I know," Selphie replied with a twisted excitement, "Finally, her reign will be like over and ours will begin."
All three girls hi-fived each other and continued to giggle as they threw the rest of their mischief onto the linoleum floors.
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Monday morning, Naminé walked into school feeling like a zombie. Her hair was lazily tossed into a bun, and her make up did little to cover the sleep deprivation caused circles from under her eyes. The only ounce of normalcy was that Naminé's outfit was still flashy and designer.
The thought of simply skipping school had entered her mind numerous times. It would have been easy too. Her parents didn't care.
"But if I didn't come today, I wouldn't be able to talk to Roxas, and I can't have everyone thinking I'm not still…me. I mean—"
Laughter suddenly erupted all around the blonde teen. Confused, she stopped and allowed her gaze to wander. Several students lining the hallway were whispering to one another and pointing at her unabashed. In response, Naminé's heartbeat sped up and the feeling of being unnerved overtook her completely.
"What's everyone laughing about?" Naminé murmured aloud, but then, she saw it. Colorful flyers of her incredibly geeky middle school years were taped onto each locker with an increasing amount of comments being written in black sharpie by the people jeering her.
The sight made Naminé want to throw up. She had worked so hard to destroy the old Naminé—the one who had worn bulky braces, thick glasses (before her parents had made her get laser eye surgery), pig tails, and the most hideous outfits to have ever been designed. Naminé had even given up her artistic hobbies (including creating fanart for her favorite Disney movies) for popularity. She had sacrificed everything and everyone dear to her for this and now…the past had come to haunt her and everyone now knew about her collection of Disney Princess dolls and the Aaron Carter CDs she had once listened to.
"My life…is over," Naminé muttered miserably, "but…who could have done this? I've only ever shown any of those photos to…" Naminé stopped herself and narrowed her blue eyes into icy slits. "Selphie…It had to have been her. Olette and Kairi would never have sunk this low…"
As if on cue, Selphie materialized at the end of the hallway accompanied by Rikku and Yuna. The three girls were cackling amongst themselves, but when Selphie's eyes met Naminé's, a wicked grin crossed her features.
Naminé swallowed back her anger and stormed, heels clicking, towards the devious brunette. "Selphie,"
Naminé growled, "What's going on here?"
Selphie feigned innocence and placed a hand to her heart. "Didn't you get the memo, Nami? Your little reign as Twilight High's self-proclaimed 'Queen' is like over."
Naminé found her eyes stealing glances at the teens around her. No one made any movement towards her. "I thought we were friends Selphie. Why…why would you do this to me? I trusted you."
"Oh my Gawd, you are so like stupid," Selphie said, rolling her peridot eyes, "I mean like you didn't even realize that I never even liked you. I was just waiting until you fell and thanks to your little boy toy, you did—not that anyone here like minds. I'm sure everyone here is so like happy to have me as their new Queen Bee."
Tears shimmered behind Naminé's eyes and she couldn't meet the brunette's gaze. Whispers echoed around her and Naminé felt the glares of her fellow classmates burning her pale skin. "You're even worse than me Selphie," Naminé said in a wobbling voice, "but you can have the stupid 'crown.' Everyone will realize the kind of person you are soon enough."
Selphie cackled. "I'm so scared. Now, why don't you run along and play with your princess dolls." More laughter filled the hallway at this and Naminé, tears streaming freely, ran as fast her heels would allow.
One student, however, tripped her and dumped a frothy drink on her head. "That's for my best friend," the girl whispered coldly. Naminé met the girl's eyes, but was unable to choke out a single syllable as she hastily picked herself off the ground and scrambled around the nearest corner.
Naminé wanted to sit in a corner and just cry her heart out. She had nothing. Everything, even her status was gone, and it made her angry because so many of those kids had done plenty of horrible things before. It wasn't just her.
"They're all just hypocrites," Naminé muttered bitterly, "especially Selphie. She's the one who helped me, but of course, she found some way to manipulate everyone. She always does, and it's just not fair."
"Life isn't always fair."
Naminé's body jolted at the sound of the familiar voice, and she hastily locked her gaze on his form. "Roxas…," Naminé murmured, tempted to reach out to him but knowing he would recoil at her touch. He didn't bother facing her. The white cane in his hand was held tightly and black sunglasses veiled his blind eyes from her view. He was completely unreadable. "I…I was hoping we could talk." Subconsciously, Naminé tried to wipe some of the coffee from her hair but stopped once her hands felt too sticky.
"No thank you," Roxas stated icily, "I'd rather not take the time to be lied to."
Naminé's heart shook violently in her chest. "Can you at least tell me what you meant about the sandbox thing?" she blurted desperately.
Behind his sunglasses, Roxas rolled his grey tinted eyes. "Figure it out."
"But…"
Roxas shook his head in exasperation and continued walking, ignoring his ex-girlfriend's frantic pleas.
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The next few days were probably the worst for Naminé. She couldn't even go to the bathroom without hearing the taunts of her fellow peers. It was like she was the new spectacle of the school and try as she might, there was nothing she could do to defend herself.
Walking into the cafeteria, Naminé scoured the tables for a friendly face but not even the unpopular kids would spare her a glance. "I don't know if I'm invisible or just not worth looking at anymore? Well…whatever. I guess I should just grab some lunch and at least try to sit by the losers. I mean, I still have to be at least a step up from them, right?"
The lunch that was slapped onto her plate was a disgusting combination of highly processed macaroni and cheese and a side of refried beans. Naminé crinkled her nose at the smell, but proceeded to make her way towards the table of band geeks. Ronald Lionheart was among them. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
The kids all looked at one another and surprisingly it was Ronald who spoke. "We'd prefer it if you didn't," he said, his voice remaining nasally but oddly cool, "we didn't like how you treated us at your party Naminé and I don't really think anyone here cares that you've been knocked off your pedestal. For what you did, you deserve to be alone."
Naminé had to blink back her surprise and reached out for Ronald's shoulder, darting her eyes from one kid to the next. "C'mon Ronald, you can't be serious. It was just honey."
"To you," Ronald snapped back, "but for us, it was just one more thing for kids to fun of us for. Have you even seen the Youtube videos? We have more hits than Lady Gaga because of all the kids at this school kept linking it to everyone they know and all those stupid blogs and tumblrs…"
"My life isn't great either you know," Naminé grumbled, crossing her arms, "Have you seen how the kids here are treating me?"
One of the girls snorted. "You always manage to make everything about you, huh? Not surprising. It's a good thing Roxas broke up with you—though how he dealt with you for as long as he did will always be a mystery to me."
"No kidding," Ronald agreed.
Naminé clenched her hands around her tray before turning on her heel sharply. "Fine! See if I care! I was trying to be nice, but whatever. You losers don't deserve my—Whaaa!" Naminé tripped forward, her face landing right in her gooey tray and prompting another chorus of chortling from all around her.
From above her, Selphie sneered. "Oops, my bad. Guess you'll have to take that to the dry-cleaning though I'm not sure they can do anything about that face of yours."
Naminé wanted to scream, but she bit her tongue and allowed the hues of red on her cheeks to glow underneath the layer of yellow and brown ooze as she ran out of the cafeteria and into the nearest bathroom. The two girls lingering in the bathroom sniggered at her as they left, but Naminé did her best to block them out as she wiped the food smudges from her face. "I can't believe no one did anything," she said to herself aloud, "I was purposefully tripped into my food and all they could do is laugh…"
'Haven't you ever considered that's how you've made other people feel?' A tiny, long suppressed voice in her head whispered.
Naminé scrubbed her face harder as if trying to erase the voice along with the scum on her skin. "I wasn't that mean…was I? Sure, I played a few pranks but nothing was ever that bad…right? I was just keeping people in line. They needed some at least semblance of order to function and without my…punishments, there would have been anarchy."
'But why would Roxas have been so upset if it was nothing? He never flip out over nothing. You know that and you know what you did was wrong.' the voice countered sternly.
"Okay, so I don't win any kindness of the year awards, but what can I do now? Everyone hates me," Naminé said sullenly, finally beginning to grow tired of trying to defend herself.
The voice didn't respond, but an image flashed in Naminé's head of her old self—the one who was actually kind. "I don't want to be a loser again." Naminé stared at her reflection and sighed, "but maybe it is time to change?"
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Over the next week, Naminé did her best to treat everyone she saw like she treated herself. "The golden rule, right?" Naminé had murmured to herself as she began her hike through what seemed like an endless hallway.
No one had grown tired of staring at her as she went past, but Naminé pretended to ignore them and let her eyes focus only on the floor beneath her feet. The blonde did, however, attempt to wave at Kairi—who, in response, conveniently looked away. "Better than Olette's response I guess. I mean at least Kairi noticed me unlike Olette."
Naminé stopped when she saw Roxas passing through the hallway, her throat suddenly dry. "Hey…Roxas?" she called out hesitantly.
Roxas didn't spare her an ounce of his attention and continued onto his next class.
"Ouch," one of the jocks said with snicker, "I guess Prince Charming doesn't want to return Cinderella's slipper, haha."
"Yeah," another jock joined in, "looks like he actually has good taste."
"Nice burn boys," Selphie beamed happily.
"Yeah, like nice burn," Yuna and Rikku chorused beside Selphie.
Naminé wanted to thoroughly slap Selphie and text her parents that picture of her boozing it up at her party, but that same voice restrained her and encouraged her to simply walk past them without even a word passing from her lips. 'They're not worth it.'
A few more boys began catcalls and swiping at her bag, but Naminé hurried past them with her head bent.
Once she was at her locker, Naminé permitted herself to cry silently. This is what it felt like. This is what she had done to people. The reality was gradually becoming more real. She had been the Regina George of her school—manipulating, punishing, humiliating, and pitting students against one another. She had issued the boys to catcall girls that had gotten on her bad side and sent incriminating photos to parents. Hell, she had even concocted a loser of the year contest and dumped honey over the contestants. Naminé was a mean girl. A cruel, spiteful, self-absorbed mean girl who deserved a taste of her own medicine just as much as any tyrant did.
"I have to do better," Naminé whispered determinedly, "I can't just put another superficial façade. I need to change."
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"So Princess, can you draw me Snow White and her seven pimps or what? You're supposed to be some Disney freak, right?"
Naminé sighed, but kept an easy smile on her lips. "It's Dwarves and I can draw you something after we're done with this experiment."
Another week had passed and Naminé was finding herself growing more patient with each taunt and jeer that she was assaulted with. It was hard at first, but as more days passed, thoughts of spiteful revenge were becoming only a faint glimmer that Naminé could barely remember. She was even helping Miss Rapunzel with designing costumes for the school's latest play during her open hour.
Mentally, Naminé would admit that it was eating away at her, but at the same time, she was happier than she had been in a while. Helping, showing people kindness was less of a chore now. It actually gave her pleasure when Miss Rapunzel expressed gratitude for her assistance and it felt nice when she could help someone write their art history paper even if they only gave a half-hearted thank you.
"Science is stupid. I don't get why a girl with no brains would even care about this crap." Naminé had to bite her lip, but she reminded herself that she had filled this boy's locker with several stink bombs last year.
"I want to get into art school," Naminé explained softly, "so I have to try and do better in school."
The boy rolled his eyes and continued to play with one of the beakers. "Whatever. A girl like you won't make it into college. Though if you did, it would probably just be to rule a sorority and date some fraternity guy."
Naminé would confess to that being her only ambitions about college once upon a time, but now she was putting her best foot forward and trying to be something more than a spoiled heiress.
"You're right, that is what I wanted for a long time, but now I actually want to be somebody and make a difference," Naminé said resolutely.
The boy just snorted. "Yeah, right. You're still the same old Ice Queen except you no longer rule the roost."
"You don't have to believe me," Naminé stated calmly, "I realize my cruelty has made my words pretty seem artificial and maybe that'll never change, but I am going to keep trying. No matter what anyone says."
Her lab partner just rolled his eyes again and flicked a paper football across the room. Naminé shook her head but smiled to herself as she wrote down the next item in her lab report.
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Naminé still dreaded going home. Every time she even dared to step foot in her house, her mother would not stop haranguing her about whatever cruel joke had enveloped her person. Today, school had been let out early, but Naminé was opting to eat her lunch on the bench outside of the cafeteria. It had become a habit now that Naminé was no longer attempting to coax friendship from her fellow peers. But, it was actually nice. She still had to trudge through the cafeteria and potentially have her face land in some unwelcome goo, but the ambience made it worth the risk.
"It's funny. I haven't even talked to Roxas in weeks, but I've been able to numb those feelings now. It was so hard before, but it's not like I can do anything about it." Naminé bit into her sandwich and watched as the birds flew over the big oak tree near the doors. It was a beautiful picture, perfect for…"A sketch.!" Naminé beamed, set down her food and fished her sketchbook out from her purse. She started outlining the image in light strokes of her pencil, capturing each scene perfectly.
When she came home, Naminé was eager to share her work even if it was to her mother. "Mother!" Naminé called excitedly.
Mrs. Misaki peeked her head from the dining room, crystal and polishing rag in hand. "What do you want Naminé? I'm busy."
Naminé forced herself to not to deflate at her mother's tone and hurried over to brandish her newly completely work. "I did some sketching today. The little area behind the school is beautiful and I even added layers of hues to—"
"That's cute dear, now can I go back to what I was doing? It's very important," Mrs. Misaki interrupted, completely disinterested.
Naminé clenched her jaw. "But mother you always…Never mind. It's…I'm done."
Mrs. Misaki laughed as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness, I thought I was going to fall asleep on you!"
"Very funny mother," Naminé grumbled, not even bothering to find her father as she went up the stairs. "You like it, don't you girl?" Naminé asked her puppy. The little dog sniffed at the sketchbook and wagged her tail. Naminé giggled. "At least someone does."
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"I really appreciate you helping me with this project," Miss Rapunzel said as she sewed another button onto a burgundy dress. "You could have just left it to me after we finished all the sketches you know."
Naminé shrugged and threaded another strand of blue. "I like sewing and besides, I couldn't just leave you to do all this. The theater director needs these by the end of the week. You couldn't possibly get everything done alone unless you stayed up all night and I don't think the students would appreciate an extra cranky teacher."
Miss Rapunzel giggled, "You're probably right, but still thank you so much Naminé. You really are a sweet girl."
"At least someone thinks so," Naminé murmured quietly.
Miss Rapunzel frowned and set her needle down. "What are you talking about? Did something happen at school?"
"Just the obliteration of my social life," Naminé laughed weakly, "but it's okay. I mean at least it's helped me to be a better person right? Who cares if kids won't stop making fun of me and my ex won't even talk to me and my so called friends all deserted me. I needed a wakeup call. I wasn't a nice person." Namine exhaled at the end of her diatribe, smiled lightly.
"You don't have to pretend you're not hurt, Naminé," Miss Rapunzel said with a maternal sternness, "I'm glad you've been able to be a better person through this, but you don't have to make yourself suffer."
Naminé shook her head. "I don't regret what happened and I've been a lot happier being the girl I once was. I'm just unhappy that people can't accept or don't want to accept the new me. I keep trying. I really do, but they all just blow me off."
"Then…you can't give up," Miss Rapunzel said with a smile, "you just have to keep on trying Naminé. It might be hard to bear now, but people will come to see that you've changed. You just have to give them time."
"You really think so?" Naminé asked softly.
Miss Rapunzel nodded and gently patted her hand. "I know so."
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A few hours passed before Naminé was willing to leave her art teacher, but she knew her parents would be unhappy if she was spending time sewing instead of primping so she started towards her car (which lucky her, had been keyed a handful of times).
Standing beside her car, Naminé plucked her cell phone from her pockets and checked for any new messages. Her inbox alerted her to one new message. Curious, Naminé opened the text.
Babe, clear your schedule for this weekend. I've got a surprise for you.
-Seifer
Naminé was half tempted to throw her cell phone at the nearest brick wall, but restrained and went back to the home menu. If anything could spoil her good mood, it would be a text from Seifer.
"I can't even block him," Naminé muttered angrily, "Father would just ground me and invite Seifer over for dinner. Ugh…whatever. I'll just tell him I didn't see his text for a while."
The blonde shaded her eyes with a pair of sunglasses and climbed into the front seat of her car, completely ignorant of what was to come in a few days time.
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As the days passes, Namine did her best to follow Miss Rapunzel's advice and remain true to her new self, regardless of the relentless teasing by her classmates. It seemed to be working at least a little bit since the now the unpopular kids had stopped playing pranks on her, but the populars, led by Selphie, refused to let up. Namine was, naturally, annoyed by their behavior but was willing to push on with further encouragement from Miss Rapunzel. She was even smiling (genuinely) a lot more thanks to the solace she found in art.
Roxas was extremely popular now for having the guts to break up with Naminé, though he really didn't mingle with any of the popular kids. Roxas usually found himself with Sora (who had left his old circle of friends), Kairi, Xion, Aqua, Terra, Olette, Ven, Hayner, and Pence.
"I'm going to have to take another shower," Naminé mumbled to herself as she trudged through the door of her family's estate. Someone had decided throwing a smoothie on her head was a fun idea so Naminé would have to scrub her head furiously to remove the purple liquid from her pale hair.
"Miss Naminé," Jeeves greeted with a kind smile, "how was your day today?"
Naminé sighed, "It was good…I'm just going to go take a shower."
"Your parents would like to speak to you first," Jeeves said gently.
"Can't they wait?" Naminé replied and pulled at her sticky hair with a look of disgust. Jeeves only smiled apologetically but shook his head. Naminé closed her eyes and sighed again. "It's alright Jeeves. I'll just get it over with."
Jeeves bowed his head and watched sadly as his charge walked into the family's sitting room. Mrs. Misaki was sipping at her wine indifferently while Mr. Misaki sat forward with his fingers folded.
"Mother, Father," Naminé inclined her head towards both parents coolly, "You asked to see me?"
Mrs. Misaki flicked her grey eyes to her daughter languidly. "You look filthy Naminé dear. You should really take better care of yourself. Your appearance is all you have you know."
"I was going to take a shower, but Jeeves said you requested my presence," Naminé explained with no emotion her voice. She just had to cut herself off from feeling anything. Feeling would only serve to break her further.
"Hmm... you'll have to get on that," Mrs. Misaki replied distantly, "Seifer won't except anything less than perfect from his bride-to-be."
"About that, I'm not marrying Seifer," Naminé stated with arms crossed.
Mr. Misaki chuckled under his breath before smiling smugly at his daughter. "That's not for you to decide Naminé. In fact, you'll be trying on wedding dresses next week. Your mother has arranged for you to meet with a designer and Mr. and Mrs. Almasy are already looking into venues for this summer."
Naminé's heart nearly stopped. This wasn't happening. "S-Summer?" Naminé stuttered, horror tainting her voice, "But Seifer…he hasn't even proposed! How can you even be planning a wedding!?"
"He plans on proposing this weekend Naminé," Mr. Misaki explained, still smirking.
"But I'm only 17!" Naminé cried desperately, "I can't marry anyone!"
"Unless you have your parents' consent," Mr. Misaki finished coolly, watching as his daughter's face slipped from shock to tearful.
"You can't!" she screamed, "You can't do this to me!"
"Calm down Naminé. You're giving me a headache," Mrs. Misaki complained and rubbed her temple.
"Mother! You can't be siding with him! He's been cheating you!" Naminé exclaimed furiously.
Mrs. Misaki shrugged. "And I've been having an affair of my own dear. This isn't news to me."
Naminé gaped at her mother. "Y-You knew? But…but why are you two even still together then?"
"Money," Both Mr. and Mrs. Misaki replied simultaneously.
"That's…stupid and I won't be your pawn anymore!" Naminé said, shaking her head as she backed away.
Mr. Misaki rose from his seat. "You will marry Seifer. You have no say in this."
"It's my life," Naminé fired back hotly, "I can choose who I want to marry and I am not going to marry that egotistical jackass!"
"You will marry or your inheritance," Mr. Misaki ground out, "will disappear permanently."
Naminé's entire frame was shaking now, but she kept her voice steady. "I don't care. Money isn't everything and I'm sick of being a materialist like you two. You can keep your inheritance because I'm through with this 'family.'"
Mr. Misaki's eyes grew ice cold and merciless. "You ungrateful, insolent little brat! You will obey me!"
"Or what?" Naminé responded, one eyebrow arched expectantly.
"You will not only lose your inheritance, but your mother and I will legally disown you—meaning you will no longer live here or be provided for," Mr. Misaki stated with a triumphant smile. He was so confident the blonde girl would cave.
Naminé, however, only sneered at her father. "I hope that's a promise and not just a threat."
Mr. Misaki, furious, stormed up to Naminé and decked her across the face. She landed on the floor with an audible thud. "Get the hell out of my house. We don't need you. We've never needed you. All you've ever been is a useless ACCESSORY!"
Naminé's lower lip quivered, but she stuck her chin out defiantly even as tears fell onto the floor, tainting the pristine white carpet. "I promise that you won't ever see me again. I'll make something of myself and you'll regret this moment." She looked back her mother one more time, but Mrs. Misaki only stared back blankly. "I'll be taking my leave now," Naminé murmured, exiting the sitting room and quickly ascending the stairs to gather her valuables.
Naminé stuffed as many pieces of jewelry and designer clothes as she could into a large pink duffle bag. She would need something to pawn off for money and her parents couldn't stop her from taking what was technically her rightful property. "Just a few more things," Naminé whispered to herself as she stuffed a box of photos and her old sketchbook into the duffle bag.
"Yip! Yip, yip!"
"Huh?" Naminé looked down at her barking Yorkie curiously, "what's that girl?" The little dog yipped again and nudged the blue marble forward. Naminé picked up the blue marble, examining it in the light. "What is this thing anyway? I must have gotten it years ago from…" Naminé dropped the blue marble, her eyes widening as realization struck her. "Roxas…He…we did meet. How could I forget? He was my best friend and I…I was too blind to realize it."
Naminé put the marble in her pocket, ushered her dog into her travel kennel, and grabbed her duffle bag before heading back down the stairs and out the door one last time, wishing the tearful staff good luck.
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"I'll get it!" Kairi yelled up the stairs as she went to open the front door with the expectation of another salesman. "Hi, my mom's busy right now, but—Naminé?" Kairi's violet eyes bulged at the sight of the former blonde queen, but she welcomed the girl and her furry companion in hastily.
Once they were sitting down with a pot of tea, Kairi proceeded to question Naminé's sudden presence in her home.
"I've been disowned," Naminé explained softly, "my parents wanted me to marry this Seifer guy this summer, but I wouldn't do it."
"But you're only 17," Kairi said, confused.
Naminé shrugged and fed her dog a little dog cookie she had brought with. "Doesn't matter as long as my parents consented."
"So, you have nowhere to go now?" Kairi asked and placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder gently.
Naminé stared into her cup of tea and a lone tear dropped into the light brown liquid. "You're the only person I thought to come to. I can't stay with any of my relatives now since I'm no longer an heiress and Roxas and I…" Naminé stopped as more tears fell. She covered her mouth to muffle her growing sob, but Kairi pulled her hand away and smiled gently at the blonde girl.
"I'll talk to my mom. I promise you won't live in the streets," Kairi said determinedly.
Naminé threw her arms around the red head and sniffled gratefully. "Thank you Kairi."
"You're welcome," Kairi replied quietly and tightened her grip around the blonde's waist. Even though she had tried to distance herself from the blonde, Kairi wasn't heartless and she really did want a genuine friendship with Naminé—the one they always should have had.
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"I can't believe you sold all that jewelry and your designer clothes," Kairi said incredulously as she and Naminé thumbed through another rack of thrift shop dresses. Naminé had always been a fashion diva. She never wore secondhand clothes.
"They're just clothes," Naminé replied with a gentle smile, "and plus, I want to put some of the money away so I can go to art school."
Kairi furrowed her eyebrows. "Art school?"
"Yeah, it's always been my dream to be an animator for Disney," Naminé explained as her eyes filtered through another cluster of colored dresses.
"That amazing Naminé. Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"
"And be laughed at?" Naminé shook her head, "I didn't want to risk my status (not that it matters now) and plus, my parents wouldn't support me. They just wanted me to smile and look pretty."
Kairi sighed, but then she stopped as her eyes landed on a particular dress. "How about this?" Kairi asked, holding the simple white sundress up to her body.
Naminé's eyes suddenly shined as she gripped the fabric gently. "It's perfect."
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Hands nimble, Naminé forged another line along her canvas. The paint bled into the white, filling in the rough sketch of a glowing night sky and a forest inhabited by a lithe white wolf.
"That looks beautiful Naminé," Miss Rapunzel complimented, "You are going to art school, right?"
Naminé nodded humbly and pulled at the hem of her sundress shyly. "That's the plan."
"You'll do amazing things," Rapunzel said kindly and patted Naminé's head affectionately before she careened over to another student who was slightly less talented.
Humming a tune under her breath, Naminé began painting again, dabbing a glob of blue where the crystalline lake was supposed to be. She had forgotten how relaxing painting was. It was like all her troubles could just melt into each stroke of her paintbrush.
"Ugh…this looks horrible…I wish I could draw hands," a soft voice complained from a stool near Naminé's. The blonde tore her eyes from her canvas at the sound and found herself staring at Mia Clark. The orange haired girl was stroking peach paint across her own piece fruitlessly, the hands she was crafting looking like nothing more than incomprehensible blobs.
With Miss Rapunzel's words in mind, Naminé stood up from her stool and pushed it backward before shuffling hesitantly towards Mia. "D-Do you need some help?" Naminé stuttered shyly, her eyes averted to the ground.
"If you wouldn't—Naminé?" Mia choked out with a fearful expression painted on her freckled face, "Um…I'm fine. Just fine. I can do this myself." Mia threw another sab of peach onto her canvas as though to prove a point.
Naminé sighed and removed the paintbrush from the girl's hand. "I'm not going to do anything to you Mia and…" she swallowed a lump in her throat, "I'm sorry for what I did to you. You didn't deserve that because of some stupid little accident. I was just being cruel and vindictive."
"Naminé…," Mia murmured in surprise, "You really have changed, haven't you?"
Naminé, however, ignored the question and proceeded to dab off clumps of paint with a wash cloth. "You need to be more gentle with the paintbrush," Naminé instructed kindly, "your lines are so harsh… and use less paint too. It makes it easier to fix mistakes." The blonde artist then took a tiny paintbrush and started to craft new lines. The once deformed fingers transformed into elegant hands adorned with a beautiful ring.
"Thank you," Mia said and then beamed, "It looks so much better now!"
Naminé's eyes never left the canvas, but a smile slowly blossomed on her lips—unaware that a certain raven haired girl had seen her good deed.
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'Am I really going to do this?' Xion asked herself as she leaned up against the large oak tree behind the school. It was nearly noon now and usually Xion would be sitting with Roxas and their friends but here she was, silently observing Naminé eat her lunch and debating whether or not to talk to her. "I'm not her freaking fairy godmother, but…," Xion blew her bangs in exasperation, "She really seems like she's changed, and Roxas has barely smiled in weeks because he misses her so much and maybe as his best friend I should do something but…" Xion paused to sigh and gazed up at the sky. "I still like him. I know he doesn't feel the same way, but shouldn't my feelings matter too?" It always seemed like the universe was playing some sick joke on her. She liked Roxas but Roxas loved Namine. The raven haired girl wanted to tell him so bad to just move on, but his eyes, though blind, held such sadness in them that Xion just didn't have the heart to say anything about her at all. It was so tempting to play the rebound card and have Roxas cling to her, but wouldn't that be like something Namine might do? Isn't that the person she didn't didn't want to be? 'Why did I have to like him? Why not someone who wasn't perpetually committed to a self-absorbed snob. I could make him really happy, couldn't? I understand him probably better than her but..."
A butterfly floated past her face and Xion's eyes couldn't help but wander back to the white clad artist. "She got what she deserved, right? I shouldn't feel guilty about just leaving her there…" Xion pounded her fist against the bark of the tree, furious at herself for feeling like she had some sort of twisted responsibility to the blonde who had thrown their friendship away for popularity. "But I do! Damn it," Xion muttered under her breath, "I just can't win, can I?" The obsidian girl then gave a bittersweet smile as she stared the bench Naminé was sitting at. 'Oh well…at least someone will have a happy ending, even if it isn't me.'
"Naminé?" Xion called. The blonde's eyes widened as she caught sight of her dark haired rival, but then smiled as she placed her book bag onto the floor.
"Xion," she greeted warmly, "sit." Xion complied but her body remained rigid. "The weather is beautiful today, isn't it? I'm surprised no one else is out here yet."
Xion exhaled shakily before blurting out senselessly, "Do you still love Roxas?"
"W-What?" Naminé sputtered in surprise, "I mean…Yes. Of course I do. Why? Did he say something to you?"
Xion wanted to gag at Naminé's hopeful expression, but forced her lips to form the appropriate syllables. "No, he hasn't." Naminé's face fell, causing Xion to amend hastily, "But he hasn't been himself since you two broke up. He hardly smiles or laughs. He won't even come over to listen to music anymore and…I don't like seeing him so unhappy like this."
"I don't get it…"
"I want to help you two get back together. He'll listen to me so I can let you two talk. I know you'll work this thing out."
Naminé shook her head and met Xion's eyes with a look betwixt confusion and curiosity. "But I thought you hated me? Why would you want to help me? Don't you like Roxas too?"
"Look," Xion said slowly, "my feelings aren't important right now. I can work through it, but I want to help you Naminé because I can see you've changed. You're not the same self-absorbed diva who traded friendship for popularity." Naminé cringed at this, but Xion continued. "I saw how you helped Mia, how you've been treating everyone you used to make fun of like real people. I wouldn't help you if I didn't see a different girl."
A rainstorm of tears abruptly fell from Naminé's eyes, and she embraced her ex-best friend tightly. "T-Thank you so much Xion. I should have never left you for Selphie. You were right. She was a backstabbing-two-faced-cretin."
Xion awkwardly patted Naminé's back but allowed a smile smiled to grace her lips. "I guess the lesson learned today is that Xion's always right, huh?"
"Yeah," Naminé agreed with a laugh as she pulled away from the raven haired girl, "except when it comes to pizza toppings because well…anchovies are still gross."
Xion pushed Naminé playfully and scowled. "Better than green peppers and pepperoni."
"Really though…," Naminé abruptly sobered, "thank you Xion. You don't know what this means to me."
Xion's lips maintained the smile, but her eyes betrayed sorrow as she looked back up at the clear blue sky. "I think I do."
KHKHKHKHKHKH
Ven inhaled and exhaled sharply as he awaited his twin outside of school. It was crazy to think that he was actually going to do it—he was going to tell Roxas the truth. Ven's parents hadn't been thrilled by the idea, but Ven convinced them that it was the right thing to do, especially with Aerith's recent accident. "I just hope Roxas takes it well. I mean he's blind. He doesn't even have to believe me unless…" Ven stopped himself as an idea came to his head, "I have him take me to his house. Our parents would convince him I'm telling the truth!"
"The truth about what?"
"GAH!" Ven flailed backwards at the sound of his twin's voice.
"What did you want to tell me?"
Ven swallowed and breathed out unsteadily. "Roxas…Can I come over to your house today? If you're not busy I mean…"
"Uh…," Roxas scratched the back of his head, "that should be fine. We can hitch a ride with Sora."
"Great!" Ven said happily, "I'll just text my Mom so she knows I'm going to be at your house."
Roxas nodded, smiling briefly before permitting his lips to fall into a distant frown. Abruptly, Sora bounded from the school doors, his face lit like a firework as he wrapped an arm around Ven's shoulder enthusiastically.
"Did you tell Roxas that you and him are twins yet, or what?"
Ven's eyes practically bulged out of their eye sockets and the urge to slap Sora upside the head was nearly irresistible. "No I didn't Sora. We were going to talk about that at his house and—"
"Twins?" Roxas broke in incredulously, "what are you talking about? Sora?" His heart was beating so fast he could hear his own blood rushing.
"Thanks for being subtle Sora," Ven grumbled with a sigh before flicking his vibrant orbs to his double. He really had hoped for their parents to explain things. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier Roxas, but…there never seemed to be the right time and—"
Roxas interrupted again, his voice on the verge of quaking. "S-So…you're not kidding? You're my brother?"
"Believe it cuz," Sora swung his other arm around Roxas and his grin, if possible, widened, "I've seen it with my own eyes and this is Ventus Strife."
"How do you know? You're Sora…"
Sora rolled his eyes and looked to Ven, shaking his head. "You two are identical twins Roxas. Emphasis on identical. I may goof up a lot but I know what you look like which means I know that Ven is your twin."
"My mom freaked out when she saw you," Ven added.
"This is crazy," Roxas murmured, "I've been wanting to meet you for so long and here you've been, right in front of me this entire time."
"You believe us then?"
Roxas smiled lightly and laughed. "Sora may be a goofball, but we have the same face—even Sora couldn't mess that up."
"Hey!" Sora protested, pouted and finally laughed. Ven joined his brother and cousin before sobering again as a new thought dawned in his head.
"How are we going to explain things to your…I mean our parents? Isn't Mom doing some sort of therapy?"
"Physical therapy," Roxas confirmed, "and I don't know. I feel like it should be a surprise, you know?"
The three teenage boys stood and pondered solutions, but it was Sora who sprung up first with an idea flitting excitedly from his lips. "We should find my Mom! She's a great party planner and I'm she'd be more than willing to some sort of family reunion."
"You think?" Ven asked hesitantly.
Sora nodded and beamed eagerly. "I know. Now, c'mon let's get going."
KHKHKHKH
"We're home!" Sora sang as he paraded into the house,"Is Uncle Cloud or Aunt Aerith home?"
Rinoa called back from the kitchen. "They're at physical therapy right now, but they should be home soon."
Ven furrowed his eyebrows, but Sora winked at his cousin and gestured him forward. "Okay, but um…could you come in here for a minute Mom? I want to introduce you to one of me and Roxas' friends."
"Alright," Rinoa conceded and set down the knife she was using to cut vegetables. When Rinoa came into the entryway, Sora was grinning like a madman. "Sora? What's—Oh my—" Rinoa covered her mouth in shock and tears traced new pathways down her porcelain cheeks.
If Roxas had any doubt that his cousin wasn't telling the truth before, it was entirely gone now and a serene smile settled on the blind boy's lips as he watched his Aunt embrace his twin.
"It's Ventus," Rinoa cried, "except he's all grown up and…he's here."
"Surprise!" Sora sang happily.
"I'm sorry this is such short notice," Ven apologized quietly, "I just couldn't wait anymore."
Rinoa shakes her head as more tears descend down her cheeks. "It's no trouble at all. I'm just so happy to see you and—Your parents! We have to tell them and call your sister and all of the relatives. They'll want to know about this too and—"
"You know Mom," Sora said, "we could always throw a big reunion party this Saturday…I mean it is Auntie and Uncle's parents' anniversary, right?"
"I think that would be perfect!" Roxas and Ven exclaimed before breaking into laughter at their cliché twin behavior.
"We could throw it here, couldn't we Mom?" Sora asked as his eyes met his mother's dark orbs.
Rinoa nodded, tears still flowing as she pulled her other nephew into her arms, hugged both boys tightly. "I'll let your father know and start making arrangements."
Ven smiled into the fabric of his aunt's shirt but lifted his eyes to his twin's veiled ones. "I know I didn't say this earlier Roxas, but I really have missed you bro."
"Me too," Roxas replied softly.
"Aww man, all this family bonding and I'm missing out?" Sora huffed, "I can't believe—" The rest of Sora's words faded into wisps of air as Rinoa yanked her son into the hug.
Finally, they would be a family again.
KHKHKHKHKH
A/N: Second to last chapter…I just can't even believe that this story is almost over. About everything should be tied up in the next (and last) chapter, though I might push a few things into the epilogue. As for the story itself, quite a few surprises, huh? Naminé is finally herself and is no longer her parents' pawn. Roxas and Ven are finally reunited and now there's going to be a big family reunion.
The next chapter will have Vanitas, Roxas and Naminé reunion, and some news about Cloud's job hunt.
Thank you, as always, for everyone who has taken the time to read, alert, favorite and review! Your support has been incredible and I couldn't have kept writing without your support!
I hope that you'll continue to provide your wonderful support through reading, alerting, favoriting, and REVIEWING!:D!
Note: I'm compiling a playlist/soundtrack for the story that I want to post on my tumblr (the link I will give at the end of the epilogue so you can access the playlist within a day or so and not have to sift through my ramblings) and I would love to know what you think should be added. I'll be taking suggestions until a day or so after the epilogue is posted.
Review replies:
Pikachu4ever: You're very welcome. I've had a great time writing this so I'm glad to know you're enjoying it. I'll be writing more (I've already got quite a few incomplete projects) so I look forward to reading your feedback! Thank you tons for your review!:D!
Ryuuka: Aww, thank you so much! I really hope you like this next chapter and thank you tons for your review!:D!
X-blade025: Thank you, I really had to think about it for a while, but the hotel seemed like the best place for an extravagant party. Thank you again. I do feel that revealing his secret like this made sense because, like you said, emotions can make you do things you wouldn't normally do—like spilling your big secret. She did deserve what she got and it is hard to feel bad for her. I think this latest chapter may give you some sympathy for her though and you are so very welcome. I've really enjoyed our little conversations as well. I feel that as a writer, I should take time to reply to everyone regardless if they have an account or not because you took the time to write me something:) Thank you! I hope to see your feedback on some of the other projects so we can continue with our little conversations!:D! Thank you loads for the review!:D!