Author's Note:Man, I seriously didn't mean for this chapter to take so long. I'm sorry to all those who was waiting – school definitely slowed the progress of this chapter and ones to come. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Enough said, right?

Night Two

Even though it was only morning, the twilight still hung over the city. It felt weird to be walking amongst these people; as if I were part of them, talked with them on a regular basic, ate with them at the dinner table. I never thought I could place myself on the same level, simply because DiZ and I had done the unthinkable: we (he, rather) had replicated the entire town for that nobody.

Naminé liked to chastise me every time I referred to him as "that nobody". "His name is Roxas," She'd insist, almost as if she felt insulted every time I spoke. I didn't really understand her for that. Yeah, it made sense that she would take that nobody's side in most arguments. She seemed to have a thing going for him.

Yet, I had to keep reminding myself as I walked through the empty streets, she was not Kairi. That nobody was not Sora (that, I didn't need to remind myself). I didn't need to meddle in their love lives – I'd already done that with Sora and Kairi, hadn't I? They practicallyneeded that push.

The nobody and Naminé? If something were to happen, surely it would've happened by now.

The clock tower rang the next hour. Even though I was only on Market Street, that tower could be seen from anywhere in the town. DiZ had once commented on it – hadn't he said that was the town's symbol? – but never said anything after that. He didn't need to.

That had been enough to jolt me back to my surroundings. The streets were still empty; most people were still getting up from their beds at this hour. It was just me, Naminé... and apparently the stray cat she was petting.

"Riku," She said, holding one up. "Isn't it adorable?"

She was acting more like Kairi every day. I had to smile. "Yeah," I responded, crossing my arms. "I guess. You sure that thing doesn't have rabies?"

"Ray... bees?"

I laughed – how could she know about video games and modern life, but not rabies? "You know, the disease you can get from strays? Where you lose your mind?"

The cat immediately went down. I sighed; could she have acted any more like her? It was starting to get downright uncanny. (Maybe it was on purpose. I could never tell with her.)

"That I didn't know," She admitted, brushing her hair back from her face. "Do you think that we could look around the stores and see if they've seen my pages?"

I blinked. "Wouldn't the mansion be a more logical place?"

Her eyes widened; she immediately looked away, her hands folded together. "Yeah, but I really want to look around the town."

Naminé's sudden determination didn't faze me; I had seen it many times in the past, when she defied DiZ and told that nobody the truth anyways. I just… didn't think that she had ulterior motives today. What on earth could she really be looking for in this town? It was important enough that she had put the sketchbook pages aside.

"If you want to look, then that's fine. I still think we should check the mansion," I shrugged lightly. I knew better than to argue at this time. "Do you want to split up and meet at the mansion? Or should we go together?"

She smiled lightly the moment I brought up the idea of splitting up. "Splitting up'd be nice."

… Why did I have the sudden feeling that this wouldn't bode well for either of us? I placed one hand on my hip. Grinning slightly, I looked her over. "You sure you'd be all right by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, Riku," She insisted, her eyes never wavering. "You can go look at the Sandlot or something. I'm sure it'll turn out alright."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. Just let me meet up earlier, okay? Would the Usual Spot be a good place?"

"Yeah," She said with a grin. "… Riku. You actually remembered the name of his hangout!"

"Why wouldn't I know that? That's all he and his little friends would talk about – 'let's go to the Usual Spot! I left my homework or insert item that I honestly don't care about here' or 'We'll meet up at the Usual Spot and go to the beach!' It's not hard to remember something like that…"

She giggled – did she find that funny? – placing her hands under her chin. "All the same, you did remember. Meeting there'll be fine. I'll see you in a couple of hours!"

I watched her walk off in the opposite direction; I waved good-bye, then set out in the direction of the Sandlot. I probably should have checked the Tram Common or the Subway, sure, but at the moment... I guess I wasn't really thinking.

Two of that nobody's friends were walking along the same path. They were laughing to themselves about something – I didn't need to know what, so I didn't listen in. At least, not closely enough at first.

There wasn't anyone else at the Sandlot when I arrived. That punk and his little friends probably hadn't shown up for the day yet; it was just me and the nobody's friends. I sat down, sighed, and... well, started to listen to them.

"I can't believe you had the guts to play hooky on Olette," One was saying to another. His green outfit… was this Hayner? I didn't pay much attention to names back then.

His friend tugged on his camera strap. "Neither can I. Olette's gonna be so mad with me. But hey, at least she's spending time with that Roxas guy now."

Roxas? That nobody was here? I thought he was still part of Sora.

Did Naminé know, then, that her nobody was here? (It would make sense if both of them were separated at the same time.)

.,,So that was her motive. She wanted to find him.

The other two turned to leave – it seemed they were just passing by, though I had no clue where they were headed – when I stood up to follow them.

Hayner turned to face me with a slightly confused expression on his face. "Haven't seen you in town before."

I'd honestly hoped to avoid more conversation than I had to. I shrugged, placing a hand casually on my hip. "I'd hope not, since this is my first time."

The black-haired one smiled good-naturedly. "Hmm, you lost? There's not much near the Sandlot except for the train station and a couple of restaurants."

Better take him up on that offer. I wouldn't normally, but I felt I had to hurry down there – to wherever Naminé was going. "Is there a mall around here," I asked, glancing over in the direction of Market Street. "It's… kind of a hurry."

Pence and Hayner exchanged glances.

"There isn't really a mall, per say," Pence explained. "But there's a pretty good outdoor shopping center that we call the town mall. That's probably what you're looking for. I'd take you there, but—"

"Poor guy's playing hooky," Hayner cut in. "So I wouldn't mind doing it for you. Or you just want directions?"

I smiled weakly. "Either's fine."

"Then I'll take you! Pence, save our usual table," Hayner ordered, grinning at his friend. Pence nodded, heading off in the opposite direction. He then led me (as well as someone like Hayner could) towards the center, pointing out landmarks along the way.

I could see why Sora held him in high regards. It was hard to dislike someone who truly loved his hometown more than I ever loved that island prison. … There went that guilty pang again. I thought I'd gotten over my guilt for leaving… Apparently not.

We stopped in the courtyard. Hayner smiled, placing both hands on his hips. "And here we are. Hope you'll stop by the Usual Spot sometime! Hey… what's your name? I don't think you ever said it."

"Riku," I simply responded, returning his smile. "It's nice to have met you, Hayner."

Hayner blinked. "So… you're the guy Sora was looking for. Did he ever find you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry about it now."

"Sure," He beamed. "It's nice to finally meet you. See ya!"

I watched him walk off before turning to face the crowd. Now… if Naminé were to look for that nobody, where would she be? Presumably wherever the nobody was. Since he's with a girl – Olette, right? – he'd probably be dragged to go clothes shopping.

Well, if the girl was anything like Kairi. (Getting the feathers out of my hair took a week – Mom thought it was 'too cute' to take out. Thankfully, we were only nine, but still! I hadn't trusted her with my hair since)

The clothing stores around here didn't seem too… well, I doubted the two would be there. So I kept walking.

"So, where to?"

That was the nobody's voice. I spun in their direction; seemed they were just leaving some clothing store. His companion smiled, replying with, "How about the Build A Bear Workshop?" as she took a shopping bag out of his hands.

He nodded, then walked more quickly than she in the direction of the store. I may not be the expert on shopping with girls, but you normally don't walk faster than her. I waited for them to walk in, then following them inside the store.

As I busied myself with the display, I watched them out of the corner of my eye. Well, they'd be young lovey-dovey couple of the year in a heartbeat. Good for them. But where was Naminé…? She didn't seem to be anywhere nearby.

I walked out of the store. There she was, standing breathlessly outside as she watched them.

"Naminé?"

She jumped. Blinking as she looked over at me, she whispered, "Oh… it's just you."

There were tears streaming down her face. (What the heck happened while I was with Hayner?) For some reason, I was compelled to hold her against me, my hands wiping her tears away.

"Naminé," I muttered. "What happened?"

"I… thought we still had a chance," She whispered, her head leaning on my chest. "But I never guessed he liked her, the girl next door. Was it… wrong of me to hope?"

I ruffled her hair. "No. But did you even like him for him? Or because he was a piece of Sora?"

"H-How did you know…?"

"I'm not an idiot," I smiled weakly. "I saw the looks you gave him last year. So what if Roxas likes another girl? Chin up, Naminé."

She smiled weakly. "…. Thank you, Riku."

"No problem," I let go of her, letting her weakly lean against my arm. "So… you wanna go look for sketchbook pages now?"

"That would be nice. Hey, um…. Can we stay here a bit longer in the morning? I want to go do something after we visit the mansion."

"Sure," I responded, starting the walk towards the mansion. The walk was silent, but it didn't feel bad or weird. We said all that we needed to; what else was there to say? The town felt like a moving blur, even though we were walking slowly.

I don't remember how long it took to reach the mansion's open gates, or how long it took to get inside. It feels like a dream to recall them, if only because I never thought I'd be here so soon.

I started to climb the stairs. Turning to Naminé, I beckoned, "Oy, you wanna go to your room?"

She smiled, catching up with me. "That'd be nice. You think that there'd be some pages there?"

"Probably," I replied, opening the doors for us. "They're like homing pigeons, flocking home."

She giggled, pulling out her sketchbook. The wall was filled with pages and color, yet they weren't the ones she was looking for. I walked around her table, gently taking off two pages that had probably come in through the window.

Another page was stuck in the window. She saw it first, smiling as she gently released it from its cage.

"Three in this world," She said. Glancing at the fireplace's mantle, she immediately ran to it, taking off the drawings. "Hey, Riku? Could you give me those pages? I want to tape them up on the wall."

I handed them to her; I smiled softly as she tacked them up to the wall in a graceful manner only she could accomplish. Once she had finished, she immediately led me out of the room before I could even take a closer look. The page she'd taken from the window? She hadn't tacked it up, instead taking a picture from her new sketchbook. I saw her toss it into her bag, but said nothing. What could I say?

"Why won't you let me see?"

She blushed, looking away. "Cause. I don't think you'd be too interested in them."

Hmm. Were they too embarrassing for her? I smirked slightly. "Fine, fine. I'll just have to come back later, right?"

Her face matched Kairi's hair quite nicely. "Riku!"

I laughed, opening the door to the Library. As we went downstairs, I replied, "Kidding, Naminé. You should've seen the look on your face!"

She sighed, shaking her head lightly. We entered the computer room. Naminé immediately placed both hands over her ears. "It… hurts," She murmured. "I.. don't know why… it's ringing…"

I blinked; I hadn't heard anything. "Ringing? Ringing what?"

"Eleven days," She weakly responded, her feet shakily moving to the computer. "Eleven days."

"Naminé! You... you okay?"

She nodded, scanning the computer – it apparently was connected to her pain. Then, it happened. Her eyes widened; her body shook even more.

"Naminé!" I didn't know what was going on. She wobbled towards me; I just barely caught her in my arms.

She looked up at me with a weak smile. "I'm fine, Riku. Let's hurry up and keep looking... so that we can tell Roxas tomorrow." She whispered as she closed her eyes.

I cursed under my breath. How much pain could one world give this girl?

Eleven Nights Left.