Harlequin

He had no name. No family. No friends. All he knew was that he had awoken in a silent room, holding the hand of a slumbering girl who's name was his only link to the past: Naminé.

A/N: Wow, such an early update! Anyway, it gets so hot when I'm using my laptop in the summer. I'm sweating buckets. I wish I had something better to say... XD Thank you to the reviewers! Onto chapter two!

...

He couldn't help but notice the bags underneath her eyes as she sat huddled in the dusty corner, her hand pressed against her wound as she healed it. He also couldn't help but notice the trail of goosebumps that led up her legs or her feet that were conveniently propped up where her dress didn't cover.

She had told him it was the 21st of December—which explained why it was so cold—and that they were both seventeen. Any other details she hadn't bothered filling in for him and Roxas hesitated to push for any answers, unsure of whether she really wanted the questions burning in his mind answered.

Instead, he shrugged off his jacket, ignoring the hairs that stood up on his arm as he draped it over Naminé's shoulders, causing her to look up at him in querie. "It's cold," he responded with a shrug of a shoulder before turning away, pacing to the other side of the small tin shed.

Ever since the last incident with the hooded figures, they had had no other choice but to go into hiding again, Naminé only using her magic when she deemed it safe, but not for an extensive period of time for fear of the hooded figures finding them once again.

Right now, she had once again deemed it safe to use her magic without attracting attention and though Roxas was glad that she could continue healing the wound that had been causing her trouble the past couple of days, he was also concerned that it may drain her completely and she would have to rest again. And judging from the bags beneath her eyes, Roxas knew that she was most likely too exhausted to be using her powers, especially after having recently been attempting to recuperate from her exhaustion.

Naminé yawned tiredly, shaking her head of the sleep before focusing her attention once more on the healing of her ribcage before breaking the silence. "We have to move from here soon. In a day's time, I'm sure they won't be too far from our location. We've given them enough time to track us down when really we should be moving locations often," she explained logically, her eyes never leaving her healing wound.

Roxas remained silent as he leaned against the rusty wall of the shed, knowing that they had only remained in the same location because he had forced Naminé to, aware of the amount of pain she would have to endure by moving with her unhealed ribs. Of course, she had objected to this treatment, explaining as she had just then that it would be the only way for them to remain safe from the people chasing them—who these people were and their motives she hadn't explained properly. Roxas had flat out refused to move anywhere unless she was fully healed prompting Naminé to use as many safe opportunities as she was allowed to heal herself.

Heat rose in Naminé's as the unmistakable sound of a stomach growling filled the small shed.

Coughing politely into his hand, Roxas suppressed his urge to laugh and pushed himself off of the wall of the shed, grinning at Naminé who averted her eyes. "Do you want me to go get you some food then?" he asked, heading towards the door of the shed.

Clutching her tender wound, Naminé pushed herself up gingerly to her feet, wincing at the effort. "I'm sorry..." she murmured, cheeks still flushed pink. "We should stick together though..." she trailed off, gazing hesitantly at the floor.

Hand out-stretched, Roxas smiled softly at her. "It's okay. Let's go together then."

Face lighting up at the gesture, Naminé slipped her hand into Roxas' and allowed him to lead her towards the door of the shed, smiling contently at his back as he pushed open the rusting door.

It was dark outside when Roxas and Naminé stepped out of the shed, into an untended grassy field, the grass reaching up to their waists. It had been hazardous approaching the area because of the fact that it would leave a trail and Naminé resolved this issue by casting magic that allowed them to fly over the top of the grass, allowing them to easily reach the shed. The move had concerned Roxas as he understood the toll it would take on Naminé's health, but even at that moment he understood that it was the only thing that would ensure their safety for the time being.

This time however, Roxas glanced over at Naminé, knowing that she had probably already exhausted a lot of her magic by attempting to heal herself, not to mention had nothing fuelling her. The issue was, did she have enough magic for a sustained flight over the field of grass?

His thoughts were disrupted by the surprising sound of his stomach growling and Naminé whipped her head in his direction, eyes wide before she burst out into giggles which she attempted in vain to stifle.

Heat rose into Roxas' face and he rubbed the back of his head, chuckling. "I guess we're in the same boat then," he said with a grin, patting his rumbling stomach.

A ball of fire shot past their heads, crashing into the shed behind them and scarring the old and rusted metal.

Both Roxas and Naminé's attention were suddenly drawn to the hooded figure standing across from them on the other side of the field, a path of fire leading directly from the figure to the pair. The figure spun a burning chakram in each hand, poised to fling another fireball in their direction.

"Roxas!" bellowed the figure, pulling back his arm to launch the rotating chakram in his right hand.

"Come on!" cried Roxas, dragging Naminé forward and leading them in the opposite direction to the figure.

He clasped her hand tightly in his as they pushed through the long grass, running as quickly as the vegetation allowed them to. As they ran, he could barely hear the sharp intakes of Naminé's breaths over the pounding of blood in his ears. He felt the resistance against his pull gradually grow stronger and realised that Naminé was struggling to keep up, her breathing becoming more and more harsh, likely due to her freshly healed wound.

Stopping suddenly, he whirled around to scoop Naminé up into his arms, glimpsing their pursuer a few feet behind them before spinning back around and continuing to force his way across the field, struggling deperately against the resistant grass.

In the distance, he could see another dark cloaked figure approaching the field, busily shuffling cards and preparing to hinder them. He glanced to his right, spotting another hooded person, summoning a sitar into their hands as they pushed through the grass towards them.

They needed a way to escape. And Roxas could see none. Despite this, he continued to run, pulling Naminé closer into his chest as she began to cough harshly.

His eyes shifted to the left as another figure calmly approached them from afar, drawing forth a bat winged blade.

It was purely instinct and Roxas could not comprehend the decision himself but he soon found himself turning in the direction of that figure, rushing towards him and gritting his teeth as he braced himself. "Naminé!" he cried, hoping she was still observing what was around them and praying that she still had enough strength left.

A violent fit of coughs was followed by Naminé tiredly raising her left hand, pointing towards the figure they were quickly approaching, eyes blurred and blood staining her lips as she croaked, "I've got it."

Drawing a hurried glowing cross in the air, Naminé thrust her palm through the symbol. A bright light suddenly enveloped them both, causing the other three pursuers to cover their eyes reflexively. However, the pursuer before them leapt forward, the light ineffective against them, hands seizing both Roxas and Naminé and sending them all crashing into a heap upon the grass. The grass gave way beneath them and Roxas felt that familiar sickening falling sensation as darkness swallowed them completely. Squeezing his eyes shut and pulling Naminé even closer to himself, he felt the hands of the hooded figure push him roughly down further before they were drawn away and the hard floor below met painfully with Roxas' head and the rest of his body.

Stunned and completely numb, Roxas lay on the cold hard floor, winded and struggling to catch his breath back. His grip loosened on Naminé, allowing her to roll off of him onto the floor beside him where she scrambled up onto her hands and knees.

Ignoring her reopened wound, Naminé bowed over Roxas, hands flying to his head where blood seeped precariously from, instantly murmuring a chant as she began to seal the wound. "Roxas," she rasped, throat raw from her previous coughing bouts, "talk to me please."

Dazedly, Roxas stared at the ceiling of the room they had fallen into, too numb to string together a proper sentence. "Talk?" he mumbled, his vision alternating between focused and unfocused.

"Yes... please..."

The hint of desperation in her voice prompted Roxas to obey, his eyes briefly meeting her concerned-filled ones before losing focus once more. "I'm tired," he murmured, eyes slowly drifting closed.

"Yes, I know you are," she whispered and he could feel her warm breath fan his face, knowing she had lowered her head closer down towards his, "but you've got to keep talking to me... please, Roxas..." she continued to whisper, her voice wavering at the end of her sentence.

Head too sore to nod, Roxas slowly forced his eyes to open, feeling as though his body and head were disconnected from one another; unable to move either of them because of the overwhelming numbing sensation that coursed through his body. His weary eyes locked once more with Naminé's and his disjointed mind vaguely registered the appearance of tears welling in her eyes as she gazed down at him. "Hey... I'm still talking... aren't I?" he murmured as he studied her face exhaustedly.

Biting her lip, Naminé nodded her head silently, the tears still glistening in her eyes.

"Then don't... look at me like that..." he spoke softly, eyes threatening to drift closed once more, yet this time he fought against it. "Besides... we're going to go get something to eat after this... right?" he asked tiredly with half-lidded eyes.

The question made Naminé laugh as the amount of blood seeping from Roxas' wound lessened, the level of power she was putting into it speeding up the healing process. "Sure, if that's what you want," she giggled, her tears escaping from her eyes. She attempted to hurriedly brush them away against her arm when Roxas' hand rose and cupped her cheek, allowing him to gently brush the tears away with his thumb.

"Please don't cry," he murmured gently, eyes filled with concern.

Naminé strained a smile in return and refocused on the task at hand, forcefully drawing out more power to heal him. The wound in her side throbbed painfully and she felt unsconsciousness threaten to seize hold of her from the amount of magic she was forcing herself to use, yet she ignored it all, determined to see Roxas healed.

...

Roxas pulled himself up onto his feet, flexing his arms in an attempt to become accustomed to moving his body once more, the pain having left his head entirely due to Naminé completely healing his wound. Turning to thank Naminé, he watched as she swayed dangerously, swiftly bending to catch her before she collasped, concern written on his face as he propped her up against the wall for support.

Sweat dewed her forehead as she breathed harshly, her eyes closed and her skin paler than usual. Opening her eyes tiredly to catch Roxas', she smiled weakly, reaching out a hand towards him. "Let's go..." she mumbled, "I think the hunger is really getting to me."

Returning her weak smile, Roxas mumbled an agreement, knowing that she was actually weakened from having to heal him yet understanding that she did not wish to burden him with that fact. Turning around, he beckoned for her to clamber onto his back as it would be more convenient for them to travel where his arms were free. "So I can protect you while you rest," he explained with an optimistic grin.

Obediently, Naminé pulled herself up onto Roxas' back, wrapping her arms around his neck and nestling her face into the back of his shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed as she welcomed sleep.

Roxas rose to his feet, striding over to the door and opening it, relishing the thought of finally having something to fill his stomach for the night. It was when Roxas had finally stepped outside that he had to stop and reconsider the idea of them looking for food. They were stranded in a place that Roxas didn't know of—or could not remember—and it Roxas thought about it logically, he wasn't exactly sure where to attempt a start to find food.

At that moment, a innocent rabbit strayed across the pathway ahead of Roxas, pausing on the dirt road to turn its round eyes to the undeniably hungry man.

"Hello dinner," he greeted it, causing the rabbit to dive headlong into the bushes beside the dirt road. Briskly walking along to the bushes on the other side, Roxas took mental note of where the rabbit had gone before gingerly laying Naminé on the grass, causing her to stir in her sleep. "Naminé, stay here for just one second and I'll get us some food, okay?" he whispered, crouched over her for approval.

Watching Naminé nod her head sleepily, Roxas stood and ran in the direction of the rabbit, picking up a random branch off the floor as he went. What he planned to do with it wasn't exactly clear to him but his instinct had led him to pick it up, as if he felt more secure fighting with some sort of weapon in his hands. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind however when he caught sight of the rabbit once more, nibbling on some nearby vegetation.

Allowing his instincts to take over, it wasn't long until Roxas was heading back to where he had left Naminé resting with his prize in hand. He couldn't help but feel surprised that he was more skilled in fighting than he had originally thought, as if he had been battling for quite a while now without him even beeing able to recall whether this was true or not. With a grin, he pulled back the green foliage to find nothing laying before his eyes.

The dead rabbit fell from Roxas' hand.

Naminé was gone.

Before fear and horror could completely render his thoughts to be irrational, he noted the trail of blood that Naminé had left behind from her reopened wound. Allowing his eyes to follow the glistening tracks of the red fluid, he found that it led back to the house he had just exited with Naminé from. Curious and wary, he headed back towards the building, branch still clenched in his fist as he silently approached the door and opened it.

A blade was brandished in his face and Roxas pulled back swiftly, narrowly avoiding it, recognising the weapon.

The hooded figure that had pushed them into the house stood before him, bat winged blade poised to strike again.

"Where's Naminé?" demanded Roxas, eyes fixed on the person as he stepped into the house defiantly, ignoring the blade closing dangerously in on his throat.

"I'm right here, Roxas," Naminé called feebly from her seat on the floor behind the figure.

Relaxing, Roxas peered around the person, confused at the sight of Naminé staring down at a can of tuna in her hand. "Tuna?" he asked, a single brow raising in question.

"It's flavoured," added the man in the cloak, lowering his blade.

Attention shifting back to the man, Roxas became further confused by his actions as he allowed the blade to vanish into darkness. "Flavoured?" Roxas snorted, kicking the door closed behind himself. "Is that supposed to make me trust you?"

The man reached up to the hood of his cloak, pulling it back to reveal his blindfolded face and long spiky silver hair. "Do you not recognise me?" he asked, head tilting slightly.

Roxas' brows furrowed. "Am I supposed to?"

"Roxas..." Naminé's soft voice called tentatively from the floor, causing both men to turn towards her.

"You should eat," insisted the man to Roxas, gesturing towards Naminé who bit her lip guiltily, glancing away from him. "I'll explain everything once you've eaten."

Naminé's head whipped back towards the man, a frown marring her face. "Riku!"

Turning towards her, Riku's brows drew together. "Are you serious, Naminé?"

Lip quivering, Naminé looked away, gripping her heart, uncertainty reflected in her eyes.

Clearly, some information was being withheld from Roxas. But the possibility of him discovering what it was appeared to terrify Naminé and he was hesitant to push for the information. Scratching his head, he walked passed Riku and seated himself on the floor beside Naminé, silence descending upon the room. "Uh..." he began, glancing at the tuna can, "why didn't you start eating?"

Naminé turned her wide blue eyes to Roxas, biting her lip once more. "I was waiting for you... you wanted to eat something together, didn't you?" she asked, lowering her eyes back to the tuna can clutched in her hands.

A warm smile flitted across his face as he watched Naminé figet with the tab attached to the lid of the can. "Yeah."

Still, flavoured tuna was the best Riku could provide them with? Roxas thought, sweatdropping as Naminé removed the lid to reveal the tomato and onion flavoured tuna within.

He looked up at Riku in surprise as he too took a seat on the floor before them, reaching into his cloak pocket and pulling out more cans and packets of food, causing both Roxas' and Naminé's eyes to widen. Placing the assortment of packaged foods in a pile in the middle of their circle, Riku grabbed a steamed bun packet, tearing it opened. "I'm hungry too," he commented nonchalantly as the pair stared at him, biting into the white bun. "We can all share that too," he said pointedly, nodding at the pile of packages and cans.

"Thanks, Riku," Naminé said, smiling gratefully as she reached forward, grabbing another steamed bun. She turned and looked at Roxas in surprise, sweat dropping at the sight of him already tearing into two packages of steamed buns and wolfing them down, following that with a mouthful of the flavoured tuna.

"Yarh, schfanks Weeku," Roxas managed to say, struggling to swallow.

Riku stifled a laugh, murmuring into his food, "Even like this, you haven't changed."

"What was that?" Roxas asked, coughing as he beat his chest to force down the food, eyes turning curiously to Riku.

"It's nothing," Riku murmured, continuing to silently eat his bun.

Lowering her gaze, Naminé bit silently into her own steamed bun, uncertainty consuming her.

…

A/N: Hahah, I just read over this and edited the grammatical/expression issues I noticed in this. XD So if there are any more, I apologise sincerely. Please leave a review!