HIIIIII!!!! I bet you thought I'd forgotten this!!! Um...I did, for a bit. I liked writing this, it was fun!!! In this chapter Namine gets something like a mother figure, so YAY!

Should I bring Kairi in again? Review and tell me!

Disclaimer: So sad...I own nothing. I feel depressed...

When We Were Kids: The Continuation

Ages 8 and 10

Namine glared at the stuffed animal on her bedside table.

"What are you staring at?!" She snapped.

The bear grinned at her. With a muffled noise of annoyance, she picked him up and put him under the bed. When she lay down on said bed, she practically felt the bear's little button eyes staring at her through the mattress. She leaned over, looked under the bed, and muffled a scream. The Bear, (she decided that he had to have a capital 'B') stared upwards, his arms pointing stiffly up to the top of the bed. His eyes gazed sightlessly up.

She took him out, and holding him an arm's length away, put him on the top of the bureau, eyes to the wall.

Namine smiled in satisfaction. He couldn't creep her out if he was looking away from her. She hummed, and skipped out the door.

IN RIKU'S ROOM OF DOOM

(It rhymes!!!)

"Sora, have you planted the bug?" Riku asked, adjusting a large, clear crystal on the floor. His friend knelt next to him, and peered into the crystal.

"Yup." Riku grinned mischievously.

"Good. Watch." When he touched a thin glowing rod made of a yellow glass to it, the crystal buzzed, and then filled with a mist that soon cleared to reveal Namine's room.

"Whoa…" Sora said with a huge smile. "Where'd you get this?"

"Nicked it from one of the knights. It's amazing what spy stuff they carry around." Riku replied, looking intently into the crystal.

They watched Namine move the teddy bear around. When she screamed after looking under the bed, Riku broke out in his best evil laugh.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH—" he stopped, coughing. Sora hit him hard on the back.

"I've-so-got-to-work-on-that!" Riku gasped. Sora nodded.

"We have a way to defeat Namine!" Sora said triumphantly. Riku hit him on the head, and said,

"We have a way to defeat Namine!" Sora glared at him.

"That's what I just said!" He complained. Riku shrugged.

"It just sounds cooler when I say it."

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Namine sauntered down the hall, smiling slightly. She had sat in the garden and drawn a really good picture that she was proud of. Nothing would ruin her good day!

Suddenly, something swung down from the ceiling, and she ducked. When she turned around, she saw—

"AHHHHHH!!! BEAAAAR!" she screamed in terror.

She heard two boys laughing behind her. She narrowed her eyes and turned around.

Riku was laughing, and didn't see anything but stars when Namine slapped him.

"Ow!" He said, rubbing his bruised cheek. Namine stalked past him and glared at Sora. The spiky-haired boy took a step back.

"I won't punch you because you are only an accomplice." She told him. She then swung her hair behind her, picking up what was left of her dignity, and walked away.

Sora shook his head and punched Riku lightly on the shoulder.

"As fun as that was, I can't wait to see what excuse you're going to say to your mom at the banquet tonight to explain that bruise on your cheek."

Riku saw his reflection in the mirror and swore.

"Damn!"

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Namine sat in front of a mirror and fidgeted as maids pinned up her hair.

"Princess Namine, will you please stay still?" The maid asked reprovingly.

"Sorry." Namine apologized, and tried not to move. The maid twisted a strand of hair up into a bun, and then said,

"That was an impressive bruise you gave Prince Riku today, Princess."

Namine blushed, and said,

"You can call me Namine, if I can call you…?"

"Aerith," the maid said, "I'm Aerith." She braided a few pieces of hair, and continued, "Now, miss Namine, I'm sure that you know that hitting is wrong—" Namine blushed again, "—but even so, we've got a whole castle of servants waiting to here the excuse the prince is going to come up with. What is it he did?" She asked.

Namine linked her hands in front of her, and straightened her white skirt.

"See, there's this bear that Daddy gave me. He has button eyes, and he's always smiling at me. It freaks me out, and somehow Riku knows it—"

Aerith huffed.

"He tied the bear to a string and made swing down at you?" She asked, moving into Namine's room.

"Well, yes." Namine confessed. Aerith grumbled, and then picked up a delicate-looking yellow crystal half-hidden on the bedside table.

"Ah ha! A spy crystal." She handed it to Namine. "This, little Princess, is something that allows others to see into where the crystal is. Many knights have them."

"Riku planted a spy crystal on me?!" Namine asked; eyes wide. Aerith nodded.

"Can it record what it sees?" Namine asked, an idea forming. Aerith shrugged, and said,

"Only if you have a unit connected to it."

Namine grinned.

"Thank you, Aerith. You gave me an idea." Aerith smiled.

"I try, miss."

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Riku walked nervously into the banquet hall. His mom was laughing at something Axel had said, and she looked like she was in a fairly good mood.

He saw that Namine was sitting in her chair, smirking at him. He glanced around to make sure that no one was looking at him, and then stuck his tongue out. She giggled, and turned away.

That little! He growled incoherently under his breath.

"Nice bruise, Riku." Axel said dryly from behind him. Riku winced.

"Don't I know it." He replied, fingering the colored mark. Axel walked with him up to his seat.

"Are you going to blame Namine?" He asked, grinning. Riku snorted.

"I could, because I only refrain from blaming ladies—"

"Ouch." Axel muttered. Riku ignored him, and continued,

"But, I'm afraid that to all others, Namine appears as a perfectly nice girl, and I don't want to get a huge lecture from Mum about how mean and petty and rude it is to blame little devil girls." He scowled.

"Ask your mom what she did when she was a little girl." Axel snorted. "She was a little devil girl herself." Riku paled.

"That's a pretty scary thought, Axel."

"You don't know the half of it." Axel said with a wicked smile. He directed Riku into a chair beside Larxene. Larxene took one look at Riku's face and then sighed.

"What did you do?"

"What did I do?! Mom, here I am, injured, and all you think about is what I did?!" He asked in irritation. Larxene rolled her eyes.

"Honey, every time you get injured, as you said, it's because you offended someone."

"Point taken." Riku growled. "But I'm the one that ends up hurt Mom!"

Namine adjusted a yellow crystal she had found in Riku's room to catch and record the conversation.

"Now, what happened?" Larxene asked patiently, wrapping her long fingers around the stem of her wine glass.

Riku crossed his arms. He couldn't say he fell, or else he would be labeled as clumsy for the rest of his natural life (and then some, if Namine had anything to do with it) he obviously couldn't tell them Namine had slapped him, or else they would wonder why, and…

"I walked into a wall." He blurted out. His face went scarlet, and he looked down, allowing his hair to veil the side of his face.

Namine's POV

I CAN NOT BELIEVE HIM!

Does he want to make himself look like an idiot?! How can I feel justified about warring against him if he's humiliated by someone else? That's my job, thank you very much!!!

Besides, I thought, smiling, if Riku isn't humiliated, and I save him…bla-ackmail!!!

"It was an accident on my part, Queen Larxene." I said. I looked down, pretending to be ashamed. "I-I was reading a freaky book in a darker corner of the library, and he snuck up behind me. I was scared, and I punched him. I'm sorry." I hunched my shoulders.

Larxene nodded slowly.

"Namine, it is not all right to hit." She said reprovingly.

"Hypocrite." Axel muttered. Larxene flashed a smile at him, and then turned to Riku and said,

"Riku, stop trying to scare Namine."

Riku nodded, and crossed his fingers under the table.

"Fine."

General POV

Riku waited outside the door after dinner, and then grabbed Namine's arm when she left.

"Ouch! Riku! Injury!" She whispered, trying to wriggle free. Riku shrugged, and tugged her along behind him. He led her to the library, found a empty table, and made her sit down. He sat across from her.

"Why?" He asked simply. Namine shrugged.

"You had lousy excuses." She smiled slightly. "You need to work on them."
Riku frowned, and stroked an imaginary beard. Namine giggled.

"I'll think about it." He said. Namine smiled. She had a nice smile, he thought.

"You know," He said impulsively, "I think we might have been best friends if we weren't going to have to marry each other some day."

Namine bit her lip.

"I think you're right." She stood, and handed a yellow crystal to him. "You should give that back to the knight you took it from." She skipped out of the library.

Riku looked after her, and then looked down at the crystal in his hand.

"I guess I should." He said to himself.

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Namine sat on her bed and let Aerith gently dry and comb her hair for her.

"Aerith?" She asked timidly. Aerith nodded to show she was listening. "Can I tell you a secret?" she asked, interlocking her fingers. Aerith put down the comb and turned the girl to face her.

"As long as it's nothing dangerous." She said sternly. Namine nodded.
"I think Riku and I would have been friends, or…" She turned red, "maybe more, if we hadn't been…" She trailed off, and lay down. Aerith stood.

"Betrothed?" Aerith shook her head. "It's incredible, what nobles come up with dear. Now," She blew out the lamps. "Get some sleep, and maybe you should forget about what you just told me. It doesn't work, to keep dwelling on something."

Namine smiled.

"G'Night, Aerith." She said sleepily.

"Good night, Namine."

YAY! I brought Aerith in! Wasn't expecting that. Review and tell me what you think!