Chapter 5

The next day was uneventful. Riku was anxious to keep moving to make up for the time they'd lost, so rests were brief. Naminé had a hard time keeping up with his pace, but somehow managed. Heartless appeared on the road every so often, and were dispatched without a second thought.

The past two days had been difficult since Riku's outburst. There had been an awkward silence immediately afterwards, neither knowing what to say or how to act. Naminé had started speaking to him by the end of the day, but the tension that hung in the air was almost tangible. She was obviously hurt by what he had said. What could he do? He couldn't help it. It was how he felt.

Was it? Sure, maybe he had been hostile towards her at first but she had done nothing to make him mistrust her. She had saved his life, and it had used all her energy. She could barely walk the day before. Wasn't that worthy of his trust?

In that case, why didn't the heartless attack her? Why did it seem like she repelled them? In each fight not one Heartless even looked her way. There was still something she wasn't telling him, and if he were to ever trust her he'd have to know what that was. Maybe she could understand that. He hoped she would.

They turned a corner on the road to see a light twinkling in the distance. It was a welcome beacon after living the past few days in darkness.

"That's Twilight Town!!" Naminé exclaimed, her whole body perking up at the sight of the end of their arduous journey. She willed her tired feet forward. "Come on, Riku, we're almost there!"

The silver-haired teen caught her wrist. She started at the sudden contact, wondering what was wrong.

"From that distance, it's still going to take us most of the day to get there. We should rest."

She hesitated, then nodded. They sat. Naminé realised how tired she was as she performed the simple action. Her strength seemed to seep downwards into the glowing ground and she slumped forwards. Riku's face appeared next to her.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Mmm," she said. "Just tired. I'll sleep once we get to Twilight Town."

Riku wondered what she thought of him. Was she actually offended by what he had said, or did she even care? He wouldn't have blamed her if she hated him. Part of him wished it. Why did he have to go so insane over it? He could have been nice, avoided the question like other normal people but no. He had to be different. He had to do everything the hard way, all the damn time. Why couldn't he have been nice? Even once. Why was it something he refused to do?

By now, their "relationship" had resumed to something that resembled what they had reached before, but Riku couldn't help but think they had to start from the beginning. There was something missing that they used to have, something he couldn't quite yet put into words. It didn't diminish how important it was though. Because this element was missing, there was an emptiness that enveloped them both.

Riku shook his head angrily. What was the point in this at all? He had said from the very beginning that he didn't want to get to know her. That he wasn't interested in being friends. He looked at her tired face for a moment, and looked away.

There was a part of him that was begging him to think beyond reason. That if he cut his ties with this woman, he would regret that decision.

"Why don't you sleep now?" he asked. Naminé smiled wearily back at him.

"Because I don't want to."

"Why?"

"With Twilight Town so close? No way. I just wish this road would have a rock or something I could lean against."

Riku sat down and crossed his legs, his back facing hers.

"Lean back," he said. Naminé saw what he was trying to do, and looked up in surprise.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Jeez, woman, it's not like I'm asking you to bear my child or something."

Naminé blushed furiously. She looked down, hiding her face with a curtain of hair. He was right, why was she so embarrassed about it? She let herself fall and rested he back on his. The more time she took the worse it would look.

It was quiet for some time. Riku's mind was strangely blank; a rare occasion that was always welcomed. Naminé thought of many things. She brought her left knee up slightly and laced her fingers around it. Not having to look at Riku anymore, her face tilted up to stare at the black sky.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Yeah?" he asked, interested. Her voice had sounded soft, serious.

"Did you ever have an imaginary friend?"

Riku burst out laughing. "What?"

"Come on, have you never even thought about it?" she questioned, her tone indignant.

"No, no, it's not that," he replied. "I just didn't expect you to come out with something, something so..." he trailed off, trying for the first time to be careful of his words. Naminé frowned at him.

"Just say it," she deadpanned.

"Utterly stupid," he laughed. "You sounded so serious until then."

"What, did you expect me to ask you the meaning of life or something?"

"No," he started. "I.."

"While we're on that topic actually, what do you think is the meaning of life?"

"Sorry for the inconvenience," he said automatically.

"I bet you read that in a book somewhere."

"Maybe I did."

They laughed, but to both it seemed to ring hollow in their ears. It fizzled quickly into a collective sigh, and silence reigned once more. It was not easy to forget that they had had a fight only two days before, and sitting like this together was probably one of the most difficult things either of them had done. Not difficult in the sense that it was hard, but difficult in the way that they were so uneasy around each other, and that they had to be around each other. It was strange; usually after a fight people could part ways, take some time to cool down. They didn't have that. For better or for worse, they were stuck together until the time they could be among the twinkling lights in the distance.

"So, Riku," Naminé said, wanting to shatter the discomforting quiet. "Have you ever had an imaginary friend?"

She heard a low thud as the teen's head impacted with his hands.

"Ugh, not this again," he complained. "No, Naminé, I never had an imaginary friend."

"I did," she laughed. "His name was Fred."

"Fred?" he repeated. "For an imaginary friend, he certainly sounds boring."

"He was cool!" she exclaimed. "He was a part-time chef, and at the weekends he did rally driving."

"You're not serious," he said incredulously. "That's just too weird. What did he cook? Where did he get the car to drive? And who in the world could he drive against??"

"Well," she replied pensively. "He cooked for very important people, and he wouldn't tell me the recipes in case I told someone, so I never knew what he cooked, or what ingredients he used. His car was a red shiny one; I probably made that up too. As for who he drove against, I can't tell you. I always gave out to him for driving dangerously and wouldn't go to his races."

"What did your parents say about all this?" he asked with a smile.

"I, uh... never knew my parents," she said quietly. She didn't have to see Riku's face to know he was embarrassed. "I don't know if they're alive or dead, or even what they look like." She paused, wondering if she should keep going. It wasn't anything that could affect him adversely, so it wasn't too important, even if it was unnecessary information.

"I did have two guardians though, but they...died, not too long ago."

"Oh. I-"

"It's okay," she said, giving her head a shake. Her neck craned higher upwards, trying to prevent the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

"If I may ask, how did they...?"

"An accident. But I'd rather not talk about it." Her voice had a quaver in it that Riku couldn't put his finger on.

"Okay, no pressure."

"I'm sorry," she replied.

"Really, don't apologise." He vacillated for a moment, wondering how far he would be able to push the topic. "Are they the ones you drew in that picture?"

"Which one?"

Riku twisted slightly to be able to sit next to Naminé without her having to get up. The blonde girl opened the sketchbook and started to flick through the pictures. Riku grabbed it from her and turned the pages himself.

"Hey-" she protested, but he had already given it back to her, open on the picture she was talking about.

"See? This one," he said, pointing at it.

Naminé was accompanied by a man and a woman. The man had short brown hair with a fringe that fell just above his left eye. His eyes were brown and warm; he had a very carefree attitude about him. Though well built, it was obvious from the picture that he loved his family. One hand was planted on Naminé's shoulder, while the other was giving a thumbs up. The woman was a bit shorter, with green eyes and long blonde hair that was swept into a side ponytail. Her head was leaning on Naminé's other shoulder and her thin, delicate hands were slipped around her waist from behind that pulled Naminé into a hug. Naminé's right hand was held up in a shy type of greeting, and her left hand carried a basket of flowers. A big grin only enhanced her beauty, as if her whole face was smiling.

"Yeah," she said, tracing the outlines of the figures with the tip of her index finger. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "That's them alright."

"What were they like?"

"He was Noel," she explained, pointing to the man. "He was very big and dramatic, always waving his hands around the place, and he had this really deep laugh. It was like one of those cheesy evil villain ones, but it always had me in stitches."

Naminé pointed to the woman.

"That was Lillian. Compared to Noel, she would hardly speak. I guess he spoke enough for the both of them anyway. She had been brought up to be very refined as a kid, always polite and behaved well. She never moved or walked like a normal person, more like glided." Naminé laughed. "Noel always mocked her for that. When she got angry though, she could be so scary! Noel and I would hide in the shed in our back garden. It had a darts board and we'd play for hours. Lillian could never hold a grudge for long, and whenever she was grumpy she'd fell guilty about it and cook us the nicest food afterwards."

"Your family sounds just as normal as mine," Riku remarked.

"Yeah, they were really nice people." Naminé lingered on the picture for a few more seconds before flicking to a blank page.

"It wouldn't be me if I didn't draw, right?" Her voice was overly cheerful, but Riku knew too well what it was like to keep emotions in check. He decided to drop the subject.

"Guess it wouldn't. Do those pages even run out?"

"Nope." She shrugged and continued. "Never had to buy one yet anyway."

Their conversation stalled. Riku stood up, making sure he gave her enough warning to sit up by herself. He stretched, and turned to look at her. She was drawing the scene again. It was the first one that looked any different because of the distant lights.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Almost," she replied, sweeping the pencil across the page to finish the outline. "Okay, done."

"Come on."

"Noooo," she whined jokingly. "I don't wanna..."

"You're slowing us up!" he exclaimed.

Her face fell. Riku slapped his hand to his forehead.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," he said, correcting himself. Naminé looked away for a moment, then looked back, her face smiling again.

"That's okay," she said. "Now, pull me up." Riku took her hand and yanked her upwards. Naminé plunged forward a few steps before righting herself. She glared at her companion, who returned it with a sweet smile. She huffed and walked on. Riku hung back hesitantly.

"Why?" he blurted out suddenly. Naminé's eyes widened slightly in a questioning manner.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Why are you-? Why do you act like that?"

"Like what?"

"As if nothing's wrong between us."

Naminé turned her back on him and continued down the road.

"It's not like your words didn't hurt, Riku," she said. "But...I'm okay. I guess, that's just the way you are. It doesn't bother me all that much when I think about it like that."

Riku didn't know what to say. He caught up with her and they walked together.

"Is that why you were able to draw me so perfectly the other day, when you had your back turned? Because you know my character so well?"

"Is that when you kept looking at me and you wouldn't tell me why?"

"Yes, I could be talking about that..."

"So I was right?"

He sighed. Maybe he was going to regret bringing the topic up. "Yes Naminé, you were right."

"I just thought that would be how you looked, it's no big deal."

"Well, you've a way of nailing a guy's personality, Naminé."

"Heh, thanks." She thought for a moment, then turned sharply towards him.

"Was that a compliment?" she asked.

He smirked. "I don't know. Was it?"

"You're so mean!"

"But since you know my personality so well, you should have known that."

Naminé pushed him. Caught off guard, he landed face-first onto the ground. Naminé laughed insanely. She didn't expect to get him that bad. That was twice now.

"Ow..." he muttered. "You know, usually this would be the time where you'd ask someone if they were okay." Riku pulled himself up and shot her a withering look which he was unable to keep. The corners of his mouth pricked upwards into a smile. A happy smile. Naminé stopped laughing. She was amazed to see how beautiful he looked by such a simple thing.

"I hit my nose!" he exclaimed, which only made her start again.

"What are you going to do to make it up to me Naminé?" he asked, grabbing her hands and looking into her face.

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" she retorted slyly. Riku let go of her and turned away very quickly.

"Um, no. That's alright, I think I can manage. Come on, let's keep moving." He started walking just as quickly away. Naminé almost had to jog to keep up with him.

"Slow down!" she yelled. Riku laughed and broke into a sprint.

"Hey! Get back here!" she cried, running after him.

Author's Note

Wow, it's been a while since I updated. I couldn't believe how long it had been when I looked at the date. I have a few things to admit; the "bear my child" reference is one that comes from watching way too much Inuyasha. Ah, our dear, perverted Miroku... Also, the meaning of life is a reference from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's Trilogy of Five, lol.

This has only been proof-read twice, so if you spot any mistakes, please tell me so I can correct them!

Thanks for reading this latest chapter everyone! Your encouragement and critique always keep me motivated, and though I'm a little stuck as to where to go from here, I'll try my best to get the next chapter up soon. Reviews are always welcome! Thanks again!

PS, on a COMPLETELY irrelevant side note...

If anyone who reads this reads Death Note and has read number twelve, could they PM me? Because I really wanna talk about it and everyone else seems too obsessed with the new Pothead book to even bother reading it. I know it sounds weird, but the fan girl in me wants out dammit!! Thanks!