A Wishful Thought: OH. MY. GAWD. It is currently 9:04. I was working on updating Never Let Me Go, another one of my fanfics that I haven't updated since January.

That is, until I realized what today was.

NOT ONLY IS IT ROKUNAMI DAY, BUT IT IS ALSO THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS HERE STORY. O_O HOLY CRAP.

Okay. I don't have time to freak out. I have three hours to write this.

LEGGO.

BUT BEFORE I START, I'd like to thank:

Versivalia, Oblivion Fantasy, GH, Twin Toshiro, Sookdeo, Lucid Stupor, , Someday's Future Dreamer, Rescued-Doll, Namine Memory Angel, and Victoria5624.

You guys are awesome. :)
And I'm sorry that I haven't even taken the time to respond to all your reviews. Life gets in the way you know? ._.

Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I would've remembered about RokuNami Day sooner. D:

"W-WHAT THE HELL, MAN! ? That's not fair!"

"Xemnas! Let them be! It's not like we're upset about Sora coming up onstage while Kairi was singing! There's no need to disqualify them!"

"YEAH!"

"KEEP THEM ON BOARD!"

"WE WERE FINALLY GETTING SOME DRAMA HERE!"

The Head of the Organization still had that catlike smirk plastered onto his features, and he remained oblivious to the furious protests that surrounded him.

His eyes were set on a certain blonde.

Noticing this as well, Hope roughly shoved his way past the man, practically stomping his way to the opposite side of the stage, where Naminé hid in the wings.

I'm not sure if I imagined it, but it seemed like he muttered something while he made his way past him.

I probably did, since Xemnas didn't have much of a reaction at all.

But he did do something that sort of frightened me.

His devious amber eyes flickered towards me.

And the smile on his face seemed to intensify.

N 0 N 3 X 1 $ + E N +: Tales Begin To Unfold

I'm not going to lie to anyone.

I was damn scared.

And kind of hurt, since we made it to the next round, but then randomly got disqualified.

And more than a little confused.

The only thing I was really sure about was that I needed a slice of cake.

I had woken up much earlier than I usually did. In fact, it was three forty-two in the morning.

But no matter how hard I tried to go back to sleep, it was like I just couldn't. Thoughts continued to swarm me incessantly.

Sora and Kairi. What the hell was really going on with them?

Olette… She's staying in the Orphanage now, right?

Was… Was Zack even safe right now?

Then there's that whole fiasco with Naminé, Hope, Vanille, and the Organization. Sure, Lightning, Aqua, Terra, and Vanitas stepped in. But how much did they actually accomplish?

How the hell did they even get weapons like that?

What was even worse was the fact that I couldn't get Xemnas' face out of my head. Those creepy orange-ish eyes… that mischievous smirk…

I felt the shiver involuntarily run down my spine, and forced the thought away.

Forget about it. Forget about it. Forget about it.

Before I knew it, I had jumped out of my bed, and was hurrying to the fridge.

When I got there, for some reason, I was out of breath.

I closed my eyes in a lame attempt to calm myself down, and grabbed the sides of the refrigerator as though it would stabilize me.

I'm seventeen. All of this stress, plus all of the stress from my shitload of Advanced Placement classes, was way too much for a seventeen year old to handle.

So just stop thinking.

I let out a breath that I didn't even realize I was holding and opened the fridge, wincing at the sudden overflow of light.

When I finally got over it, I immediately scanned the fridge for something to cease my late-night (or rather, early morning) cravings.

And when I saw it, I couldn't help but smile.

There was an adorable, miniature, fudge covered cake with a strawberry on top in a cute little pink box, sitting in the middle of our fridge.

Awh, shucks. The Cake God was surely smiling upon me.

So of course, I couldn't stop myself from smiling back.

Because even when life sucks, you can always count on sugary confectionaries to be there for you, right?

Carefully, I picked the sacred box out of the fridge, before gingerly setting it on the counter. Since the only source of light in the kitchen was gone, I meandered towards the light switch, easily flicking it on. When that was done, I grabbed a fork, sat criss-cross on the counter, and opened the box to start eating the cake.

It had looked amazing enough when I could only see part of the cake through the box, but now that the box was fully open, it looked too perfect. To the point that I wasn't even sure if I should be eating it. You know, since I didn't want to be messing with perfection and all.

I honestly did debate with myself on whether or not I should put the cake back into the box.

But then, a little (though extremely masculine) voice in my head whispered, "No, Roxas. Don't do that. You need this cake right now. You deserve this cake."

I nodded slowly, still pondering it over.

And only a few seconds later did I stab into the cake, before hungrily stuffing a piece of it into my mouth.

I mean, when tiny, masculine voices start speaking to you, it definitely means that you have to listen to them, right?

Besides. This cake right here? It was a gift from the Cake God himself. Or…. Herself.

I'm not sure. I've never actually met the Cake God before. He/She/It (who knows? It could be a god in animal form) just leaves me gifts through my refrigerator.

Which obviously had to be the portal to heaven.

Damn. What was this cake doing to my mind?

I blinked for a moment…

Then shrugged it off and continued eating.

The answer was so obviously clear to me: Cake is my drug.

Softly humming to myself now, I pulled the phone out of my hoodie pocket, subconsciously tapping on the Facebook icon.

I only had to read a few status updates before it dawned on me.

I dropped the fork, and the cake fell out of my mouth while my jaw dropped.

I'm lucky I didn't fall and hit my head on the tile below.

How could I forget that today was Valentine's Day?

My mind was still racing after I cleaned up the mess.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

I'm not a romantic. I get that.

Hell, I don't even have a girlfriend to be romantic for.

But I had a love interest, right?

And that's pressure enough.

The feeling of dread within me worsened as my eyes meandered towards the partially eaten cake still sitting on the counter.

Was… Mom planning to give that to someone?

Or…. Or was Sora planning to give that to someone?

My eyes widened, and I had the sudden urge to slam my head against a wall.

HOW. COULD. I. BE. SUCH. AN. IDIOT?

I took a couple of deep breathes, before looking around to see if anyone had woken up.

Nope. The coast seemed to be clear.

I hit the unlock button on my phone to check the time.

It was a little out of four.

I…. I could go out to buy stuff and be back before anyone even noticed I was gone, right?

I nodded slowly as I thought the plan over. Yeah… It could work…

If there were actual stores open around this time.

And if I had actual money to spend.

I felt my insides drop as the panic continued to spread throughout my body.

I was so screwed.

But I had to at least try and fix this mess.

So with that, I rushed into my room to grab my practically empty wallet, my skateboard, and a pair of sneakers, before darting out of the house in my pajamas.

It was darker than I expected.

And it had dawned on me how slow my skateboard really is.

And that I needed a car.

But I didn't allow myself to give up.

I ate that cake, which had to have some romantic value to one of the members of my household, so I had to replace it.

I mean, I did enjoy living after all.

But not giving up is a lot harder than they make it seem in movies. In movies, it's obvious that the character can't give up. That no matter how much they want to give up, they just can't.

And everything works out for them in the end.

The thing is, my life isn't a movie.

I was going on the pure goodness of my heart here.

It was my heart that was keeping me from giving up.

All of a sudden, I saw it.

The answer to my prayers.

I'll be honest: It wasn't much to work with. It was one of those shops that also doubled as a home. As in, the bottom half was a store, while the top half was a residential area. Sure, the store was pitch black.

But I could still see a single light on in the residential half of the building.

It was my only hope.

I picked up my skateboard, and knocked on the door, my heart beating fast.

No response.

"No… No, c'mon….This can't be happening…"

My heart was beating faster, and my eyes were wide.

But I kept knocking.

Harder, harder.

Faster, faster.

Over and over.

I wouldn't stop. I couldn't stop.

Until I suddenly flashed to a memory of myself as a child: Ringing the doorbell to my house. Repeatedly.

The thought caused me to stop. Because I remembered what was supposed to happen next.

That scene. That horrible scene of what my father had done. What my terrible father had done.

Love doesn't exist.

Why are you trying to kid yourself, Roxas?

Before I was even aware of what was happening, I dropped to my knees at the base of the door, head bowed in shame as tears leaked out of my eyes.

Why are you deluding yourself? You're just letting yourself get swayed so easily?

Your whole life, you've decided that love couldn't possibly be real. Some girl comes along, and all of a sudden, you change your mind! ?

You don't actually "love" her. You don't feel anything of the sort for her.

You just want to figure her out.

"W-Why…?"

I clutched at my hair, nearly ripping it out.

"… am I here?"

And suddenly that memory that I had thought I had stopped from playing continued to play.

And what scared me was that what I thought was supposed to happen, didn't happen.

In that memory, the door opened to a man… that looked eerily familiar… He wore a sad smile and tears were streaming down his face, along with strange clothing. He kneeled down on one knee so that he was at my height, and opened his arms. Sora, who was suddenly next to me, turned to give my younger self a worried frown, before grabbing my hand and leading me towards the man.

And he hugged the two of us, sending an indescribable warmth through our younger bodies.

My mother was there as well. She was crying, too.

Pretty soon, the five of us were crying.

But then these… men… these armed men came…. Pulling us apart…

W-What's… going on! ?

My eyes were shut, and yet my eyebrows had come together in confusion.

"I… I don't…"

Suddenly, the door in front of me opened.

All I registered was a frustrated face that quickly changed into a sort of worried confusion before I blacked out.

When I woke up, sunshine had was already flooding the room.

"Yes. Yes, I understand. Just cover for me for a little while longer… I need to take care of this…"

I blinked until I regained my focus.

I was in a bed.

And I was shirtless.

And there was a really attractive woman standing a couple of feet away from me, looking out a window.

I couldn't stop myself from groaning.

How the hell do I end up in these kinds of situations?

The woman, hearing my groan and thereby realizing that I was awake, turned to face me, a cell phone in her hand. "I… I'll call you back." With that, she tapped something on her phone to end the call, before gently resting it on the windowsill. She crossed her petite arms, before leaning against the wall. "Soooo… Am I allowed to know who you are?"

I could do nothing but stare at her, not knowing what to say.

Hell, I couldn't even remember how I got here.

Despite the fact that she was pretty much talking to a stranger, there was still a trace of a smile on her kind, heart-shaped face. Her hair was long and black, but there were a few streaks of light brown. She had bangs that she had brushed to the left side of her face, leaving her bright brown eyes out for everyone to see. She was dressed in a simple dark blue (or maybe just black?) tight-fit dress, with some sort of blue cardigan over it.

"I… Um…"

She sighed, before running a hand through her hair, "C'mon, kiddo. Your parents are probably looking for you by now. At this rate, I'll be charged with kidnapping!"

Obviously, this woman was friendly enough. I mean, she seemed friendly enough.

"I… I'm Roxas."

Her brown eyes blinked at me for a second, before a full-blown grin lit up her features. "There we go! That's a good start!" She quickly made her way to the side of the bed I was in and sat down. "Now, go on. Why'd I find you on my doorstep at around four thirty in the morning?"

I felt my eyebrows furrow as I struggled to remember.

I had woken up and couldn't sleep… Then I left the house to try and find something… I remembered crying on this doorstep… but why?

The image of a strikingly familiar man suddenly flashed into my vision.

For some reason, the sight of it made me feel like throwing up.

The woman's eyes widened, and she immediately jumped back, "W-Whoa… Are you okay there?"

My heart was beating in my chest uncontrollably, as I struggled a non-convincing, "Y-Yeah…"

The woman obviously didn't believe it, but she said nothing. She simply turned on her heel to walk towards the bedside table, picking up the partially-filled jug of water, and pouring it into a half-empty glass. When it was full enough for her, she sat back down on the side of the bed, offering it to me.

I took it warily, as she said, "My name's Rinoa."

I gratefully drank the water, before nodding in response.

"Now, seriously. I'm kind of wondering if I should be calling the police or something…You're not a runaway, are you?"

I shook my head slowly, trying to piece together my thoughts.

Who… Who was that man? I feel like I know him somehow…

Where did that memory come from? I'm almost positive that Sora and my mom didn't belong in that memory.

Sora and my mom.

I gasped. The cake.

My eyes flickered to the busy street below.

It's too late.

I felt my heart sink. "No…"

Rinoa frowned, "You okay?"

I clenched my fist together, trying to retain my composure, "No… No, I messed up really badly."

The worried look on her face seemed to intensify, "Oh no… No, no, no…" She stared at me intently for a while, before whispering, "You didn't… kill anyone did you?"

My eyes widened in horror at the claim, "No, of course not!"

She quickly let out a sigh of relief, and her expression seemed to become more relaxed. "Then it can't be that bad."

I hung my head in shame, "No, you don't understand… It's Valentine's Day, isn't it?"

She sighed sadly, before lightly whispering, "Yep… It is."

I looked up at her curiously, but she waved it away with a light laugh, "It's nothing… Just a bad breakup… Me and this guy, Seifer… We were together for a really long time, but…" She let out another sigh, before averting her gaze. "I-It's okay, though. I've made a new friend, and he's really helping me through it…"

I'm not going to lie: Even though it was obvious she was sharing something sort of private with me, I couldn't bring myself to really listen to her.

I was too busy freaking out over what I was going to do.

Perhaps she noticed my lack of attention, because she suddenly changed the subject back onto me, "What's your story?" There was nothing but pure curiosity in her eyes.

And so, I told it to her.

All the parts she needed to know, anyway...

Rinoa rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "I… I think I can help you out there…" She nodded slowly to herself, before grinning at me, "No, of course I can help you out!"

She picked up my hoodie that I hadn't even noticed was at the foot of the bed, before tossing it to me. Noticing my curious stare, she giggled, "When I found you on my doorstep, you were practically drenched in sweat. Don't worry, I promise I'm not a pedophile or anything like that!"

I couldn't help but laugh along with her as I pulled the dirty hoodie over my head.

"I'm ready to go when you are."

I'm not lying when I say that Rinoa is the scariest driver ever.

I mean, I was this close to peeing in my gym shorts.

Still, she easily swerved into a parking spot at the "Three Fairy Bakery," and quickly hurried me into the shoppe.

She had remained in the car, because she needed to answer a phone call, but she had given me enough munny to buy a replacement for the cake I had eaten this morning.

As I waited in line, something caught my eye.

It was a simple necklace. White gold. The pendant shaped like the sort of heart a little kid would draw, outlined in the normal kind of gold.

It reminded me so much of Naminé.

"Next!~"

I blinked, realizing that it was my turn to order.

"I… Uh… How much is that necklace?"

The kind old woman behind the counter blinked in surprise, before murmuring a price.

I looked down to count how much munny Rinoa had given me, along with the munny I had managed to keep in my own wallet.

And through my calculations, I realized that I only had enough munny to either by the necklace or the cake.

It took me a while, but I think I made the right decision.

"Hey, good luck, you hear?"

I nodded in thanks, before managing a smile.

In response, Rinoa unleashed one that was enough to rival Sora's. "I hope we meet again sometime!"

"Yeah, that would be cool."

Her grin seemed to widen as she waved and drove out of the school's drop-off zone.

She had taken the liberty to write me an excuse letter, though it wasn't very convincing or believable. She had written something about her dog getting stuck in a tree (which I'm pretty sure is a cat thing), and about how she was freaking out, until I came along and saved her dog.

But then got stuck in the tree along with it.

I didn't want to tell her about the lameness of her excuse note, since she seemed to be in a rush.

So I had to deal with what I had

I slowly walked towards my fourth period, AP Calculus, praying that Mr. Squall would take the excuse note and not bite my head off.

But chances of that were slim.

I took a deep breath outside the door to his classroom, before forcing myself to open the door and allow myself in.

Immediately all eyes were on me.

I noticed the worried stares of my friends quickly morph into confusion, but tried to ignore it.

"Why are you so late?"

I allowed myself to gulp, before shakily handing him the excuse note that Rinoa had written.

He read it skeptically: his disbelief of the note was written all over his face.

But when he got to the end of the note, his eyes seemed to widen.

Which was weird. Because practically nothing gets Mr. Squall to show that level of emotion.

Carefully, he set the note on his desk, before muttering, "You know Rinoa?"

I blinked at his question, before managing to nod slowly, "Um… Yeah."

He looked at me for a moment, before glancing back at the note on his desk. "Alright, take your seat. I'll have your first, second, and third teachers excuse your absence."

I couldn't help but stare at him surprise.

He… He was actually going to excuse me?

After that horrible excuse note?

He shot me a challenging look, that made a shiver run down my spine.

So I decided to let it drop, and quietly took my seat.

"Yo! Roxas! What happened to you?"

"Bro, I thought you had gotten yourself killed or something!"

"Yeah! Especially after Sora said that he couldn't find you this morning!"

Sora.

My older twin still had a concerned expression on his features as he pushed through the small crowd of confused individuals around me, "I need to talk to you, man."

I allowed my brother to lead me towards the less crowded area of the hallway, waiting for him to speak as he stared at me intently.

It took a while for him to say anything at all, and when he did, it was obvious that it was meant to be spoken in a scolding tone, but it just came off as Sora not wanting to admit that he was worried sick, "Don't you ever pull something like that again, you hear me?"

I managed a small smile, before returning his hug.

"It's a promise."

He returned my small smile partially, but not all the way. "Where were you this morning anyways? I covered for you with mom, but…"

I let out a small sigh, before pushing the pink box in his general direction, "I ate that cake you had in the fridge this morning. And I felt like I needed to replace it."

Sora blinked in confusion at my words, before carefully saying, "I… Don't know what you're talking about…"

I felt a piece of me break.

"W-What are you talking about? You were going to give this to Kairi, weren't you?"

At this my brother's eyes widened, and he averted his gaze as light pink began to coat his cheeks, "I-I didn't get anything for her… And I still don't know what cake you're talking about."

I didn't know what to think.

And I didn't know what to say either.

Sora seemed as confused as me for a moment, before he snapped his fingers in sudden realization, "Oh, it must be Mom's! She has one of those every year on Valentine's Day."

I couldn't help but blink in surprise. I had never noticed anything like that before. "Who does she give it to?"

Sora cocked his head in thought, before shrugging, "Not sure. Cloud, maybe?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his expression, and mine as well, fell.

Because whenever you think of Cloud, you think of Zack.

"Do… Do you think he's okay?"

Sora frowned, "I… I hope so…."

"What do you think—"

My brother shook his head to interrupt me mid-sentence. "Let's not talk about it, all right?"

I felt my frown deepen as I shot him a curious look, but he merely shook his head, before walking in the general direction of my locker.

Not knowing what else to do, I jogged to catch up with him.

But not before noticing the sad look Cloud was giving us.

After gingerly setting the cake into my locker, Sora and I headed out to eat lunch with the crew in the garden area, which had pretty much become our permanent eating place.

They hadn't put the picnic-bench status tables back yet, but they hadn't kicked us out either.

It didn't really matter to me, I was content.

I took my seat in the awkward gap between Hayner and Olette, who kept looking at each other nervously.

Sora sat beside Hayner and Riku, who was holding hands with Xion. The two were smiling widely, and on the other side of Xion, sat a giant, stuffed bear, with a light blue ribbon tied around its neck. So, yes. I apparently had missed something big this morning.

Tidus was in between Rikku and Yuna as usual, fiddling with something in his backpack nervously.

Selphie was practically trying to rape Irvine with her clothes on, and the poor dude looked more than a little creeped out. Kairi awkwardly sat next to the two, quietly poking at her salad.

Hope, Vanille, and Naminé were sitting on the other side of the garden, quietly talking about something together. It felt like the three were doing their best to keep as much distance from me as possible, which was a little… depressing.

Still, for the past couple of weeks, Vanille has been wearing nothing but sweaters.

Then again, that might not actually mean much, seeing as its still winter and all.

But nowadays, I guess you have to be suspicious of everything.

I managed to catch Naminé's attention though, but not for very long.

It felt long though.

Her stare managed to morph from worried, to content, to confused, to sad, all in a span of about five seconds.

With a sigh, I turned my attention back to Olette, who was absentmindedly picking at the crust on her sandwich, before turning to Hayner, who was trying to be secretive about the fact that he was awkwardly staring at Olette absentmindedly pick at the crust on her sandwich.

I stared at the latter in pure exasperation, before bluntly stating, "It's Valentine's Day, dude."

My friend only blushed before muttering a halfhearted, "Yeah. I know."

"You should grow a pair."

"I will, after you do."

I felt my eyes narrow at him, which only made him smirk, "I know what I'm doing."

I could do nothing but roll my eyes, "Yeah, of course you do."

My attention was brought away from Hayner, when I felt Olette lightly nudge my ribs, "I just thought I'd let you know that you smell like shit."

Both Hayner and I felt our eyes widen.

Did Olette seriously just curse?

"W-What…?"

The auburn-haired girl simply shrugged, "Just thought I'd let you know. Especially since Naminé's on her way over here right now."

I awkwardly choked on my own spit, while Hayner cackled in laughter, and Olette shot me an encouraging smirk. "Don't worry. I've got this." She quickly dug around in her bag for something, before pulling out a familiar bottle.

"Oh God. No thank you."

Seeing what Olette was holding, only made Hayner laugh harder.

It was a bottle of Victoria Secret's Pure Seduction.

Which she happily drowned me in.

As I coughed and wheezed and tried to get fresh air into my lungs, I tried to stumble towards Naminé to at least attempt to meet her halfway.

But that didn't work out so well.

Because she stopped partway when a sudden figure walked up to Hope.

And punched him right in the face.

I didn't even realize that Hope was the type of guy who would easily get into a fistfight until that very moment.

It was like the kid barely even registered the fact that he had just gotten punched squarely in the face. Because almost immediately after the punch, he kneed the invader in the crotch.

The man (it must've been a man, if he reacted to being hit in the crotch) gasped out in pain, wincing away from the silver-haired teen. He was clad in dark jeans and a black hoodie, with the hood pulled over his face, covering most of his features.

Most of the girls were freaking out at this point and most of the guys had no idea what they should do.

"I told you just to get out of here while you had the chance! Now look at what a mess you've made!"

That voice…

As recognition dawned on me, I felt my heart sink.

Hope's expression was grim as he narrowly dodged another blow aimed at him, but he was unable to dodge the uppercut that he received.

Vanille, who at first seemed too shocked to make a move, darted up from her seat, raising her arm to throw a punch at the hooded fellow.

However, the man easily caught her arm, twisting it enough so that she shrieked in pain.

And through the twisting, her sleeve was pushed up enough to reveal the undeniable proof of a scar.

"S-Stop it!" Namine shrieked, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

For a moment, the masked man did.

"And you…. This is all because of you…." The figure snarled furiously as he pushed Vanille to the ground, pulled out what seemed to be two flat disks, one for each hand, and dashed towards the defenseless girl

As he pressed a button on each disk, deadly spikes revealed themselves, making it obvious to us all that this wasn't a normal high school brawl.

If you hadn't figured that out already.

But before he actually reached her, two sudden figures, each clad in the same dark clothing appeared, though with their hoods off.

Demyx and Larxene.

The two looked more than a little disappointed, and on Larxene's case extremely upset.

The tough, nothing-can-touch-me Larxene was on the brink of tears.

It was their sudden appearance in front of Naminé that forced the figure to stop.

"I… Didn't believe them when they told me what you were going to do."

The figure clenched his weapons tighter, slowly raising it against the two before him, "Get out of my way… You don't understand."

"I don't understand because you won't let me understand!"

The figure flinched at this.

Demyx, who had been silent for the most part, quietly spoke up, "Wise is on his way, you know…."

The hooded man froze, before angrily snarling, "You told! ?"

Demyx frowned, and averted his eyes away from the figure before him. "Of course I did. Though I wish I had gotten here sooner."

"Don't you understand what they'll do to you! ?"

The usually merry man did nothing but sadly shake his head, "I still have my weapon. I can defend myself if I need to. You can, too."

"Sir! Over there!"

The figure had made no move at all, and seemed practically frozen in place, ignorant to his impending capture. "You… You don't get it!"

Tears had managed to escape Larxene's greenish-blue eyes, as she whispered, "You didn't give me the chance to try…."

"THEY HAVE MY FAMILY!" As he screamed the words, the hood finally fell off, revealing large, red spikes.

I was right.

Axel.

Both Larxene and Demyx looked caught off guard by this statement.

"Hurry!" I turned my attention momentarily to see Pence and Selphie hurrying towards the scene, Principal Ansem not too far behind.

Slowly, Demyx walked up to the now sobbing redhead, carefully setting a hand on his shoulder. "Get out of here."

Axel raised his confused, wide eyes toward his usually immature friend, obviously not believing the words he was saying.

Demyx's eyes narrowed, "Now."

The pyromaniac opened his mouth as though to say something, but nothing came out. However, when Larxene hesitantly pulled him into a hug, ripping her hoodie and jeans slightly because of the weapons Axel was still wielding, it was like the situation had finally settled into him.

Without another word, he sheathed his weapons and darted away from the scene, though he kept looking back.

And based on the tears that remained on the pavement after he left, it was clear that the Axel we had all known was hiding something far darker than any of us could have imagined.

No matter what any of us said, we couldn't stop the police from taking away Larxene and Demyx.

Hope and Vanille had been transported to the infirmary, while the rest of us awkwardly waited outside the principal's office as we each took turns for questioning.

I didn't know how to feel.

And I didn't know what I should be saying when it was my turn to be called into Principal Ansem's office.

So when it was my turn to talk, I said nothing. Nothing at all.

Ansem wasn't happy. Not in the slightest.

But it was hard for me to really give a damn.

It was hard for me to register what had just happened.

I think it was difficult for all of us.

We quietly sat in the Gym, not participating in any of the activities, no matter how hard Yuffie begged.

Eventually, she just gave up.

Why were all of these things happening to me? Why now? Nothing was making sense. There was no explanation—

"And you…. This is all because of you…."

Axel's words resonated in my head. And the truth of them weighed heavily on my shoulders.

It was true. Everything had been so perfect until Naminé had shown up.

Did that mean that this was somehow all her fault?

Or… Was this all somehow connected?

Everything bad that was happening out of nowhere… Did it all tie back to her?

My eyes flickered to her, who was lifelessly staring at the ground.

Who… Who exactly is she?

"Hey, Mom. Sorry about eating your cake this morning. I got you a new one though."

"I… Was wondering where it had gone…." She forced out a sad laugh, "I had thought he had forgotten…"

I stared at her in confusion, "W-What do you mean?"

She smiled sadly at me, "I get one every year, on this date, from your father. After all, today is the anniversary of when it all changed."

A Wishful Thought: Awh, man. ._.

It's currently 2:34 A.M. I'm tired. I'm sorry, but this is being published unedited. :c

I had told myself that I somehow wanted to throw in some Namixas fluff in here for their special day, but it just didn't happen. ToT

But I did bring in a bunch of plot points out of nowhere. O_O

Does that count for something? XD

Heehee. Details are more than a little important, knowwhatimsayin'? ;D

I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of short. I do hope that you all enjoyed it though! Please leave all your comments in a review. They really do make me happy!