Once We're Gone
Disclaimers: I own this plot and certain characters.
Authors Note: So I think I've done a good job with this story so far. It has the most hits out of all my other stories, including one with over 125 reviews. I am really grateful for all the feedback and suggestions. (Mostly about the way I format lol) But this chapter should be pretty long and I hope you guys are enjoying this. Writing this story makes me appreciate Roxas/Naminé even more and it pushes me to make sure the Sora/Kairi relationship doesn't become Mary-Sueish like half of the SK fics on here.
I also wanted to know if anybody noticed something specific in the last chapters. I won't say what it is but if one of you can find out what it is before it is revealed, I'll give you something special. Do you guys want to know something funny? I don't know a darn thing about Blitzball, I had to go on Wikipedia to find out! (That's because I returned FFX because it was extremely boring)
Yes you have heard me right; I just insulted what most people consider to be the greatest game ever. No offense, it just didn't entertain me. Story wise it was pretty good, but it was just so-so in my book. Please restrain the forks and knives kiddos.
QUICK SUMMARY: What happens to nobodies once they've become whole again? And what effect does that have on the beings that they are merged with? SK RN
Chapter 4: A Part of Your Heart
If she had a heart, it would be broken.
Naminé woke up in a sad, dreary state. Ever since Roxas disappeared before her eyes the night before, she was forlorn. Lexsiphe had taken her up to her room, while Dutixs and Kawkax said they'd go and look for Roxas. Unbeknownst to Naminé, Dutixs and Kawkax already knew that Roxas was right there, but they didn't want to get Naminé even more hysterical. Therefore, they just told Roxas vice versa of what they had told Naminé.
"Where could you have gone, Roxas?" Naminé whispered to herself.
Meanwhile, Roxas was lying in his bed, just as upset as Naminé was. He was surprised that his new acquaintances weren't as shocked as he was to discover Naminé was gone. But then again, they weren't as attached to her as Roxas was. Still, he found it strange that they acted so casual about it.
Attached to her…
Roxas couldn't lie; he did have feelings for Naminé. Ever since their first meeting, that aura surrounding her captivated Roxas. He liked her, plain and simple. (Or since this is Kingdom Hearts, it could be considered "Simple and Clean" XD) Roxas wasn't so sure though how much of his admiration of Naminé came from himself. She was the nobody of Kairi. He was the nobody of Sora. Sora has very strong feelings for Kairi, so in essence, wouldn't Roxas also have feelings for Naminé? The only problem was, Roxas couldn't feel. The curse of being a nobody.
"Then, why do I care about her?" he asked himself aloud.
Sora woke up in a restless daze. His heart still caused him a great deal of pain. But as to why, Sora had no clue. He glanced at his clock. It was 7:23 and he had to meet Kairi at her house to walk to school.
"Aw man, I'm going to be late!" Sora exclaimed getting up and getting dressed as fast as he could. Clearly, the keyblade master had become unaccustomed to the hours of school. Actually, he was just unaccustomed to any part of school. Sora was and would always remain a lazy bum.
"Mom, I'm running late so I'll grab something to eat on the way!"
Sora rushed out of the house before his mother could even respond. He clutched his heart as he ran to Kairi's house. "Damn, why is this hurting so much?" Sora wondered. Luckily, Kairi did not live too far away, and Sora reached her house within minutes.
"I'm coming!"
Kairi panted heavily as she went to answer the door. Her heart was still bothering her to the point where it was almost nauseating. "Why is my heart doing this to me?" she asked herself. Turning the knob, Kairi opened to door to see Sora standing outside.
And for some strange reason, the pain went away for both of them.
The two teenagers felt their chests. What had been excruciating pain just moments before, had just disappeared into nothing. After a few seconds of examining himself, Sora shook his head and turned his attention to Kairi.
"Hey Kairi."
Kairi stopped scrutinizing her heart, and looked up. "Oh, hey Sora!" she stated cheerily.
The two looked at each other for a couple of moments. They both knew that something was up with the other one, but nobody said anything. Kairi took her attention away from Sora's face and looked at him in his school uniform. She giggled.
"It's been awhile since I've seen you in that outfit." She said.
Sora frowned at her. She knew he absolutely hated wearing his uniform. He couldn't even do drive actions in it. How lame was that?
"Yeah, well saving the galaxy did take up quite a good amount of time. It didn't really leave a lot of space for school." He replied.
Kairi chuckled again. "Don't worry Sora, you look fine."
"So do you…"
Kairi blushed at the complement. Sora's cheeks quickly grew red as well once he realized what he had said. "Um, yeah…awkward moment there Sora." He murmured to himself. "Ready to go?" Sora finally asked. Kairi nodded.
"Yeah, we'd better get moving." She said. The two walked side by side making their way to school.
"Say Kairi?"
"Yeah Sora?"
"How much work did I miss exactly?"
Kairi smirked thinking about the freshman exams he had missed, which were almost impossible to take. "Oh…not too much,"
After taking her morning shower, Naminé walked out of her room and about to head down the elevator. The only thing stopping her was a noise that seemed to have come from Roxas' room.
"…Could it be?"
Naminé opened Roxas' door in a hurry to see Roxas standing , facing the other way and rubbing the back of his head. He was shirtless, and still in his boxers. It was apparent that he had just woken up.
"Argh, stupid bed. You think that they could make the overhang just a little bit higher!"
"ROXAS!"
Roxas turned around to see Naminé ran into his arms and embrace him in a tight hug.
"Naminé…" he breathed, hugging back.
"Oh Roxas, where did you go? I was so worried I had lost you." Naminé said still embracing him. "What do you MEAN where did I go!" Roxas' mind practically shouted. But instead, he just remained silent, closed his eyes, continued to hold her close. The two friends stayed like that for quite awhile. Naminé began to blush as she realized she was resting her head on his bare chest. Not that she mined of course; Roxas had quite an athletic physique. Roxas breathed her essence in. "You smell nice." He whispered. Naminé grew even redder.
"Uh…I um, just took a shower." She stuttered. Roxas pulled away and smiled. "I like it." He said. Naminé flushed as she just so happened to look downwards. Roxas was wondering what she was looking at until he realized something.
He was still in his boxers.
"ARGH!" Roxas exclaimed grabbing a pillow to cover him; he was blushing like a mad man. "Uh, sorry about that!" he said with embarrassment. Naminé let out a small giggle. "It's ok, I'll wait outside for you to change. Then we should probably hook up with Harxis about our jobs." She told him.
"Sounds like a plan."
Naminé beamed and walked out the door.
"Ready for your jobs?"
The two teenagers nodded enthusiastically. Harxis smiled. She was lucky to have such young and energetic employees.
"Alright then," she began, "Naminé, I'd like to have you as the lobby attendant. You'll be taking names down of residents and providing with their rooms. At times you might have to handle some other things, but this is mainly what I need help in the most." Harxis explained.
Naminé nodded and smiled. "You can count on me!" she said cheerily.
"Now Roxas," Harxis said turning towards the boy.
"Yes Harxis?"
"I am in desperate need of a run around man."
Roxas raised an eyebrow. "A run around man?"
Harxis nodded. "Basically, you will be promoting the Boarding House by putting up several advertisements around town. Also, there will be times where I'll need certain things delivered for the House."
Roxas frowned. "So I'm…a delivery boy?" he questioned.
"I guess you could call it that."
"I told you so."
Naminé rolled her eyes as she sat behind the desk counter. Roxas was putting on his skateboarding gear. Harxis was kind enough to give him her old skateboard. Roxas missed his old skateboard, but he was happy to be back on a board again. "It was just a lucky guess." Naminé stated.
Roxas smiled and leaned over the desk. "Aw, can't you give me one thing to gloat about?"
Naminé shook her head. "No, that's no fun for me then."
Roxas beamed at her, but then the grin faded into a frown. "Naminé," he began, "I have something to tell you." He told her.
Naminé looked at him with concern. "What is it?" she asked with worry.
"Last night, you said you saw me disappear. I didn't though. I saw you disappear. I called after you, but I couldn't see or hear you anywhere." Roxas said.
Naminé shot him a confused look. "Wha…what? That's not possible." She whispered. "You weren't there! I called out to you but you were nowhere in sight. Dutixs and Kawkax said that they would look for you!" Naminé exclaimed.
"They told me the same thing." Roxas stated. "I found it odd though, they didn't seemed to fazed out." He explained. "Maybe…we're both right." Roxas thought aloud.
"But, how can both of us be right? One of us disappeared."
"Or maybe," Roxas began to construe audibly, "Maybe we didn't disappear at all." He said. "Maybe it was just in our heads. Something must be happening to us."
"But what?"
Roxas frowned. "I'm not so sure Naminé, I'm not so sure."
"Hey, THERE you two are!"
Sora and Kairi smiled as hey saw Riku come towards them. "Now where did you two run off to yesterday?" Riku asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Ah, we were just browsing around the old area." Sora said with a wink.
"Oh really?"
"Yes really Riku." Kairi stated.
"Fine." Riku finished with a wave of his hand.
Sora snickered at Riku's uniform. Since he had grown quite a bit, his uniform looked a tad bit snug. "Say Riku. You do know you're allowed to order a new uniform?"
Riku glared. "Well I would, but I could hardly get away from my mom last night. She was weeping like a baby." He muttered.
Kairi chuckled. "You should've seen Sora's mom." She said with a giggle. Sora nodded while making a face. Riku laughed.
"Haha, yeah now that you mention it, Sora's mom is always in a hysterical fit one way or another." Riku laughed.
"Yes, that's what dear old mom is for."
"Aw well, its nice to know she cares about you!" Kairi chimed in positively. Sora shrugged.
"I guess."
"OH MAH GAWWWWWD! LOOK AT THAT HAWTTIE!"
The trio looked up to see a group of overactive girls points towards them. Riku smirked. "Well what can I say? I've always been popular with the ladies." He commented suavely.
The gang of girls started running towards them. Riku welcomed them with open arms. "Hello La-"
But he didn't get a hug, a kiss, or…anything. The girls ran past him and pushed Kairi to the ground and started bombarding Sora
"…dies"
"OH MAH GAWD! SORA! IS THAT YOU! YOU GOT SOOOOOOO HAWT!"
Sora had a humungous sweat drop on the back of his head. "Uh…" he was at a lost for words. Riku was usually the one with all the attention. He didn't know what to do.
Kairi glared and got up. "MOVE LADIES!" She pushed her way threw the crowd of females and grabbed Sora out of their clutches and started to drag him to class. The girls eyed Kairi strangely. "Since when were Kairi and him an item!"
Sora gasped for breath as he was being pulled. "Thanks Kairi." He said with the most sincerity he could. Kairi didn't pay attention though. She was too busy muttering about "love-stuck, stupid girls"
Riku was still phased out at how the girls passed him and went to Sora instead.
"Can I take your name, please?"
"Can I take yours pretty girl?"
Naminé looked up to see a charming teenaged boy smiling. He had black, spiky hair; the style was similar to Sora's, except it was shorter. His eyes were a beautiful teal color that Naminé couldn't help but stare into. Her lips formed a smile. "Naminé," she stated.
The boy extended a hand, "Zacx."
Naminé shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you Zacx."
Zacx flashed her a smile. "Same to you Naminé. So what's a pretty girl like you doing here all cooped up inside?" he asked.
"I'm working."
"Oh, I see." Zacx said. "What time do you get off?" he questioned. Naminé flashed him a sympathetic smile. "I have to work till 11:00." She told him.
Zacx frowned in disappointment. "Ah well, that's ok." He said. "What days don't you work?" he wondered. Naminé raised an eyebrow.
"You're very persistent."
"Hey, I just want to get to know you. You seem like a really nice girl." He told her.
Naminé grinned. "Alright, I don't work on weekends or Mondays, and I only have to work till 7:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
"Would you want to go to dinner with me on Sunday night?"
"Are you…asking me on a date?"
Zacx shook his head. "Nah, just a dinner between new friends." He assured her with a grin. Naminé couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, 8:00 a good time?"
"Perfect."
"How the heck do dogs even HAVE nobodies?"
Naminé gave Roxas a sympathetic smile as she was bandaging him up. During his deliveries, a dog nobody chased him and well…got a little snack on the way. The snack being Roxas.
"Aw, you'll be fine." She said encouragingly.
Roxas pouted. "I hope so. Tomorrow's Saturday, so that means Dutixs and Kawkax are teaching us blitzball."
Naminé's eyes widen. "Oh that's right!" she exclaimed. "I almost forgot about that." Naminé admitted.
"Do you think it's hard?"
"Blitzball? I think the hardest part would be holding my breath for that long." Naminé said.
Roxas nodded. "Yeah…"
Naminé grinned and smacked his back. "There! You're done!"
"OUCH!" Roxas exclaimed in pain.
Naminé blushed. "Heh, sorry!"
Sora and Kairi were walking back to her house. "Say Kairi," Sora began, "You're not mad about today are you?"
"No, should I be?"
Sora frowned a bit. "You just seemed…upset. You were acting really jealous earlier." He stated.
Kairi pouted. "Oh please," she began, "Why on Earth would I be jealous?" Kairi questioned. Sora started to form a wicked grin. "Oh, so you WERE jealous!" he exclaimed.
"I was not!" Kairi retorted.
"Yes you were!"
"NO I WASN'T SORA!"
He pulled her into a hug. "It's ok Kairi; you don't need to be jealous. I like you better than all of those girls. Riku can have them."
Kairi blushed and chuckled slightly. She enjoyed the hugs she'd have with Sora. It felt right.
Sora smiled at her laughter. "That's better…" he whispered.
Kairi pulled away from his embrace and opened her front door. "Goodnight…Sora." She murmured.
"G'night Kai, see you tomorrow."
Sora started to walk away but fell down. The pain in his heart was back. "Ugh, not again!" he exclaimed. Sora slowly got up and forced himself to walk through the pain to get home.
Kairi has collapsed on her steps. "Oh…" she breathed, "Why does this…keep happening to me?" she wondered. With what little strength she had, Kairi pushed herself up, and clung to the railing for dear life.
"Will this ever go away!"
Roxas and Naminé proceeded up the elevator and went to their doors. "Sweet dreams, Roxas." Naminé chimed.
Roxas smiled at her. "Same to you Na-"
But he didn't finish, she was gone. Roxas blinked for a couple of seconds. "Naminé?"
"Roxas?"
The two couldn't see or hear each other, just like the previous night. Roxas sighed. "Well, wherever you are Naminé, good night." He whispered entering his room.
Naminé kept glancing around, but no sign of Roxas. She frowned, as she went inside.
"Why do we keep disappearing from each other?"
Roxas laid on his bed as he was musing about what was going on. This was the second night in a row that this had happened to him. "Ugh, this is going to drive me crazy." He said turning over.
My heart…
Roxas' eyes widened. "That voice…Sora?" he wondered.
Why is…my heart doing this…?
In a matter of an instant, Roxas saw himself move out of his body and land into a different room. It seemed vaguely familiar. And it all came back to him as soon as he realized where he was.
He was in Sora's room, on Sora's bed, next to Sora.
The two looked at each other in fear, and screamed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Sora fell out of his bed. He clutched his heart. "WHAT ARE DOING HERE, ROXAS! I THOUGHT YOU MERGED WITH ME!"
"I DID TOO!" Roxas shouted back in shock.
Sora shook his head in disgust. He got back on his bed and noticed that Roxas wasn't all there. He seemed to be in a holographic state. Sora reached out his available hand and went extended it to Roxas, but it went right through him.
Sora's face became puzzled. "..what?"
"I think I am still inside you," Roxas began, "I think its just my soul that's here right now." He reasoned.
"But why?" Sora asked.
Roxas shook his head. "I'm not sure. I heard your voice, and then the next thing I knew, I saw my soul leave my body, and ended up here." He explained.
"Weird," Sora murmured.
"You got that right."
Sora's face lightened up a bit. "Ah, forgive me. It's nice to see you again."
"You too."
"We didn't really get a chance to talk."
Roxas nodded. "Yeah, you were too busy wiggin' out." He chuckled.
Sora let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess I was." He replied. His face became pained again. His heart felt like someone was driving knife through it. "Argh…" Sora muttered to himself. Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok?" he asked. "I'm fine," Sora lied, but the pain increased and he groaned in agony.
"No you're not fine, what's wrong?"
Sora pointed to his heart. "My heart, for some reason…has been bugging me since last night." He began. "But all today it was fine, until I left Kairi's house."
"Last night…" Roxas muttered. "That's when Naminé and I couldn't see each other." He muttered. Sora raised an eyebrow. "…what are you talking about?"
"Since we're complete now," Roxas began, "Complete nobodies go to this…place. I don't know why but they just do. Naminé is there with me." He said. "And last night, we both disappeared from each other, but everyone around us was still able to see both of us, we just couldn't see each other." Roxas explained to Sora.
"That's strange…" Sora murmured.
"Yeah, I wonder why this keeps happening. You with your heart, and me and Naminé with our disappearances." Roxas stated. All of a sudden, a thought came to him. "Sora," he began, "Is this happening to Kairi as well?"
Sora thought to himself for a moment. "I…don't think so." He said. "To tell you the truth, I didn't ask her." Sora confessed. "She might be."
Roxas thought aloud, "Has…anything happen to you guys in the past couple of days?"
"Other than coming home, no."
"So nothing between you and Kairi happened that could have cause this?"
An idea dawned on Sora. "We shared…a papou fruit together." He whispered.
"A what?"
"It's a fruit that where if you share it with someone else, your destinies become intertwined for life." Sora explained. "Wait a second…" he whispered. "Whenever Kairi and myself are apart…this pain comes back."
"…and when you guys are apart, Naminé and I can't see each other." Roxas reasoned.
"It must be the papou." Sora said clutching his heart.
"You're probably right." Roxas agreed. Sora winced in pain.
"I wonder what's going to happen now…"
"I guess you and Kairi have to stay by each other all the time…"
"WHAT?"
Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Don't you…want to feel better?" he asked his counterpart. Sora nodded.
"But…that's just…impossible. We can't always be together." He stated. Roxas shot him a sympathetic look.
"I don't know what to tell you then, man."
Sora frowned. He didn't know what to do either.
"But if you can be together, at least for most of the time…I'd like it." Roxas said. "Naminé is really the only one I can talk to." He admitted.
Sora nodded. "I'll try to Roxas. I really will try." He promised.
Roxas saw himself fading. "Well, I guess its time to go." He said. "I'll see you later hopefully." Roxas said to Sora.
"Yeah, its been…nice talking to you."
Roxas smiled as he faded completely and found himself back in his bed. At least he knew now why Naminé and he had kept disappearing from each other. All that had to be done was Kairi and Sora stay together for the most part.
The only problem though was, he never knew when they would have to be separated.
Well I hope this clarified some stuff up. Lots of things going on in this chapter. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. I'm excited for the next couple of chapters. Things should be speeding up by then. Well I'm on Spring Break so I should have more time to update this.
Next Chapter: Roxas and Naminé start their blitzball training and lets just say things get interesting.
Thanks to my reviewers!
Chibi Vixen, Lilac Phoenix, Kobe-Mac, tutorwifelove, naru-chan, jennyz, Lorraine C, Malcolm Yuy, Lady Mirror, MegaLaManiacOfTheNorth, angelady, whiterose55, mae mae-chan, and steph torres.