Naminé wasn't a morning person and she knew that very well. Despite having to wake up early for school (mostly thanks to her alarm clock and occasionally her parents), it was hard for her to even open her eyes as her soul deep inside was still dead asleep. It's one of the many reasons why she so really love the weekends. She had no reason to wake up early in the morning, she could just sleep in after a late night of drawing and coloring, escaping from this harsh reality of a world.

Well, today's weekend was just wasn't one of those relaxing weekends.

The pout was as clear as day, plastered on her face as she raised her head high. The sun wasn't that strong but it still felt like it was buring down on her pale skin. It was proof that she definitely didn't go out a lot, and she knew she didn't need to. All the more reason to explain why she was an introvert and preferred the indoors.

She stabbed an empty soda can with her trash stick, with a little more force than usual. She could imagine the soda can as whoever had the sick and horrible idea of organizing a class clean up at a local park near the school. Lo and behold, it was her batch that had been selected to volunteer at the park.

Normally, she would gladly skip these kind of events since she wasn't a big fan of it in the first place. But it didn't really help when they announced that the attendance was compulsory and it was a way to show how dedicated the school was to show that 'they were giving back to the community' or 'to inspire the hearts of the next generation'. It was the school's idea as one of the final activities before spring break, with words that were sappy bullshit that made her cringe more than anything.

As she threw the can into a recycling bin, she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

"I don't think that Soda can did anything to deserve that treatment," she spun around to see Roxas, dressed in their school's gym clothing just like everyone here with his golden hair tamed by a baseball cap. She reached into her pocket and took out her phone.

Had to try and take my anger out somehow. She typed as she looked around. There were a lot of other class members either actually doing their part and taking out the trash or just sitting around and bossing others. She thought of that last part when she saw Larxene and her 'goons' just sitting, filing their nails while blowing bubblegum. But besides that, those that were cleaning up, they all had split into their groups and worked together.

Obviously, no one had wanted to work with the awkward, one person who c working with would be no different from putting a huge target on their backs, especially from people like Larxene.

Without saying anything, Roxas grabbed the trash bag from Naminé's hand. His hand brushing past hers for an instant, causing her face to blush for a split second.

"I'll hold onto this, it almost looks full anyway so it'll be hard to carry it around," Roxas insisted, as if Naminé couldn't argue, which at that moment, she couldn't.

Before she could try to ask for it back, she felt a pair of hand on her shoulders. A face entered her view, a girl with short black hair.

"Just let him do all the hard and dirty work Naminé," Xion smiled as she came around, with Axel towering behind her as always. "We can just sit back and relax under the sun,"

"Like hell you are," Roxas complained. "We already agreed to get as many bags filled as possible. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can get to the mall,"

"He's right, perfume lady is waiting for me," Axel spoke as if he was staring at someone high up in the sky. Xion responded by elbowing his gut.

"Yeah and we all love to dream. She's just going to kiss up to you again just for you to buy their perfumes,"

Axel wiggled his eyebrows. "If it means I can get her digits then I wouldn't ask for more,"

The blonde girl just stood there, confusion present all around her as she was trying to grasp on what they were saying. Roxas noticed this.

"Oh, we just plan to head to the Mall to get Ice Cream once we're done with the clean up, you should join us! Unless…." Roxas turned to Xion and Axel. "An objections,"

Xion smiled as she quickly grabbed onto Naminé's arm, catching her off guard. "None here! You should join us! Make sure that I'm not the only girl! Please…." She pouted, practically growing puppy dog eyes as she stared at Naminé.

Naminé's eyes twitched as she felt like her soul was being slowly taken over by Xion's cuteness. Her fingers shaking as she was about to type up a response on her phone. Roxas placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't bother Naminé," he sighed, shaking his head, "It's how she always gets us to do her shit,"

"And it works all the time," Xion winked as she nudged Naminé even more. "Rrrrrrright?"

Naminé Lookd back at Roxas who gave a reassuring smile. She really wanted nothing more than to bury herself in the comfort of her sheets on her bed back home, but on the other hand, this was the first time people were actually asking her to join them on a group outing, with Roxas of all people.

She gulped, giving a small smile as she nodded. The sign was clear.

"Awesome!" Xion cheered as she quickly went and grabbed an empty trash bag. "Alright let's get to picking up rubbish,"

"I've never seen anyone that excited to do trash duty," Axel retorted as he noticed Roxas already stabbing more empty cans near an empty bench.

"C'mon Axel! Hurry up! Sea salt is waiting for me!"

Axel and Naminé watched as Roxas and Xion happily picked up more rubbish from the area. Like parents, confused, watching their weird kids.

"I stand corrected," he sighed, then gave a small smile, "Well, this is what you're going to have to get used to from now on," he told Naminé as he joined them in the duty.

Honestly, it was times like this that was basically an awakening for her. She remembered being the loner she usually was, no one would bother and try to get near her or to be friends with her. She was the one person whom everybody would keep their distance away during events like this and it wasn't because they didn't like her or anything.

But it would be because she couldn't even talk back to them. They wouldn't know what to do, how to react, and how would one even try to make a conversation with someone who couldn't even speak. Her inability to speak was no different from a barrier trapping her alone, away from society. She always thought that the barrier would hold still forever, trapping her in this sad fate of a reality.

But….

Roxas was proof that the barrier wouldn't last. A crack in the barrier, a crack which eventually grew and grew, until she felt that the barrier was shattered. Now here she was, friends around her and helping. Her mind also drifted to the Art Club she recently joined, the cause of her's and Roxas's agreement.

She couldn't help but touch her neck, feeling where the scar was permanently placed upon her skin after what happened years ago. The scar that was the result of her now. Giving a small smile, she proceeded to join them.

"Phew! I think that's about it!" Roxas announced as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. In front of them were several tied up garbage bags that would soon be brought to join with a bigger pile. As the park clean up was nearing it's end, everyone started to gather around the area again. It was just a matter of when would the teachers be done with scouting the area before announcing their departure.

"C'mon…c'mon…she's waiting for me…" Axel bit his finger as Roxas sighed. Naminé was looking around until she saw Xion rummaging her bag with a concerned look on her face. She tapped her shoulder and tried to mouth if there was anything wrong.

"My water bottle," Xion explained. "I think I accidentally left it on one of the benches near the area where we stayed, can we try and go find it?"

Roxas took a glance at the teacher who was still marking the student's progress with a checkboard, still far away from them.

He turned back to them. "I think we still got time, let's go try and find it real quick," he insisted.

"Let's go back to where we were just now and just look around the area real quick,"

With a nod, everyone followed his orders and ran to where they were picking up trash earlier, Naminé included. Xion's heart dropped a bit when she saw an empty bench just sitting there.

"It should be somewhere around here, let's split up," Roxas offered.

"Why are we doing this much for a bottle? Why don't you just buy a new-OW!"

Axel's words were cut off as his ear was suddenly pulled by a short Xion. The black haired girl pulled it until he was almost at her level.

"It was my parents' gift! Just help!"

Naminé could swore she heard a "so much for asking" coming out from him but chose to ignore it as she watched the tall Axel being dragged away by her. Looking around, she made sure to keep an eye out for anything that probably stuck out from the land of green grass. I mean, how else would a red bottle with a large label that said Xion was stuck on it would be seen easily amongst the grass?

Her eyes widened when she suddenly saw said object at the bottom of a small hill.

Must've fallen off and rolled over there.

Since Roxas and the others had walked off to search the other area, she made it her job to get the bottle first. She slowly walked down the stairs of the small hill and made her way over to the fallen bottle, ignoring a group of guys playing with a soccer ball.

When she walked over to the bottle, she bent down and picked up the bottle, continuing with a more proper examination, making sure that she didn't pick the wrong bottle. She was about to go back to the others when suddenly she felt something touch the back of her leg.

If she could scream, she probably would've but instead her whole body jerked. She turned around and looked down to see a ball slowly rolling around by her feet.

"Sorry about that!" she heard. Looking up, she saw someone running up her, someone who she assumed to get the ball. Upon taking a closer look of Naminé, the blonde couldn't help but notice that the blonde boy suddenly flexed his arms in their current position.

"Those guys must've kicked too hard, eventhough I already told them to be careful not to hit anyone around here," he laughed a bit, his eyes barely being covered by the black beanie he wore.

Naminé gulped, trying to give a small smile to pass it off. She nodded quickly and was about to walk away when he suddenly stepped in her path.

"I'm Seifer by the way, are you from around here? I'm just here on a short trip," he introduced.

Naminé gulped. She had a bad feeling rising. She quickly shook her head, hoping that he would take it as a final answer and tried to move away. Unfortunately, he moved his body right in front of her, stopping her.

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Not much words huh? Well, I can understand being shy in front of someone who you just met hehe," he scratched the back of his head. "Oh I know! If it's alriht, why not you bring me around later? I really want to see more of the city,"

Her fingers trembled. Why…why is he doing this? Why won't he just let her go. She darted her pupils around, but her heart dropped when she saw no one around. She looked around, still no one.

Roxas….

Seifer tilted his head. "What's wrong, looking for something? But besides that, how about it? I even got some dinner recommendations from those guys over there. It's not like we're friends or anything, just some good ol friendly street soccer,"

Larxene's laughing face appeared in her head, giving her more fright. But as it did, another face appeared in her mind, a face associated with someone who for somehow acted a light upon the dark times she was in, shining ever since she met him.

The blonde girl bit her lip and forced herself to take a deep breath, despite Seifer's confusion. She quickly whipped out her phone and started typing. Seifer grinned as he reached into his pocket.

"Ahh you're right, it's easier to trade numbers isn't it?"

Naminé quickly turned her phone and showed him the screem.

"I'm sorry but I'm in a bit of a hurry so excuse me"

She typed at the Notepad application. After feeling like he read it all, Naminé quickly sidestepped around him to go up the stairs when she felt something tugging on her hand.

"Hold on, I'm not done talking yet," Seifer spoke as he was grabbing onto her arm.

Withput facing her, she pulled her arm harder, pulling it out of Seifer's hold and quickly running up the stairs as fast as she could, trying to get Seifer out of her head. The blond watched as Naminé reached the top and started running towards a different direction until she was out of sight.

He let out a smirk

Naminé panted as she ran away as fast as she could, trying to join up with her shcoomates as soon as possible. She ignored all the stares she was getting as to why she was panting, holding a water bottle in head like some weirdo, all responded by just turning away.

She slowly made her way to a tree, putting a hand against at as she held her breath. She walked behind the tree, trying to hide herself from anyone else.

The first time.

That was the first time that she took it to her own hands, to not let her will be bounded by anyone else. Seifer blocking her served as a reminder how she would always fall victim to these kind of things. Constantly subjected to Larxene's bullying at school took a toll on her already shattered confidence.

"Naminé?" she heard against. She looked up and saw blonde hair and her thoughts went to Seifer at first. But a wave of relief washed over her as she saw feathered golden blonde instead of a black beanie. A look of confusion present on his face. His eye darted down to the red bottle in her hand.

"Oh hey you found Xion's bottle…" his words trailed off as he saw her face. "Naminé is something wrong?"

Without warning, she found herself jumping forward and suddenly into his arms.

"Woah!" he exclaimed as Naminé buried herself in his chest and wrapped her arms around his body. Why she did this? She had no idea as well, but at that moment, it was what she needed/

Roxas was about to question when he suddenly felt her heavy panting on his chest and her trembling fingers. The look of confusion turned to a look of relief as he placed one hand on her back and one on the back of her head.

She took comfort in the embrace. As if she needed something to recharge herself. She looked up and almost got lost in his blue eyes. She widened her eyes and realized what she was doing.

Roxas watched as she gently pulled away and quickly rummaged her pockets to get her phone. Naminé heard Roxas chuckling and watched as he placed her hands over hers, enclosing his fingers.

"It's alright," he assured, "You don't have to explain yourself,"

Naminé couldn't try to form words in her head. The only thing she was thinking about, was the warmth that his body provided, and the warmth that his hand gave hers.

"Oh my, what do we have here?"

Naminé quickly pulled back her hands at what seemed like a speed of light as they both turned to see Axel raising his hands to his lips. Xion saw Naminé's hands.

"Hey! My bottle!" she cheered as Naminé handed the bottle back to her. "Thanks a lot Nams!"

The nickname caught her off guard, but not in a bad way. Instead, she gave a small smile to that.

"You got some explaining for that hand-holding," Axel teased Roxas. The latter rplied by elbowing him in the gut. "Oof!"

"Alright guys!" he spoke loudly, catching their attention and ignoring Axel wincing in pain. "Now that that's done…" he grinned wildly. Xion catching onto him. Naminé watched as they both leaned down, holding their arms back.

"Ice Cream!" they both exclaimed as they punched the air.

There were always many ice cream flavours available at the local ice cream shop at the mall. The same Mall where Naminé once ran into Roxas, Xion and Axel. A wide range of flavours were presented in front of her, from as simple as chocolate to an interesting one such as fried banana in butter.

She ignored that last flavour.

Usually, she would've went with her usual, plain, boring choice, which was vanilla. A flavour which none could go very wrong with. It was a classic flavour, practically almost everyone's first choice. No one would question it if she chose that flavour.

That's why even she was surprised when she pointed at the teal blue colored ice cream called Sea Salt. She was the last in line so after getting her cone, she went up to join Roxas and the others at a nearby bench, who practically glee'd at the sight of her cone.

He wiped away a fake tear. "Ahh, it's nice to see someone else joining the sea salt community,"

"And it took only one ice cream," Xion joked.

Axel took a lick of his own sea salt ice cream. "I remember Roxas wouldn't shut up about them when I first went to get ice cream with him,"

"And now you love it!" he exclaimed as he took a big bite of his ice cream.

Xion's eyes perked up. "That's right I forgot, Naminé do you have any plans for spring break?" she asked, excitement clear in her voice.

"Xion…." Roxas started, the joy on his face fading away.

Naminé shook her head. Her only plans for break was just simple, sleep, eat and draw.

"Do you want to join us for a short trip to Twilight Town? It'll only be for just a few days,"

Naminé blinked. No doubt she accepted Xion and the others as her friends and vice versa but they were already asking her to join them on a short trip? She looked towards Axel, who smiled at her, signaling her that he was also eager for her to join, then looked towards Roxas, and saw an expression she never seen before.

A face of ignorance. Or rather, an expression where he looked like he didn't entertain the idea. Naminé hasn't settled on her answer yet but seeing his face already made her feel like he didn't want her to join.

Roxas's eyes met her and quickly staggered a bit. "I mean, well, you're more than welcome to join us if you want to,"

A trip, with her new friends. A first of her. The gears in her head were turning, wondering if she should join or not. She was about to reach for her phone to type something when she suddenly felt the ice cream dripping onto her fingers.

Ah crap, I forgot the napkins.

She held a hand up, a way to let them know that she was going to go back to the shop to get some napkins for her and her friends. And an excuse for her to think about Xion's offer while they weren't looking at her.

Twilight Town. If she wasn't mistaken, it was where they came from. Their hometown. Xion and Axel looked excited at the idea of going back for awhile but Roxas' was like the opposite. The moment Xion mentioned it, the smile instantly disappeared. As if he didn't want to go back.

But why wouldn't he want to?

She grabbed the napkins and was about to go back to her friends when suddenly someone stepped in her way. Her heart felt like it had stopped she saw the familiar black beanie.

"Hey again," Seifer put on what looked like a smile. A fake smile. "Guess we meet again huh? I didn't know you liked this place. He looked down and saw the ice cream she was holding. "Sea salt?" He stuck his tongue out in disgustion. "Ugh, why would you go for that flavour, there's much more better options, c'mon," he said as he grabbed her free hand, but Naminé pulled back immediately.

How….She gulped. Was it really a coincidence that he ran into her here? Her eyes darted to the side and widened as she saw the same group of guys that Seifer was playing with earlier, leaning against the wall, watching them.

I thought he just met them.

More proof that he was just bad news. She tried to quickly go around him but he stopped her.

"Hey you've been avoiding me a lot. I mean I understand we just met but I don't think I did anything bad did I?" Seifer asked in an innocent tone.

She gripped the napkins tighter. She put them in her pocket and took out her phone but his hands grabbed her's stopping her.

"Okay why can't you talk like a normal person and stop using your phone okay? Is it that hard to communicate?" he pressed on.

Why….

He waved his hand in front of Naminé, raising an eyebrow. "Hello? Is anyone home? Can't talk?" he joked. She moved to the other side but he blocked her way and stepped closer, causing her to step back.

Why won't he just leave me alone…

"You know, if you don't want ice cream, we could always get some early dinner, and after that…." he leaned in closer, frightening Naminé even more, tears already on the verge of coming out. "Maybe I can show you something special," he whispered into her ears. She snapped her eyes shut in fear.

"Excuse me," she heard.

"Huh? Hey!" Seifer retorted as he felt a hand on his shoulder which quickly pulled him away from Naminé. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the backside of Roxas, standing in front of her protectively. He looked back and met her eyes.

"You were taking a while, so I was wondering if anything happened," he turned his head towards Seifer. "And I guess you just ran into some lowlife," he spat in a voice full of venom, something she never heard before.

That was when she noticed it. How much Roxas had narrowed his eyes and raised his hands back abit, as if he was using his body as a shield from any in coming hard. Seifer widened his eyes as he saw Roxas' face.

"Well well well, I forgot that some trash moved here already. No wonder I was actually enjoying my peace back in Twilight Town," Seifer spat back.

"So me and my friends weren't enough in Twilight so you have to resort to coming all the way here? I almost feel grateful," he spoke back with sarcasm that was clear as that.

Seifer laughed.

"You? Her friend? Damn I didn't even think it was possible for you to land such a beauty here,"

Anger welled up inside of him as he felt the irritation flickering back and forth. "I think it's time for you to leave Seifer," He curled his fingers and formed a tight fist. Veins slowly appearing on the back of his hand. "Before I make you leave,"

Seifer turned back and also saw Xion giving dirty looks at him while Axel kept his own eye at the group of guys that was accompanying Seifer. The blonde smirked.

He raised his hands up. "Alright, fine fine, I will," he said, "I'll just be the bigger man and leave to not cause a commotion like civlised folk," He turned his attention towards Naminé. "I guess I'll see you around, pretty one," he smiled, but it was one that she detested.

"Come near her or any of my friends, I'll make sure you won't get to smile like that ever again,"

"All talk no action huh," Seifer turned around, preparing to make his way out. "I guess that's to be of expected since your mommy was never around to teach you,"

Roxas mind snapped and Naminé knew it. He was about to charge forward when he felt something stop him. He looked down to see that she had wrapped her arms around him as an attempt to stop him. He turned back to see Naminé shaking her head at him.

It's not worth it. She mouthed, and he understood. He watched in spite as Seifer left the mall with his goons.

"Bastard," he cursed silently. A few seconds passed as he realized Naminé was still holding onto him. The blonde must've realised that too as she quickly unlatched from him, her face staring to become red from embarrassment. Xion and Axel came walking towards them.

"Son of bitch still came to Radiant City, as if Twilight Town wasn't enough for him," Axel hissed.

"The next time I see his face I'll rip him a new pair,"

Naminé stood there in confusion with thoughts running through her mind. It seemed like he was from Twilight Town and that they all seem to had a past together, just not a very good one. She looked at Roxas, the boy now having a neutral look. She recalled the anger just a few seconds ago. It was a sight she wasn't used to, coming from the optimistic kid.

He turned towards her. "That guy is someone you never want to be friends with, I have no idea how long he'll be here but if you see him you do not go near him, all right?" He grabbed her shoulders, showing how serious he was. "And if he bothers you again, let me know immediately,"

His protective gaze and nature. Feeling his hands on her shoulders, she swore her face reddened tenfold as all she could manage was just a weak nod.

Xion clasped her hands together. "Anyway!" she said a bit loudly, trying to ignore what happened earlier, turning her full attention towards Naminé.

"So…do you wanna join us to Twilight Town?"