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“Are you sure this is okay?”
“I’ll manage somehow.”
“But that man, the one you call DiZ-”
“Still needs me if he wants Sora to awaken.”
There was concern in his eyes. They’ve become… darker. More haunted since she restored his memories. That was enough to set him apart from Sora, whose eyes were always like a sunny daylight sky. “What about after?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Naminé replied, “I don’t know how long it will take, but I will try to work quickly. If Sora wakes up, he’ll have less reason to go after you.”
“But what about you?”
She dropped her gaze. She did not want to think about after. This was not hijacking the digital Twilight Town to speak to Roxas. This was nothing short of a betrayal. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I don’t think he will just let me go once I’m no longer useful. I’m a Nobody, just like you.” Pause, as she realized the implications of her words. “But that’s okay,” she added hastily, “Really.”
“But that’s not okay. So what if you are a Nobody? You’re still you, nobody else-”
“Roxas,” she interrupted. She didn’t want their last conversation to be an argument, but he needed to understand. “I’ve made this choice a long time ago. You don’t know the things I’ve done, the people I’ve hurt. Fixing Sora’s memories is my repentance. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Naminé reached out and zipped up the black coat he was wearing. Without the complete ensemble, it didn’t have quite the same effect on him that it did on others.
Not that she minded, really. White suited him better anyway.
“Keep the coat on,” she said. “It will protect you from the darkness in the corridors and make it harder for the Organization to find you.”
“I know that,” Roxas replied with a hint of surliness. “I was in the Organization remember?”
Naminé smiled despite herself. “Give me your hand.”
“My hand?”
“Yes. I have something for you.”
It was all she’d managed to find. It wouldn’t protect him or help him in battle, but it was the only solace she could offer. “I know it wasn’t real,” she told Roxas. “I just thought… maybe you would like a keepsake.”
“Naminé…”
“Was I wrong?”
Roxas shook his head. “It was real to me,” he said, turning the blue crystal orb in his hand. The vulnerability in his voice would have broken her heart if she had one. He must be thinking about them now. Hayner. Pence. Olette. They seemed like good people and good friends.
Naminé knew better than to say maybe now they could be friends for real. The Usual Spot was the first place Riku would search.
“You should go now,” she urged. “Our absences would be noted soon if not already.”
His fingers closed around the orb. “Will anything change your mind?” he asked in what she could only assume was a final plea. Roxas didn’t like the idea of leaving her behind. He cared. And that was enough.
“Even if DiZ stands down, the Organization would still be looking for you,” Naminé reminded him gently. “You know how wide their presence has spread. I would only slow you down.” And I made Sora a promise, Roxas. If I ran with you, I’d be breaking it.
The selfish part of her wanted to though. Leave with Roxas and she’d become a fugitive just like him, never staying long in one place and no home to call her own. But as a fugitive… she’d be able to see other worlds, never again to be caged and forced to bend to others.
She wanted to. That much she could admit to herself.
And that is why Sora loves Kairi. A Princess of Heart would never think to be so selfish.
“Why?” Roxas finally asked. “Why are you going through so much for me? Is it because I’m Sora’s Nobody?”
“Why?” The question caught her off guard. “I don’t really know why. Nobodies like us aren’t supposed to exist, but what you’ve gone through and what they’re doing to you… it’s too cruel. I don’t want anyone to hurt you anymore.”
Maybe sending him out on his own knowing the Organization would be dogging his footsteps everywhere he went was a different kind of cruelty, but this way… at least he would have a fighting chance.
He doesn’t say anything else before he steps out from under her umbrella, leaving her alone in the Dark City with Kingdom Hearts aglow in the night sky.
One thing she could say she liked about DiZ was that no matter how angry he got, how critical he was of the pace of her work, or even how vocally he expressed his distaste for Nobodies, he never once actually laid a hand on her.
Until today.
Her arm felt like it’s been ripped out of it’s socket even after he let her go before the computer in the basement.
“Look at that,” he snarled, “Look at what you’ve done.”
She looked.
Restoration at 100%.
“Roxas is vital to his awakening after all,” DiZ groused. “For the past year I’ve done nothing, but try to help you. Sheltering you. Protecting you from the Organization… I should’ve known better than to cooperate with a Nobody. How could you just let him go?”
Naminé backed away from the computer. “It was the right thing to do.”
Her reply actually made him laugh. “The right thing?” he mocked. “You are a Nobody. What do you know of right and wrong? Don’t forget, Naminé, this is all your fault. Roxas wouldn’t have needed to be sacrificed for my plans if you hadn’t changed Sora’s memories in the first place.”
Something… Something stirred in her. Was it shame? There was plenty of that every time she thought of what she’d done to Sora and the Riku Replica, but it didn’t seem to be the case this time. Anger, maybe?
Yes. Definitely anger.
“It’s you who don’t know of right and wrong,” she replied. She herself was surprised at how cold she sounded. “Maybe you did once, but now you’re no different from the very people you oppose. Treating people like tools. Like they’re just pawns for you to move as you please! Not just me, but Riku too! Making him do all the dirty work while you sit back and play the judge. What happened to him is a small price to pay for your revenge, isn’t it? You’re not even the one paying it!
“Even Sora! You wouldn’t even care about him if you didn’t need him. Do you even know why he’s asleep now? He had every right to hate me for what I did to him, but he didn’t. He gave me a second chance when no one else would’ve. If he knew what you were doing, what you pushed his best friend to do, what you are trying to do to Roxas, he wouldn’t ever help you get your precious revenge!”
Naminé knew it was wrong of her to speak for Sora like that, but so lost in her rage, she had utterly disregarded it. She spent a year keeping her head down and trying her hardest not to cross him, but she’s finally had enough. She wanted to hurt DiZ, the same way he did every time he told her that her existence was a sin, and she didn’t care how she achieved it.
And unlike her, he did have a heart to wound.
She regretted it as soon as her temper cooled.
Witch.
Naminé glanced back at the monitor recording Sora’s vitals.
Sora, I’m sorry…
She hoped he would understand why she had to let Roxas go, but as long as she drew breath, she wouldn’t stop trying until he was awake and reunited with his friends again.
Then again… that may not be for much longer. As quiet as a shadow, DiZ took a step forward looming over her in a way he never has before. What he intended to do to her now, whether to lock her up or simply dispose of her himself…
She’d crossed a line and she knew it, trying not to tremble even as the instincts she thought were long gone were telling her to throw herself at his feet and beg for forgiveness.
Behind DiZ, a corridor of darkness flared into existence. Was Riku back already? How did he find Roxas again so quickly?
Naminé felt her stomach sink even as DiZ tilted his head sideways to address his other accomplice.
“You’re back earlier than I expected, Ansem. Take him to Sora, quickly.”
She heard the metallic sound of a weapon being drawn and saw a flash of white.
“How about you get away from her first?”
That voice… It isn't Riku.
As shocked as she was, DiZ spun around and this movement allowed Naminé to clearly see who had just joined them.
Roxas stood before the still open corridor, holding a white keyblade - Oathkeeper, she remembered. It’s called Oathkeeper - at the ready and flanked by two high-ranked Nobodies with cylindrical heads and slits like eyes, each carrying a pair of grey-hued swords.
“How-?” Naminé has never seen DiZ bluster before. Then again, his plans were completely and utterly unraveling before his very eyes. She supposed she can’t blame him for having a nervous breakdown.
“Naminé showed me the basement in the digital Twilight Town. Turns out that was enough for me to create a Corridor to the real one.” Despite having the stature of a fifteen year old boy, the ferocity in his gaze was more than a match for DiZ. “You created that town and everything in it. Axel couldn’t do anything to you in there. Neither could I, I imagine. It must be nice, having that kind of invincibility and omniscience. But out here?” His voice turned cold. “You’re just like everyone else.”
DiZ was bigger and stronger than her, yes. As he proved just a few minutes earlier, that was enough for him to physically subdue her , but Roxas? Who spent the year of his existence honing the fighting skills he’d inherited from Sora under the careful watch of Organization XIII? DiZ was not a fighter, that much became clear to her in the early days of their alliance. He wouldn’t stand a chance.
DiZ, it seemed, realized this as well. “I’m surprised you came back here,” he said, “I’d have expected you to head as far away from here as possible.”
“So did I,” Roxas replied, “But I realized I can’t run forever.” His eyes flickered to her’s. She saw pain there. And something else. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said, Naminé.”
Roxas blinked once and whatever softness she’d seen vanished as he turned back to DiZ.
“I will go to Sora,” he said, “If and only if Naminé walks through that corridor right now.”
DiZ hesitated. Naminé froze. This… this can’t be happening.
“Roxas,” she said, “If you were to meet Sora…”
“I know,” Roxas replied and she finally recognized the emotion in his eyes - acceptance. “I wanted to meet Sora once. That’s why I left the Organization. But this? I’m not doing this for Sora. Axel told me everything.”
He spoke to Axel? She should be happy that he’d made amends with his best friend, but the fact that they would be separated again because of her…
“I don’t want anyone to hurt you anymore either,” he said softly. “This is my choice, Naminé. Don’t take it away from me.”
She closed her eyes. His choice. Of course she couldn’t take it away from him no matter how much she wanted to.
It was only then did she look towards DiZ, remembering he was there. He had fallen silent, watching their exchange. And for a moment, it looks as though he was about to apologize.
He didn’t. She knew better than to expect him to, but he didn’t try to stop her either when she goes towards Roxas.
Naminé stopped right before the corridor. The two Nobodies moved ever so slightly to the side, clearing the way for her to step inside. Her eyes met Roxas’s. He grinned, lopsided and impish and trying so hard to be strong.
“I still think you’re wrong,” he said. “Even if I don’t have a heart, the life I lived was still mine. No one can tell me otherwise.”
“I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness,” Naminé admitted, “So I hope I am too.”
He unzipped his coat and tossed it to her. “Keep the coat on,” he said, lightly teasing. “It will protect you from the darkness.”
She smiled despite herself. “We will meet again,” she said, daring to allow herself to dream. “You may not know it’s me and I may not know it’s you, but we will. Someday soon.”
Roxas nodded once and then addressed the two Nobodies. “You two,” he said, authority in his voice, “Protect her for me. Got it?”
To her great astonishment, the Nobodies sheathed their swords and bowed.
Roxas turned back to her, giving her a long, drawn out look with something she did not recognize in his eyes.
“Someday soon,” he repeated softly. “I promise. Now go.”
Naminé only looked back once, the image of Roxas facing DiZ with his back straight and stance full of resolve burned forever in her memory, before stepping into the Corridor and slipping on his black coat. The garment was heavy on her shoulders, but wearing it almost made it feel like he was still there with her.
Where they were even going, she didn’t think to wonder until she was there. She saw Riku, hood up, standing by the wooden fence and gazing out over Twilight Town. His presence surprised her. Did Roxas know he’d be here? Or did he find the Corridor and decided to wait and see who came out of it?
...Would he take her back to DiZ?
Riku turned around, but it was someone else who greeted her first.
“Yo, Naminé. Long time no see.”
Green eyes, reverse triangle tattoos and a mane of red hair that was like a flame.
“Seriously, what is it about you that makes all the boys want to be your hero?”