Chapter 3

Was it all a dream?

Her face called back to pleasant memories. Her grace, her laughter, her lively spirit, the smell of sea salt air, waves crashing against the shore, a burning sun—it came back to him in the form of her tortuous smile.

She stood as a true model for carefree jubilance. She laughed with another familiar face as they made their way out onto campus, books tight to their chest and bags perched over their shoulders.

Sora went blank. His jaw was ajar, his mind was a bare canvas, and his eyes comatose of consciousness.

"Man, something tells me you're gonna be a handful." Lea shook his head as he reached Sora's side. He followed his line of sight to spot Kairi in the short distance. "Ahh, I see. Already got your sights set on the big leagues, huh? That's cute."

Lea gave him an obnoxious nudge in the side—a gesture which hardly went noticed—and crossed his arms with an expression of approval.

"Kairi Uchida—one of Seaside's premiere babes of the second-year class. She's hot, but trust me, take her aesthetic appeal away and she's just your typical teenage girl. But hey, you seem like a typical teenage guy so maybe you two were made for each other."

Lea's input went in one ear and out the other. Sora was in a universe where logic was swallowed by impulse. He struggled to believe his eyes and allow reality to settle into his equilibrium. This was an opportunity he couldn't allow slip by.

He dropped his bag and dove through the sea of strangers. His unintentional rudeness dripped unapologetically as he shoved a few unnamed onlookers to the side.

"Whoa, dude! I was joking!" Lea cried. He scratched the back of his head. "This guy..."

It seemed that the closer Sora got, the more she seemed further away. His heart skipped so many beats, one might believe it to be a remix for a traditional healthy heartbeat; he was afraid he might have had to go to the hospital.

For a moment in his brief window, Kairi stood in a dazzling spotlight. He felt like he ran in place, his arm outstretched for his best friend in a desperate reach. Was he hallucinating?

No time for rational thinking. He just had to act.

"K-Kairi!" he yelled out, in a sputtering mess of incoherence.

Wide-eyed, Kairi turned around only to be ambushed into a very sudden and unexpected squeeze from this unidentified brunet, who nearly stumbled over his feet as he trapped her into his passionately awkward embrace. She looked over to her friend, but from the look of her eyes, it seemed they shared a mutual perplexity.

"Kairi, it's me..." Sora spoke softly. He didn't want to let go. At last, he found someone he could rely on to keep him sane. Someone who could help him get through this crazy, bizarre place their world became overnight. Someone who might understand.

Sora closed his eyes and tried to fight back the tears that glossed up his vision, but he allowed one to slip. The emotions were too much for his heart to handle. He didn't want to repress them any longer.

Kairi, on the other hand, had an entirely different story to tell. Who was this creep and why was he hugging her like she was his long lost sister? Her body hardened into stone and she wasn't sure if hugging him back was appropriate or not. Was this some distant family member or a friend she forgot about? She didn't want to hurt his feelings by outright rejecting his affection.

"Kairi, it's me! I... I finally found you!"

There was no response. His impulsive emotions began to waver as his rationale settled; he finally returned to reality and his awareness was restored. Only then did he realize that she wasn't hugging back.

Why wasn't she hugging him back?

Even Lea, who watched from a short distance, could feel the uncomfortable tension weigh down the atmosphere and winced. "Ouch."

Sora looked around and saw that his thoughtless behavior formed a small crowd. Their eyes feasted on him with confusion; new gossip and rumors already emerged from their whispers, born from their uninformed third-party judgement.

Sora sighed, hesitating, fearful of pulling back—but he released her only to witness his fears come alive in her confused, befuddled, embarrassed, and slightly panicked expression.

Kairi rubbed her arm. "I... I-I, uh..."

"Kairi, I—my name is Sora. We used to play together on the islands when we were kids." Her face was blank. He gulped, internally debating whether he should ask the question he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to. "Do you recognize me?"

If someone told him a year ago that one day he'd stand before one of his best friend, only to realize she had become a stranger without an ounce of memory left to put the pieces together... he would have laughed.

"I-I'm sorry, but I... I don't..."

And yet here he was—lost, confused, without much to make sense of this whacky reality. Sora dropped his head. Her answer was inevitable, but to hear it come alive audibly made his heart crack into a million pieces.

After the many days of confusion and denial, it finally hit him—he really was alone.

He was alone in this world.

"Oh... okay."

A sharp whiplash from a sparkly blue purse—

"AGH!"

Pitch black.

Fortunately, it was brief, but his head ached of a fresh throbbing as he woke from his dizzying stupor.

"That's a lot of nerve, wise guy!" yelled a voice. She was so familiar. He could never forget that brown hair styled into one large curl in the back of her head and two on the sides—the friend she was laughing with earlier. "Who do you think you are? That is abso-divel-lutely no way to treat a lady! It's Gentlemen 101: keep your filthy hands to yourself unless given consent!"

Kairi grabbed her arm and gently yanked her back before she did anything to make things worse—a custom the spontaneous girl was prone to. "Selphie, knock it off!" she whispered loudly. "You're not helping!"

"Hold on a sec, girl. I got this." As usual, Selphie wasn't listening. She never listened when her judgement was clouded by rage. "Now look, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but—"

Sora finally recognized her. "You're Selphie! That's who you are!"

Selphie paused for a moment with a blended look of disgust, shock, and confusion. "H... How do you know my name?!" She didn't ponder over it too long. "Listen buster, I don't know who in the heck you think you are, but you better get lost before I shove these expensive high heels so far up your—"

"Selphie, please!"

It took some prodding, but Kairi eventually got Selphie to calm down. The brunette gave Sora one last dirty look before Kairi dragged her away.

The redhead looked back at Sora one last time, searching through her memories to desperately find a moment in time where she might have encountered this stranger, but to no avail. With a somewhat regretful sigh, she pressed onward with Selphie as the crowd dispersed.

Rumors were already roaming fast. Sora sat there, watching as Kairi and Selphie faded into the distance. A part of him wanted to run after them, but his better judgment held him back. Rather, he soaked in his own misery.

Nearly everyone cleared the field to allow the gossip to commence, aside from Lea, whose shadow loomed over Sora's figure and blocked out the sun.

He looked at him with a sympathetic grin as he held out a hand. "Hypothetically speaking, if I just fart right now, do you think that might make this less awkward?"

Sora's smile was glum, but he appreciated that Lea would at least attempt to lighten the mood, but it was no use. He felt like death. Sora took his hand and Lea lifted him back up to his feet.

"Hey man, I'm sorry." Lea rubbed the back of his head. "Tell ya what, I know a place. We should cheer you up!" He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, it'll be fun! My treat."

What did he say?

Lea snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. "Hellooooo!" Sora blinked. "Ugh. Rude."

"Sorry... I was just contemplating the meaning of my existence..."

"You're a lot more emo than I expected you to be, aren't you?"

Somehow, that actually woke Sora up from his trance. "W-What?"

"Alright, buck-o." Lea hauled Sora up over his shoulders. "Turn that frown upside down, mister! We're gonna go find your smile!"

"H-Hey, what are you—"

"We're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of froyo!"

He wasn't kidding. Lea literally carried Sora all the way to a frozen yogurt place, shamelessly ignoring both his protests and the embarrassing glances cast their way from the townsfolk. This Lea sure did have balls of steel.

They sat at a white round table, shaded from the sun by an umbrella placed directly in the middle. Sora stared at his frozen yogurt with his mind lost in outer space.

Meanwhile, Lea was busy scarfing down his third round. "Eat up, man! I didn't just waste fifty munny on that thing for nothing!"

"Sorry..."

With an impressive belch, Lea leaned back in his seat and rested his left elbow on the arm rest. "You remind me of my best pal when I first met him—all quiet and mysterious. I guess I just got a thing for strays."

Sora clutched his fists under the table. "So, you're telling me you don't remember anything about... you know?"

Lea raised an eyebrow. "About what? You're gonna have to be more specific."

"C-Come on, you know!" Sora planted his hands on the table. "I'm getting desperate here. There's no way you can't remember any of it. You were a Nobody!"

Lea frowned. "Well, that's not very nice."

"N-No, I-I mean..." Sora grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have to remember. Come on! The Heartless?"

"Come again?"

"Organization XIII?"

"I don't follow."

"Ugh!" Sora slouched on the table and buried his head into the fold of his arms. "It's hopeless..."

Maybe it really was all a dream. He wished he could plead further denial, but whatever world he lived in currently felt too real to call it a giant hallucination. What was going on?

"Are you gonna be okay, man?" Lea looked at him sympathetically, even if he didn't have a clue what was going on. "I know being a transfer must be rough, but sheesh. Don't you think you might be going a little overkill?" He eyed Sora's untouched froyo with a barbaric gleam. "You gonna eat that?"

Sora couldn't fathom the situation. How could he? Was this supposed to be some kind of test? He was completely oblivious to an entire set of memories deeply engrained in Sora's heart. Where was Naminé when you needed her?

Wait a second, Naminé... that was it!

After Sora returned to the Islands after his second perilous journey, he started spending a lot more quality time with Kairi. He finally mustered up the courage to thank Naminé for whatever it was she did, and he felt their hearts connect. It was like he could telepathically communicate with her, and she explained everything that happened in Castle Oblivion.

If he recalled correctly, Naminé had the power to manipulate Sora's memories and those who had ties to him. Could that be what was happening?

That must be it!

But why would she leave him untouched? All of his memories were intact, weren't that? She must've had the answers.

"Naminé!" Sora shot up from his position. "Do you know a girl named Naminé?!"

Startled by his sudden outburst, Lea leaned back in his chair defensively. "Whoa! Uh, you mean the art major chick? Yeah, she was in class 2-2 last year. A cute little thing, but not my type. She's more of the quiet type."

That sounded like Naminé. "But she goes to our school, right?!"

"That's what I just said..."

"Where can I find her?"

Lea gave him a pained expression. "No offense, man, but after what I just saw, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable giving you the locations of all of the cute girls at our school—I'm kinda afraid you'll tackle them and allege that you're some kind of long lost third cousin from their uncle's one-night stands in Paris or something."

"Axel, you have to tell me! Please, I-I know Naminé, I just want to talk to her. I think she might know what's going on here."

"Did you just call me Axel?" Lea grimaced. "I told you, my name is Lea. Got it memorized?" He sighed. "Fine, just please... don't hurt anybody with your craziness. Matter of fact, I'll go with you just in case."

"Just... just tell me..."

"Well, she's usually hanging out in the art room, but—"

Sora made a dash towards the school without a second thought.

"Dude!" Lea whined. "Wait! Didn't I say I was going to go with you! What about the froyo? Oh, you so owe me fifty munny!" He groaned. "What am I getting myself into?"

He busted the door open.

"Naminé!" he cried.

It only took him five minutes to rush back to the school campus, but it was an eventful five minutes of bustling through crowds and narrowly dodging his incessant tendency to bump into strangers with a quick apology afterwards. He had to be a little stealthy heading back inside, since he was pretty sure he probably wasn't supposed to have left campus in the first place.

It only took slightly longer to breathlessly ask nearby students where the art room was. As expected, he received curious expressions, but they told him—if only to get him to leave them alone.

In a panic, he finally found the art room and thoughtlessly thrusted the door open to find a petite blonde girl sitting in front of a colorful canvas with a paint brush in her hand. Sure enough, she garbed the female Seaside Academy uniform—a black blazer, a red tie, and a red skirt.

Her eyes twinkled innocently and curiously.

"N-Naminé..." Sora choked. "It's really you..."

Before she could make a move, two hands grasped her shoulders firmly. He lost all composure and shook her with his trembling fingers.

"Naminé! Naminé, it's me! You have to help me! Did you mess with my memories again?! What's going on?! Can you fix this?!"

He needed answers. He was nearing his breaking point and his desperation took unhealthy leaps in response to his mental state. So much so that he failed to notice her panicked position, as she silently sobbed and panicked.

Wait a second—she hadn't acknowledged him yet.

Why wasn't she acknowledging him?

Why hadn't she said his name?

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!

"Do you recognize me?! Naminé, please say you know who I am! Please tell me you know my name!"

Naminé kept her head turned to the side, her eyes shut tight, and her pursed lips quivering.

What was he doing? If someone walked in right then and there, it could easily be taken the wrong way out of context. He was totally spiraling out of control. This was harassment. She was clearly troubled.

He needed to gain some self-control. This was getting him nowhere.

Sora slowly released Naminé and recoiled as he stared at his hands, disgusted at what he had become. He became so reckless that he forgot common courtesy in his pursuit for truth.

Understandably, it was much to take in and even harder to accept. He still didn't have a clue about who he was, where his memories came from, or what was going on.

He looked at Naminé. She had been eyeing him with a frightful gaze, but she quickly turned to the side once their eyes met. She kept her arms close to her chest and casted fretful, and slightly fearful glances in his direction through her peripheral.

She became the physical embodiment of fear—all because of his impulsive behavior.

He let his hands rest at his sides and allowed his head to droop with shame.

An awkward silence swept the air—at least it did for Naminé, Sora was off in another world again—before he grew aware of his impoliteness again.

"O-Oh, sorry..." he said. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Naminé shook her head quickly.

"T-That's good." Sora hesitated. "You, uh... you wouldn't happen to recognize me, would you?"

She remained quiet for a while, until she gave a meek shake of her head. Sora rubbed his chin curiously. Could she speak?

He was overcome with disappoint upon reflection. Lea, Kairi, and Naminé failed to recognize him. He seriously had no one. It was rock-bottom.

Sora examined the room. He thought of one word to describe it: white. Seriously, every inch of it was white, including the table in the middle and any other furniture, aside from the sketches scattered across the walls, and in the middle of it all, a dainty blonde with light, rosy red cheeks.

She struggled to look him in the eye. This Naminé seemed a bit more bashful than the Naminé he remembered—not that his Naminé was particularly outspoken either—but the way she cowered before him was unsettling, to say the least.

Of course, his carelessness may have contributed to that. He made a gesture to hopefully make her relax, but if he moved an inch, she'd whimper and shiver slightly.

He really messed up this time. Kairi at least had Selphie to protect her from his stupidity, but Naminé was all alone. For all she knew, Sora could have been some creep attempting to do something far, far worse than what he genuinely intended.

How could he be such an idiot? But he just needed some answers. Didn't he deserve that much? Was that so hard?

Sora silently grieved, gritting his teeth as he dropped his head and hunched over with both hands on the table. Poor Naminé remained befuddled as she flung her eyes in numerous directions.

Sora snapped out of it and sent her an apologetic look. "Sorry, I'm being really impolite, I just..." He shook his head and tried his best to muster up a smile, even if it wasn't his strongest effort. "I-I'm Sora." He rubbed the back of his head. "Even though you probably don't care too much at this point..." He chuckled nervously. "I haven't been the best at making, uh, first impressions lately."

Naminé didn't spare him a glance; she was too nervous. She lightly grazed her foot and held her arm modestly.

"Can you talk?"

That only made her lips quiver even further. Perhaps she couldn't? Either that or this Naminé really was a lot different from the one he knew from his memories.

Yeah, this definitely wasn't the Naminé he knew.

"Forgive me," Sora continued. "It's just—maybe it was just a dream, but... I had this idea that I knew you from somewhere. I guess I might've just been a little bit mixed up." He sighed, leaning back into the table just to gain a breather. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shook her head as she took a seat. She still looked rather nervous.

"I don't know whether these memories are real or fake, but... they're real to me, you know? They're the only things I have right now. Man, they felt so... I dunno, maybe I was just kidding myself. It kind of sucks, waking up in a world where nothing is the same as it was before. But, I'm gonna try to figure out what's going on, I'm sure of it." He offered a smile. "So, just bear with me, okay?"

The mute Naminé's lips quivered. She only nodded.

"Your name is Naminé, isn't it?"

She took a moment, but she nodded, still too nervous to look him in the eyes. She just kept her eyes trained on her thighs.

Her name really was Naminé. It couldn't just be a coincidence. Something had to be going on here. Whether his memories were just a childish fantasy or not, something was missing.

Either way, he didn't have enough to think about it at the moment.

"Mind if I check it out?" He decided to walk around to take a look at her painting. It was a beautiful portrait of a dove trapped inside of a bird cage. The detail was immaculate.

"Whoa, this is awesome!" Sora complimented.

Naminé shot her head up in an instant, whimpering through her shaky breaths.

"Did you do this?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically.

She nodded.

"You've got some talent!" he chuckled. "The Naminé from my memories was okay, but nothing too impressive. This could seriously be put on display at a museum."

Naminé blushed. He couldn't tell if it was a good or bad sign.

"Sorry, I won't bother you anymore if you don't want—"

She shook her head furiously.

Sora chuckled. "Oh, well, okay then. I guess I could keep you company." It wasn't like he had much better to do. "You can talk, you know. I won't hurt you. Assuming you can?"

She didn't answer.

"I guess no?" Sora took his position at the table again, leaning back. "You're a mystery, Naminé."

She couldn't stop her blush from intensifying. But she didn't want him to leave. This was an opportunity for her to grow out of her shyness and she wasn't gonna miss out on it.

"Man..." Sora said. "It's crazy how much you really do look like her."

She tilted her head curiously.

"Oh, uh—the other Naminé, I guess. The one from my memories I told you about. You remind me of her. She had a very gentle spirit—very kind. Very peaceful. Just like you." He smiled. "I guess that's why I confused you for her. Sorry about that, again. I know I keep saying it, but..."

She shook her head, as if telling him not to apologize.

He chuckled. "Right." He examined her. "What are you so nervous about?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, never mind. I guess me barging in here and grabbing you by the shoulders is enough to make anyone nervous. But... something tells me you're like this on the regular basis."

She stared at him wide-eyed.

"Bullseye?" He chuckled sadly, his eyes fixed on his feet. "To be honest with you, I know what it feels like to be lonely... and afraid." He had been suffering from it for the past week. "Ever since I woke up and faced reality, it's like I can't relate to the world anymore. So, just know that you're not alone, you know?"

She eyed him sympathetically.

He didn't want to put too much of a damper on the mood, he was trying to get her to trust him and cheer her up. He brightened up. "Well, don't worry! You want to overcome your fear of socializing, right? I'm sure you'll grow out of it." He gave her an optimistic smile. It was the first time he had genuinely smiled in a while. "Until then, mind if I keep you company?"

With flushed cheeks, Naminé shook her head slightly, giving a small smile of her own.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey, there's a smile!" He grinned. "I knew you could do it."

Naminé stiffened. Was she really smiling?

"Relax," he laughed. "You're fine, okay?"

She took a deep breath and nodded once more, trying her hardest to put on a more composed disposition.

To both of their surprise, the sudden open of the door brought them both out of the moment. Naminé especially was shocked. More visitors? Last time she checked, she was the most invisible girl at the school.

In the door frame, stood Lea with a half-empty cup of frozen yogurt. "There you are!" He tossed the cup in a nearby trash can.

"Axel."

"I told you my name is, ugh... whatever." He hurried over to Sora and trapped him in a headlock. He sent Naminé an apologetic look. "Sorry, was he bothering you?"

She shook her head frantically.

"Really? He's a little, you know... well, if this jackass ever does cause you any trouble, I got your back. You can call me the pest control," he emphasized to let Sora know how much trouble he was causing. "We'll be out of your way now."

Lea dragged Sora along, ignoring his muffled protests. Naminé, surprisingly, felt a stroke of disappointment. It was nice; for the first time in forever she actually had someone else around, even if she didn't contribute much to the conversation. She didn't really want him to go—what if he never came back? Most likely, since she was such a snore to talk to.

She reached out, opening her mouth to object Lea's decision, but nothing came out. It was too late.

Lea shut the door behind him and she was alone again. She huffed at her bangs in defeat.

Meanwhile, outside in the hallway, Lea shoved Sora off of him. "Man, what is with you? You trying to screw every broad on the planet already?" Lea crossed his arms and almost looked contemplative. "And I thought I was savage..."

Sora shook his head. "It's not like that."

"Sure thing, Mr. Player." He patted him on the back as he handed him Sora's bag and a sheet of paper.

"What is this?" he asked, referring to the paper.

"Well, I'm just so outrageously awesome that I picked up the sheet for your dorm number. Unfortunately, we're not roomies, which I wish we were just so that I could keep an eye on you. I want you to hurry up and get to your room before you cause more trouble and break more hearts, so hurry home, playboy."

Sora smiled. "Yeah. Thanks... Axel."

Lea sighed. "Dude... really?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Lea shook his head. "Forget it." He reassured Sora with a grasp on the shoulder before heading off to his own dorm room. "I'll be right down the hall if you need me. And you will need me." Lea stopped. "Oh, and Sora."

He paused.

"Get some rest, will ya?" With that, he made his way.

Sora sighed. Maybe he was right. He was a bit tired.

He turned his attention to the sheet of paper. It looked like his room wasn't too far from there. He followed the room numbers down the hall.

He noticed every now and then some of his peers would whisper to each other while staring his way. Rumors of his breakdown in front of Kairi earlier was travelling really fast. Hopefully, he wouldn't turn into some kind of infamous oddity with a big "avoid" sign on written his forehead.

Of course, his mind was all over the place. He was still fixated on this mystery. Lea, Naminé, and Kairi all didn't recognize or remember him, yet he clearly remembered them and even their names. He harbored memories of their times together, but they didn't have a single recollection.

Something was going on, and Sora was going to find out what it was.

It wasn't long before he found his room. He wasn't too concerned about whatever beheld him from behind the plain door. Worst case scenario, it was someone who witnessed his earlier antics.

He opened up the door. It was a simple, but stylish room with a window straight ahead, separating the two beds on each wall.

Someone was hunched over the left bed. It looked as if they were trying to pick something up on the other side.

"Uh, hey!" Sora piped. "Looks like we'll be roommates. I'm Sora."

The boy stood from his position and offered Sora his trademark, borderline cocky grin.

Sora dropped his bag and his jaw dropped.

It was a face Sora could never forget in a million centuries—long silver hair flowed past his shoulders, olive eyes, and he sported the male uniform—a white shirt overlapped by a stylish unzipped black jacket and black slacks.

"Oh, hey," he said. "You're the new second-year, right? It's nice to meet you. Name's Riku—Riku Miyano."

Well, that was convenient.

Is anyone else starting to ship Sora and Namine more? XD

Sooo, it's been about nine months since I last updated this T.T I hope you guys haven't lost interest in this one, but I wouldn't really blame you if you did. I know long hiatus' can be a big turn off.

How is Sora going to react to Riku? Is he going to get on his knees and cry?

Speaking of that, I just want to quickly defend Sora for that near the end of KH2! Yes, he held Riku's hand and fell down on his knees and cried when he finally found him, but come on guys, he went through a LOT to find Riku! He at least rescued Kairi in the first game and didn't find out she was kidnapped until not long before, but Riku could have been DEAD for all he knew! That's why he got so emotional.

Okay, I feel like I wanted to say more but I'm just too tired atm. Haha. Please leave some reviews, they really are huge motivators to keep writing because it lets me know whether or not you guys like the direction of the story and where it's going! And even if you don't, let me know down in a review!

Thank you! :)

#bananasquad