A/N: Is not owning Kingdom Hearts.

-.Sketchbook.-

"Prologue"

x. Scribble o Child's Drawing o Meaningless o Confusion o Mess o Broken .x

-x-x-x-

She loved her art so much, put so much of her passion and her very being into it, creating a soothing atmosphere around her. Teeth nipped gently at crimson bottom lip, as different coloured pastel-based crayons were picked up. Hues and tones spread across the white paper, so bright it stabbed the eyes with needles, light radiating from the surface.

The blonde boy next to her tilted his head slightly as he stared into the depths of her picture. True, it was only two dimensional, a drawing, nothing more. It would never be anything more. However, it was beautiful, capturing so many different feelings and emotions. Reds soared into orange and yellow flames, blues and indigos rose up in tidal waves.

"Who are they?" asked Roxas softly, indicating the three teenagers sharing the same space in the drawing. He had to ask her quietly, because sometimes she became so absorbed in her creations that loud noises distracted her and made her irritable. She only ever got angry and defensive over her pictures. Some would go as far to call them master-pieces.

After a long pause, Roxas had decided that the girl wasn't going to answer, so he was startled when the girl finally decided his question was worthy of a response. She smudged and blended the girl's crimson hair with one finger, chalk dust settling on her finger-tips as she spoke. "I … I have no idea," she answered truthfully. "I guess… They're just people from my dreams." A sigh, as she stared down, as if trying to fall into the lives of the children. It almost made Roxas shudder from the longing of her gaze, deciding that it probably wasn't healthy to wish for something that badly. It wasn't like she didn't have friends, why should she want so badly to find a home in the paradise she'd made? "Like invisible friends… I have names for them," she smiled, blowing chalk residue from the picture, revealing in a swirling cloud of dust their lives. The crimson-haired girl bent over the spiky-haired boy with a sheepish grin on his face, arms linked behind her back. Their silver-haired companion was stood alone, a waterfall of colours rising up around him, the morning sun radiating like a halo around the boy and girl receding into darkness over the isolated one. It looked deep and symbolic, and good … a little too good for a girl only fifteen years old. "The girl's called Kairi, I call the brunette," she indicated to said brunette in the drawing, "I call the brunette Sora, and that's Riku."

"Hmn… Is it meant to be deep in that mind-warping way? You know, that confuses the hell out of you?" asked the blonde-haired boy in his usual tactful way. His friend grinned at the bluntness of his statement, contrasting deeply with her style of speech. Always meandering like a lake, beating around the bush.

"Not really… Roxas, have you ever thought you were living in the wrong picture?" she asked suddenly, looking around from her perch on, and was one Naminé's favourite haunts for drawing and doodling and scribbling. It always touched Roxas when she invited him to come and sit with her – even though she was usually pretty mute when she became engrossed in her picture-book fantasies. Watching her draw was enough. It was a gift to watch her – she was going to become famous with talent like that one day.

"No… I'm happy here. Aren't you?" he asked, tilting his head. Naminé wasn't exactly a naturally depressed girl, but she had these strange fantasies, sometimes she claimed she could hear other people reaching out to her… It wasn't normal behaviour.

"Yeah… But sometimes I feel I was dumped in the wrong place, and my life and my heart," she stabbed at the picture, smudging it slightly. "My heart belongs with them. Don't say I'm crazy…" she sighed, swinging her legs like a little girl off the edge of the tree. "Because my parents say that enough…"

At the mention of 'parents', Roxas' head snapped up, a sudden look of distress flitting across his face. "Oh, crrapp… I told them I'd be back home … half an hour ago!" he proclaimed to anybody who would listen, consulting his watch hastily. "I'm sorry, Nami, I've to go…"

She didn't reply however, her gaze still fixed thoughtfully on her 'art', and this time Roxas did physically shudder. There was something wrong with Naminé, not in a bad way, but… Mystery shrouded her like a fog, and it didn't matter how close he got to her because he'd never be able to crack the puzzle that ran through her mind.

o.x.o

Naminé lay on her bed, flipped on her stomach, doodling around aimlessly in her favourite sketch-book with her lucky pencil. They were child's scribbles, doodles lacking any real skill in them, as lines swept across the paper.

If she concentrated hard enough, she could fall away from the hostile environment around her. She could ignore the yells from downstairs, of her drunken father who would be swaggering about, her mother cowering. Her mother would tell him anxiously to be quiet, they'd wake Naminé up.

It was almost laughable about how they tried to conceal their falling-apart relationship from her, treating her like some silly little kid. They were so blinded by hatred for each other they couldn't comprehend that she was growing up. She wasn't their angel anymore, and she knew all too well what was going on. And yet, after every drunken assault her father launched on her mother, he would always buy her some flowers or something pretty and claim he would never do it again. Would never touch a beer again – but it never lasted. Her mother was stupid to believe all the lies.

That was why she drew so much, created imaginary friends from her head that her pencil transported onto the paper. Her room was scattered with pictures, most of them revolving around the girl and her two friends. She felt so familiar to Kairi, Sora and Riku, but somewhere deep inside told her they weren't real. She had a bad home life so she was trying to escape in fantasies, and maybe they had every right to call her crazy.

Sighing mentally at the harsh sounds of muffled screams, she continued her picture, her doodle, slowly turning into a boy. Working out all of her fears that eventually her mother would crumple and wouldn't be able to take it any more, she poured her soul into this figment of her imagination. He wasn't one of the boys she usually drew.

Hair was wild and messy in spikes like blood, eyes neon green that seemed to sear into the soul, ripping you apart. Black tattoos were etched under both of them. His clothes were dominantly black like he was constantly attending some funeral, all of Naminé's pain reflecting in him. The way he stood, dressed, facial expression, just showed he was somebody who was empty. Who tried to be happy and put on a false act, just like her, to fool friends into thinking everything was fine. He looked so unfulfilled, or like some tragedy had befallen him.

She smiled softly, looking upon her scribbled drawing. When her heart called for another outlet for her pain, she'd draw him again, properly.

The screams from downstairs had died away, and she heard a door slam – her father had left again. Why did her mother put up with all the pain and abuse? He'd just gone off to get even more drunk and shout obscenities at more people and get into more fights.

"I'll call you Axel," she said lightly, singing her name gracefully in the bottom corner of the scribbled mess. Axel, her new 'friend'. However, sometimes she wished her friends could speak back to her, could comfort her, weren't just pencil and paper.

Were something more other than childish dreams.

-x-x-x-

A/N: Hurrah for creative impulse . This is another story that will become AkuRoku, although Naminé will be very, very involved in this. Will probably not be very long, and will be lovely angst (I'm an angst writer) and romance. Maybe a little bit of humour will be found in places, too, despite the seriousness of it all. Alright, even in the prologue clues are given for the plot. Guess where the drawing versions of Sora, Kairi and Riku are. I DARE YOU. Uh, yeah… I'm wondering over who to pair Naminé with, any suggestions? I was thinking Naminé/Kairi, even though I'm really not a big fan of that pairing. I don't like it much. However, in AU contexts I find it OK . Each chapter will be named after a colour, apart from this one. I want at least two reviews before I continue. Two. Peace out, and goodbye!