Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

The first chapter is in Naminé's point of view.

Chapter One: Unexpected

Sure, I was never one of them.

No, I just pretended. Every school day I would walk into the school and be a new person. I was still myself, yes, but I was never completely myself. My friends consisted of the most popular girls who cared for nothing but boys and fashion. To put it bluntly, they were mindless.

They didn't think, they acted. If they were wrong, they denied it. Yes, my group of friends were one of the worst. They were fake.

My twin sister, Kairi, was in the same group. She might've acted a bit better than me, but inside she felt the same. I know.

"Naminé," someone called, "Are you going to come shopping with us?" She inserted a fake smile here.

The eyes of the cafeteria inhabitants were on her. They were on me.

"Sure," I said sweetly. I regret it, time wasted on mindless walking instead of focusing on art.

"Kairi's coming too, right?" Another drone asked.

"Obviously," I giggled.

Kairi was lucky she had a doctor's appointment. She skipped half a day of torture.

"Alright, we'll meet at Suki's house at five."

"You got it," girls around the table chorused.

Suddenly, the whispers ceased. Now, there was a pitiful attempt of acting uninterested. Because now, Cloud was about to pass the table.

Cloud had blond hair and deep grey eyes. His hair colour was a darker imitation of mine. Sure he was, dare I say it, 'cute' but these girls knew nothing about him. All they knew and wanted was his looks.

I pretend to be bored, mimicking the others around me. I looked like one of them and I hated it. I hated pretending to be a different person but what was done was done. I was only one of them on the outside.

"Nami, you're home!" Kairi shouted and bounded down the stairs for a hug.

"Hey Kai, how was the appointment?" I asked, curious.

"It was good. Nothing too bad, they said," she gave a cheeky smile.

"Good to know," I smiled.

"So," Kairi continued changing the subject, "how were they today?"

"Ugh, don't get me started," I fake gagged and walked towards the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"

"Sushi!" Kairi ran and followed me into the kitchen. "My favourite," she laughed, licking her lips.

"You're like a dog," I laughed. "What would Annabel say?" I teased.

Kairi turned me around so she was facing me head on. "Kairi, what are you doing?" Kairi faked gasped, her hands over her mouth.

It was so accurate I had to laugh. Kairi was always acting disinterested and cool around the group.

Things had gone on like this for a long time. High School was a place where you had to pretend. There were so many facades I almost laughed. Why did we bother being someone else at school?

"I'm assuming they acted like fools again," Kairi started, getting the sushi from the refrigerator. "I mean, it was either Cloud or Leon today right? I'm so lucky mom decided to schedule a doctor's appointment."

Kairi had been coughing recently. It just started as a cough that occurred once a day. It had turned into a full time occurrence.

"Mm, doesn't it look good?" Kairi rubbed her hands together.

Everything was the same.

That night, I couldn't sleep. It was as if a force was trying to warn me something was wrong. I was too tired to pay attention to the open window. The window that wasn't supposed to be open.

The next morning, I blinked my eyes sleepily. I saw black. The floor was cold, and I could have sworn I smelled diesel. I rolled onto my back and stared at the endless black that stretched across the ceiling. The same colour as midnight...

I sat up, or at least, I tried.

My hands were tied from behind. Panicked, I looked around me. Kairi was in the same predicament but contrarily, she wasn't awake.

My feet were tied as well. The best I could do was slide my feet and nudge her. My mouth was gagged and I was close to tears. Where were we now? Who was driving the vehicle?

Kairi woke up, groggy and half awake. When she tried to speak, she coughed. And then she finally noticed the gag.

Everything happened in slow motion. I could tell she wanted to scream. Her pupils had dilated and her breath was hitched.

"Quiet back there girlies!" a rough voice called out harshly.

Kairi was on the verge of fainting.

An hour or two later, the van stopped. I heard the man get out. Thank goodness.

A tear escaped my eyes and Kairi noticed. She was the older twin and even though she didn't act it most of the time, she deserved the title in the most crucial moments.

"Do you wish to escape?"

'Who's there?' I thought panicking once again.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you... but for a price."

'A price...?' I thought. The price couldn't be worse than this.

"You have to find a person that cares for you two," the voice continued. "A person who doesn't just see your exterior."

"Yeah, they're back here," the man's voice was audible. "What?! That wasn't the promised price! I drove all the way from Destiny Island to Radiant Garden and this is what you give me?!"

'I'll agree to any term,' I assured the voice, 'Just get us out of here.'

In a world far away from Destiny Islands or Radiant Garden, a woman lived in a hut, never coming out once. Her friend who was visiting saw what the woman was doing.

"Why do you bother with human lives?" The friend asked.

"It's because they're so interesting... especially those who seem to think their life is meaningless," The woman replied, staring at a mirror with the image of two twins. "They never seem to realize their life is worth something, something far more important than just material things."

The woman's friend took a look into the mirror hanging above the fireplace. On the left side there was a set of female twins, on the right side there was an image of male twins. Both seemed to be roughly the same age. The friend looked at the woman one last time before declaring, "Human lives are not to be trifled with."

The woman snorted. It was just like her friend to have memorized the rules.

"This isn't trifling with their lives, this is merely helping... for a price."

I woke up with the sun shining into my eyes. It was uncomfortable but at least I knew the episode with the kidnapping was just a dream. It had never happened. I was safe.

I squinted and looked around. Strange, I never knew my carpet was green. Did I even have a carpet in my room? Wait a minute... it was grass!

"Kairi!" I barked.

I widened my eyes. I... barked.

Realization finally hit me. I was no longer human.

"Over here Naminé," I heard Kairi whimper.

Getting to my feet (or in this case, paws), I ran to Kairi. The wind felt nice on my ears. I was faster than I ever was before. I slowed down when I saw Kairi. She had become a small petite dachshund. I laughed as I finally realized I was a bit taller than her.

"N-Naminé?" She whimpered again.

"Yup!" I barked. This was more fun than I first thought.

"You're a... golden retriever?" She squinted at me critically.

"Really?" I lifted my paws and tried to inspect them. Pale golden fur. The same colour as my hair.

"So, uhh, why am I a dog?" She looked at me with her big eyes. I paced as I realized I was the only one who heard the strange voice in the van.

As I explained to her the voice in my head, the proposition, and the price to pay, Kairi asked me some other questions. What were we going to do? Do we find food first, or shelter? Are we going to live to become human again?

"We'll find out when the time comes," I assured her.

We wandered because we were lost. That much was true. We tried to find a clue to as where we were but to no avail. They either had no signs or this was an unknown town.

The sun seemed to never set no matter how long we wandered. The crowd had thickened an hour or two before. The ruby red sun still sat on the horizon. I wondered if this was some kind of clue. It already felt like lunch time.

"Well, what do we have here?" A voice sneered.

Kairi and I froze. My fur seemed to rise along my back as I sidled into a defensive position. Behind us was a man carrying a large net. He had a simple blue puffy cap and jean overalls over his T-shirt. On his feet he wore thick leather boots.

I wondered why the voice didn't give us a collar.

"Run!" Kairi yipped.

I had no hesitation to stop me from escaping. I never knew stray dogs had a hard life. They must've seen us wandering around and thought that we were either careless or mentally unbalanced.

We both ran, Kairi and I, to escape the man running after us with a net. He didn't even seem to be breathing hard. He must've gotten a lot of exercise from running after dogs all day.

I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice we were about to cross the street. Kairi seemed to pause for a millisecond before she ran across. Since I was lagging behind, (I was never good at gym), I didn't pause to check for oncoming traffic. I assumed that when people saw a dog, they stopped their car.

I was very wrong.

I woke up to Kairi's whimpering voice. Somehow, I wasn't on the road any longer. I was on the scratchy sidewalk with my breath coming in painful gasps. I felt the pain that was inflicted all over my body. I couldn't stand, I couldn't talk, and I couldn't feel anything but the pain.

"Nami...? Are you a-alive?" I heard Kairi sob.

I wanted to answer.

'Of course I am Kai,' I thought, but the pain stopped me from actually voicing my statement.

"Hey... Hayner wait up!" A boy shouted rather loudly. "Whoa, is that a dog up ahead?"

I was pretty sure they were talking about me since I was covering Kairi from their view.

"Uh, Roxas? I think it's bleeding." The boy named Hayner pointed out to the first boy.

Roxas dropped his skateboard in Hayner's arms and ran up to me and Kairi. She accidentally bumped into me and I involuntarily flinched and closed my eyes. I guess I was in worse condition than I originally thought I was.

"Hello there..." Roxas' voice drifted into my ears. I opened my eyes and saw him in closer proximity. He had golden blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Typically one of the popular kids in his school, I bet.

Hayner followed up behind him and examined me closely. Literally. He was so close that I had to shut my eyes again and think about the many places I would have rather been.

"I don't think there's anything you can do for her." Hayner started to say, scratching his head almost regretfully. "She must've got hit by a car or something."

I wondered how he knew I was a girl...

Oh... great.

"Let's get her to Aerith. Her clinic is close by right?" Roxas attempted to lift me off the sidewalk and failed. "Care to help, Hayner?"

Hayner looked skeptical, but complied.

With the two of them lifting, they finally spotted Kairi.

"You think it's her friend or something?" Hayner asked Roxas, one eyebrow raised.

"Maybe," Roxas answered distractedly. He was trying to lift me without accidentally bumping any of my cuts. "Alright, do you have a firm grip on her?"

"Yeah, yeah." Hayner said in a sarcastic tone. "Who's gonna carry our skateboards?"

"Huh?" Roxas asked, thrown off. I could tell it was his pride and joy. "We were going to skate there weren't we?"

"Are you crazy?! We could both fall and maybe even kill the dog!" Hayner shouted, exasperated.

Roxas grinned.

I ended up being carried by Roxas, alone. He had insisted that Hayner carried the skateboards. Every ten seconds or so, Hayner would ask if Roxas' arms were tired yet. The constant answer was 'no'.

Kairi had been following the duo close behind their heels. Hayner would look down now and then to comment on her irregular fur colour.

"... I mean, it's blazing red! What kind of dog has red fur?"

Roxas sighed. I guess this happened often.

"Hey, there's the clinic!" Hayner shouted, dropping his own skateboard. "Oh man..." He groaned.

Roxas started to jog to the clinic.

And that was where I passed out.

I woke up to the smell of medicine and too much hand sanitizer. I blinked when the light shone into my eyes. I almost got up when a gentle voice distracted me.

"I think she's okay other than the cuts and the bruises. Her ribs weren't cracked if we go back to the X-rays," a woman in her mid twenties said, pocketing the small flashlight. This must have been Aerith. "Is she your dog?"

"Huh? No way—" Hayner started, waving his hand for emphasis.

"She's mine," Roxas said, lying.

"Oh... alright," Aerith smiled.

"Do your parents know about this?" Hayner hissed as soon as Aerith was out of earshot. "Taking in a stray dog? I suppose you'll take in her friend too, as an early birthday gift for Sora, huh?!"

"That's a great idea!" Roxas whispered back, the grin back on his face.

"You're crazy," Hayner muttered covering a side of his face with one hand.

Twenty minutes later, I was back outside again. Aerith must have given me something for the pain. I couldn't even feel my tail.

"Naminé!" I saw Kairi running towards me in record time.

"Kairi, I'm fine. No broken bones," I assured her.

"You're just going to let her go? After all that munny?" Hayner questioned.

"If she wants to go, she can go," Roxas slapped Hayner on the back a bit sadly. Hayner winced.

"Hey! You didn't have to slap me you know," Hayner mumbled rubbing his backside.

I made up my mind. I would follow Roxas and maybe, just maybe, Kairi and I would find a place to live. I walked up to him and bowed my head. I didn't know if he understood it or not, but it was worth a try.

Roxas, to my surprise, picked me up again.

"Don't you think she needs exercise? Put her down!"

"She's had enough exercise. And plus, she's hurt," Roxas sniffed disdainfully.

"Didn't you see her limping? It means she wants to walk!" Hayner continued to argue. "If she wanted you to carry her, she would have sat down and stared at you!"

Kairi just jogged along with them.

We walked in that fashion for a couple of minutes.

A few minutes later, we were at a huge mansion.

"See? It's better to let them decide if they want to come," Roxas bent down to pet me on the head before getting back up to unlock the door.

"Hmph," Hayner crossed his arms and pouted.

"You're so immature, you know that Hayner?" Roxas laughed and ran inside the house before Hayner could punch him.

"Why you little—!" Hayner ran inside as well.

I stood outside with Kairi, wondering if this was a good idea.

"It seems nice doesn't it? His parents must be rich!" She jumped inside.

I sighed. I had no choice but to follow.

Once I was inside, I could see the expensive furniture and lights. There was basically a chandelier hanging at the foot of a grand staircase. To my horror, Kairi had disappeared.

I jumped up, startled, by the noise behind me. I turned around to see the door's lock click. It was too late to back out.

I could hear Roxas and Hayner running around the first floor of the house. I decided to be foolhardy and explore. There was a door on my left that I predicted to lead to the living room. Little did I know there was a person in there.

I paused as I saw a chocolate haired boy reading a newspaper on the cashmere sofa.

"... Kai seemed to be winning the tournament but..." the boy read out loud.

To my surprise, Roxas burst into the room with Kairi in his arms and Hayner on his heels.

"This one's yours, Sora." Roxas dumped Kairi on the said boy's lap.

"Whoa, really? Thanks!" Sora grinned at Roxas and then hugged Kairi, who was clearly embarrassed, his newspaper forgotten. "From now onwards, you shall be Kai!"

"Uhh, you do know that she's a girl, right?" Hayner asked, sitting down on one of the empty seats.

I felt that it was time to make my presence known.

"Hey girl... where were you?" Roxas asked with a slight frown. He walked over to me and lifted me up again. Walking to an empty sofa, he plopped me down and sat down beside me.

"Hey Roxas," Sora looked up from petting Kairi, "Aren't you going to name her too?"

"Yeah Rox. Go on and name her," Hayner urged.

"Hmm... since Sora named his Kai... I'll just name mine Nami," Roxas replied, scratching his head.

"Not bad," Hayner nodded his approval.

I saw Hayner glance quickly at the clock hanging on the wall. The time read 5:00 PM. His mouth dropped as he nudged Roxas.

"How the hell did it get so late?!" He almost shouted with his hands on his head and his eyes wide. "Olette's going to kill me!"

"Haha!" Sora laughed with Kairi dangerously out of balance. "Serves you right," he said wiping a tear.

"Hey you two. I expect you to bring Nami and Kai to visit Olette, you hear?" And with that, Hayner ran out the door.

Roxas sighed and sank deeper into the couch. "Hayner is just too active at times."

Sora chuckled and continued to read his newspaper while petting Kairi. After a while, Roxas got up and went to the kitchen. I, being his dog, followed him.

"Hmm, what am I going to give you for dinner girl?" Roxas asked rummaging through his refrigerator. "We have chicken, ham, and beef..."

I licked my lips involuntarily.

"You're hungry huh?"

I barked.

"Let's just go with the chicken," Roxas said fetching the frozen chicken and putting it in the microwave on a plate. He took a pot from his cupboard and went to fill it with water. When he finished that, he put it on the stove and turned up the heat.

The microwave beeped and Roxas walked over to it. Opening the microwave door, he checked to see if the chicken was defrosted. He shut the microwave and punched in some numbers. Apparently, it was still a bit cold.

I lay down on the kitchen's tiled floor and waited. I never knew boys like him knew how to cook. The microwave beeped again initiating that it was done.

He went to a drawer and pulled it open. In it were a few knives. He picked up the largest one and set it on the table. Opening the drawer beneath it, he drew out a cutting board. He set that on the table as well.

Finally he walked over to the microwave. He carefully lifted the plate and set it on the table. Gingerly, he picked up the chicken and proceeded to cut it into well sized pieces. I wondered where his parents were...

He started to hum a tuneless tune while cutting. It sounded a bit melancholy. It wasn't like him at all.

He proceeded to dump the contents on his cutting board into the pot of now boiling water. He unceremoniously took his cutting board, the knife, and the plate and put them in the dishwasher.

He sure had it easy when it came to washing dishes though.

Unlike our family.

"Well, now I have to start on Sora's dinner," Roxas grumbled. "I can't wait to relax tomorrow when he cooks."

So they were both talented in cooking.

"Oh! Looks great Roxas!" Sora could barely sit down fast enough.

"Tomorrow, you're cooking for the dogs," Roxas grumbled from his place across Sora.

The table was magnificently large enough to fit about ten people. It looked as if it were carved by hand. The dining room had a sophisticated touch to it. It was brightly lit, but not too brightly. There was a red carpet by their feet and the windows had scarlet drapes.

Someone here liked the colour red.

While the boys had pasta on china plates, Kairi and I had our own meal on a porcelain plate. The chicken that Roxas had boiled was tender and chewy.

It was late at night and I still couldn't find any presence of their parents. After twenty minutes of Sora questioning Roxas' day and Roxas asking if Sora really thought the newspaper was interesting, the food was finished and it was 11:00 PM. I never knew time could pass so quickly.

Sora yawned and stretched his arms. Roxas covered his mouth and yawned. I yawned and watched in amusement as the yawn was passed onto Kairi. She seemed to try to hold it in but in the end, she yawned in the most impolite manner.

"Load the dishes Sora," Roxas said getting up from the table and beckoning me to follow.

"Yeah," Sora mumbled incoherently. Kairi was loyal to him and stayed by his side as he loaded the dishwasher.

I followed Roxas as he led me up the beautiful stairway and into his room. I was expecting it to be typically messy. He was a boy after all.

He opened the door to a room filled with stars. There was a blue lamp that was in the shape of a star. The wall had different coloured stars painted on them. A multi-coloured star hung from his ceiling. He also had many books lying around the floor and not in his bookshelf. There was a blue television sitting in a corner of his room. Not to mention, he had a skylight that was closed and covered at the moment.

His bed was right next to the window of never ending sunlight. The pale pink and red glow shined into his room making it look cozy. In another corner of his room, he had a desk with a desk chair in the shape of a star and two moons. To the left of his room, there was a huge walk in closet. He also had a huge personal bathroom near his walk in closet.

I would want to see the stars too if I had lived in endless sunrise/sunset for all my life.

"Sorry, it's a little messy Nami. I'll clean it up... tomorrow..." Roxas walked into his closet and rummaged around for his pyjamas. Not bothering to go to the washroom he started to change. I turned around and closed my eyes until I heard the rustling stop.

He threw his used clothes into a basket and went into the washroom to brush his teeth. I started to follow him until I remembered I didn't have to brush my teeth anymore. To be more precise, I couldn't.

Since I was feeling very sleepy, I had no trouble dozing off... on his bed.

End of Chapter One

Author's Note: Uhm, hello there and thank you for reading my first fanfic. You don't have to stress about leaving a review, but if you have any comments or criticism I hope you decide to. Oh, and if you spot any grammar mistakes, please notify me via review. Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed the story so far! :D