Hey everyone! This KAutumnLeavesH talking to you right from TO where I finally got the inspiration to start another story. Man, its been a while. I got home from school and the entire plot popped into my head and I started typing straight from 4 -12am. Please no flames, this is my fave couple from KH (I still love Sora/Kairi, its my second) and my first KH fanfic ever properly written. So anyway, hihi, thank you, whats up, here it is! Oh! And in this story, both Namine and Sora are 15.

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Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square Enix and Tetsuyo Nomura. I do not own the characters …but I do own this story. I'll never really understand why fan-creations need this kind of opening clause. Meh, oh well.

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Please enjoy!

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Being loved deeply by someone gives you strength;

Loving someone deeply gives you courage.

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"Naminé, why d'you like strawberries so much?"

I stopped nibbling on the piece of the berry fruit and turned to the boy sitting beside me. His head was facing me, tilted a little to the side – one of his trademark gestures that told me he was curious – before he looked back out to the scene in front of us. I followed his gaze with a gentle smile, not really bothering to answer his question.

We were sitting on a platform ledge that looked out to the entire town a little below us. All around us were flowers of different variety, color and smell ...though strawberries were all we could smell at the moment. The ledge was part of the botanical gardens of the island that the Mayor (sorry, Kairi's father) had kept beautifully attractive for all the people to enjoy and see. This was our favourite spot. We come up here together whenever we got the chance.

Thinking back to an hour earlier, I looked down to the strawberry in my hand and smiled at thought of remembering what had happened in my last period.

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xxxOxxx

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'Naminé, are you okay? You're looking kinda …jumpy.'

'Huh?'

It was my last class. PE. I was loving the feeling of a closer freedom, but at the same time dreading another chance to miss my desired task.

I was stretching near the corner of the fence of our outside gym field, waiting for my team to be called to get switched into the next match of the game. When I heard my name being called, looked up from my bended position to see Sora walking up to me from the field. From what I could tell, behind him and his mane of unruly, wild brown hair, his other teammates were running off in other directions and another group from the opposite side of the field rushed into the pit to take their place. I figured my team wasn't gonna be in this match, as I couldn't recognize anyone as my teammates from the group that ran in. At least that gave me a few more minutes to stretch and get ready …and to talk to Sora.

I pulled up from my bend and began to jog in place.

'Why d'you say that? I'm perfectly fine!' I said in short breaths. I saw him scratch his head in confusion.

'Well, cause…uhh…you've been here for twenty minutes now and your team's been called like twice to play already … and why d'you keep looking at the clock?'

It was true. I did keep looking at the clock, back and forth, as Sora was speaking to me. I slowed my jog down to a stop and looked up at him, smiling slightly. His face and gym uniform were covered a little in dirt and his neck and forehead were covered in sweat. But he had his regular grin on like always and honestly, to me he was still handsome even in all his dirt and sweat.

'Oh, sorry Sora! I just wanted to be closest to the door when the bell rings so I can be the first one out. Hehe…Coach has probably been looking for me by now huh?'

'Why d'you wanna be the first to leave? Do you have to go somewhere? Where?? Why so early??'

I raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a "you-should-know-me-by-now" smile. He wasn't getting any answers until he had answered mine. He chuckled then rubbed the back of his neck.

'Heh…right sorry. I shouldn't have jumped into your business like that."

I giggled.

'It's okay.'

'Well, you know coach. He can't see well even WITH his glasses. He probably just thought you were the janitor or something.' He laughed and smiled back to the pit. 'Plus, Abbey wants you out there with them this time. They wanted you to come when you were ready but after the second game when they lost…' he trailed off to shoot a thumb in the direction where I looked to see a little ways from the pit near the side bleachers, a group of girls were fighting with a group of boys. I could hear things like "it's on!", "man woman", "challenge", and "kick you in the nuts!" being yelled in the distance. Sora and I laughed.

'Kay, I'm coming!!' I practically screamed to the other side of the field hoping they would hear me. A girl on my team looked up from the fight and gave me a thumbs up.

I looked back to see Sora with a slightly pained looked in his face as he was picking his ears for deafness. I rolled my eyes, but smiled. He looked back at me returning one of his own.

'So, what was that about you wanting to be the first to leave?'

I placed my hands on my hips.

'You know too much curiosity is bad for you, right?'

I watched as he rubbed his nose and blush as a light chuckle escaped his throat. I let out another giggle. I couldn't help but give him what he wanted. He was much too cute for his own good.

I began twiddling my thumbs together as a small blush grew on my face.

'Well, if you must know,' I looked away from him not really wanting him to see the look on his face when I told him.

'I wanna get to the market district in town before all the fresh strawberries are sold out.'

'Strawberries?'

'Mmhmm.'

'…So …that's why we've all been seeing you, everyday for the past week, be the first one to run out like crazy when the bell rings?'

My face was still turned away from him. I half expected him to burst out laughing. Not that it really mattered if he did. We were close and he never laughed at me if it was unintentionally stupid …usually it was the other way around in vice-versa. I laughed at the thought.

'I know it's kinda silly, but their strawberries are the best in the town, and the freshest. It's just …every time I get there after school, they're all sold out. I can never get there fast enough to beat the crowd. I came close to getting a basket once, but this elderly woman wanted it so I gave it to her instead. Ever since then, I haven't been able to buy a basket.' I sighed but chuckled. 'I'm either too slow or too generous.'

Sora let out a soft laugh.

'Naminé…'

I smiled, waiting for him to come up with a rebutting pun to my last comment.

'Wanna leave now?'

I looked up to his face with my crystal-blue eyes slightly bigger, stunned and confused.

'Y-you wanna come?' He gave me my own "you-should-know-me-by-now" smile with the raised eyebrow.

'Of course I want to!' he grinned and hit his chest with his fist.

'Besides, somebody's gotta protect ya!' he winked then laughed.

I blinked uncontrollably then laughed, rolling my eyes. I decided to catch him off guard in his own game by throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug.

'You're best Sora! You know that?' I laughed some more, not being able to control the joy and excitement I was feeling. I felt Sora laugh along with me then wrap his strong arms around my small body.

'I've been told.' I smiled into his shirt, feeling so good.

At that moment, I could've said something like he smelled really good, but that was before someone yelled to me in the distance,

"Hey! Naminé! Hurry up! We got another game to play!'

…and I realized something as I pushed him away laughing. Sora gave me a confused but still amused smile.

'What was that for?'

'Sora! You're all sweaty!' I laughed and pointed a stern but playful finger at him as he chuckled. 'You'd better shower before we leave!'

Still smiling, he rolled his blue eyes at my gesture then turned towards the wall that the clock was resting on.

'Yah, I guess I'd better go hurry now!'

My laughter died down as I didn't get what he had meant. I blinked my own blue eyes at him.

'Now? But Sora, class doesn't end for another 25 minutes.' I did not get him sometimes, and I knew almost everything about him. He turned back to me with me a mischievous smirk.

'You said it takes you long to get there right?'

I nodded, still not getting what he was going at.

'And you always miss your chance to buy a basket because you're late getting there, right?'

I nodded again but stopped at halfway through, making an 'ohhh' with my mouth. His smirk turned into a grin, as he closed his eyes in excitement.

'So…'

I gasped a little realizing what he was trying to tell me. My face flustered and a little sweat dripped down my temple …but it wasn't from the heat.

'B-but Sora! School's not over! T-the coach will notice! Plus, I never skipped class before! I'm not like you, you know! I-I have a perfect attendance record and a future to think about!'

Sora only sighed and shook his head at my babbling. He turned to me, with his bright ocean blue eyes twinkling, his grin fell into a sweet smile …that was only for me. My blubbering stopped almost instantly.

'Come on Naminé,' he tilted his head to the side. 'Live a little.'

I was about to protest to his invitation when someone yelled,

'Naminé!!!'

I jumped slightly. We were hardly interrupted the whole time Sora had come over. I felt a little frustrated but sighed. When I looked over, my teammates were already standing in a line in the pit, some yelling, some cheering, but all waving me over to finally come join.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Without a second thought, I felt a hand push me forward in the small of my back. I looked over my shoulder to see Sora with an amused grin on his face. His eyelids fell a little over his eyes.

'Go on. I'll be done by the time you're finished the game.'

I blinked at him, still unsure.

'Just meet me near the entrance to the locker rooms when you're done cleaning up. I don't want you smelling sweaty too!' He winked and I just raised an eyebrow at him, but I giggled nonetheless.

With one more push he sent me running to the pit, as he quickly turned and headed into the boys' showers without being seen by the other students.

I ran with a confident smile to the field. Yah, Sora definitely brought out another side of me …and I loved it.

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xxxOxxx

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Sora and I had gotten out of school 15 minutes early. I remembered how we had to sneak a little past the windows then sprint our way down the hall to where the lockers were, grab our things, then hurry out the back to start our long walk to town. Though I was never one who much favoured to skipping a class, the thrill of getting caught at any second was exciting. Somehow, Sora had shaken a little rebellion out of my goody-goody side. And that was one of the many things I loved about him.

Thanks to him, I had finally bought the basket of strawberries I had yearned for for weeks. Each and every one of them were big, red and juicy. I couldn't wait to taste them. But Sora made my mouth water when he said we should wait until we got the platform to enjoy them better. Tasting them now was sublime…

"Hm? Naminé?"

Remembering that he had just asked me a question, I lifted my head to find his dazed expression which was still focused on town below.

"Oh, sorry." I quickly looked back down with a giggle in my throat. I was always known for spacing out on people. But Sora only looked at me with an amusing smile. He said I always amused him. Sometimes I don't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult.

"Hmm.." going back to his previous question, I curled a finger around my chin and looked up pretending to think of a reason.

"I don't know ..I guess because they're just so…'

'….cute."

Sora coughed up a little from swallowing his strawberry at the moment I had said it. I let out a small laugh at his reaction. As he was pounding his chest a little with his fist, I didn't realise how weird that must've sounded. I looked ahead trying to keep a straight face as he was catching his breath a little.

The breeze rushed gently past us, blowing my blonde hair around my face. I smiled. I could smell his breath being carried in the calm wind ...strawberries…god, it smelled good on him. A little sigh escaped my small mouth. A little part of me wanted him to catch my scent in the air and see what his reaction was. My eyes widened slightly at the thought.

Thinking about Sora that way was just plain wrong, just plain gross, and just plain…insensitive of me. He could have any girl. I shouldn't use him for my own fantasies. I looked down quickly tried to hide the blush that represented both my slight anger and embarrassment. I hoped he'd just take it as embarrassment. I laughed softly and smiled.

But thankful for his playful personality, he only smiled warmly at me.

"How can you tell if something tastes cute?" He gave a little chuckle.

Being cheeky and enjoying the moment, I grew confident. I turned to him quickly and said in a teasing voice,

"Kiss me and you'll know."

Turning away from him, I let out a light giggle, knowing full well that he probably had a flushed face and gaping mouth. It was also to hide the fact that a sparkle lit up in my eyes and small blush had crept onto my cheeks again and I didn't want him thinking it meant anything – no matter how much I was wanting that very same demand.

There was silence for the longest time…at least for me it was long. But I relished in every moment of it just enjoying Sora's presence.

Until I felt a hand cup the right side of my face. Before I even comprehend was what happening, a pair of soft, warm lips pressed themselves gently to my left cheek. My eyes widened with shock for the quickest second before my eyelids drifted down halfway in an almost-dreamy way. A blush that could match the red of the strawberry in my hand slowly grew on my face as Sora chuckled again.

"Hmm…I don't know…" Sora looked around pretending to be in deep thought with a finger to his chin and an arm under the other.

"That didn't really taste cute to me." He had an amused grin on his face and a slight flush in his cheeks ...but not nearly as deep as mine.

I pouted, trying to look disappointed and hurt. He looked up to the sky.

"That was more…" he looked back down to me into my curious crystal blue eyes unblinking and waiting. His face broke into the handsome smile.

"That was more adorable than cute."

I grinned slightly …though I couldn't tell if it was from his smile or the kiss he had just given me.

"You forgot sweet."

Losing all my nervousness in the moment and feeling my bolder self step up to his game, I put my half-eaten strawberry to my lips and used it as a form of lipgloss. Seeing him not get the idea, I quickly rose up on my knees to his face and placed a wet peck on his cheek.

Pulling back in a fit of giggles I saw him playfully retch and gag at my gesture.

"Ew, Naminé!" Sora laughed and began to wipe the traces of strawberry juice from his face.

A wide grin split on my face. Oh yes, I was loving this moment with him alone. He made me positively beam with his boyish charm.

"So Sora, "I started with a giggle noticing him wipe his hand on his shorts.

"Now that you know what my favourite fruit is, I wanna know what your favourite fruit is." I ended the sentence with a poke to his shoulder.

I realized that in all the time we had been friends, I had yet to ask him some of the world's simplest questions. He let out another chuckle.

"When did we end up talking about fruits? We usually start talking about school, or homework, or friends …or what kind of crazy hairstyle Selphie or Wakka's gonna try out next."

A big smile erupted on his face as my eyes grew big with delight. I closed them, laughing lightly before I regained myself and punched him softly in the arm.

"What d'you mean we? It's you and Tidus that always wise-crack about Wakka and Selphie behind their backs!" I gave him a playful grin. "You should hear all the things Wakka says he's gonna do when he finds out who's been spreading that rumor around …you know, the one about how he keeps a stick in his hair and uses tons and tons of hair gel to keep it up like that?"

Sora jumped a little in his spot and turned quickly to her amused face.

"He found out?!"

I nodded, my eyes closed in excitement and the grin still on my face. Sora laughed lightly.

"Well, its okay I guess. Everyone knows he doesn't do that for real. He's just playing along with the jokes. Now Selphie…" he fell back onto the grass, placing his hands behind his head to look up at the sky. "she's the one I'm more afraid of."

Looking down at him and laughing again, I pressed I finger to my lips.

"I'm not gonna tell." Another giggle stifled out of my mouth.

He looked back up to me, suddenly with a mischievous grin in his handsome face.

"Good," he said as I watched him begin to get up from the ground to sit back in his previous position.

"Cause you know what I'm gonna have to do to you when I find out you told her."

Sora was now looming over me with a glare I knew he was laughing behind.

"You'd actually try to hurt me?"

Sora rarely intimidated me, even with his height three or four inches taller than mine. But I played along with it anyways, putting a saddened pout on my cute little face.

Hey, can't a girl admit she's cute when she knows it?

My breath cut a little short as Sora leaned a little into me and gently grasped my chin in his strong hand. His ocean blue eyes digging into my own. I froze in his lock and waited. He whispered straight to my face.

"Yah, I'm willingly to see what damage I can do your pretty little face after you've messed with me..."

"Sora!" I laughed pushing him to the ground watching for a bit as he rolled around in warm laughter. I quickly turned my face away to the right side of the platform, not wanting him to see my red cheeks.

As funny as it was, his voice and our proximity made it ten times harder for me to breathe. Sora was just …so fine that sometimes I guessed he'd never know how much it did to me, as his innocent, naive and playful misconception got in the way of him actually seeing what was going on.

But hey! At least he knew I was cute and admitted it.

Laughing with him as he got back up, I went back to asking my question from before.

"Hey! You never answered my question!" I laughed a little more as he got up more from his crouched position, stifling fits of laughter out of his mouth. He wiped his forehead a little then turned back to smiling at me.

"Oh yah, well I guess my favourite is the …the orange… heh." He rubbed his nose for the second time today, his smile never faulting.

I blinked slowly, my eyes twinkling. I couldn't suppress the giggle. He raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Does there have to me a reason?" I only smiled.

"Well, why don't you like the other fruits?" It was my turn to tilt my head towards him.

Sora took the opportunity to look up to sky and ponder. He may not be the deepest guy, like Riku, but he had his moments. I patiently waited, reaching into the basket for another sweet strawberry, I had almost forgotten in between all our talking and laughing.

"Hmm …well I guess because oranges are …" he turned to me as I was nibbling on the new strawberry with a small smile on my face. Then turning back to the sky he smiled and began.

"They're …bright. I mean, both in colour and in intelligence." I giggled because I had to stop him there.

"Oranges are smart?"

"Let me finish." He turned to me with a smug smile before continuing.

"Yah, in a way they are… They know how to make you smile, well for me at least…" he chuckled.

"…and they help you get better when you're down or sick. Vitamins, remember?" he looked at me and rolled my eyes, 'no duh' clearly written on my face. He then crawled closer to me.

"…that and they're really, really…"

Sora placed another kiss on my cheek.

"…really sweet." He pulled back grinning. "That's why I like oranges the best."

I laughed and mimicked his gross act, pretending to stick out my tongue in disgust. I saw his little pout and grinned.

"As corny as that sounded, I'm touched…" I blinked, pulling my grin into a gentle smile.

"…really I am. Thanks Sora…"

Sora only fell back onto the grass again with his hands behind his head and his leg crossed over the other, closing his eyes in a lazily manner.

"You're my friend Naminé, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't acknowledge you every once in a while?"

I laughed and followed his actions.

"A bad kind?" I laughed.

He chuckled then nudged me slightly in the shoulder, before I playfully punched him in the arm. Thinking I won, I sat up with a grin looking ahead to the sun-setting sky …until Sora knocked me roughly to the ground with a push to my side.

I know he didn't really mean it and I would've just let it go, but after I saw his face over mine, laughing…

"Oh know cute boy, you're not winning this."

Let's just say about a couple minutes later, after much worrying and apologizing, Sora had a large purple bruise to his arm that I had accidentally punched too hard for any boy's liking.

"Naminé!" Sora had one eye closed in pain, the other slightly open.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I hurriedly leaned over him in both concern and amazement. I'm not known at school for any physical strengths, so this came as a shocker to me as well.

"Kiss it better?"

I rolled my eyes but giggled, placing a soft and gentle peck to his bruise.

"Any better?"

"Uh huh!" I laughed. Oh yah, innocence and boyish charms …still like when we were younger…

"There! Now you're all better! Let's just get back to eating the strawberries!" I said reaching in to pull out another.

As I nibbled a bit off the berry, Sora got quiet.

"So …you're definition of strawberries being …cute …would that by any chance have related to someone?"

I looked over to see Sora with a smirk on his face. I blinked not really following.

"Huh?"

Sora turned to look at the strawberry basket with a slight blush on cheeks I could notice.

"Never mind." I watched him reach in for one, look for a bit, smile then take a bite.

When I was sure he wasn't looking, I rolled my eyes and smiled.

Yup……that's why I liked strawberries so much.

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The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, heard or even touched

- they must be felt with the heart.

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Well there you have it! I'm pretty proud but I know it needs a little bit of touching up. I was thinking of adding another chapter that included Kairi in it, just let me know if you like the idea. It'll give me something to do in my spare time. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much and don't forget to drop a review!