A/N: Hello, my beloved readers! Ask and you shall receive...chapter four! Haha, please enjoy this and leave a comment! Comments help motivate me. ;)

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish, bribe, and lie, I still do not own Kingdom Hearts...ah well, Disney and Square Enix (Tetsuya Nomura) owns it fair and square...for now.

Chapter Four- Relented Compromise

Roxas had yet to move from his seat ever since he had called the Omura residence. After hearing the shocking news concerning Naminé, he had phoned his dad who was currently residing within his own office and relayed the new piece of information to him. His father had been, quite like Roxas, surprised before deciding that he would call the Omura's himself and try to resolve the issue. But that had been an hour ago. At the moment, the Omura family had sent out a few maids and butlers to check for signs of Naminé at places she visited the most often. Roxas had instantly perked up at this idea, offering to help as well.

However, there was a slight problem...

After a minute of awkwardness and sheepishness on her part, Mrs. Omura admitted that Naminé didn't actually go out much since she was afraid that something might happen to her once outside. Plus, Naminé didn't seem as healthy as usual recently so she made sure that she was regularly safe at home. While he was being told this, Roxas had noticed the brief glimmer in his father's eyes as if he was linking a few clues together- most likely from his session with Naminé that first day- but as soon as it had come, the glimmer was gone and his father returned to the matter at hand.

And now he was left with absolutely nothing to do but sit stupidly in his chair. After all, he had finished all of his work- organizing, typing succinct reports, and calling in on people- earlier when he had believed that Naminé was going to show up at the entrance of Destiny Center any time. So what else could he do except wait and hope for the best?

He glanced at the clock. How long was he supposed to wait anyway until they found her? What if they didn't find her...?

Roxas shook his head to clear his mind of negative thoughts. There was no reason to become too stressed about this, right?

"Roxas?" he turned his head in the direction of the voice. His father stood there, a surprised look adorning his face. "You're still here?"

"Where else would I be?"

His father opened his mouth slightly before promptly closing it and shaking his head. "Point taken. But why don't you head on home? It seems that this search will take a little more time, and I've noticed that you have finished your work earlier than usual."

"You sure? You don't need help with anything?" What's the point in going home now, anyway?

His father nodded. "I'm sure. I'll call you if any news comes in, though."

But then again, why stay here? "I guess...I'll see you later then." He grabbed his wallet once his father confirmed his statement and walked away, but, just as he pivoted to leave, his eyes caught sight of the abandoned flowers lying on the desk. "Guess I'll be taking you home then."

Why can't things ever work out nicely?

***

He had been halfway home when his stomach rumbled loudly and he rolled his eyes, saying, "Hang in there, we're almost home." But then he realized that he didn't have any food at home...oh, wasn't he supposed to go grocery shopping the other day...? Might as well do it now, then.

Roxas took the right path leading to the familiar cluster of shops, entering the grocery store centered right in the middle. The front doors automatically slid open for him, and he was hit softly with a fresh whoosh of air. Taking hold of a nearby carrying basket, Roxas began his search up and down the aisles for the necessary items.

Just one more item to go... he thought after a while. And that's just some energy bars for dad.

He reached the shelves containing lines of nutrition, slim, on-the-go, granola, and energy bars, looking for the right brand. As his eyes scanned the hundreds of similarly shaped boxes, his shoulder made harsh contact with an oblivious body which made a small yelp. Roxas snapped his eyes in the direction of the sound just as a girl tumbled onto the ground ungracefully. He quickly dropped his basket and bent over the girl. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

The girl- or what he supposed to be a girl, anyway- produced an incomprehensible sound in the back of her throat as she struggled to get up. Grabbing her hand, he gently pulled her up into a sitting position and watched the pale blue cape that was secured around her shoulders fall about her form. The hood of it covered most of her face yet he could still make out her right eye which was squeezed shut in pain.

"Do you need help?" Roxas pressed when she didn't answer properly.

"N-no, I-" she cut herself off and her left hand- which had been patting her sore head- became immobile.

"Something wrong?"

She furiously shook her head and immediately began gathering her now scattered supplies, scooping them back into her own basket. Roxas instantly began helping her and reached for a sketch pad right as she did, the result being that her hand laid down directly on top of his. She whipped her hand away, clutching it to her chest, while keeping her head hanging down. Roxas shrugged off her odd behavior and handed her the sketch pad with a soft, "Here."

"Oh, tha-" she clamped her hand over her mouth and settled on nodding her head in gratitude before swiftly picking up her basket and heading for the cashier.

"What was that about?" he wondered to himself. Does she have some kind of problem with talking to strangers? Shaking his head, he continued his shopping.

***

"That'll be one hundred and twenty munny."

Roxas fished the appropriate amount of munny out of his pocket and gave them to the middle-aged woman known as the cashier. He refrained from looking at her face for too long though seeing as she had a very distracting moustache on her face. How do these things happen?!

He made his way to the exit but stopped and turned around as he heard a tiny voice call out, "Waaaiiiittt! Mister!!"

He looked confusedly down at the little boy who was catching his breath in front of him. The boy, dressed in a plain white shirt with basketball shorts, thrust a small lavender pouch up, obviously wanting Roxas to take hold of it. "Yours! On the ground!"

"He means that he saw it fall out of your basket and onto the ground, so he came to return it to you," said a woman proudly standing behind the toddler. He assumed her to be his mother.

"Oh, but this isn-" he stopped himself as he remembered the encounter with that strange girl moments earlier. Maybe it was hers? "Thanks." After patting the boy appreciatively on the shoulder- from whom he received a pleased grin- he turned to leave again and broke into a sprint. Maybe if I run, I'll be able to catch up with her...

After several seconds of nonstop running- especially since the grocery bags, though not many, were weighing him down- Roxas was ready to give up but kept his pace when he caught sight of a familiar blue cape billowing in the wind. "Hey! Hold on!"

The teenage girl turned in his direction, the hood still snuggly over her head. She was panting slightly- probably due to her speed walking. Roxas halted in front of her and outstretched his arm to present the pouch to her. "Is this yours?"

She let out a small gasp and nodded her head, taking it from his hand quickly. However, as she did so, a card fell out of the open pouch and flittered to the ground slowly. Before she could do anything, Roxas bent down and picked it up, giving her that as well. He glanced down at it briefly as she reached for it, and his eyes widened at what he saw: a school ID card containing information about...Naminé?

Roxas lifted his surprised eyes to her face in time to see her snatch the card from his grasp and flee. He took a few more moments to grasp the current situation and the suddenness of her actions but once he did, he chased after her, hot on her heels. His grocery bags lay forgotten on the ground.

"Wait! Naminé!"

She gave no response, and she quickened her pace to outrun him. Oh come on, I wasn't on the track team for two years for nothing!

He was so close..."Naminé! Why are you running?!"

He ignored the questioning stares of bystanders- though he hoped no one called the cops on him, thinking him to be some kind of rapist- and continued his sprint. The corner of her cape tickled his knuckle for a brief second and he knew that the chase would be over in a moment.

Gathering some of his energy, he sped his pace and clamped his hand onto her shoulder; she gasped audibly and ceased all movements, standing on wobbly legs. Breathing heavily, Roxas applied some pressure to her shoulder to make her face him. She complied, though reluctantly, and hesitantly met his eyes. Her hood had left its position around her head in the run, allowing her blonde hair to sway in the light breeze. The two grocery bags she had had clutched in her hand fell onto the grass next to her.

They stared at each other for a while until Naminé broke the eye contact by looking off to her right. "What do you want?"

He creased his brow. "What do you mean? You've been missing for hours now! Your parents are worried sick about you!"

"So?" she glared at a patch of dried grass.

"So? You don't care that they've been looking all over for you?"

"What? You want me to go back to them so they can see what else is wrong with me? And so-called professionals can try to dissect me with stupid questions like, 'Have you considered the possibility of amnesia'?" she released an unlady-like snort. "I don't think so."

Roxas set his jaw. "They're just trying to help you."

Naminé turned angry eyes onto him. "Well, what if I don't need help?! What if, for once, everyone else is wrong and I'm right?!"

"Well we won't know that until we try to do something about this, will we?!" he shot back.

"What is 'this', though? It's not like I have some disease!"

"No, but apparently you remember things that others don't! It could just be that those people are bad at remembering things, but by the amount of those people, it seems unlikely!"

"Wait, how do you know all this about me?!"

Roxas stilled. Oh, right...there I go again... "Well..."

Naminé glowered at him. "Then again, I'm not surprised. You were basically stalking me the other day!"

"I was not stalking you!" Roxas let out frustrated sound. "But that's besides the point. What matters is that there's something weird going on right now that involves you and the people around you. And by weird, I mean that this 'case' has never been seen before and that's why your parents are trying so hard to find out how to make things better even though you don't appreciate their efforts and cooperate!"

She flinched, causing Roxas to wonder if he went too far. Her shoulders slumped as a single tear slipped down her cheek. "You're right, but I am thankful to my parents for caring about me...it just hurts that they honestly think there's something wrong with me...and would go to all the trouble...to..." she bit her lip while staring solemnly at the ground once more. "What if I'm going crazy? The memories...they seem so real! I remember everything about them so why don't they?" a sob escaped her lips, followed by another and another one until she was crying fully. She dropped to her knees with her face in her hands, looking so fragile...like a doll almost.

Like in my dream...she was a doll and calling for me...

Was his dream a prediction? Did it mean that he was meant to meet her and help her? But it seemed so silly and Roxas wasn't one to believe wholeheartedly in concepts like fate. Dream or not though, I'm not just going to stand by and see her suffer.

He knelt down beside her frame, placing a soothing hand on her back. "Look, I know it's hard, but maybe if you spend a few more hours with my dad or someone things can be solved and taken care of. Like I said before, you won't know until you try."

She hiccupped. "But it's hard to go through it alone..."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not alone. Your parents are always there and my dad's there to talk to you."

"Yeah, but I feel so distant with my parents lately- I can't help it. And well, Dr. Takano...I don't know. I mean, he's very generous, but he's still sort of a reminder that there is something wrong with me," she said as she hugged herself.

"Well, you have..." Roxas trailed off and looked away.

Naminé gazed up at him. "Huh?"

He blushed lightly. "I know this might sound weird, but you have, uh, me too, you know. I'm willing to be your friend...if you want to, that is."

Her cheeks were tinted with pink by the time he finished, but her eyes flashed with hope. "R-really?"

He shrugged and gave her a smile. "Sure. We could hang out before or after your appointments. So you're not completely alone."

She offered him a small, pleased smile. "Yeah...I'd like that."

He grinned a bit wider and held out his hand for her to take, his other hand scooping up her grocery bags. "Well then, 'friend', I say we get out of here and head back. I can drop you off at your house?"

Naminé bit her lower lip again in thought and Roxas quickly added, "When you're ready, of course."

She shook her head and took his hand. "No, I'm ready."

He shot her an appreciative smile. "Alright, which way is your house again?" she quietly pointed down a deserted path and walked beside him as he began the trek back due to the hold he still had on her hand. She blushed slightly then shook her head again; after all, he didn't seem to notice- or just wasn't reading too much into it- and, somehow, it made her feel warm inside. So, instead of recoiling, she allowed a tiny smile to grace her face and kept with his stride all the way home.

Maybe things are finally looking up?

---

A/N: That's it for chapter four! I was going to add more but thought I'd save it for the next chapter. A bit fluffy near the end, huh? Well, it just shows that it's the beginning of Naminé's and Roxas' friendship. Oh yeah, did you notice the last thought (in Italics)? Before they would contain only Roxas' thoughts but this one is Naminé's; ooh-la-la! That was my subtle way of showing you guys that the story will not just follow Roxas; Naminé's background and POV will be introduced too. So beware and enjoy the ride!

Thank you all readers and reviewers! Your comments do help me. Please contact me if you have any suggestions or questions!

-Hatsuya (P.S. Happy soon-to-be St. Patrick's Day! And sorry for the long wait!)