A Red Apple for the Wolf

It was a peaceful summer day in the woods.

Not one thing was out of place. The birds were singing, the squirrels were scrounging, and the bear cubs were playing. It was a typical day in the woods, and it was around this time that a certain person would come walking by, following the dirt road.

A pair of blue eyes watched from behind the bushes as it caught a figure in the distance. The figure donned a red cape with a hood covering have of the face. In one hand, there was a basket full of food with a delicious aroma that wafted over to the creature hiding behind the bushes.

As the figure drew closer, it stopped. Perhaps it got the feeling that something was amiss. It turned to look around before taking another step. By that time, the creature behind the bushes made its move.

It leaped from its hiding place and pounced on the red caped figure. With an "oomph," the red cloaked figure fell backwards, landing on its back with the creature sitting on top. The hood fell back to reveal a boy with blonde spiky hair that swirled to the top of his head.

On top of him was a girl with a paler shade of blonde. She had pointed ears on the top of her head and a bushy tail coming out of a hole in her white dress. She grinned at the boy below her, showing him her fangs.

"Why, hello there, Red," she said. "Fancy seeing you here."

The boy winced as he raised a hand to feel the back of his head. He groaned when it touched a tender spot. "Hello, wolf," he said. "Do you mind not greeting me like this every day? I don't think my body can handle being tackled to the ground that many times."

The girl pouted. "I told you that my name is Naminé. Na-mi-né," she pronounced slowly.

"Yeah, yeah," he said as started to sit up. Almost immediately, Naminé jumped off him and stood at his side with her hands behind her back. She grinned as her tail happily swished about behind her.

The boy stood up slowly, groaning as he held a hand to the spot on his head where it hit the ground. When he was on his feet, he brushed the dust off of his clothes and his red cape. The basket lay a few feet from him with its contents untouched.

"So what did your mother prepare this time?" the wolf asked, walking over to the basket. Her nose caught a whiff of one of the contents, and she covered it while taking a step back. "Ugh. Is that the gorgonzola?"

The boy walked over to the basket to pick it up. He pushed aside the handkerchief that covered it to inspect the contents. "Yep," he said simply.

"Why does your grandmother like that stuff? It smells horrid," she asked while pinching her nose.

The boy shrugged. "She just does. I don't question anything when it comes to her. Her tastes are normal compared to what she does."

The wolf tried to sneak a peek inside the basket, but the boy hid it from her.

She pouted again. "C'mon, Roxas. I was just curious."

He started walking, and the wolf followed. "If I show you, then you're going to swipe something and run off with it."

"You've seen me every day, and I haven't taken anything from you," she pointed out.

"Yet," he said.

"Please!" she huffed as her left ear twitched, "If I wanted what's in that basket, I would have torn it from you myself a long time ago."

His blue eyes looked at her. "If you tried that, you would fall over before you get to me," he said.

"I could be agile when I want to!" she defended. He laughed.

"So tell me more about that story from the other day. Rapper Z, was it?" her eyes twinkled in excitement.

"It was Rapunzel, wolf," he corrected.

"Whatever. Now tell me."

It was the same thing every day. The red caped Roxas – "Little Red Riding Hood" Naminé called him affectionately – would always pass through the forest on the same dirt road with a basket full of food. He would take a different route going home, but he would always pass by the same route going to his grandmother's house. Every day, he would deliver the basket to his grandmother, who lived in a cottage just a half hour walk away from the village. According to some of the animals Naminé spoke with, this grandmother had a reputation for being a witch. And not a good one, at that.

Nonetheless, Naminé had waited at the entrance of the forest to greet Roxas whenever he came and would walk with him until the exit. During their walks together, he would tell her stories about things he read, things he heard, and sometimes things he saw. Once he told her a story about a girl called "Little Red Riding Hood" and have both called each other "Wolf" and "Little Red" on multiple occasions, but it seemed like Roxas was just calling her "Wolf" instead of her given name.

Even so, each story that he told fascinated the wolf, who had never in her life set foot outside of the forest. It wasn't until she met him that she even spoke to a human.

She would never forget the day she met him. It was the one day when Naminé had carelessly walked into a trap set by local hunters. She tried almost everything to escape it, but nothing worked. None of her forest friends could help her either. After hearing her struggles, Roxas – who was only passing by - came to see what all the noise was and found her. She had growled and snapped at him at first, but when he released her and treated her wounds, she had been grateful. Actually, she had clung to him ever since that incident.

" – and so they lived happily ever after," he concluded.

"Wow," Naminé said slowly. All of a sudden, she started jumping up and down in excitement, and her tail started to wag back and forth. "Wow! That was amazing! To think that the dame Gothel would do something evil like that! If I was there, I would have mauled her! And the prince! I'm so relieved to hear that he found his love. I would have been so sad if they didn't end up together."

Roxas chuckled. "Of course, that's just a fairytale. It doesn't really exist, but it's a fun story to tell."

They reached the end of the woods. Naminé began to feel saddened by the parting. Their walks always seemed to be so short.

Roxas must have noticed her change in behavior because he raised his hand and rested it on her head. Her ears drew back as he petted her. Then he reached into his basket and pulled out a red apple. He would always give it to her as a parting gift whenever he exited the forest.

"I'll see you tomorrow, wolf," he smiled as he put the apple in her hands. "I'll make sure to tell you another good story."

He turned around and started to walk away. Naminé looked at the shiny red apple in her hands and then looked at his retreating back.

"That's Naminé!" she called out to him. "Na-mi-né!"

She could hear his laughter from the distance and took a big bite of the apple in annoyance. Her eyes narrowed as she kept watching him walk further and further away.

The apple is delicious as always, she thought.

- o –

The next day, she waited for him in the same place as before. She was sure he would be expecting her to appear from that side, but this time she was going to appear from the other side. She giggled in anticipation, her tail swishing about.

She waited patiently, giggling every once in a while. She imagined the look of surprise on his face when she jumped out of the other side and snickered. He wouldn't know what hit him, she thought.

But as time progressed and the sun was at its highest, the wolf began to worry. It was already past the time he should have come, and he should have been here already. But she thought to herself that maybe he was talking to someone at the village or perhaps he went to go buy something else to add to the basket.

She waited a while more. When she grew impatient, she crawled out of her hiding place and sat in the middle of the road, watching for any sign of him or his red cape. As she did, questions ran through her mind. Was he not coming today? Did he take a different route? Maybe he had to do something earlier that day and would be coming later. He did say he was coming today, right? Perhaps she heard something different. She shook her head. She definitely definitely heard him. He said he was coming today, so he was going to come.

She waited and waited even as the sun was setting. Her ears began to droop, and she was beginning to think that…perhaps he wasn't coming today. She looked down in disappointment. Then her ears perked up as an idea formed in her head.

Maybe he was coming tomorrow!

She became excited again as she decided to wait for him the next day. If he was not coming today, then surely he will come tomorrow. She headed back home to rest up, thinking of other ideas she could use to surprise him.

But when she waited for him the next day, he did not show up at the promised time…

Naminé paced back and forth on the dirt road, thinking. There was an idea in her mind that she thought of last night just in case Roxas didn't show. It was a passing idea that she thought she wouldn't have to think about again, but this time…she started to give it a chance.

She was thinking about stepping out of the forest to look for him.

It wasn't like him to be late or even break a promise. When he says he's going to do something, he usually sticks to it. Something must be wrong if he didn't come when he said he would.

So she decided that if he wasn't going to come visit her, then she would go to him. She was worried that something might have happened to him, so she wanted to see if he was all right. It had been already two days since she last saw him, and she began to miss seeing him.

But the thing was that she was afraid. She never wandered past the edge of the forest for fear of being hunted. All the other animals were telling her things about what would happen if humans saw a wolf hybrid like herself and warned her about going outside.

But after talking with Roxas despite all the animals' warnings, she found that humans can be kind and caring. That made Naminé think that…not all humans are like what her forest friends told her. She never once wondered about life outside the forest until he told her stories about princes and fairytales and mystical creatures. It made her curious about the outside world and wanted to see things that Roxas had told her. She found it fascinating, and she wanted to see these things for herself.

And she decided.

As she stood near the edge of the forest, she looked out into the open field, the dirt road snaking up and down the hills into the distance. She could hear the whispers of warnings from the animals, but she ignored it. The wolf braced herself, took a deep breath, and lifted a foot.

When she took that one step outside, she let out a huge breath of air that she didn't know she was holding.

After that, she began to run.

As to where she was headed, she decided to go meet with Roxas' grandmother first. She would rather meet a witch than a group of villagers. If Roxas' grandmother was a witch, then she wouldn't be as surprised when Naminé appeared.

She was still scared though. After all, the grandmother is a crazy witch.

It didn't take long for Naminé to find the cottage. She remembered a conversation that she and Roxas had, telling her that he would only have to walk along this road to reach the cottage. It wasn't far either. Naminé could even see the tops of the trees of her forest from where she stood.

The grandmother's cottage was a small one, but it wasn't as scary as the animals told her. It had thick vines growing on the walls and a garden full of questionable vegetables out front, but it also had a beautiful flower garden on the side and a few tress in the back. The colors of the cottage even looked welcoming.

Naminé was still nervous though. The witch would be the second person she came in contact with, and she still didn't know if the witch was friendly.

She didn't have to wait long though, because the witch herself appeared with a basket of laundry at her side. She was a small, wrinkly old lady, but she didn't give off a threatening atmosphere.

"Oh? A visitor?" she said as she drew closer. Naminé took a step back, and her ears flattened. The old woman squinted as she looked her over. "Not a lycanthrope, I see. Then you must be a hybrid? A wolf hybrid, am I correct?"

Naminé nodded silently. The old woman was more knowledgeable than she appears. Her eyes even carried such wisdom.

"What is your name, dear? And don't worry, I'm not a bad witch," she said gently.

"Naminé," the wolf whispered.

The witch smiled. "What brings you to my cottage, Naminé?"

"I was…" Naminé fidgeted as she averted her gaze. "I was looking for your grandson."

The witch's smile seemed to have grown wider. There was an odd knowing twinkle in the witch's eye, but it was gone in the next second. "My grandson?" she asked.

The wolf nodded. "He…didn't come yesterday and today, so I was wondering…what happened to him."

"Ah. Well, my grandson is out running errands, you see. It was sudden, but I asked him to get some ingredients for me. It usually takes two days to get to there and back," she explained. "He should be back by this evening. I told him that I needed those ingredients as soon as possible."

Naminé sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I thought he was sick or that he left."

The old woman patted the wolf on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for worrying you, my dear. In the meantime, could you help an old woman with some chores?"

For some reason, Naminé just couldn't say no to the old lady.

She did various chores for the witch like taking down the laundry, watering the plants, rearranging the furniture in the cottage, and cleaning out her cauldron. The witch was relentless when it came to orders, and the chores were actually tiring. But Naminé found the work to be quite invigorating.

When she sat down at a table and was given tea and biscuits, she began to become more talkative and animated as she got to know the grandmother more. The witch – named Grendaline, but she preferred to be called Granny – was a good witch who tried her best to live in balance with nature. However, because of her age, she often asked the animals to help her out with chores. Naminé laughed at this, because the animals she met often complain about how bad of a witch she is and would often call her a slave driver.

Like her grandson, the witch told Naminé many stories, but the stories were more about her youth. Nonetheless, Naminé was fascinated by these stories and often asked for more. The witch laughed and would start up another story.

"Ah, Roxas should be arriving sometime soon," said Grendaline as she looked towards the sundial in the garden. "I have one more favor to ask of you. Would you mind helping me pick some apples in the apple tree behind the cottage? I'd like to get those done so that he would have a fresh bushel to take home."

Naminé's ears perked up when she heard that. "Granny, you have an apple tree?"

"Why yes, I do," smiled the witch. "You can take some back and share some with your forest friends if you like. That tree produces too many, anyway."

And so, Naminé helped her out. Since wolf was much stronger than her, she would be holding the ladder as the witch was picking the apples. She wasn't kidding about the tree overproducing the fruit. It looked like there were more fruit than leaves on the tree.

But she had to admit that these apples weren't as tasty as the ones Roxas gave her.

After taking a break, they resumed picking the last section of the tree. Granny was about to reach over to pick an apple out of her reach when Naminé's ears picked up some kind of sound. It was a swooshing sound, and then there was a thud.

"Granny, I'm here!" Roxas called out.

At the sound of Roxas' voice, Naminé's grip on the ladder lessened, and she felt the need to go greet him. But she forgot about how unstable the ladder was, and it began to sway to and fro. Grendaline, who was still reaching for that apple, lost her balance and was now waving her arms in the air to try to steady herself.

By the time Naminé realized what was happening, Grendaline had lost her footing on the ladder and grabbed a nearby branch. It was not strong enough to hold the witch's weight, so it snapped. Naminé watched in horror as the witch's body fell and covered her eyes when the witch hit the ground with a loud thump.

"G-granny?" Naminé stammered. She slowly walked over to the witch's body but did not go any closer. The witch was not moving.

"GRANNY!" Roxas yelled as he spotted his grandmother's body on the ground.

Naminé covered her mouth as he ran towards the witch, taking off his red cape and throwing it aside. He knelt down beside his grandmother's body and cradled it.

"Granny? Granny, wake up!"

She did not wake.

Tears began to swell in Naminé's eyes as she realized that she was the cause of this.

Roxas turned to look at the wolf, and Naminé was shocked to see the anger in his eyes.

"Did you do this, wolf?" he shouted. "Did you knock her off?"

Naminé didn't answer because she was afraid of the anger in his eyes. She saw anger before in the hunter's eyes, but the intensity of it in Roxas' eyes rendered her speechless.

She shook her head and took a few steps back, not believing what she's seeing. "I'm sorry," she said as tears ran down her face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't-I didn't mean to-"

"Get out, wolf," Roxas glared at her.

He didn't need to tell her twice.

She ran as fast as she could. Even when her legs cried out for her to stop and even when her lungs started to burn, she did not stop until she reached her forest. Once she stepped through, she fell on her knees and cried. Her tears fell to the dirt road, and she cried her eyes out. She could hear the concerns of her forest friends, but she ignored it. There was a stabbing pain her heart, and it felt like it was twisting. She could do nothing but scream.

She regretted stepping out of the forest and for not keeping a firm grip on the ladder, but she was most sorry for having hurt Roxas. She didn't mean to kill granny, but now that she did, she was sure that Roxas would never forgive her. Now she had lost both her only human friends.

Naminé managed to get back to her cave and laid there with her knees to her chest. She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. The pain was still there. Her animal friends came and stayed with her, consoling her and offering words of comfort. She listened, but she remained silent.

After a few days of wallowing in sorrow and guilt in her cave, she eventually became hungry and went to go scavenge for food. She stayed clear of the roads and places where hunters usually gather. She was picking berries off of a bush when her ears perked up, picking up some kind of sound.

She ignored it, thinking that it was some kind of animal. She continued to eat.

When she got back to her cave, she was surprised to find that someone was waiting for her there. She immediately crouched down into the bushes and watched as the figure paced back and forth. But when the figure turned around and faced her direction, Naminé gasped to see that it was granny. She was alive and well!

"I know you're there, child. You can come out," she said.

Naminé stood with her mouth agape.

"Granny?" she said in disbelief. "I-I thought you were dead!"

The witch laughed. "Are you kidding? A fall like that can't kill an old bat like me. I may be old, but this old witch still has tricks up her sleeves. My stupid grandson is just the worrisome type."

Naminé hesitantly went over to her but stopped a few feet in front of her, her hands shaking. "You're….really alive, right? You're not a…a ghost, right?"

Granny walked right up to her and put her hand on the wolf's shoulder. "Does that answer your question?"

Naminé nodded as she fought back tears. "I'm just so…I'm so happy, granny, that you're all right."

Granny patted her on her head. "This old soul won't be gone for a long time, dear. Now will you do me a favor? Go see my grandson. He's been looking for you for a few days and wants to apologize."

- o -

Naminé's blue eyes spied on Roxas' form as he paced back and forth, calling her. He pleaded for her to come out and that he was sorry, but she wanted to watch him a little longer before appearing.

She noticed that his red cape was dirty and that his spiky hair was messier than usual. He must have been looking for a long time. His voice was also hoarse from calling out to her for a long time. He also looked really tired.

After a while, he let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his hair. His eyes looked saddened as he turned to leave.

Naminé stood.

"My, how dirty your clothes are," she said.

Roxas turned around with wide eyes. Then he sniffed as he wiped the dirt from his nose and looked away.

"All the better to show you how much I tried to find you," he replied, his voice breaking.

Naminé crossed her arms. "My, how hoarse your voice has become," she said.

"All the better to show you how long I called out to you," he said, coming closer to her.

After she found the courage to look at him, she stared into his eyes. "My, what sad eyes you have," she said.

When he was close to her, he took her hands in his.

"All the better to show you how sorry I am," he whispered. "I really am sorry. Granny's all right, and she didn't even break a bone in her body - "

"I know," Naminé said quietly. "She just told me."

Roxas frowned and let out a big sigh. "Granny, you could have at least told me you found her," he muttered.

For some reason, Naminé's ears picked up laughter from the distance.

Then Roxas looked at Naminé. "Look, I…I didn't mean to treat you that way, and I forgot how much you were afraid of humans. It must have also taken all your courage to step out of this forest."

Naminé shook her head. "I should have been paying attention. I got distracted, and I hurt granny. So I guess I deserved it."

"No," he said as he brushed her bangs away from her forehead. "You didn't deserve it. It was my fault for not believing you."

He kissed her forehead, which sent shivers down her spine.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Naminé, and I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused," he said.

Naminé stared blankly at him, but then the corners of her mouth lifted. She gave him a big smile.

"Is it okay if I come over to play again?" she asked.

Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Actually, granny was wondering if you wanted to stay with her. She says that you were a big help around the house and that good help is hard to come by these days. She says that you can have as many apples as you want."

Naminé was elated. "I'd be happy to!" she piped up, her tail swishing in excitement. "Oh, but I'd rather have the apples you gave me. Those tasted better."

Roxas looked surprised. "Didn't you know?" he asked. "Those apples I gave you were from that tree."

Naminé blinked. Then as she thought about it, she laughed. It all made sense.

The apples he gave her were delicious because he gave them to her.

Roxas ruffled her hair, and her ears flattened in response.

"C'mon, wolf. Let's go home," he smiled, his red cape flowing behind him.

"Right-o, Little Red Riding Hood," she replied, her tail swishing happily behind her.

They both laughed as they headed back to the old grandmother witch's cottage.

Hand in hand.

The End

Author's Note:

Okay, so I've posted another oneshot. It's just that I was struck by inspiration and had to write it. I just had to before the inspiration flies away. Anyway, hope you guys liked it. Roxas' and Naminé's characters were more gentle in this one. Somehow, I get the feeling that I've been wanting to write them this way for a while. I guess it's because their personalities are so different in my other stories, and my brain was thirsting for some variation. Nonetheless, it was very fun to write.

Anyways! Hope you enjoyed it! Please tell me what you think!

P.S. Naminé in here kind of reminded me of Spice and Wolf. Good series, that one.