CHAPTER II - LATE WINTER

The sun rises again on the World of Radiant Garden, its rays hitting Riku's face and waking him up. It takes him a while to register his surroundings, as he realizes he's not on his bed, but rather on his futon. He runs his hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up fully, and he wonders if Naminé is still asleep. The thought is interrupted by her soft snoring.

Well, someone's exhausted.

Not wanting to wake her, he quickly grabs his day clothes and makes his way out of his room, changing in the bathroom. After washing his face and teeth, he goes to the combined kitchen-living room area and checks the clock, which reads 08:11, a bit later than what he's used to waking up around.

He puts a kettle full of water on the stove-top for coffee, and while he waits for it to heat up, he quietly goes back into his room again and opens up a journal he keeps stored on his bedside table. He opens it up, and quickly writes down the day's date, as well as "NO DREAMS." After he's done, he puts it back in his place and grabs his Gummiphone which he forgot by his futon, double-checking that his alarms remain off so as not to wake Naminé.

Back in the kitchen area, he sees steam come out of the kettle and takes it off the stove top before the kettle gets the chance to go off.

As he's putting the kettle back in its place on the now unlit stove top after he's finished making his coffee, the silence is interrupted by last night's surprise guest.

“You... drink your coffee black?” murmurs an extremely groggy Naminé.

“Ah! Naminé! Good morning!” replies Riku, startled by her. She could give Yuffie a run for her munny and probably win, too.

“Good morning... Can I have some?” she says, practically stumbling towards the countertop.

"Yeah, sure, but it's the instant kind. Sugar's in there," Riku points out a mason jar, "and there's milk in the fridge," ending his statement by handing Naminé a mug after putting a couple spoon's worth of coffee in it.

Riku struggles to stifle a chuckle as he sees Naminé pour in an obscene amount of sugar into her mug, enough to fill a third with it, and milk filling up another third, water making up whatever space is left.

Almost as if she senses the question coming her way, she tells Riku, "All everyone drinks... in the Castle is this... really bad..." Naminé interrupts her own sentence by taking a sip of her 'coffee' "really bad coffee. With powdered milk and... some sort of sweetener, it tastes disgusting, so whenever they give me some" another sip, "I just try to cover up the taste as much as I can." Lucidity returns to her with every sip.

But as she wakes up fully, she gasps a bit and blurts out, "Oh! Thank you for the coffee, Riku! And for letting me stay."

With a small laugh, he tells her, "No problem, it looked like you needed it," not specifying what he's referring to.

"Also, I don't really drink my coffee black; I actually think it tastes disgusting, but it's the only thing that wakes me up in the morning. I... like to drink it with cream, and also sugar, but not nearly as much as you," Riku continues, before downing his entire cup in one gulp, gripping the counter as if he were trying not to throw it back up.

With a clear noise of disgust, however, he tells Naminé, "I do think that whatever they had you drink at the Castle would make me throw up. That sounds disgusting." which prompts a quiet giggle from Naminé.

Walking around the kitchen, Riku says, "I don't have much food in here, but help yourself to anything. I usually eat cereal, but I think I have some eggs in the fridge-"

"You don't. I saw while grabbing the milk," Naminé interrupts.

"Oh. I guess I just have cereal then. I'll go grocery shopping after checking in with the Committee," Riku replies, already grabbing and pouring the remaining cereal into two bowls.

"Right..." Naminé mumbles as she begins to eat her serving, the conversation fizzling out into uncomfortable silence.

---

After breakfast, Naminé heads off to do her own morning routine, while Riku does the dishes. After finishing, he feels a buzz in his right-hand pocket, prompting him to check his Gummiphone. A message from Aerith.

Hopeful, Riku goes through his morning exercises faster than usual.

---

Riku heads to Merlin's House to meet up with the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee with a hesitant Naminé in tow, who is currently wearing one of Riku's jackets due to the cold, Yuffie's Moogle cloak sitting forgotten somewhere inside the Castle.

Knocking on the door, the duo is ushered inside by a smiling Aerith.

"Glad you could make it, Riku!" Aerith addresses Riku and then turns to look beside him. "Oh! And you must be Naminé! I'm Aerith; it's nice to meet you!"

"Oh-um... Hello, Aerith, it's nice to meet you too."

Aerith motions for the pair to sit down and claps her hands together before speaking up once more, slowly wandering around the place as she does so. "So! As I told you this morning, Riku, Cid's got some data from Ansem on our computer that we're hoping to decode. None of us are computer whizzes-" Aerith stops abruptly and turns to look at Riku and Naminé. "Cid doesn't count; he's only good with- um... what'd he say it was..." She trails off, tapping her chin with her index finger.

Trying to help, Riku offers "hardware as opposed to software?"

Aerith excitedly snaps back into position, slamming her right fist onto her open palm, then pointing at Riku. "Hardware! Yes! Anyway, as I was saying, Cid isn't that good with 'software', so we need all the help we can get. We're currently waiting on-"

Aerith is interrupted once more, this time not by her own doing but by the front door suddenly, and loudly, opening. From it springs forth a haggard-looking Yuffie and an annoyed Leon follows behind.

Not even registering the guests' presence, Yuffie shouts, "Aerith! Help me! Leon isn't letting me do anything- Oh! Hi Riku, hi Naminé!" instantly forgetting her 'woes', she happily greets the two. "It's great to see you! Especially you, Naminé, it's been a while!"

"Hey, Yuffie." Says Riku, already used to the ninja's tempo.

"...Hello, Yuffie," Naminé adds, a bit later. Yuffie's sudden entrance had stunned her into silence.

Leon, already having made his way inside while Yuffie greeted everyone, leans on the wall near the computer, and settles in with a barely noticeable wave to Riku and Naminé. "You're Naminé, then? Call me Leon."

"Nice meeting you."

Aerith clears her throat, calling attention to herself again, and continues her earlier sentence, "...waiting on those two."

"Waiting on who what now?" Replies Yuffie, completely out of the loop.

"Don't worry about it." Smiles Aerith

Riku turns to Yuffie and explains, "Aerith was telling Naminé and me about the data you guys have on the computer."

Yuffie blinks.

Riku adds, desperately, "You know, from Ansem?"

"Ohhh... Oh! That!" exclaims Yuffie.

"Good! Now we're all back on track!" Aerith resumes her explanation: "As I was saying, we'll need all the help we can get. Getting into the data is already hard, but even if we do, we only know some of the terminology Ansem uses." Looking at Riku and Naminé, she continues, "I was hoping you two could help us make sense of it once we get there."

"Me?" Naminé asks, confused.

"Well, I don't claim to know everything that happened during Sora's last disappearance, but you and Riku worked together, right? And you both have special connections to Sora, don't you?" Aerith looks Naminé in the eyes and adds, "We need all the help we can get."

Yuffie, somewhat angrily, complains, "I mean, yeah, we do! Because we need to do regular Committee stuff as well since those guys up in their Castle won't help us-"

"Yuffie," Leon warns.

"Yeah, yeah." Yuffie dismisses him.

Naminé quietly speaks up, "Could I... have some time to think about it? I mean- I'd love to help, but I don't know how much I *can*. I'm also not much of a fighter..." she trails off, unsure of herself.

"Just you being here is enough, Naminé," Aerith reassures.

"Yeah! You can come over, like, every day!" Yuffie exclaims with a wide smile.

"Aerith is right." Riku turns to look at Naminé and reaffirms, "We... couldn't have brought Sora back without you, and I'd really appreciate your help."

Surprised, Naminé nods to herself and says, "Okay. But... I'd still need time."

"As much as you need," Aerith replies, putting a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "Now! Before any attempts-"

Yuffie interjects, "Let's eat!”

---

Aerith brings out five cups of tea as Leon helps her serve some snacks. He claims that the reason he helps with this task is that only he knows where the snacks are, as Yuffie would eat them all if she knew their hiding place, and Aerith would either reveal their location to her or join in as well.

Sweet and savory foods are poured into bowls and then distributed evenly on the table. Snacks like checkered cookies, thumbprint cookies, and chocolate chip cookies, as well as chips and several types of finger sandwiches.

The group discusses how everyone's been, and Yuffie regales Naminé with a heavily dramatized re-telling of how Leon followed her and "nagged" all day, as Aerith sighs and has Naminé pick between different tea bags, explaining to her the different kinds of flavors.

Yuffie makes a show of nicking food from the same bowl Leon picks from, as he tries to not seem annoyed. Riku and Naminé try to stifle their laughs, while Aerith seems completely unbothered by it, already used to the ninja's antics.

---

After clearing the dishes, the group settles around the computer. Two chairs are moved to the desk, where Riku is currently seated, with Aerith right beside him. Yuffie is standing behind them, looking over at the screen, while Naminé is seated alone on the couch, with Leon keeping her silent company, standing in between her and Yuffie.

"Password protection already!?" Yuffie complains from behind Riku.

"Try... 'Kingdom Hearts'?" Aerith suggests.

"In all lowercase, all together, or...?" Riku questions.

"All of them, I suppose," Aerith replies.

"Hold on." Leon interrupts the two and says, "You'll just waste time like that. Try the Seven Hearts."

"Like... just 'the Seven Hearts'?" Yuffie asks.

"Yuffie- No- Their names. 'Alice, Snow White, Jasmine-'." Leon replies, shaking his head.

"Wait, those are the Original Seven Hearts, shouldn't we try the New Seven Hearts?" Aerith says.

"But in what order? Y'know, like, alphabetical... or..." Yuffie trails off, leaning to the side.

"There's no point, we only know four of the New Seven Hearts, and the Seven Lights wouldn't be possible either, since Ansem couldn't have known all of them at the time. Let's try the Original Seven Hearts." Riku speaks up, "Could anyone write them down so we can go crossing out failed attempts?"

"I'll do it." Naminé grabs a nearby pencil and paper and begins noting down the different possibilities.

"The Original Seven Hearts are 'Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Kairi, and Snow White, in alphabetical order." Leon supplies, while Naminé nods along.

After a moment, Leon speaks up once again: "But would Ansem really use the same password for different things? The Original Seven Hearts also were the password for the DTD..."

"From the time I worked with him, he really didn't seem all too concerned about passwords. I mean, one of them was an ice cream flavor. It won't hurt to try that one as well." Riku informs Leon with a weary look on his face.

"Huh. I see. We should try 'Sora, Donald, Goofy' as well."

"Oh yeah! Didn't something change to that after the defenses went all haywire and Sora, like, fixed everything somehow?" Yuffie says as she begins to once again pay attention.

Leon nods.

"He's always helped us, so now we have to help him!" Aerith turns around to face everyone, and she and Yuffie pump their fists into the air.

Of course, that is something he would do. Riku thinks to himself with a small smile.

---

"Okay, it's done," Naminé informs everyone and holds the list up for everyone to see.

"Thank you, Naminé! Could you dictate them to us and cross them off as you go?" Aerith replies.

"Okay." Naminé nods, "'Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Kairi, Snow White.' Proper capitalization."

"Alice... Aurora... Belle... Cinderella... Jasmine... Kairi... Snow White" Riku hits enter, but instead of either granting or denying them access, the program redirects him to yet another password screen.

"Ugh! How many passwords does he need!?" Yuffie complains.

"Looks like he wasn't always so unconcerned with them. Uh... I'll check how many there are..." Riku types random characters into the password screen, and proceeds until he's taken to a screen that says "PASSWORDS INCORRECT. REDIRECTING" and is sent back to the beginning of the process. He sighs, "Looks like six passwords total."

"How many different variations of the names is that!?" Yuffie exclaims, dramatically grabbing onto her hair.

"Hold on. Riku, try typing a bunch of letters again." Aerith supplies, completely focused on the task.

"Alright," Riku does as Aerith requests.

Aerith squints and looks at the computer screen, bringing her index finger to the asterisks shown on the input area, and begins to count: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve... I think there can only be twelve characters in this one; could you double-check the other input screens, Riku?"

"Uh, yeah, hold on..." Riku mouths the number of characters he's allowed to input on each screen until he's redirected back to the beginning: "It's twelve on all of them."

"Uh... does that mean anything?" Yuffie states, out of the loop.

Riku turns to look behind him and says, "The password can't be the Original Seven Hearts. At least, not all seven of them. It can only be six names."

"So everything that I..." Naminé mumbles to herself, slumping.

"Naminé, it's okay! We just have to try again!" Aerith tries to reassure the girl.

"I'm... partially to blame, I didn't think to double-check-" Riku begins to say but is interrupted by Yuffie.

"Nuh-uh! No thinking like that allowed! We just need to remove one name, right? So... which one?" Yuffie says, placing her hand on Riku's shoulder, supporting him.

"Sorry. You're right, Yuffie." Riku shakes his head, takes a moment to think, and says, "We can keep the list Naminé made; we just need to cross out Kairi's name. She's the only outlier in there, since she's also the only Keyblade Wielder in there."

"Oooh! Okay, Wise Guy over here has got it all figured out." Yuffie teases, noogying Riku, who quickly escapes her grasp.

"She's also the only one from Radiant Garden; it tracks. Let's go with Riku's idea." Leon picks up the list of names from Naminé and begins crossing out Kairi's name himself, wanting to give the girl a break. "It should be done."

"Second attempt, here we go!" Yuffie says, and she motions towards Naminé. "Miss Naminé, the floor is yours."

With a small chuckle, Naminé begins dictating the names again: "'Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White'. Proper capitalization."

"Nothing," Riku says.

"Okay, try 'Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White'. All lowercase."

"Back to the beginning."

"Next is ”'Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White'. All uppercase."

---

"Ugh. Try... 'Jasmine, Snow White, Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella'... All caps this time," Yuffie says with a groan, having taken over dictating duty for Naminé, who is now sitting beside Riku.

"Still nothing, what a surprise," Riku says, sighing.

"How come we have to do all the work? Where's Cid? Or even Ansem?" Yuffie complains, letting the arm she's using to hold up the list to her face drop to the side as she's completely taken over the couch.

Leon looks up from his leaning position and opens his eyes. "Cid's not here because you're too loud, it ticks him off, and he can't concentrate. And Ansem is too busy, you know that."

With another groan, Yuffie continues, "Try...'Jasmine, Alice-'"

"How about we call it for today, everyone? The sun has already set." Aerith says as she goes to turn up the house's heating.

Riku's spine immediately straightens. "Crap! I needed to buy food today!"

"Don't worry. I packed you some food for you to take with you and some for Naminé, of course."

Two relieved voices are heard saying, "Oh. Thank you, Aerith." Riku and Naminé, who turn to each other and laugh.

"Thank you for everything today, Aerith, Leon, Yuffie." Riku says.

Aerith and Yuffie reassure Riku that it's no problem, while Leon nods with a smile.

"We better get going," Naminé says, getting up from her seat.

Aerith shakes her head no, saying, "Not without cozier clothes, you're not! Yuffie, grab anything you can give Naminé. Leon, do not let them leave. I'll be right back."

Yuffie makes an exaggerated saluting motion and speeds off to who-knows-where, while Naminé and Riku stand in place, dumbfounded.

"Aerith is the one who knows how to delegate." Leon explains, "Give them a bit, and then you can leave." Despite the low stakes, Leon takes his 'order' very seriously.

---

Around ten minutes later, Aerith and Yuffie come back with a cross-body bag and a backpack, respectively, both noticeably filled to the brim.

"I dunno if you'd wear the kind of stuff I wear, so I mostly packed things like socks, tights, gloves, and some simple shorts and tank tops for you to wear inside... Oh! And a lot of shoes, 'cause I think we have similar sizes, and mine are mostly adjustable anyway, so if they're a bit bigger, you can always, y'know, adjust them." Yuffie rambles as she hands over the backpack to Naminé, who picks it up with effort.

Seeing Naminé's reaction to the weight of the backpack, Riku offers his hand and holds the backpack himself by the top strap.

"Thank you so much, Yuffie. I promise I'll take good care of them, so I can retu-“ Naminé attempts to say but is interrupted.

"Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. No way. You're keeping these. Honestly, some of them are a tiny bit too small for me; they'd be more comfortable to you anyway!" Yuffie says with her hands on her hips.

"I... Thank you, Yuffie."

Aerith steps up with her bag and says, "I packed you some coats and jackets, as well as some skirts, shirts, and dresses." handing the bag directly to Riku to hold. "I also brought down this coat and this scarf." giving Naminé a light blue coat, woolen on the inside, as well as a light pink knitted infinity scarf. "You should wear these on your way back."

"Thank you so much, Aerith," Naminé says as she puts on the scarf and coat.

"Of course! And before you say anything, these are yours to keep, too." Aerith replies.

Naminé chuckles, then turns to Riku. "I can carry the bag, it's okay." Riku hands it over, and she puts on the cross-body bag.

Ready to leave, the duo say goodbye to the Committee, but not before getting a hug from Yuffie, who makes them promise to come back soon.

---

Riku and Naminé step out into a light snowfall. The snowflakes slowly fall, melting before they can accumulate on the ground.

After walking for a bit, Naminé suddenly stops and looks up at the cloudy night sky. She extends her arms outward, palms facing up, and feels the snowflakes melt on her hands. Inhaling deeply, she looks at how her breathing becomes visible in the cold temperature.

Riku, having noticed that she stopped walking with him, stops and looks at the sky as well.

A few moments later, he hears Naminé walk up towards him, "Sorry. This is... the first time I... Actually feel the snow."

Right... She never left the Old Mansion back in Twilight Town...

"It's okay. What do you think?" Riku asks as he slightly quirks his head to the right.

"It's very pretty. I like it."

"Me too. We don't really get snow in Destiny Islands." Riku continues, "I remember when I was very little, Sora's mom took Sora and me someplace further inland, and we saw snow for the first time."

The two continue walking, while Naminé listens to Riku.

"I remember he got so excited about it that the day after it snowed, he ran out to see it and slipped on some of the ice that had formed." Riku shakes his head with a smile, "I laughed at him, but when I went after him, I also fell."

Naminé laughs, "I'll make sure to watch out for ice, then. If it snows more."

"It'll snow more, I think." Riku says as he looks around, "According to Yuffie, they usually already have a pile-up of snow on the ground around this time of year."

"I hope I get to see it."

Riku and Naminé walk in silence for a few more minutes, until the girl speaks up again.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah"

"Your friends, they're very nice."

"I- Yeah...”

---

The first thing Riku does once they're back home is turn the heating on.

Naminé speeds off into the bathroom to take a hot shower, feeling the effects of standing in the cold for so long. She uses this as an opportunity to change into the clothes that Yuffie and Aerith gave her, settling on a long peach-colored button skirt with tights underneath and a white button-up blouse.

After stepping out from the bathroom, she sees Riku has already heated up the food Aerith gave them—a savory potato, cheese, and onion pie.

The pair eat in companionable silence as Riku gives the list of password combinations a second look and Naminé watches the snow fall.

---

The weeks pass, and the number of remaining name combinations grows smaller and smaller. Riku hasn't been letting the list out of his sight, and the repeated failures have only made him more irritated. Not to mention the utter lack of dreams he's been having. He's hardly had any time to visit Kairi at the Castle as well.

Naminé, for her part, has only grown more hesitant about the idea of going outside. Sometimes even staying behind when Riku goes to see the Committee. One of those times being today.

---

The moment Riku arrives at Merlin's house, he's whisked away by Yuffie and the others to help on a Committee job. The snow has begun to pile up, and the people of Radiant Garden need help to clear it out, especially from the roofs.

Even Riku would admit it to be an extremely dull job. The use of magic is completely banned due to how it could react to the snow.

"Come on, even I know that Blizzard or Fire magic could be bad, but couldn't, y'know, Aerith cast an Aero spell or something?" Yuffie groans as she lazily moves her snow roof rake.

"I don't like this job either, but I don't think creating a miniature blizzard would be a good idea," Aerith responds, clearly putting more effort into it than Yuffie.

Yuffie stops, confused. "When did I say to cast Blizzard? I said Aero-"

Aerith sighs, but lets out a giggle nonetheless: "No, I mean 'a blizzard' not the spell."

"Oh." Yuffie continues to rake the roof, distractedly, and accidentally covers Leon in snow. "Oh my gosh, Leon I'm so sorry! Please forgive me-"

Leon doesn't even move, standing there completely dumbfounded, until Aerith and Yuffie run to him to help him get the snow off. Afterward, he goes inside to change and warm himself up for a bit.

Riku, who has completely tuned them out to try and get his work done faster continues until he's completely cleared out his designated patch of roofs.

"Woah! Way to go, Riku! You work fast!" exclaims Yuffie, walking up to Riku from behind, deciding to shove her icy-cold hands onto the nape of his neck.

Riku yells "Yuffie!" with an irritated sigh, he says, under his breath, "Maybe you should, too."

"What?" Yuffie blinks.

"I said, maybe you should work fast, too," Riku says, agitated, moving onto Yuffie's section of roofs to clear them out for her.

"I- Wait, I can do it!" Yuffie trails behind him.

Ignoring her, Riku continues, "We could've been done by now, and I- we could be working on the data right now."

"I just thought some air would be good for us-"

Riku inhales and looks like he's about to retaliate until Aerith interrupts him: "This is about Sora, isn't it?"

"When is it not about Sora!? This always happens, but this time, I don't even know where he is!" Riku breathes heavily, trying to calm himself down. "I- I'm really sorry. I'm sorry, Yuffie. I'm sorry, Aerith. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I... need to go home."

Without waiting for a response, Riku leaves.

---

After practically running home, Riku is taken aback to enter and see everything in pitch darkness. Used to seeing Naminé sitting on the couch and drawing, or staring out the window, he calls out, worried, "Naminé...? Hello?"

"Riku...? Is it just you?" A quiet voice sounds out from somewhere, muffled behind something.

"Yeah? It's just me." He replies as he steps further inside.

The bathroom door opens, and Naminé steps out from within, cold and crying. Not knowing what to do, Riku steps towards her and holds his hand out. Instead of taking it, Naminé hugs him.

"Oh, thank goodness," she says.

"What happened? Why are you so cold?"

"I-I heard some knocking, so... I went to-to check it out. It was someone from the Castle, one of the apprentices... I-I don't know who. I d-didn't want them to know I was h-here so... I hid in the bathroom, because there were no windows. I don't know. I got scared." Naminé explains, crying and sniffling.

"Why-What-... Do you know what they wanted?" Riku asks as he pulls back from the hug, his hands settling on Naminé's shoulders.

"I... when I came here for the f-first time, I snuck out. I think they might need me for m-more tests. I don't want to go back..." Naminé sobs.

"You won't have to. We'll talk to them, you don't have to hide anymore."

"I..." Naminé looks up at Riku for the first time since he arrived.

"Is... Is this why you've been so hesitant to go outside?"

"Yeah..."

Riku sighs. "Naminé, you can't live like this."

"I... You're right. There's so much I want to experience... More things, like the snow."

"Next time they knock on the door, I'll answer, and we can talk to them, okay?"

Naminé nods with resolve, "Okay.”

---

Before going to sleep, Riku checks his Gummiphone.

He contemplates typing out apologies to Aerith and Yuffie, but decides against it, wanting to apologize to them in person.

---

The next day, Riku is about to head outside when he hears someone knock on the door. Naminé immediately stiffens in fear, and Riku tenses up. He gives her a thumbs up, and she nods, then he opens the door.

It's Ve- Even. Of course.

He knows he shouldn't judge them too harshly for their time as nobodies in the Organization, but his memories of being “tested” in Castle Oblivion always come to mind when talking to certain apprentices. There's no doubt it's the same, or worse, for Naminé.

Riku greets him, "Hello, Even-"

"There you are, Naminé!" The scientist completely ignores him, addressing Naminé exclusively, "We need you back at the Castle for more replica body tests." He steps inside and says, "You've given us a lot of grief with this little 'excursion' of yours. Come along now-"

"Even. Hello." Riku grabs him by the wrist briefly and releases him.

"Oh, hello, young Riku. I was just escorting Naminé here to-"

"She hasn't even said anything to you; you're not escorting anyone." Riku cuts him off and places himself in between Even and Naminé.

"I..." Naminé stammers.

"Hm? Yes?"

Naminé takes a deep breath and says, "I'm not going back for more tests."

"Why wouldn't you? Of course you are."

Naminé's volume rises; her fists are clenched. "I'm not going back for more tests! I don't want to!"

"But we're about to find a breakthrough! Your replica body could be perfect."

"I..." Naminé steps away from Even but retains her resolve: "I don't want it to be perfect! If what- If what it takes is constant testing, I don't want it!"

"Oh, come now, silly child, surely you can see the appeal in perfection?"

"I don't care about perfection. I want to- I want to feel the snow on my hands again, hear the waterways at night, step in some muddy snow and almost fall, talk to, talk to my f-friends about tea flavors. I want to be outside!"

"Naminé -"

Before Even can say anything else, someone rounds the corner and interrupts him: "Even, surely the tests aren't urgent anymore, are they?"

It's Ansem the Wise.

Before he can even say anything, Naminé looks at him dead in the eyes and says, "I'm not going back."

Ansem looks away. "And we're not going to force you..." turning to face Even, he continues, "Right, Even?"

"I- yes! My apologies. I got carried away." Even stammers out.

Naminé looks at him, neither accepting nor rejecting his apology.

"Right! Well, I'll... head back, then," Even says as he leaves.

As Even's steps grow more and more distant, Ansem speaks up: "Naminé... it seems I have failed you a third time. I am deeply, truly, sorry."

Naminé blinks, not expecting an apology, of all things.

"You were held prisoner at Castle Oblivion and used for your powers; I knew of your existence, yet I did not help you until Sora and Riku forced my hand." Ansem continues, being unable to look at Naminé's face, "And then I did the same to you. I used you and Riku for your powers, and I did not let you leave the Old Mansion, holding you prisoner once again." The scientist sounds deeply ashamed. "And now, one of my own apprentices is doing the same to you, holding you against your will, something that happened due to my negligence. I cannot allow my apprentices to get carried away again. I am sorry."

"I-"

Ansem interrupts Naminé. "You don't have to accept my apology. You may even deny it. I robbed you of your chance to experience being alive once, and I do not want to do it again. You are a child—a powerful child, yes, but a child nonetheless. A child who should be doing things children do. So, please, go out and see the Worlds."

"I-I'm not doing it for you..." Naminé says.

"I know... And you do not have to." Ansem closes his eyes. "I have imposed upon you two for far too long, I shall take my leave. Please, enjoy your day."

Ansem the Wise leaves as fast as he arrived, and Riku finally moves again, to close the door. Immediately afterward, Naminé begins to cry and hugs him from the side.

"Naminé!? Are you-?"

"No, no. I'm... I'm really happy. Thank you, Riku."

"Me? I hardly did anything..."

"No... You were here, and that's a lot. Thank you."

"I appreciate it, but that was all you, Naminé." Riku says as he returns the hug.

---

After Naminé manages to calm herself down, Riku gets ready to leave again. The sun has already set, so he hurries off to Merlin's to properly apologize to Aerith and Yuffie.

His jog slows down to a walk as he sees them leaving Merlin's alongside Leon, and he calls out to them, "Aerith! Yuffie!"

Aerith turns to look at him, then mouths something to Leon and gives him a thumbs up as he leaves. "Riku! Hello."

"Yuffie."

"Riku!"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry!"

Yuffie and Riku stare at each other, startled by the fact that they said the exact same thing. Yuffie begins to speak, but Riku makes a 'stop' motion with his hand and begins, "No- wait- I'm sorry, you didn't do anything wrong. I just, I've been having bad days, and I snapped. It wasn't anything personal, I promise." He finishes with a smile.

Yuffie stands still.

Crap. Did I make it worse?

And then she runs towards him and traps him in a hug. "You had me worried, dummy!"

"I'm sorry-"

"No! You've already apologized; don't do it more! Just let! Me! Hug! You!"

Without saying anything, Aerith also joins in on the hug.

"Thank you, guys. You're all incredible friends." Riku says as he hugs them just a little bit harder.

---

After the trio split from the hug, Riku asks, "So... I know you guys just locked up, but could I go in and work on the list?"

"All by yourself?" Aerith questions him.

"Yeah. I'll be fine, I just want to get some combinations in." Riku reassures them.

"Alrighty then. Here you go." Aerith replies as she hands over the key.

"Keep us posted!" Yuffie says

"I will, I promise," Riku replies.

The three look at each other, unsure of how to say goodbye, until they settle in for another hug.

---

Riku enters Merlin's, the house already being chilly from the heating being off for just short of a half hour. As he turns it on again, he settles onto the desk chair and props up the list beside the monitor. After his sixth attempt, he checks his Gummiphone.

He grabs some insanely hidden wafer cookies and gets back to the computer. Some more attempts wouldn't hurt.

The seconds turn into minutes, and the minutes turn into an hour. And then the hour turns into hours, several hours.

Riku only has one name combination left. He clumsily types it in and triple-checks it. With a yawn, he hits enter and is sent to the next screen.

"PASSWORDS INCORRECT. REDIRECTING”

Riku closes his eyes.

And falls asleep on the desk.

---

Darkness.

Blue lights.

Moving blue lights.

I'm dreaming...

White lights surround him.

The World That Never Was...? No, I can't see...

The ground is humid, and it feels like asphalt, but he can't see anything.

---

---

Riku wakes up.

It takes him a while to take in his surroundings. He hears voices, and he feels a weight on him.

A coat...?

Before he fully readjusts, someone speaks up.

"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty!"

It's Yuffie.

I... I really fell asleep on the desk, didn't I...

"Good afternoon, Riku!" Aerith says as she approaches him.

"Ugh... it's already past noon...? Wait. The password!" Riku sits up straight and looks at the monitor.

"PASSWORDS INCORRECT. REDIRECTING"

Someone else speaks up, "Was that the last one?" Naminé's here.

Riku clutches at his head, gripping his hair with both hands, "Yes..." He slumps down and says, "I... don't know what to do."

"Well... I was just telling Naminé about snowball fights..." Yuffie says

"What...?"

"You know! When you pack snow into balls and throw them at each other?"

"Yes, I know what snowball fights are, but-"

"I was thinking we could all have a big snowball fight! Some air could do you good, right...? And you have to stretch out of that horrible posture you were in all night!" The ninja says with a flourish.

"I... Yeah, some air would be good." Riku steps up and notices the coat that was draped on top of him was Naminé's. He hands it to her and follows everyone outside.

---

Yuffie and Aerith teach Naminé and Riku how to make snowballs and forts as Leon watches. With their guards down, Leon, of all people, packs a snowball and throws it at Yuffie.

"Oh! It's on!"

It is war.

Yuffie packs snowballs so tightly that they land on her targets (Leon, most of the time) as if they were rocks thrown at them. It doesn't help that Aerith enables her, casting Blizzard on one of them to turn them into total ice, in order to get revenge on Leon, who had struck Aerith in the face with a snowball before.

The locals take it easier on Riku and Naminé at first, however, who don't quite yet know how to pack snowballs. Their snowballs, when thrown, fall apart midair.

After a few attempts, Riku manages to hit Leon with one, as Naminé hits Yuffie with a snowball as well.

They stop taking it easy on them after that.

After a particularly nasty snowball manages to hit Riku, he steps out, stating that he's too tired, which Yuffie takes as an excuse.

"Sure. You're just jealous of my skills." Yuffie taunts

"Whatever, I'll just watch you guys," Riku replies

"Aw, boo!-" Yuffie is interrupted by Aerith throwing a snowball at the side of her head.

"Aerith!" Yuffie protests, but her only response is a laugh.

"Yuffie, there's an even number of players now. We can form a team." Leon speaks up.

"And what makes you think that I would accept a partnership with you?"

Deadpan, Leon says, "I hide the snacks in the locked chest by the window. We win, and I tell you the password to the lock."

Yuffie blinks. Then she jumps and settles into a battle-ready stance beside Leon, clueless as to the false bottom that awaits her inside the chest, even if she does get the password.

"Okay, Naminé, you're with me! Riku, can you be the referee?" Aerith says, walking to stand beside Naminé.

"Sure, what are the rules?" Riku asks

"Um... The first one to 'knock-out', which means hit someone with a snowball three times, the enemy team wins. Right?" Naminé says, uncertain.

"Right!" Aerith nods.

And so the battles begin. Team Naminé and Aerith wins, which ends up with Yuffie asking for the best two out of three matches. Which turns into the best three out of five. Which then turns into the best six out of eleven.

Though Yuffie is extremely agile and can dodge snowballs with ease, Naminé has the uncanny ability to sneak up behind her. While Aerith and Leon are evenly matched, at least, after Riku tells her to stop casting Blizzard on the snowballs.

Yuffie's about to ask for more matches, as team Yuffie and Leon is currently one win behind, until Riku tells her, "Yuffie. It's getting dark. I'm cold, and you're probably freezing." which stops her right in her tracks.

---

Everyone says their farewells, with Riku particularly eager to go home just to take a hot bath. Aerith and Yuffie hug Naminé goodbye, and she catches up to Riku.

"Today was really fun... Reminded me of that day at the beach, with everyone..." Naminé reminisces

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'd like to do it with you and everyone else some time, too." She says as she nods to herself.

"...Me too.”

---

After getting out of the bath, Riku sits down at the kitchen counter and writes down everything he can remember from the dream he had the night before. With the Seven Hearts being a dead end, he begins to write down any ideas for sets of six things he can come up with, but stops, realizing he's not getting anywhere.

Ugh, I can't just brute-force it, but I really don't want to have to ask Ansem; maybe I could get someone from the Committee to-

His thoughts are interrupted by Naminé pulling up a chair beside him. She turns to face him and says, "I... I think I'm ready to help everyone now."

Riku, confused, tilts his head to the side and says, "But you've already been helping us."

"No, I haven't. At least not as much as I could. I've been too scared to."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm surprised you didn't think of it sooner... Back when we were with Ansem... When I couldn't leave... I was bored a lot, so, I followed him around." Naminé hesitates, grasping her hands together, afraid to continue.

"What is it, Naminé? You can say it."

Steeling herself, Naminé continues, "We... We have to go back. To Twilight Town. To the Old Mansion. There has to be something there that can help us.”