Kingdom Hearts 1. Chapter 1

**Jamaican Sunshower: **I just keep doing this to you people don't I? Hehehe. I really couldn't help this one, it was just eating away at me. I actually feel really good about his because it seems like such a sweet plot line. So, please tell me what you think and if you believe that I should continue on with this story. I actually have a lot of ideas on how this will go and if you want to see them, just review! Thanks a bunch!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own a thing from Kingdom Hearts. Thank you.

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**The Blue of Your Eyes **

**Chapter 1: Corina**

The halls were crowded with the bodies of Destiny Academy students, each one bustling to his or her class, or maybe to just meet up with friends before 1st period started. She moved swiftly through the crowd, keeping close to the lockers so as to avoid any confrontations from the other students who might very well slow her down by knocking her books over or, better yet, knocking HER over. Her curly black hair, made straight for the day by continuous brushing, laid over her shoulder in a thick braid. Her glasses reflected the light from the sun, preventing anyone from seeing the real color of her eyes. Her arms tightened around her books as she passed by a couple of jocks who all threw insults at her retreating back, but nonetheless left her alone for the moment.

Gentle, Aquamarine eyes watched as she rounded the corner and disappeared from his line of vision, a sigh escaping his light pink lips once she was gone.

"What's up Riku?"

The owner of those beautiful eyes turned to land upon the curious face of his best friend, Sora Yakahira. Riku Toshido was the boy's name, a name well known throughout the whole of Destiny Prep Academy. It was hard not to notice him for he was truly the only beautiful, majestic creature at Destiny Prep for his long hair of melted silver, pale creamy skin that tightened wonderfully over lean, chiseled muscles and covered his tall structure of 6'0". His face was deemed to be carved by gods what with his high cheek bones, set jaw, flawless skin, light pink lips, piercing sea-green eyes, and dark, feathery eyelashes. He was very popular among the female population of the school, being as how all the girls were eager to get his attention every minute of every day if he allowed it. He was also very much envied by the male population for his incredible athletic ability and outstanding academic achievement. Riku Toshido was, to put it simply, pure perfection of the teenage boy.

Riku sighed softly, running a hand through his silver locks, "It's…nothing. It's nothing, Sora."

Sora stared at his friend with big, blue, inquisitive eyes, analyzing the way Riku's shoulders seemed to tense slightly and his jaw was set and his eyes glazed over.

"It's that girl again isn't it?" he asked.

Riku's head snapped up at the sudden question, a burning blush spreading to his cheeks, making him look bashful and irresistible. He looked away from Sora, too embarrassed to even answer as his friend chuckled humorously.

"Honestly, Riku, I don't know what you find so interesting about this mystery girl. You're the hottest guy in school and can have any chick you want and yet," here, Sora shook his head in disbelief, "You chase after one girl whose name you don't even know and who's basically invisible to everyone but you."

Riku peered up at Sora through his bangs, blush still heavily in place. He looked like he was about to retort to the brunette's statement, but decided against it and kept his mouth shut. You see, everything Sora had just stated is entirely true; Riku was so popular that he could snap his fingers and every girl in school would jump for him, hiking their skirts up and everything. However, Riku couldn't be any less interested for his eyes were already set on another; a quiet, timid girl with thick curly black hair and glasses who moved through the school like a ghost. He had first noticed her about a month into the new school year, wandering the halls at lunch with her arms filled with books, as if she had just come from the library. Riku himself was at his locker with his friends at the time, laughing about some joke he wouldn't even bother himself to remember. She walked by, slowly and almost in fright, with her head down and her glasses perched high on her nose. Riku watched her pass curiously, not remembering ever seeing her before, and witnessed as the mysterious girl was bumped and her glasses fell off of her face. She stumbled slightly and bent down to pick up her fallen glasses, but before she put them back on, she turned her head to take a quick peak behind her and that's when he saw them; her eyes. They were two, big orbs of crystal clear, ice blue, shinning out from her face with a haunting sadness. Riku's spirit was moved to the point where tears actually gathered in his eyes at the emotion he saw. It was then and there that he was taken, his heart was taken and he didn't even know the captor's name.

The handsome silverette took several deep breaths to force the pink coloring in his cheeks to recede before finally turning to face the curious sky blue eyes of his best friend. Sora was still looking at him with an inquisitive gaze, waiting patiently for the older male to say something.

"She's…interesting Sora," the man finally said, his voice softer now, thoughtful, as he played with the fake diamond earring in his left ear, "She's quiet and mysterious and almost ghost-like. I've never seen her before, not until this year anyway and no one seems to know a thing about her. I can't help but be curious."

Sora blinked, "Ooookaaaaay…when exactly did you even start noticing her? I mean, I've never seen her before, not until I noticed you staring at her far too much."

Riku narrowed his eyes as Sora chuckled at him before answering, "A couple of months ago. She was just passing by and I happened to look up when she was."

"Alright, well, lots of girls pass by. Why haven't you noticed any of them?"

"For plenty of reasons," Riku answered in an exasperated voice at the thought of the little pretties that throw themselves at him, "I've known many of them for many years, I see them all on a daily basis, I never go a day without one of them flirting with me. The list just goes on and on."

At this point, Riku had averted his attention to his locker where he proceeded to open it and pull out the books necessary for his next class, Calculus. During this process, he just vaguely heard his best friend mutter under his voice 'lucky bastard', which he then continued to ignore as Sora voiced his next question.

"I still don't get it though. What makes this girl that you're obsessing over so special anyway? I mean, I see nothing special about her. She's different, I give you that much what with her dark skin and all that hair, but not entirely special."

Riku stared into the open space of his locker, flashing back to the day he witnessed the Ghost Girl being knocked over, her glasses falling to the ground and that quick glimpse of her sad ice blue eyes before they were hidden by her glasses and she scurried away to her class. He then began to wonder what made her so sad like that; perhaps it was the daily harassment she received from her other classmates, the constant teasing and physical abuse would be enough to depress any teen these days. And yet he couldn't but think that it was something else, some…other reason for it.

"Her eyes are sad," the silverette finally replied, shutting his locker and holding his books.

"Wait, what?" Sora responded, scratching his head in confusion.

"Her eyes. They're sad," Riku repeated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Dude, seriously? No one has ever seen her eyes! They're always hidden behind her glasses, which, by the way, has an awful glare!" Sora cried, waving his hands about.

"I've seen her eyes and when I saw them, I felt empty all of a sudden. I felt sad myself. It's almost as if she has a burden on her shoulders and the only way to let people know she's hurting is through her eyes, her expression. It is said that the eyes are the gateway to a person's soul," Riku said, leaning against his locker while looking at the ground.

Sora didn't say anything for several long minutes, allowing everything Riku just said process fully in his brain. When he finally got his mind wrapped around it, his response wasn't exactly understanding.

"Yeah, okay, I think you're looking too deeply into this girl and trying to get too involved. I say you should just forget her and find someone who's a happy person, someone like Megumi! She's really sweet and she ain't too hard on the eyes either."

Sora wiggled his eyebrows at his best friend suggestively, an action the silverette waved off with a tired sigh. Somehow, he knew Sora would never understand his thoughts on the Ghost Girl. Why he told him anything at all, he couldn't remember.

"Never mind. You should get to class, you don't want Mrs. Hikari getting mad at you again for being late three days in a row," he suggested, looking at his brunette friend blankly.

Sora let out a horrified gasp before grabbing his backpack; "Oh my god, you're right! She'll have my skin if I'm late again! I-I'll see you at lunch Riku! Later!" he exclaimed in a rush as he took off down the hall to his next class, leaving in his wake a dust trail and quite a few confused classmates.

Riku stared after the brunette, chuckling to himself before he turned around in the opposite direction and began his trek to class.

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_Dear Journal,_

_I saw that boy again today, the one that's been watching me a lot lately. I think his name is Riku if I can remember correctly from all the chatter I hear in the girl's locker room; they never could shut up about him. He was with that other boy, the one that has all that crazy spiky hair that could be used as a weapon if he wanted to. Hehehe. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be talking about hair since mine is so crazy and out of control itself sometimes. Anyway, I don't know what to make of him. He seems so…interested maybe? There would be times when I would be walking around and feel like I'm being watched only to turn around and find him looking either at me or just in my general direction. His eyes are so beautiful, such a pretty bluish-green color. No wonder why all the girls like him so much, he's definitely a handsome boy but I wonder…why does he stare at me so much? Maybe it's because he hates me and is trying to light me on fire with his burning gaze so as to rid the world of me. I don't know, maybe one day I'll find out._

She closed the black, leather bound book she had just been writing in, sighing softly to herself as she closed her eyes. There was total peace in her last class of the day, Expressive Art and Creative Writing. This was her favorite class because it allowed her to unwind and express her feelings, if only a little bit without having to draw more attention to herself. Her physical appearance did enough of that for her: her mahogany skin, wild black curls, and blue eyes made her a sideshow freak in the eyes of the other students. It also didn't help that she wasn't very social, tending to keep to herself a lot and would prefer to write and paint rather than make friends.

She picked the black book up in her hands and held it dearly to her chest for a moment before slipping it into her beaten shoulder bag. She then took out a sketchbook and placed it on the desk in front of her, deciding to work on her last picture while she still had a little time. She flipped through some pages before she came to a black and white sketch of a mamma bear sleeping in a grassy, wooded area with her cub. The girl smiled at the picture, finding it to be somewhat inspirational. She loved bears for some reason, finding their strength and cunning smarts to be the qualities she longed for in order to help herself have a decent life, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon, so she settled with just making the picture beautiful.

Riiiiiinnnnngggggg!

"Alright my students, class is over for the day. Be safe on your way home," the teacher, Mrs. Belle, bid to her class, a warm smile on her face.

The students all began to pack up their things at their teacher's words, the girl looking sadly at her picture for a moment before following suit. Just as she was about to leave class, Mrs. Belle stopped her with a request.

"Corina, may I have a moment of your time?" she requested in a kind voice.

"Um…S-Sure," the girl, Corina, replied, stopping at her teacher's desk.

Once all the students had gone from the class, Mrs. Belle stood up from behind her desk and walked around it, standing next to her young student.

"How have you been, Corina?" the older woman asked, folding her hands in front of her as she looked at the younger woman with kind eyes.

"Um, good. A-And you?" Corina responded, her cheeks growing a little warm due to her embarrassment; she didn't like how she stuttered sometimes.

"I'm doing just fine, thank you," Mrs. Belle answered before moving on to the point she was getting to at the beginning, "Corina, I wanted to ask you about your painting."

"Oh…is that so?" the young woman muttered, her eyes flitting to her canvas in the back corner of the room where all the other canvases sat, a white cloth draped over it to hide the contents beneath.

"Yes, I was just curious to see how it was coming along. I noticed you've stopped working on it for a couple of weeks now and it was coming along so well."

"Well…I've just sort of…lost the inspiration I guess. I haven't had the heart to paint, just to write more than anything, but I will get it done eventually," Corina uttered in her soft voice, forcing a small smile on her face in order to please her instructor.

Despite how unsure Mrs. Belle was about Corina's words, she simply smiled and patted the young woman's shoulder, "Splendid Corina! I look forward to seeing the finished result. You've got a magnificent talent and this painting could be your starting mark."

Corina gave her teacher that same, forced smile, pushing her glasses further up her nose before nodding her head and tightening her hold on her shoulder bag, "Thanks Mrs. Belle. I should probably get going now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right, you have a good afternoon and be safe on the way home. Good bye Corina," the teacher bid to her student with a wave.

Corina waved back before walking out of the warm, comfortable classroom and beginning her trek home, first stopping by her locker to get rid of her books and getting the ones necessary for homework that night. She sighed as she spun the combination on her locker, the lock catching with a click and allowing her to swing the door open effortlessly. Corina became lost in her daydreaming as she robotically put her things away, thoughts of the mysterious silver-headed boy riddling her mind and making her unaware of the outside world.

Until…

"Ah!"

A shriek left the curly-haired girl's lips as her locker door was forcefully shut with a loud bang, just barely missing crushing her hand in the process. She heard a deep, taunting chuckle to her left and looked in that direction in fear, her eyes landing on the tall, beefy form of Seifer Watabi, point guard on the school's basketball team, quarterback on their football team, and her worst nightmare ever.

"What's up little geek?" he sneered at her, chuckling at her cowering form.

Corina decided not to answer, knowing that anything she said to him would only make the harassment go on longer. So she opted for keeping silent, staring at the ground as she shook in front of the large male and his three jock friends. Seifer let out a cackle, roughly pushing her against the lockers and causing her to cry out in both fear and pain as her head struck the cold metal.

"Aw, did the little geek get hurt? Here, let me help you get your mind off the pain!" he taunted, taking hold of her arm and throwing her towards one of his buddies, her shoulder bag in his hand as it was ripped from around her head.

"Wait! M-My bag!" Corina finally spoke, breaking away from the other jock and running towards Seifer.

"What? This old thing?" the blond cackled, pushing her away from his person and onto the floor, her glasses falling off of her face, "What do you have in here that's so important?"

Corina's eyes widened in fear and mortification; her journal with her most private thoughts was in there. She jumped up from the floor and ran at Seifer again, jumping up and making desperate grabs for her bag as the giant oaf held it high above her head.

"Please! Please give it back!" she cried in despair, jumping on her tiptoes.

"Come on, geek, if you want it so bad, you have to work for it!" he laughed cruelly, throwing his bag to one of his friends.

This silly game of Monkey in the Middle went on for several seconds with Corina jumping from jock to jock, trying to get her bag back. She felt hopeless and powerless against these much bigger boys, praying to any god that would listen to her that mercy would be shown somehow, someway and by someone.

"Hey, leave her alone!"

The roughhousing seized at the powerful voice from down the hall, five pairs of eyes turning to see the angry figure of Riku Toshido standing no more than six feet away. His beautiful eyes were narrowed into a glare, seeming almost cat-like and dangerous, the glint within those orbs matching the glare of his earring. Corina stared at him, finding it unbelievable that he was there at all. Seifer snorted at him, his evil grin disappearing and being replaced with a scowl.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Toshido. What the hell do you want?" the blond sneered at the silverette, his own eyes set in a heated glare.

"This is low even for you, Seifer. Is the only way you can prove you're a man, by picking on defenseless girls?" Riku replied coldly, his body tense.

"Girl? What girl? All I see is a geek!" Seifer cackled as he threw Corina onto the ground roughly, one of his jock friends throwing her bag next to her, its contents scattering all over the floor.

Riku looked at the girl, his anger starting to boil over as she stared helplessly at the ground, defeated and frightened. However, he kept his anger in check, wanting to just get Seifer away from her.

"Cut it out, Seifer!" he demanded, standing tall.

"Or what Toshido? What are you going to do?" Seifer said, taking a few strides to stand face to face with the silverette, a scowl on his face as he asked the question.

Riku glared at the blond man, blinking once, before answering with, "Or I'll just have to have a talk with Coach Sid about your place on the basketball team."

Seifer's eye twitched at this, his body starting to shake with visible anger. Riku held his ground against him, waiting to see if he would throw the first punch. The air was thick with tension for a moment before Seifer finally backed off, a condescending smile on his face as he chuckled darkly.

"Whatever, you're not worth my time Toshido," he finally replied, moving around the silverette with his cronies, "Go help your little geek. I don't care."

Riku watched the troupe walk away until they were a good distance down the hall before turning his attention to the beaten girl on the floor. Corina was desperately trying to gather all of her things and stuff them back in her shoulder bag. Her hands shook uncontrollably, her things falling from her grasp faster than they were making it in. Tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision though not enough that she didn't see her glasses. She made a quick grab for them, dropping the items in her arms as well as the glasses when her mind became too frazzled to comprehend what she was doing all at once. Corina eventually had to pause all of her actions, settling for just sitting on her knees, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She felt so weak just then, so out of it, and all she could do was rub her eyes and cry.

The silver-headed male looked down upon her sadly, moving as cautiously as possible to prevent her from having a panic attack. He kneeled down in front of her, watching for a moment as she rubbed at her puffy eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling down her face. Completely on impulse, with a small thought in the back of his mind filled with the vision of her eyes, Riku reached out and seized Corina's face in his hands. The ebony girl stopped moving, and crying for that matter, and widened her eyes in surprise at the calloused fingers gently touching her cheeks. Riku now had the clearest view of her ice blue eyes, the full expression within her orbs hitting his heart with perfect aim. That haunting sadness was back, lodged somewhere deep in her soul and pained his own to witness. At that point, the silver-headed man wanted nothing more than to make all of that sadness go away, to see her eyes bright with happiness and a smile on her face.

Blue eyes blinked rapidly, the owner trying to make the figure in front of her stay in focus. She could just barely make out a silverish color and pale skin, but that was all; she was practically blind without her glasses. Feeling around, her fingers brushed hard, thin metal and she quickly recognized it as the feel of her specs so she picked them up and wiggled herself free of the hands on her face, slipping her glasses back on.

"Um, hi!"

Corina blinked a few times, gasping in surprise a moment later as a hot blush colored her cheeks. It was the silver-headed boy from before! Riku! He was still here, helping her! She felt absolutely mortified! Not only did he witness her being a total dork by getting picked on, but he also witnessed her crying like a sad little baby. When would the injustice end for her!

"I-I'm so sorry to inconvenience you! I-I'll j-just get my things and-and be on my way!" she exclaimed, picking up her possessions at a rapid rate, stuffing them all in her bag as quickly as possible.

"It's no trouble, really. Don't worry about it," Riku replied, trying to help her gather her things as well, but she was moving too quick for him, "Let me help you."

"No! You've done enough for me already! I don't want to be a burden anymore!" Corina cried out, bolting up from the ground.

"You're not being a burden," Riku said in confusion, wondering why she was freaking out so much when all he wanted to do was help.

"Thank you for helping me before! I'll just be on my way!"

And with that, the sad, blue-eyed girl turned around abruptly and began a brisk walk away.

"Wait a minute! Hold on!"

Riku shot his hand out and grasped her wrist in a firm grip, pulling her back towards him and into his chest. For a moment, both teens were stunned motionless, each looking into each other's eyes with a sense of fascination and wonder. Riku found her to be a lot lighter than he originally thought and not to mention a lot smaller too; the top of her head barely reached the middle of his throat! Corina really didn't know what to think, it was all just so confusing. She was more or less ready to be thrown to the ground just as Seifer had done to her, but no physical pain came, all she could do was look at Riku's perfect face and admire his expressive features.

"Uh, s-sorry," the silver-headed male whispered, a pink blush spreading across the bridge of his nose, "I just…I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I am okay. Nothing broken," Corina replied in a small voice, her eyes focused on Riku's chest, which she noticed was somewhat prominent beneath his white, button-down school shirt.

"Are you sure? They roughed you up quite a bit," the young man pressed, releasing her wrist and placing his hands on her shoulders, lightly pressing on the hidden flesh and watching for any signs of pain.

Corina tensed and stepped away from his touch slightly, confused at his actions as his fingers prodded her shoulders and forearms gently. She suddenly let out a surprised cry as a shock of pain shot up her right arm. She attempted to yank herself away from Riku's curious hands, but the man held her in place, an apologetic expression crossing his features.

"Sorry…Looks like you've been bruised there," he commented, applying pressure to that spot again and gaining confirmation to his suspicions when Corina flinched.

"I-It'll be fine. If it's just a bruise, it'll heal," the ebony girl responded, tugging on her arm once more.

Riku hummed thoughtfully before loosening his hold on Corina's arm so his hand slid down till it was gripping her wrist once more. He tugged her wrist gingerly, indicating that he wanted her to follow him, a kind smile still on his face.

"We should have the nurse look at it to make sure that it's nothing serious. I think she's still here," he voiced, tugging on her wrist again and preparing to start walking.

His actions were halted as Corina dug her heels into the linoleum floor, preventing him from pulling her any farther. Riku stopped and turned around, blinking his sea green eyes at the dark-skinned girl in confusion. Corina had her head down bashfully, her cheeks turning a brighter red as she spoke to him.

"U-Um, I'm pretty sure it's nothing at all. Bruises heal pretty fast and…and it's not like I've got a broken bone or anything! So, let's not make a big deal out of it!" she said hastily.

Riku turned to face her completely, "But…what if there are more bruises? Or what if you're hurt somewhere else that you don't know about?"

"Then I'll take care of it myself!" Corina yelled, clamping a hand over her mouth a second later.

Riku merely blinked at her sudden outburst, looking down at his hand attached to her wrist as she placed her other hand over it.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me," she started in a soft voice, pushing on his hand to free her wrist, "but I really should get going now."

Just as she was about to slip her fingers free, Riku suddenly encased them in his palm, holding her tiny hand tightly within his. Corina gasped and tensed up, thinking she had angered him and was awaiting a painful blow.

"My name's Riku. What's yours?" the silverette asked, trying to see past the glare of her glasses into her sad, blue eyes again.

Corina could only stare at him for a moment before she mumbled, "…Corina."

Quick as lightening, after revealing her name, the ebony-skinned girl slipped her hand from the taller man's grasp and dashed down the long hallway. Riku whipped around to see her retreating form, his mind scrambling for any last words.

"Uh! It-It's nice to meet you Corina! I'll see you later! Maybe we can hang out some time!" he called to her just before she rushed around the corner and disappeared.

The halls were silent, the silver-headed teen left standing there in front of the window with the sun streaming through and warming his flesh. He felt tingly all over, as if he had just accomplished something that he's been dying to fulfill for quite some time now.

"Maybe…we'll hang out some time soon. Maybe..."

**End Chapter

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**Jamaican Sunshower: **Okay, well there goes chapter one! I hope you enjoyed and I look forward to reading some reviews. Just to give a heads up, I actually have the second chapter written and waiting so the rest is up to you! Ciao for now!


	2. Chapter 2

**Jamaican Sunshower: **Honestly, I couldn't wait to put this one up to see what you guys think. So, enjoy please!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Kingdom Hearts.

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**The Blue of Your Eyes**

**Chapter 2: The Library**

Yaaaaawwwwwnnnn!

Her eyes filled with sleep tears after her very satisfying yawn, her blurry ice blue vision refocusing on the eggs cooking in the pan. There was a 'clink' noise right next to the stove, Corina setting down her spatula for a moment to take her toast out of the toaster and put jelly on it. She then turned back to the two fried eggs in the pan, scooping them up and placing them on the plate that held her toast and some sausages. Turning off the heat underneath the pan and picking up the plate of hot food, she walked the three steps to the kitchen table and sat down with her food and a glass of orange juice.

"Breakfast alone…what else is new?" she asked herself, taking a sip of her orange juice while looking out the window next to the table.

The view wasn't exactly spectacular since all she saw were the same buildings she's been seeing every morning for the past 5 years, but then again, the morning rays of the sun always made everything beautiful. Corina took a moment of peace to just admire what little of nature was out there before turning back to her breakfast and the mail sitting next to it. It was yesterday's mail, actually, but the blue-eyed girl didn't have the energy to busy herself with it; at the time, her mind was still reeling after her encounter with the silver-headed boy with the diamond studded earring, the incident all she was able to think about even though it had occurred four days prior to this morning.

"Let's see now, bills…bills…bills…more bills…" Corina muttered to herself, looking through the various envelopes before a particular one in a dark blue color caught her attention, "And dad's letter of the month."

The ebony-skinned girl put down the stack of bills and took the dark blue envelope in her hand, opening it and pulling out a single piece of paper that held her father's handwriting on it and several pictures.

_**My Dear Little Princess,**_

_**How are you darling? Fine I hope, everything is satisfactory on my end. I know, I know, you're now wondering 'which end daddy?'. Well, sweetheart, I'm now roaming the large, green fields of Ireland! Exciting no? The locals are so friendly and, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit this, very fond of alcoholic beverages. No, darling, I am not partaking in these events with the locals, but it's just so interesting to witness! Their merriment!… Dearest Angel, I know I've been away for quite some time and that you must be so lonely, but don't worry, my heart, I will return and you and I will be a family again. Daddy just needs some time, that's all, some time…I deposited $7,000 into your account the other day, that should take care of the bills for this month along with the rent and school tuition and also give you some money to live off of until next month. I love you, my darling sunshine, and I will write to you again next month.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Daddy**_

Corina read the letter a couple more times before she put it aside and took up the stack of pictures. The first one was of a man with hair a chestnut brown and cut short, skin a light tan, and eyes a deep blue, just like hers. He was standing in front of a large green field peppered with what looked like white sheep. The man was smiling in a carefree manner, his blue eyes twinkling with laughter. This was Corina's father, Matthew Hedson, a funny, silly, hopeless romantic of a man who had swept her mother off of her feet with his sweet words and hilarious attitude. Corina kept flipping through the photos, tears welling in her eyes at the sight of her father so happy yet still too unsatisfied to come home.

Matthew Hedson had left his daughter when she was merely 12 years old, 7 months after her mother, a beautiful African-American woman named Sonja, had passed away due to Breast Cancer. Matthew had lived those 7 months with his daughter in a zombie-like state, too shocked and numbed by the death of his lovely wife to be active enough in his daughter's life, to take notice of her growth. So, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, he decided to take off to the see the world, a dream that he and Sonja had promised to do together before their daughter was born. Don't be too alarmed, the man was still readily prepared to care for his darling angel financially, putting enough money in her bank account to take care of the bills, school tuition, rent, food, and any miscellaneous outings while he was away. This lifestyle for both father and daughter has been continuing for over 5 years now, 5 years Corina had to live without both mother and father present, 5 years of loneliness and sadness. Corina hardly ever got to write her father back; he rarely left a return address on his letters so the young girl could never reply to her loving father and tell him how she was doing. She missed him and wished for his safety everyday he was away from her.

"Come home soon, daddy…please?" she said to the picture of her father, tears starting to trail down her cheeks as she cried in sadness.

She stood up on shaky legs, too unhappy to finish her breakfast, and instead set about getting ready for school. By 7:15, she was fully showered and clothed in the Destiny Prep Academy uniform: a white blouse, black and green plaid skirt, black knee length socks, black shoes, and a forest green blazer with the school's initials in front of their crest, a shield with a sword and staff crossed in front of it. Her hair, usually a mass of pure black curls, was once again combed and brushed down to look straight and put into a long braid over her shoulder. She picked up her shoulder bag, swung it over her head and prepared to leave. Corina turned back to the moderate apartment she used to share with her father, looked upon the solitude of the living and kitchen, stared down the hall to the empty rooms, before she adjusted her glasses upon the bridge of her nose and exited the humble abode. She walked down the two flights of stairs to the street below before she was stopped by an old, motherly voice from above.

"Corina, dear, leaving for school already?"

The ebony-skinned girl looked up to where her apartment was held to the see the old, wrinkled face of her apartment neighbor, Mrs. Shirkson. Mrs. Shirkson was a kind and gentle woman with hair as white as snow, skin wrinkled and milky, and a stature short and stout, very grandmother like. Ever since Corina's father left, Mrs. Shirkson had taken it upon herself to assist the young teen in anything she may need within her power; from cooking her dinner and sweets to patching up her clothes to just allowing her to stay with her for the night because she was lonely, the old woman did it all simply because she loved the young teen and felt pity for her.

Corina smiled up at Mrs. Shirkson, readjusting the strap of her bag, "Good morning, Mrs. Shirkson and yes, I am leaving for school right now. I want to beat the rush before it gets too crowded for me to walk around."

The old woman nodded her head at the teen, a warm smile across her wrinkled face as she replied, "Very well dear. You have a good day, now, alright? Will you be coming over today after school? I'm baking cookies and brownies and Mr. Freckles will love to see you again."

Corina let out a soft giggle at the offer, the image of a sleek, dark brown feline with tiny black spots peppering his fur lounging lazily in her lap crossing her mind.

"Sure, Mrs. Shirkson, I'll come over today if you want me of course," the young girl replied, the smile on her face never once reaching her eyes.

The old woman frowned at the deeply rooted sadness but said nothing on the matter and accepted Corina's words with a warm smile, "Wonderful dear. See you this afternoon."

Corina returned the smile, though half-hearted, and turned on her heel to start heading to school. The walk to the academy from her apartment was no more than 15 minutes and that was on a slow day. The young teen often spent this time daydreaming, taking her mind somewhere happy, somewhere with her father, before she had to endure reality for 8 hours of her life. It was fairly early in Radiant Garden, the city she lived in, but still, the streets were alive and buzzing with activity. The tram carrying various students who lived farther than she did from the school drove past her. Shops and shopkeepers were awake and ready to sell, advertising their merchandise like always. Radiant Garden was a fairly beautiful place, but Corina found it difficult to enjoy much of it. She was too down trodden to enjoy much of it, unfortunately.

"…Hmm? I'm at school already?"

Corina snapped back into focus when the entrance of Destiny Prep Academy came into view; 15 minutes of freedom from torture and torment never lasted long enough to satisfy her. She stared up at the imposing structure, feeling smaller and smaller the longer she looked at it, and the longer she stood while the other students bumped into her as if she wasn't there. After the last person nearly knocked her over, she decided to move a little ways away from the entrance, opting for standing somewhat behind a bush. She fixed her glasses higher up onto her nose and took a deep, calming breath.

"Just be strong, Corina, you can do this. You've been doing it for 5 years now, another day won't make a difference," she mumbled to herself, lowering her head systematically, "Daddy would want you to be strong…and so would mom."

She stepped out from behind the bush, keeping to the shadows and moved along to the entrance. She hugged her books tight to her chest, one hand on the strap of her shoulder bag to make sure no one tried to take it from her again, and swiftly moved through the crowds of bustling teens. Her form was slight and tiny, making it relatively easy for her to avoid being jostled too harshly. She stayed close to the lockers, her eyes downcast, as she retreated back into her own mind, something she did often. She started to think about Riku and the afternoon he had saved her from Seifer's bullying. She found the act to be sweet and kind yet very frightening at the same time. No one besides Mrs. Shirkson and some of the teachers had ever shown her kindness and Corina couldn't help but feel that Riku was just playing with her emotions, waiting to strike out and harm her just like everyone else.

So, due to her fear of being humiliated, she avoided the young silverette male at all costs. She ran from him whenever she saw him in the hallways, bolting out of sight before he had a chance to even realize that she was there. She hid among the moving bodies of the other students to hide herself from his view, took the long ways around when she went to her classes, and basically did every pathetic thing she could think of to avoid having another run in with Riku. She felt safer this way and hoped against hope that by not seeing her at all Riku would then forget she even existed and the both of them would continue of with their lives.

"Hey! Corina!"

Riku had been with his friends that morning, hanging out by Sora's locker with said brunette and several of their friends as well. There was Roxas Himura, a blond boy with blue eyes who could have been mistaken for Sora's twin if people didn't know better, Kairi Yutaka, a pretty redhead with deep azure eyes, and Namine Shio, a quiet blond artist with innocent sky blue eyes who also happened to be Roxas's girlfriend. The five teens were conversing amongst each other, four of the five watching as Sora attempted to break into his own locker. It got stuck frequently and it was always entertaining to watch him struggle with it.

"Sora, maybe you should just try the combination again instead of just giving up after the first attempt failed," Roxas suggested to the fuming brunette, chuckling as Sora pouted.

"This locker hates me and it deserves to be punished!" he shouted, taking the hammer he had somehow mysteriously acquired and brutally bashing the metal door.

Kairi giggled into her hand at her friend's actions, Namine looking around slightly worried.

"Isn't hitting your locker with a hammer destroying school property? That's vandalism isn't it?" the blond female asked, looking around for any teachers that might be coming down the hall at any given moment.

"At this point, I don't think he cares," Kairi giggled again, shaking her head as Sora threw the hammer to the side and just straight pulled on the handle, forgetting that the lock was still on the handle therefore keeping it sealed shut.

Riku chuckled at his crazy brunette friend before his eyes moved to scan the crowd for the umpteenth time that morning. Roxas didn't miss how distracted the taller, stronger male was, and addressed the issue as casually as he could.

"What's up with you, Riku? You seem distracted today? And yesterday and the day before that too," the blond boy questioned playfully, crossing his arms over his chest.

Riku turned his pretty aquamarine eyes to the blond boy, blinking in slight confusion before shaking his head and leaning back against the lockers.

"It's nothing really. Nothing at all," he mumbled, his eyes involuntarily scanning the crowd again.

"Yeah, I bet it's nothing," Sora muttered in irritation, glaring at his locker now, "He's been that way ever since he finally met the shadow of the school a few days ago. That Ghost Girl."

"Ghost Girl? What's he talking about, Riku?" Kairi inquired, looking to the silent male who merely looked at the ground with a light dusting of pink across the bridge of his nose.

"Th-There aren't any ghosts here…r-right?" Namine questioned with a stutter, her eyes widening in fear. It may seem silly, but Namine did believe in the supernatural, claiming to have seen ghosts when she was a child.

"No, babe, there are no ghosts. That's just Sora's nickname for that girl no one knows," Roxas replied, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her temple a light kiss.

"Does anybody know her name?" Kairi pressed, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

"It's Cathy or Carla or something to that effect," Sora replied, attempting his combination again but with no avail.

Riku glared at the brunette before pushing him aside and spinning the combination himself.

"Her name…is Corina," he responded as the lock finally took the combination and the door flew open after one firm tug.

"Hooray! You did it! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sora cheered hyperly, latching himself onto Riku's back and hugging his neck.

Riku narrowed his eyes before pushing his friend off and muttering a 'whatever' before moving to lean against his locker. It was at this moment that he scanned the crowd in another attempt to spot a female with sandy brown skin, black hair, and glasses hiding the saddest eyes he's ever seen. Luck was on his side this time as his eyes landed on said figure, walking almost in a daze on the other side of the hall, her arms tight around her books and her eyes downcast. His heart stopped for a moment, his aquamarine orbs widening in surprise at his stroke of luck. Riku had been trying to find Corina for close to five days now, wondering how she could be so evasive for so long. When she was nearly past him, his brain started working and he pushed himself off the wall and called out to her.

"Hey! Corina!"

Corina's head snapped up, startled, before she whirled around to find the owner of the voice that spoke. Her eyes then landed on the figure of Riku and his friends, all of them staring at her curiously. Her heart began to beat rapidly at the attention and in her panic, she did the only thing she knew how to do. She turned around and ran for it.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" Riku shouted after her, turning to get his bag and address his friends, "See you guys at lunch! Corina, wait up!"

Sora, Kairi, Namine and Roxas all watched him take off down the hall after the quiet, studious girl that everybody hardly knew. Namine had her eyes glued to the girl, her brows furrowed in confusion before realization hit her.

"Oh…that's Corina," she mused aloud, drawing the attention of her friends and boyfriend.

"Do you know her Namine?" Kairi questioned the blond artist.

Namine nodded slightly, bringing a pale hand up to brush golden locks out of her eyes, "Not personally, but I do recognize her now. We both have Expressive Art and Creative Writing together. She's awfully shy, never really talks to anyone; she just sits in her seat doing whatever it is she is asked to do. It kind of reminds me of myself before I met you guys."

Roxas smiled softly at his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and lightly kissing her neck; "And I still think you're super cute when you're shy."

Namine couldn't help the burning blush across her cheeks at Roxas's show of affection, Kairi giggling into her hand as Sora rolled his eyes with a smirk and folded his hands behind his head.

"You know, that's a handy bit of information right there. Once Riku finds out that you share a class with his new love interest, he'll practically beg you to help him out," the brunette voiced with a cheesy grin.

"Love interest?" Kairi repeated curiously.

"Yeah, wouldn't you say so? Riku's practically obsessed with this girl, so there's gotta be some deeper feelings going on," Sora answered in a knowing voice, closing one eye and wagging his finger at his friends.

"The man's got a point," Roxas chimed in, a smirk of his own crossing his lips, "I've never seen Riku show any interest in any girl up until now."

Kairi hummed thoughtfully, turning her attention down the hall where Riku had run off, "Riku in love…I actually like the sound of that!"

"This is going to be a memorable year," Namine voiced, smiling sweetly with a twinkle in her eyes.

"I'll say. Can't wait to see where it takes us," Sora chirped, him and his friends staring in the direction that Riku had left.

The silver-headed male ran after the swift moving girl, dodging the other students in his chase. Corina felt panic course through her, cursing her absentmindedness that made it possible for Riku to see her at all. She turned a corner, seeing the refuge of her class come into view, and dashed for safety. Too bad her slight form didn't give her any more of a speed advantage for Riku had caught up to her in to time and took hold of her wrist in his large hand and yanked her back, much how he did a few days ago when she tried to walk away from him. Corina's first reaction to the sudden roughness was so protect her face; therefore she threw her free hand over her head and braced herself for bodily harm. Riku stared at her trembling form, pulling her closer to the wall so as to avoid being bumped by the other students on their way to class.

"Hey…Corina," he started in a soft voice, releasing her wrist to lower her arm over her face.

This action only made her tense up even more and cringe against the wall. Riku then placed both hands on her raised arms and, as gently as he could, coaxed them down.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Corina, it's okay," Riku told her, pulling on her wrists again.

Corina cautiously cracked one eye open then two when she deemed it safe to do so. She gazed up at the boy in confusion, wondering what he could possibly want from her that he would chase her down the hallway. Riku tried to look past her glasses into her ice blue eyes, but was unable to see them clearly due to the glare from her specs. He wanted to see those sad blue eyes that had captivated his heart, but he won't push it.

"What do you want?" Corina questioned in a timid voice.

"I just…I just wanted…"Riku was at a loss for words; what did he want?

He wanted to know her, he wanted to talk to her, he wanted to make her smile and laugh and be happy for a change. He wanted to protect her from jerks like Seifer and he wanted to see those blue eyes bright with happiness. Which one of these answers were safe to say?

"I just wanted to say hi!"

None.

Corina cocked her head to the side, pulling her wrists from his grasp and taking a step back. What trick was he pulling on her? Just wanted to say hi? No one ever just wants to say hi to her.

"Okay…hi. Now I have to go," she replied swiftly, moving to walk around him into class since the bell chose that exact moment to ring.

Riku stepped in front of her, gently grasping her shoulders to stop her from running away again. He wanted to talk to her some more. He needed to talk to her, he needed her to know that he wanted to be her friend.

"I also wanted to know if you would like to hang out some time! Like at lunch?" he pressed, his eyes wide and bright with hope.

Corina was a little scared by his persistence, confused beyond all reason as to why he made it so urgent to talk to her or even remember who she was. She felt like this was some trap and she wanted to avoid this at all costs.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," she replied with her head down, missing how Riku's beautiful eyes turned dim from disappointment.

"Well, I think it is. You seem like a really nice girl and I'm sure my friends would love you!" Riku tried again, hoping she would comply.

She didn't.

Corina shook her head in the negative, pushing her glasses up further on her nose and pulling herself away from him.

"It's not a good idea…Riku," she said, finally using his name, "It's not a good idea at all. I'm sorry."

She made a beeline for her class, getting stuck in traffic as other students try to file in at the same time. Riku made another grab for her but missed his target.

"Wait, Corina!" he exclaimed, holding his hand out to her.

She turned to him once and shook her head, before entering the classroom and leaving the silverette standing there in the hallway. He had let her escape once again, let her slip through his fingers as easily as water does.

'What is wrong with me?' he exclaimed in his head, clenching his fists, 'I've never had trouble talking with a girl, so what makes this time so different?'

As if he truly had to ask himself that question; he knew what made her different, what made her stand out to him in the first place. That overwhelming sadness, those devastated and lonely eyes, these are what made her different, what made him chase after her. And until he could see the sadness disappear completely from her eyes, he would continue to chase.

So let her run. He'll only follow.

* * *

1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th period came and went in a blur for the silverette, his mind occupied by the image and personality of the young, evasive girl he's come to adore without really realizing it. It was now lunchtime and Riku was on his way to the cafeteria to meet his friends. He soon found himself at the entrance to the cafeteria, stopping just before he walked in and looked at the surroundings. This was the place where friends met up halfway through the school day to unwind some of their anxiety and let loose for an hour. This was the place where his friends were waiting for him, waiting for him to arrive so they, too, could partake in the unwinding ceremony. But all the handsome boy with the diamond earring could think about was that one lonely girl hidden somewhere in the school right now, afraid of everything around her and waiting to be accepted.

He needed to find her.

"My friends can wait," he said to himself resolutely, turning on his heel and heading down the hall, "I'll try the library. If I know anything about her so far, it's that she'll feel safer there."

So off he went in search of his heart's captor, said heart beating a million miles a minute for reasons he couldn't quite explain. After a few minutes, he found himself in the safe, quiet sanctuary of the school library. The place was fairly large with bookcases upon bookcases filled with various reading material. Tables and chairs were scattered throughout the area, making it very convenient and comfortable for students to spend their time and study if they so wished. Riku trekked through the library silently, nodding to the librarian with a smile, in search of a girl with sand brown skin.

'…Ah, there she is.'

Riku made no outward sound after his revelation, his eyes landing on the tiny form of Corina when he turned around the corner of a random bookcase. The young ebony teen was sitting at one of the many study tables set up in the library, curled up in one of the comfy chairs, sitting all alone with her back more towards him than her front. Her bag was discarded to the side of her, a paper bag lunch laying on the wooden surface of the table as her eyes focused on the notepad propped up close to her by her knees. She looked peaceful, relaxed, and unafraid.

This was the perfect opportunity.

He made his way to her as silent as a cat, stopping just mere inches from her and peering over her shoulder at what she was doing. He gasped quietly when he discovered what she was focusing on, his curiosity piquing at the picture of a mother bear cuddling with her young cub in the middle of a peaceful forest. Even though it was merely just a sketch, it was absolutely beautiful and this new discovery of one of her talents made him wonder what else she was hiding from the world.

"I think you should color that," he spoke aloud, jumping back when Corina's body convulsed and she ended up atop the wooden table.

Her eyes were wide with panic and shock, her body trembling again from the sudden appearance of the beautiful boy for the second time that day. Corina hadn't been expecting to see him in her sanctuary, her safe haven; then again, with the way things were going between them now, anything was possible.

Riku couldn't help the chuckle at her reaction, adjusting the strap of his bag as he smiled freely at her. For reasons that he couldn't understand himself, he felt at ease with her, comfortable, despite the fact that she nearly passed out on him by just looking at him.

"You really shouldn't scare yourself like that. You'll give yourself a heart attack," he voiced in a whisper, moving to sit in the chair across from her.

"I-I didn't scare myself! You scared me!" she exclaimed in a high whisper, moving off the table and sitting in her own chair, wanting to keep her distance from him.

"Yeah, I guess it is my fault. I shouldn't sneak up on you, especially since you're so jumpy," he chuckled again, propping his elbow up on the table and placing his chin in the palm of his hand.

Corina blushed a bright red, hiding her face behind her sketchbook and taking deep even breaths. She was confused beyond limits; what was Riku planning? Why was he following her everywhere? Why did he bother himself with her when she was absolutely nothing special at all?

"I wasn't lying before, about coloring the picture," he started to say, staring at her with the kindest of eyes, "I think it'll turn out beautiful once the whole feel of the forest comes in. Do you have any other pictures besides that one? I suppose you do since you have a whole sketchbook. I'd love to see them sometime, your drawings. I have a friend that draws too; she's amazing at it! And-"

Corina couldn't stop herself from asking.

"What do you want from me?" she hissed at him, finally done with this game.

She felt it was a game, like he was mocking her in some way she couldn't explain. Riku was obviously a somebody in school with friends and admirers that adored him and yet here he was with a nobody like her going on and on about nothing. This had to be a game and she was just going to fall victim.

Riku stopped talking and really stared at the girl across from him, at her thick black hair, light ebony skin, and the glare from her glasses. He suddenly had a distaste for those spectacles for the reason that they hid from him those very special, very expressive blue eyes. He knew she wasn't going to go changing the way she was so soon, but one day, he would be able to see those blue eyes all the time.

"What do I want from you?" he repeated her question with a quizzical look before smiling at her again, "I want you to accept me."

Corina blinked; "I'm sorry…but what?" she questioned.

"I want to be your friend, Corina, so I want you to accept me as your friend. I think you and I can be great friends, can't we?" Riku reiterated, leaning his chin against the back of his fingers.

Corina looked at the handsome silverette and replied, "N-No…we can't."

Riku blinked in surprise at her answer as she continued, "I d-don't think we can be friends at all, Riku…I don't think that's possible. I don't…I don't believe your claim to be my friend! I think you're lying to me, trying to get inside my head only to hurt me later!"

All was silent between the two teens, Riku staring at the trembling female as Corina stared down at the table, afraid to meet his gaze. She felt small at the moment, so little in the eyes of this handsome boy that was being so kind to her. But she was so beaten by hurtful words and constant bullying that she couldn't accept his kindness so easily. Riku knew that and wouldn't let her be afraid of him.

"I think you should go now…Riku," she said quietly, taking up her sketchpad again and preparing to draw in silence, "I'm sure you have better things to do other than bother yourself with me."

"…I'm not going anywhere."

Corina looked over the top of her sketchpad to see Riku's pale, flawless face smiling warmly at her again, his white teeth straight and perfect, just like him. His silver earring glinted in the sun as he moved his head around, his aquamarine eyes never leaving hers.

"I'm going to stay right here with you, Corina. I'll sit here with you for as long as it takes to make you believe me. I want to be your friend and I'll prove it to you even if it means spending lunch with you sitting here every single day," the boy declared determinedly.

Corina stared at him, shaking her head at his attempt at chivalry, "You won't last very long."

Riku chuckled and placed his chin back in the palm of his hand, "We'll see about that…my friend."

**End Chapter

* * *

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**Jamaican Sunshower: **Woot! World Record! Read and Review please!


	3. Chapter 3

**Jamaican Sunshower: **I am actually loving this story! I'm having so much fun with this! I'm not getting as much feedback as I had hoped to get, but whatever. Let's see where this takes me. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

**The Blue of Your Eyes**

**Chapter 3: The Flower Boy**

"Sigh…another day done," Corina muttered to herself as she left Mrs. Shirkson's apartment that afternoon with a plate full of cookies in her hand.

She walked three doors down to her own apartment number, fishing her keys out of her shoulder bag in the process.

"Meow."

Corina gasped quietly at the adorable mewl that came from behind her. She turned around to see Mrs. Shirkson's cat, Freckles, perched on the ledge in front of her apartment door, his golden eyes staring at her as his tail swished back and forth. The ebony-skinned girl smiled softly at the feline, forgetting her search for her keys for the moment and giving Freckles her attention.

"Hello Freckles, I missed you today," she cooed to the feline warmly, bending down to be eye level with him.

She giggled when the cat nuzzled his nose against her face, his tail swishing back and forth again in happiness. Corina brought her hand up to gently scratch behind his ear, another mewl of pleasure erupting from within the feline's throat.

"Well, at least you came to say hi to me. Make sure you get back to Mrs. Shirkson tonight okay? You know she worries about you."

"…Meow. Purr. Purr. Purr."

Corina giggled again, her blue eyes shinning with affection as Freckles licked his palm and wiped it across his head. She pet him behind his ear once more before standing straight and moving towards her door, house keys in hand.

"Okay, Freckles. Good night now," she bid to the feline, earning another 'Meow" from him before he leaped off the railing and disappeared from sight.

Corina giggled softly, shaking her head at his antics before moving into her apartment and shutting the door. It was silent in the little place, the quiet deafening to her ears. She missed coming home from school and smelling her mother's cooking. She missed hearing her father's loud, dramatic entrance when he returned from work. She missed all the laughter and fun times she shared with her parents. She missed her family.

She missed her old life.

However, it appeared that a new one was forming, very slowly but surely. It's been a couple of weeks now and Riku has actually been staying true to his word. Every day at lunch, when she was hiding in the library, he would ditch his friends and seek her out, spending every lunch hour with her tucked away in that little corner with the comfy chairs. At first, Corina was very wary of Riku's intentions, not trusting them at all because she's been through two full years of pure torment and she felt she knew better than that. But, as time went on, Riku proved to be a man of integrity, a man of kindness, a man that she could most likely trust if she had to choose someone to give her trust to.

'It's so strange,' she thought to herself as she dropped her bag to the floor, throwing her school blazer over the arm of the couch as she sat down, 'He's so sweet…and I can't figure out why. It's not normal for people to just up and talk to the outcast of the school…is it?'

She then started reminiscing about the past couple of weeks, about those lunch hours when Riku would sit in that chair across from her in the library and talk with her the entire time, even when she wouldn't exactly answer back. He was persistent, determined even, to make her realize that all he wanted was to be her friend. Corina could remember how interested he looked when she started answering his questions, how attentive he was during the entire conversations they had. He paid attention to her, he noticed her, and it frightened the poor girl.

"He has to be up to something, he just has to," she mumbled to herself, drawing her legs up to her chest and hugging them tightly, "No one that handsome and that sweet would ever approach me. Not when everyone knows what a loser I am."

She spent the next several hours just sitting there, staring at nothing and listening to nothing. The clock in her apartment didn't even make that annoying ticking sound that all clocks do. There was nothing but emptiness in Corina's home, nothing but solitude and she wished it would go away.

"I can't keep sitting here like this…it's not healthy," she said to herself, finally moving off of the couch and looking at the clock above the living room TV.

9:45 pm.

"Well, it's too late for dinner. I'm not really hungry anyway. Already had a bunch of cookies and brownies with Mrs. Shirkson anyway. I guess I'll just take a shower and head to bed."

With that, Corina gathered her things and made her way to her room where she proceeded to bathe herself in the shower for the next thirty minutes, really just enjoying the bliss of the warm water against her Earth brown skin. She soon found herself lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling as sleep slowly, very slowly, consumed her. The last things she saw before blackness faded her vision were Riku's gentle aquamarine eyes staring at her warmly and telling her that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

_**"Okay, it's been two weeks, Riku! Spill your guts! How great is this girl that she's been keeping you hostage in the library all this time?"**_

Riku rolled his eyes at Sora's dramatic exclamation, settling his back against the pillows propped up on his headboard. He was dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a gray shirt, his sleeping attire for the night as he lounged on his bed and talked with his best friend over the phone.

"She hasn't been keeping me hostage, Sora. It's a personal choice on my part to spend lunch with her in the library," Riku answered Sora's question.

"_**Dude, it's the library! The most boring place on the entire campus!"**_ Sora exclaimed again.

"I don't care and it's not boring! It's actually very peaceful; you can hear yourself think. Corina showed me that," Riku replied with an affectionate smile on his face.

_**"Okay, so the chic likes peace and solitude. What else have you learned about her from the two weeks you two have spent together?"**_

This time, the silverette took a few moments to collect his thoughts before answering. That was actually a very good question that Sora asked; what HAS he learned about Corina? It didn't appear to be much considering how quiet she still seemed to be while he prattled on and on about nothing in front of her. The reason for that is because he wants to get to a topic that she will actually speak up about, but no matter what he said she would remain silent and simply look at him. Look at him with those sad blue eyes that hurt his heart to see.

"Well…I learned that she's not very trusting," the handsome silver-headed boy finally answered, sighing lightly, "She's very internal, doesn't like to let her guard down in front of others. She's more or less afraid of me, afraid of people."

"_**She has been picked on since the school year started, man,"**_ Sora voiced on the other line.

Riku shook his head as if in confusion, "No…No it seems that there's more to it than just getting picked on this year. It has to have been going on for longer than that."

"_**She's friendless, Riku. She doesn't have anyone to depend on or rely on or anything! She's all alone in that school."**_ Sora, for once in a long time, sounded wiser than Riku ever remembered him sounding.

The handsome boy sighed again and hit his head against the headboard with a soft thump, "I know that, but how do I change it? Maybe if she met you guys too, she wouldn't feel so lonely."

"_**Hey, that's a great idea!"**_ Sora cried chipperly, _**"That way, she'll see that you can be trusted, she makes a few friends, and I finally get to see what makes this chic so freakin' special!"**_

Again, Riku rolled his eyes but it was playful this time as a chuckle left his lips, "Sora, I think you'll be the one to scare her away if anything."

"_**Whatever! She'll love me, everyone does! Hahaha!"**_

The boys went back and forth over the phone, their conversation switching from one topic to the next before they finally decided to call it a night. Bidding his best friend a good night, Riku hung up his cell phone and placed it beside him on the bed. He stared at the device for a good two minutes before sighing again and moving to lay flat on his back. He stared up at his smooth, white ceiling, the blank canvas allowing him an opportunity to see the images in his head without much distraction. He saw Corina in his mind's eye, her thick hair braided over her shoulder and her glasses hiding her blue eyes that peered at him from her dark face. He saw her curled up in that library chair, her sketchbook in her lap as she doodled mindlessly while listening to him talk. Every now and then she would look up to stare him in the eye before she became embarrassed and averted her eyes to her drawings once more. Riku chuckled at the images, finding her little quirks to be quite endearing and all the more attractive to him.

"So cute and sweet like a little Hershey's Kiss," Riku said, chuckling at the comparison, "Oh Corina…what are you doing to me?"

* * *

'Let's see, the power of 7 added to the square root of 39 equals x to the 8th right? Or was it x to the 4th? Where did the power of 7 come from?'

Corina chewed on the end of her pencil, straining her brain as she tried to figure out a certain problem on her math homework. However, her mind wasn't all there at the moment seeing as how every five seconds or so she would raise her head to look around the library for a certain handsome boy with silver hair. Despite how she didn't want to, she couldn't help but look forward to his company now. She felt comfortable around him.

'Darn it! Stop goofing off, Corina! Focus! You need to get this!' she screamed at herself in her head, shaking herself out of her wanderings before turning back to her homework, 'You need to figure out where the power of 7 came from!'

"Are you seriously doing homework right now?"

Corina jumped slightly and gasped at the deep voice whispering in her ear, the hot breath making her shudder from the sudden warmth. She whipped around and restrained herself from smiling when the sight of Riku registered in her mind. He was leaning over her chair, peering at her math work before he chuckled and straightened.

"Oh come on, Corina. I know we're in school and all, but you don't have to do homework every second of your life," he whispered playfully as he took his usually seat across from her.

"Hmph. I just don't want to do this later. This chapter is kind of difficult and I want to just get it over with before I go home," Corina defended herself, feeling her cheeks heat up as she scooted her book closer to her and held her notebook in her lap so Riku wouldn't be able to watch what she was doing.

The silverette only chuckled again before he fished his sack lunch out of his bag. He started bringing his own paper bag lunch to school when he started sitting with Corina in the library, mirroring her actions since she brought her lunch to school instead of going through the cafeteria. He took out his sandwich and was about to take a bite when he glanced at Corina and noticed something odd.

"Hey…where's your lunch?"

Blue eyes masked by the glare of her glasses looked up at the boy curiously, Corina blinking in slight confusion, "Um…huh?"

"You're always eating before I get here, but you aren't this time. Did you forget your lunch or something? You're not on a…diet…or anything right?" Riku asked, concern evident in his eyes.

He began to wonder for a brief moment if she was doing what a lot of teenage girls do these days in order to stay popular with the boys. He hoped that Corina wasn't crash dieting now, that was a dangerous and fatal decision that most girls make. She looked fine just the way she was and he was prepared to tell her that and more if needed. Corina blinked again before gasping and stuttering over her words as she waved her hands frantically.

"W-What? No! I-I'm…It's not…I'm not…I just forgot my lunch at home! That's all!" she finally got out, her cheeks feeling hot again.

Riku inwardly sighed in relief when she told him this, bringing his sandwich up to tear it in half. He split his entire lunch in half, including the brown paper bag itself, and pushed one half towards Corina.

"Well, since you're not dieting, you won't mind taking half of my lunch, will you?" he suggested, making it seem more like a command then a question.

Corina was ready to refuse; "No, it's okay! I-I don't want you to go hungry because of me, Riku, really!"

The silverette simply stared at her, a teasing smile on his face as he took a bite of his sandwich idly. Corina was ready to refuse once more, on the verge of begging him to take his lunch back, but soon realized that this was a fight she wasn't going to win. She had forgotten her lunch and Riku was the kind of man who refused to let a friend go hungry like that. So, she sucked up the uncomfortable feeling she got and took a small bite of her half of the sandwich. Riku smiled bigger, doing a little victory jig in his head, but said nothing aloud as he continued with his cold meal. All was silent between the two teens before Riku broke the silence with a suggestion.

"Hey, Corina, why don't you come and have lunch with me and my friends tomorrow?"

The ebony-skinned girl dropped her food at the question, her heart picking up speed almost instantaneously. Her hands trembled with the proposition, the mere thought of being exposed like that, even if it's just to meet his friends, frightening her more than she could say.

"I-I-I don't know about th-that Riku. I don't think that would be such, uh…such a good idea," she replied shyly, lowering her head to hide her face and her fear.

Riku kind of had an idea that this would happen, but he was going to be persistent. He wanted Corina to feel accepted, to feel like she wasn't so alone anymore and he knew his friends would help her realize that. He reached across the short distance of the table and lightly brushed his fingers across the back of her hand. Corina jerked a little bit, the soft touch startling her, but she remained still as Riku took her smaller hand in his and held her fingers gently. The silverette smiled at the ebony-skinned girl, relishing for just a moment how soft her skin felt underneath his touch, and leaned forward to whisper to her.

"Just give us a chance, Corina. My friends are really awesome and would welcome you with open arms. You don't have to be scared around us; you don't have to be scared around me. Just give us that chance and you'll see," he urged.

Corina shook her head slightly, more confused and unsure than she's been the entire two weeks she spent with Riku in the library; "Riku…I…"

"Please Corina," he pressed further, his voice taking on a sultry tone that usually had girls melting away.

The girl with the Earth brown skin shook with the new tone that she heard, her heart pounding and her cheeks turning so red that she was sure Riku could see it through her dark skin. He was doing it again, looking at her with those expressive eyes that begged for her to say yes. How could she say no to that? Especially when he asked her in that tone of voice?

"…Okay," was her only reply, the girl refusing to say anything more.

Riku beamed at her, happiness filling his body at the simple answer. He felt victorious with that 'okay', felt that she was finally coming to trust him to some extent. He was finally getting into the heart of Corina, the woman who already owned his, though she didn't realize it.

"Thank you, Corina. I promise you won't be disappointed!" he whispered eagerly.

Corina merely looked at him before turning her attention back to her math homework, now too worried to even continue eating.

'Won't be disappointed? I've been told that before.'

* * *

Riiiiiinnnnnnggggg!

The students of Expressive Art and Creative Writing all packed their things and made their way to the door as Mrs. Belle bid them good-bye. Corina gathered her stuff a little more slowly than she usually does, her mind too occupied for the impending meeting with Riku's friends that was waiting to happen tomorrow.

"Good-bye, Corina. Have a nice afternoon," Mrs. Belle bid to the young girl as she walked by.

Corina gave her teacher a small smile in return and a wave before she stepped out into the hallway. There were still a few students left wandering about, some of them running to after school sports practice, drama rehearsals, music rehearsals, or just going to meet friends. Corina adjusted her glasses up her nose and walked down the hallway slowly, holding her books tightly to her chest on the way. She attempted to blend in with the lockers again, trying to hide herself from view of anyone that could cause her harm again.

"Hey! Four eyes!"

Of course sometimes this route of safety doesn't always work.

Corina whirled around at the voice, a voice that made her blood run cold from its' familiarity. It was Seifer with all his little cronies. They were smirking at her, the blond himself looking completely menacing with an evil grin on his face. The ebony-skinned girl could only imagine what he was planning to do to her today. So she did the first thing that popped into her mind.

She turned and ran for her life.

"Get back here, you dork!" Seifer shouted as he ran after the lithe girl, pushing other students out of the way as he chased her.

Corina was panting as she ran through the hallway, dodging other students in the process as she looked for a path of escape. She needed to find somewhere to go where she could lose them and make it home safely.

"Hahaha! Got you now!" Seifer exclaimed in victory as they close in on her.

Corina gave a cry of fear when she realized how close they were indeed and made a sharp right turn, pushing her way through an exit door she didn't even know was there and found herself in a most peculiar place.

A very large, very elaborate, very beautiful garden in back of the school.

The small girl looked around her in wonder, frozen in place by the beauty that surrounded her person. There were flowers of all kinds planted here; roses red and blue and yellow and white, baby's breath, violets, lavenders, Tiger Lilies, and even vines that scaled the walls of the school building.

"Oh my…ah!" she breathed before crying out when her eyes landed on the form of a man not too far away from her.

He stood at least 6 ft tall with long, rose pink hair tied back in a low ponytail, pale skin, and deep blue eyes. He was dressed in the boy's school uniform and held a hoe in his hands, which came to a halt when his eyes landed on her. He studied the small girl for a moment, regarding her with slightly surprised eyes and for a moment, Corina wondered what he was more surprised about. The fact that she had just stumbled upon his garden or the fact that she had blue eyes just like him? They stood staring at each other for a moment before Corina heard rumblings on the other side of the door.

"Hey, I think she went through here!"

Corina freaked out and looked around the garden, finding an open space near the vines that was just behind a lush rose bush. She dove for the opening, hiding herself among the flowers and vines just in time to avoid being seen by Seifer as he came crashing through the door, followed by his cronies. The boy with the pink hair realized instantly what was happening here and pretended he never saw the girl, instead turning his attention to the blond jock in front of him.

"Seifer, what an unpleasant surprise," the boy said coolly in a very soft yet masculine voice.

The blond scoffed at him, "Shut the hell up you prissy princess."

The boy merely blinked, restraining himself from doing any bodily harm just yet as he spoke again, "May I ask what business you have in my garden, Seifer?"

"That's none of your damn business, Pinky," Seifer replied, beginning to move about the garden in search of his prey.

Corina started to panic when he got close to her hiding place but the mysterious boy intercepted his path with a glare on his flawless face.

"If you have no business here, then you should be on your way," she said in that same soft voice.

"You're not the boss of me, Princess," Seifer growled, clenching his fists.

"Need I remind you that the principle has given me full rights and privileges to these grounds and has given me permission to defend it to my own liking," the boy said as he brought his hoe in front of him like a weapon, "And let's not forget that I've already kicked your ass once before."

Seifer glared hotly at the boy, but said nothing and did nothing in return to the retort. Instead, he turned around, said one last insult to the mysterious boy before leaving the garden with all of his cronies. Corina watched him leave, feeling an immense amount of pressure being lifted off her shoulders that she was safe for another day. Then it became darker in her little space and her eyes snapped open to see the boy with the pink hair peering into the opening.

"I-I'm s-sorry for trespassing! I-I'll leave right away! Just please don't hurt me!" Corina cried immediately, putting her hand up to cover her face.

She was expecting to be assaulted or mocked in some way, but instead she heard a warm chuckle before a large hand enclosed around her wrist and pulled her arm down.

"Such a pretty little kitten that has stumbled upon my garden."

Corina gasped at those words, opening her eyes to see the boy smiling at her sweetly, his blue eyes warm and welcoming. She was confused by his look, thinking immediately of Riku when she saw it.

"Come, kitten, you mustn't stay here for too long. You'll hurt yourself on the thorns," the boy said gently, gripping her forearm and lightly tugging her out of her hiding place.

Corina didn't argue, she simply gathered her things and allowed for the boy to help her out of the small space. He released her wrist and raised his hand to pick out the loose leaves and flower petals from her hair, all the while smiling down at her.

"There…now the kitten is perfect again," he said playfully, chuckling at how she became bashful and lowered her head, "What is your name, kitten?"

Corina looked up at the mysterious boy, feeling a sudden rush of security while around him. That smile on his face, his soft voice, his kind gestures; they all reminded her of Riku and she suddenly felt safe with him.

"Corina…my name is Corina," she finally answered after a moment's pause.

"Corina? Yes, Corina is a fine name for such a lovely kitten," the boy praised, gently patting her head.

The small girl giggled at him, studying him with her crystal blue eyes, "What's your name? I want to thank the man that has saved me properly."

"My name is Marluxia Wikosho. It's a pleasure to meet you," Marluxia greeted with a flourish, taking Corina's hand in his and bending down to kiss her knuckles gently.

"O-Oh…it's a pleasure to meet you as well," Corina replied with a hot blush, pouting as Marluxia chuckled at her face.

"Now, my little lost kitten, what on Earth have you done to bring the wrath of Seifer upon yourself?" Marluxia asked the young girl.

Corina frowned then and stared at the daisies growing near her feet, "I was born."

The pink-haired man blinked in confusion as Corina continued, "I guess I'm just too different and Seifer doesn't like it. He's been picking on me ever since I started school here my freshman year. I've been a target of his bullying for three years now."

"Oh my. So that's why you ended up in my garden. You were running away from him," Marluxia mused, watching with sad eyes the girl in front of him.

Corina merely nodded before looking around her in wonder and asking, "This is _your _garden? It's so incredible!"

Marluxia chuckled at her praise, moving to stand beside her, "That's right. I love to grow plants and flowers and somehow convinced the principle to let me create my own garden. This has been my sanctuary since freshmen year."

"Wow…" Corina breathed in amazement, "You're so lucky to have this for yourself. It must be very peaceful to work here. I wish I had somewhere this beautiful to be."

Marluxia's eyes sparkled at her words, smiling as he bent down to pluck a light blue rose from one of the bushes. He then stood straight and moved to pin it in her thick, black hair, stepping back a moment later to admire how lovely and adorable she looked.

"You're in luck then, kitten," he said, deciding that he liked the nickname he gave her better than her actual name, "For I am looking for someone to share this with. You are welcomed to come and stay in my garden any time you like. I would enjoy your company very much."

Corina gasped in shock, covering her mouth as a blush heated up her cheeks, "R-Really? You…You would let me come here?"

The pink-haired boy smiled warmly as he nodded his head, "Of course. I want this to be your sanctuary too."

Corina couldn't stop herself; she felt too warm and too happy to keep her action to herself. She flung herself at Marluxia, wrapping her arms around his waist in a grateful hug.

"Thank you, Marluxia!" she gushed with tears in her eyes, "This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me."

The man chuckled and patted her head, "Any time, kitten. Any time."

**End Chapter

* * *

**

**Jamaican Sunshower: **I was reading a story with Marluxia in it and just thought 'wouldn't it be nice if Corina found a confidante in him? He seems sweet enough.' Tell me what you guys think and chapter 4 will hopefully be up soon, but I'm about to start college soon and will probably be without a computer for a while so enjoy as much as you can! Ciao!


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