Kingdom Hearts 1. The Door

Karin: Hey people

**Karin: Hey people! Since it's October, I promised myself I would write a Halloween fic in celebration of… well, Halloween! Hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: **For the life of me, I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Title: **The Nightmare on Halloween

**Rating: **Teen

**Pairing: **Sora/Namine

**Genres: **Fantasy/Romance/Humor/Drama

**Summary: **She hated Halloween; in fact, Namine Kizuki could very well say she downright _loathed_ Halloween. However, fate seems to have other plans for Namine when she somehow winds up in Halloween Town—a place were it's all about Halloween all the time. Will she be able to get home back to the normal world or will she find herself falling in love with the Pumpkin Prince? Sora/Namine

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_Twas a Long Time Ago_

_Longer Now than it seems_

_In a place that perhaps you've seen_

_In Your Dreams._

_For the Story _

_You Are about to be told_

_Took place in the Holiday Worlds of Old._

_Now You Probably Wonder_

_Where Holidays Come From._

_If You Haven't_

_I Say it's Time you Begun_

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**The Nightmare on Halloween**

**Chapter One: **

**The Door **

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An alarm blared noisily sitting on the nightstand beside a bed with dark blue covers. The covers were curled up over what appeared to be a blob since the person under it was not visible. The alarm continued to scream as the blob of blankets shifted before going still again.

After what seemed like forever with the insufferable alarm going off, a pale hand reached out from under the haven of the covers and felt around for the black digital clock disoriented. Once it grasped what appeared to be the evil menace, the hand raised and banged on it hard to shut it up. With the noise gone, the hand once again disappeared back under the blanket to resume blissful slumber.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _

…Maybe that was too much to ask for apparently.

An exasperated groan sounded from under the mass of comforters. Once again, the pale hand reached out—this time not disoriented—and grasped the solid object known as the alarm clock and chucked it against the wall.

Ah, silence once more.

"Namine!" a voice called.

'_Can't someone get sleep around here?!' _Cerulean eyes opened irritably. A head with messy blonde locks poked out from under the covers to look at the clock—the one that wasn't destroyed—on her wall reading 7:05am. The female made a whiny sort of noise before turning her bed head towards the calendar on her wall.

It read the 31 of October.

Another whining noise erupted from her parted lips before the voice from before called her name again. Running a pale hand through her messy locks, the blonde dragged herself towards the window sill.

There on her front lawn stood a girl at fifteen—the age she herself was—with long dark chestnut hair down to her mid back and sparkling emerald eyes. Her skin—unlike her own pale color—was a healthy tone with a slight flush on her cheeks from running here.

The girl wore a light blue plaid skirt with a long sleeve white blouse and matching light blue plaid tie. On her legs were navy blue knee socks and black school shoes. When her emerald eyes caught sight of tired azure ones, the girl's face uplifted into an enthusiastic smile and waved up to her.

The blonde—despite despising her slumber being interrupted—gave a sleepy smile with a slight wave before going back into her room to change for school. Once she was done, the blonde haired girl raced down the stairs and put on her black tennis shoes before opening and locking the front door behind her.

"Good morning" the brunette female greeted her when her friend approached her.

"Morning" the blonde haired girl greeted back meanwhile finishing off her low ponytail resting on her right shoulder. Both of them then proceeded to travel to their learning institution known as school all the while with the brunette smiling cheerfully while the blonde walked with half lidded eyes in drowsiness.

"Why did school have to be so early?" the blonde asked. Her friend smiled sympathetically and patted her on the back.

"It's not so bad. Some high schools make their students get up at six instead of seven" the brunette replied.

"Which is really stupid if you ask me" the blonde said. A low grumble then sounded from her stomach making her clutch it as a red flush spread across her cheeks.

Her friend let out a giggle and reached into her bag to retrieve something. She brought out a wrapped breakfast sandwich and handed it to the blonde.

"No, what's stupid is the fact that you never wake up in time to eat breakfast making me have to feed you" the brunette told her with humor shining in her emerald orbs.

"Thank you" the blonde said with a soft smile and proceeded to nibble on her tasty treat. Still, it wasn't her fault that she was as dead as a rock in the morning.

"Ah! I can't wait until tonight! There's going to be a party at Hayner's at six today, you know" the girl said smiling excitedly. It was clear she was the more outgoing and bubbly of the two.

"Oh really? Did you tell him you like him yet?" the blonde asked with genuine curiously. The brunette's smile disappeared as her face mirrored that of a tomato.

"Namine! Stop teasing me!" the brunette exclaimed embarrassed.

The blonde held up her hands in a defensive manner and took a step back.

"Woah, easy there Olette. I was just asking" she replied to pacify her friend. She then took another bite out of her breakfast sandwich and continued walking along the sidewalk. The brunette walked beside her.

"Yeah, but it's so embarrassing!" she whined to the blonde while blushing. Talking about the brunette's crush on their other friend always made her embarrassed.

The blonde smiled gently and patted her on the head.

"Why are you embarrassed? Hayner obviously likes you" the blonde said to her friend. The brunette's head snapped up to look at her shocked.

"He _does_?" she asked in surprise. To this, the other girl could only raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"You didn't know? Olette, you're the smartest one out of all of us and you didn't even think that his stuttering and clumsiness around you meant that he likes you?" the blonde asked incredulously.

"When you like someone, Nami, that's when you'll understand" the brunette said sagely in which caused the other girl to roll her eyes.

"Whatever, but it's either you tell him or I will" the blonde told her. The brunette knew that she wouldn't do it; her friend would never do something like that to her. However, she did see what her friend was trying to get across.

"Alright, I'll say something tonight, but you have to be there" her friend told her stubbornly.

"Why would I?" asked the blonde. She then turned her head to stared ahead "Pff, as if there's anything festive about today" she muttered but her friend heard her perfectly.

"Come on," the brunette took her arm as they walked. The brunette was two inches shorter than her standing at 5'3 while the blonde was at 5'5. "You never go to any parties. Can't you make an exception at least for today?" she pleaded her friend.

"It's Halloween. There's nothing to make exceptions about" the blonde said remorsefully.

Namine Kizuki was a shy girl at the age of fifteen who kept to herself most of the time and had the tendency of being socially awkward to anyone not close to her meaning anyone not close friends and family. She for the most part was average and a little on the pale side making her seem like a ghost if you only flickered your gaze to her for a split second. She never stands out nor does she fit in with any cliques only having three friends since elementary. The reclusive girl—despite being reserved and quiet—was very caring when it came to her friends and had the tendency to take the role on as the "big sister". It wasn't really noticeable of course, but Hayner, Pence, and Olette could always see the subtle hints now and then letting them know she was always be there for them.

Consequently though, there was one more thing about Namine Kizuki that needed to be said…

…she hated Halloween.

No, that's not right; she downright _loathed_ Halloween.

Of course, it wasn't always like that. Olette could recall a time in her life when Namine was very fond of Halloween—in fact, it was her favorite day of the year when Namine was younger.

But then there was the drastic change; it's been about ten years now and Namine's hatred for this day was as strong as ever. Hayner, Pence, and herself tried to get Namine to move on, to love Halloween like she did when she was a child, but nothing had worked.

This day was just too painful for Namine Kizuki.

Olette Fujioka—her best friend since preschool—knew that more than anyone.

The brunette let out a sigh as Namine suddenly lost her appetite. She felt Olette's grip on her arm tighten slightly in a comforting manner letting her childhood friend know that she was there.

They walked like that the rest of the way in silence.

**--**

"Happy Halloween!" A boy with exhilarated brown eyes and wild light brown hair shouted when he saw the two girls walking towards them. He wore the boys' uniform required for their school which was only light blue plaid pants instead of a skirt. Also, like Namine, he wore running sneakers instead of the school dress shoes.

"Namine's not going Hayner" Olette said when they were in front of him. The boy, Hayner, had his jaw drop in disbelief.

"Again?! Come on big sis! It's not going to kill you to have a little fun!" Hayner waved his arms up and down like a turkey trying to get away from being Thanksgiving dinner.

"Yes, but your special punch most likely will" Namine replied and walked past him.

"Okay, so I put alcohol in it by accident and got everyone drunk, but that was only once!" he shouted and chased after her with Olette behind him.

"Hey Namine" a plump boy with wild dark brown hair and warm brown eyes greeted when he saw the blonde walk into the school.

"Morning Pence" Namine said smiling slightly. Pence raised an eyebrow when he noticed Hayner running towards the school entrance with an enraged expression on his face and appeared to be yelling something.

"What's with Hayner?" he asked her.

"I brought up the special punch incident" Namine said sheepishly.

"You mean where he took some apple juice and put some in his punch and it turned out to be alcohol?" Pence asked curiously. Namine nodded.

"Evil big sis! It's rude to walk away when someone's talking to you!" Hayner scolded Namine when he entered the school building.

"You should learn to follow your own advice" Olette growled at him panting. She then brought up her fist and brought it down on his poor skull. Hayner let out a yap and turned to glare at Olette.

"What was that for, Olette?!" he yelled at her.

"For you being an idiot!" she retorted fiercely.

Pence let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at his friends' antics. Honestly, why couldn't they just admit they liked each other?

"Okay you two," he brought himself in between them with a tired exasperated look. After all, he was the one to usually break up their squabbles on a daily basis, "Time to stop fighting like a married couple and get to class" he told them with a teasing note in his voice..

At that statement, both Hayner's and Olette's faces turned bright vibrant red and began venomously protesting Pence's statement. Namine just carried a fond smile as she watched them while they all proceeded to class.

**--**

The day had remained uneventful. Namine, Olette, Hayner, and Pence treated the day like any other. Hayner didn't bring up the subject of Halloween again since this morning for he knew his "big sis" didn't like Halloween. Pence kept up normal conversation whereas Olette and Hayner bickered about things such as schoolwork and how lazy Hayner is not to do it.

Namine walked into her front door with an exhausted sigh escaping her lips. She slipped off her tennis shoes and trudged towards the living room. Dropping her bag on the floor, she allowed her body to do an ungraceful plop on the sofa. She was deadbeat tired.

The fifteen-year-old felt her eyes droop and her body begin to relax. Without much struggle, she let sleep take her.

_Five-year-old Namine sat in her living room impatiently. Her big, innocent cerulean eyes drifted to the grandfather clock in the foyer for the hundredth time before going back to the carpeted floor on the living room. _

_A man in his mid-twenties came in to see her kicking her legs back and forth and taking quick glances at the clock every five seconds. His identical cerulean eyes sparked in amusement at her behavior. _

"_Namine," he called out to her from the edge of the living room. The child snapped her head up to look at him. Her pale blonde hair a more neutral shade than his vibrant blonde hair. _

"_How come Mama ain't home yet?" she asked him continuously swinging her legs back and forth. The man smiled slightly—something that people assumed were out of his character if they did not know him—and walked over to his child. He sat on the couch and pulled her into his lap gently. _

"_Mama has work to do before she can come home" the man told her stroking her hair. _

"_Well, how come she doesn't come home the same time as you do?" Namine tilted her head to the side cutely. _

"_It's different where she works" her father told her, "But don't worry, she'll be home soon" he told his child. This brought a big smile to appear on Namine's face. _

"_That's good! Then I can show Mama my cool cat costume!" Namine cheered. She was wearing a black cat suit complete with big cute cat ears, whiskers on her face, and her nose was painted black. The hood with the cat ears attached was currently not on her head though. _

_Suddenly the phone rang bringing the two out of their chat. Namine raced off her father's lap and jumped up to reach the phone on the stand in the foyer of their house. _

"_Hi Mama!" her adorable voice said happily. A female laugh sounded on the other line when she heard her._

"_Now, Namine, didn't we tell you to say 'Kizuki Residence'?" asked the woman on the other line. _

"_Yeah, but I knew it was Mama so I didn't need to say that!" Namine said beaming. "Mama, when are you getting home? Papa says it's soon, but soon is taking too long" Namine said in all one breath. _

"_Well, soon is what you'll have to deal with, Namine" her mother said amused at her daughter's impatience. This caused a pout to appear on Namine's face. _

"_Really? But I can't wait that long" Namine said. _

"_Well, why don't you get your father to take you out trick-or-treating instead?" the older woman suggested on the other line. To this, Namine shook her head vigorously._

"_Uh-uh; Mama promised she'd take me out" Namine reminded her. Another laugh sounded. _

"_You're right, I'm sorry" her mother said to her. "Okay, I'll try to hurry as soon as I can, okay?" _

"_Kay!" Namine replied enthusiastic. _

"_Bye, sweetie. I love you" _

"_Bye Mama. I love you too!" Namine said before she hung up the phone and went back to her father where they watched television until her mother would walk through the door with her usual sheepish grin. _

_Namine never got to see her mother grinning at the doorway… _

Azure eyes snapped open and Namine sat up with a jolt. She raised a hand to her eyes to rub them sleepily. The grandfather clock on the wall chimed seven. The same exact time when Namine had found out she had lost her mother forever.

A police officer had called them at seven, she remembered. It was getting dark and her father was wondering where his wife was. They spoke for a few minutes quietly as she sat on the couch waiting for her father to join her once more.

Namine would never forget the sorrowful expression her father wore when he reentered the living room. Her father hadn't been able to smile in years after that day.

Oh how she remembered him taking her into his lap and quietly explain to her what he heard from that dreaded call! Her mother was hit by some drunk teenagers while driving. Her car skidded off the road and collided with other cars exploding on impact.

Her mother never had a chance.

Unconsciously, a pale hand reached into her blouse and took out a thin silver chain with a skinny silver ring hanging on it. It was simple, yet elegant with a garnet gem in the middle of the top. Her mother never really wore her wedding ring with her to work since she had a tendency to lose things. It was the only thing she had of her deceased mother.

She never once departed from it since that day.

The front door opened and closed with a click signaling the other occupant of the house has returned from work. A man in his mid-to-late-thirties walked in sluggishly. He had blonde spiky hair and identical cerulean eyes as the teenager.

His daughter, her father.

"Hey Dad," Namine greeted out tiredly. Her father nodded in her direction before going upstairs most likely to take a nap from a long day. Namine didn't mind; she was quite used to her father's brooding behavior. She supposed she had inherited her quiet and reserved nature from him.

Still, he was never the same since her mother had passed away. His smiles—which were gentle and fatherly—hardly ever shown. Namine couldn't recall a time in which her father had smiled since her mother's abrupt passing. Nonetheless, the girl never pushed her father. After all, she too experienced and still was experiencing the same grief.

Deciding that it was time for dinner to get started, the teen rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen to prepare her meal knowing that her father would not join her.

**--**

'_Olette and the others are probably having a fun time' _the blonde thought as she looked at the clock in her bedroom. It was well near nine thirty and Namine remained engulfed in her homework. Writing down another answer for her math assignment, her ears perked up when she heard the hallway and stairs creaking. Her father was awake, she thought and continued with the next problem not bothering to go downstairs to greet him. She made sure to wrap his dinner and leave it out where he could see it.

It was another twenty minutes before Namine placed down her pencil worn out from work. A voice in the back of her mind told her that she had to finish her English paper, but Namine couldn't care less. Her head dropped onto the desk and her azure eyes drooped in slumber yet sleep did not claim her.

Her azure eyes just stared at nothing while she lied there. A distant thought in her mind interrupted her foggy senses telling her she hadn't heard her father come up the stairs again. Wanting to have any excuse really to get away from homework, the blonde haired girl rose up from her workload at the desk and proceeded downstairs into the foyer soundlessly.

Her steps were light and quiet across the wooden polished foyer. Another trait she inherited from her father—Hayner once joked that she could sneak up on people without even trying, like a spy or FBI agent.

When she reached the entrance of the living room, she didn't walk any further. Cloaked by the shadows of the foyer, Namine watched with her eyes widening slightly.

Her father was there, sitting on the couch by the dim lighting of the lamp. He was quiet and unmoving except for the occasional page turn. Consequently, that was not what shocked her. It was what he was looking at.

It was their old photo album.

And when Namine meant old, she meant the one filled with her mother's pictures. From her parents wedding to Namine's birth to her early childhood. Everything was there. That photo album was a symbol of their happiness before October 31st nearly ten years ago. It was like all the life they once had was sucked and preserved into that single, dusty photo album.

She just stood there watching him with painful cerulean eyes. She was so sure they had locked up that album in the attic. Neither one of them had the courage to ever look at it. It just hurt too much.

Another part of her though had questions racing in her mind. Did her father look at the album every October 31st? Did he force himself to remember the good times with their mother even though it felt like a thousand knives were slicing through them every time they saw a remembrance of her mother's smile?

He was hurt just as she was. Nevertheless, her father had a different way of dealing with his grief she supposed. Maybe instead of refusing to acknowledge this day as anything fun and festive, he focused on remembering the good times before tragedy enveloped them.

She honestly could say she didn't know why he put himself through the pain. He turned a page and wiped his face softly—as if he was erasing any nonexistent tears—gazing at more of its contents. After her mother's passing, both father and daughter had locked away any pictures of their life when her mother was alive. The blue walls were bare of any photographs whatsoever.

They haven't taken a picture together since.

She felt it. She felt his pain—the mirror of her own pain. It hurt; all of it just hurt. Standing there and watching her father show emotion for the first time in years, only for it to be shown by grieving, made the impact of her mother's death hit her like a truck just as the day when he had told her her mother was gone from this world. The wounds opened themselves breaking her heart.

Namine didn't know why she was backing up slowly to the back door in the kitchen, but she just wanted to get away. _Far_ _away_. She felt so alienated seeing her father openly grieving for their loss. Her shaking hand grasped the doorknob tightly and turned it softly never taking her eyes off him.

Once she was out of the door, she bolted and ran straight into the cloaking shadows of the night.

**--**

Her black tennis shoes beat against the dirt ground of the woods behind her house. She didn't know how long she was running for but her head just kept screaming at her to run, to not stop for anything.

To not look back.

Her lungs and legs on the other hand couldn't comply with her brain's commands. Tired and out of breath, Namine's legs wobbled causing her to slide down to the ground on a tree for support. Perspiration hung on her face as she greedily gulped oxygen into her system.

Once she was done catching her breath, the teen looked at her surroundings. Tall, dark trees only met her view. How deep was she in the forest? Where was she even in this vast leafy domain? She had no idea how where she was going now nor did she contemplate on her sudden rush of adrenaline running away from her house. She just needed to get away from reality for a bit and forget about the horrible aching in her heart.

The teen hugged her knees to her chest shivering slightly from the cold night air. Needing a source of comfort, the girl pulled out her necklace with her mother's wedding ring and let in hang by one of her hands.

The garnet was very beautiful—her favorite jewel actually. Her mother once told her that when she was younger, her father had gotten a garnet for the gemstone because it matched her eyes. Her mother's eyes were indeed very beautiful. She once remembered being jealous of her mother's eyes and asked why she didn't have them.

"_It's because you look much more beautiful with blue eyes" _she had said.

Namine bit her lip as she stared at the trinket to keep her from sobbing. Tears began to stream down her pale face as she thought of her mother. Oh how she missed her. Why did her mother have to die? Her mother was a kind and gracious woman. She didn't deserve to die!

Her head tucked into her knees crying. She felt incredibly alone in this dark forest.

All of a sudden, a bark sounded and her mother's ring was snatched away from her hand. The blonde's head snapped up to see a white thing with a speck of red light flying away with her mother's ring.

"Hey! Come back here!" Namine exclaimed and left her spot on the ground in pursuit of the white… err… thing. Her legs pushed her to go faster unless she wanted to lose the most precious thing to her.

She couldn't lose it. Not her mother's ring.

Namine pushed herself harder in order to keep up with the thief. The muscles in her legs whined out in displeasure for having to run so much, but Namine ignored it. There was no way she was stopping when that thing had her mother's ring!

Keeping the creature in her sights, Namine used her remaining adrenaline to pursue him. Her pursuit of the creatures caused her to go through multiple twists and turns deeper into the deep and empty forest. Her bearings were frazzled and her heart pounded against her chest in fear of the possibility of losing her most precious thing in the world.

Too preoccupied in her thoughts of her mother's memento, the blonde failed to notice the tree branch right in front of her face. She made a rough impact with the branch and lost her balance tumbling down the dirty and rocky slope consisting of several thorn bushes and stray twigs.

Finally hitting solid ground, the girl let out a painful groan. Everywhere her body felt immensely sore. Namine straightened herself up seeing that she had several scrapes and her clothes were dirty and tousled.

Standing up and fixing her clothes, Namne looked around wondering where she was. She was still in the forest that was certain as there was trees even despite the change in elevation, but she had a feeling she was very far from town due to the fact that no lights at all were in view.

An owl hooted making the poor girl jump in fright. Great, now she was stuck in the middle of nowhere lost, sore, and miserable. Could it get any worse?

Suddenly, the barking of the creature almost made her jump out of her skin. It did some flips around her playfully allowing Namine to see what exactly the culprit was.

It was… a dog?

The white floating dog then flew away towards the middle of the ditch. It wasn't as fast as before permitting the girl to follow him with her eyes. She then watched cautiously while the dog flew towards the middle tree.

However, this tree was not any normal tree. Smack dab in the middle of the trunk staring at her in the face was a door the shape of a large pumpkin. The blonde shrank back a little as its face leered at her creepily.

The dog barked again at her before disappearing straight through it. Namine stared in disbelief and pinched herself a couple times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. I mean, there was no way that flying dog just went through that door without it opening, right?

…Right?

She wanted to turn back. She wanted to climb up the slope she fell down and try to find her way home. But a nagging voice in the back of her mind told her to follow the dog. After all, he had her mother's ring; and if she wanted her mother's ring, she had to follow the dog.

Gulp. No matter how much she had a bad feeling by doing so.

With the thought of her mother's ring in her head like a mantra, Namine proceeded to the creepy door hesitantly. She concentrated on the thought of her mother's ring in order to ignore the pumpkin grinning evilly at her. She felt like it knew something she didn't. As if it knew exactly what she was getting into if she opened that door.

A shaky hand reached out and grasped the wooden doorknob that was the pumpkin's nose. The rough bark jagged on her fingers. Taking a deep breath and counting to three, she swung the door open with her eyes shut tight.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, Namine opened her eyes to peer inside. There was nothing there. All it was was black. She placed a hand inside and waved it up and down as if she was expecting something to be there. She stepped closer placed her head in looking around. Nothing—only empty, pitch darkness. Even sound was lost on this hollow confinement.

All of a sudden, a harsh wind blew from inside the door. Namine panicky tried to move away from it, but it was too late.

"Ah!" she yelped out trying to regain her balance but ended up tumbling forward into the dark abyss.

The wind pulled her forward and the door shut behind her making her fall into the dark empty depths of the confides of the door.

Or at least, what she perceived to be empty. Oh, how Namine was wrong.

It was far from empty.

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**Karin: Okay! There you have it! I hope you liked the first chapter to my first chaptered Namine/Sora story. Please leave a review on the way out. Thank you! **

**By the way, if any of you are wondering—Hayner and Namine are not related. He just calls her "big sis" because he's showing his respect for her and the fact that she is indeed older than him by a couple of months. Hayner looks up to Namine as his big sister since she always looks out for him. Sorry, just wanted to explain that if anyone was confused. **

**Preview of Chapter Two: **

"_W-Where am I?" Namine asked herself with wide eyes frantically taking in her surroundings. All the trees were barren and she could see the yellow full moon hang eerily in the black sky. She tried to figure out where she was but all her mind was doing was coming to blanks. _

**End of Preview: Ooh! Namine's in an unknown place of some sorts! Of course, we all know where she ended up. Hehe! **

**See ya Next time! **


	2. The Town

**Karin: Hello everyone! I'm so glad that people liked the first chapter! **

**Sora: Kaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnn, I'm hungry! Can we please go and get something to eat? **

**Karin: You ate an hour ago!**

**Sora: Yeah, and it was the longest hour of my life! **

**Karin: **_**(sweat drop) **_**erm… okay then… onto the second chapter while I solve Sora's hungry problem… **

**Disclaimer: **Alright, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or The Nightmare Before Christmas—you know it, I know it, even meatloaf knows it.

**NOTE: Sora looks exactly like he does in the Halloween Town level in Kingdom Hearts 2, kay? Just letting you know. **

**Also, the lyrics later on in the story are divided by different people singing. If you think the stanzas look kinda funky, that just means someone else is singing, kay? You'll get what I mean when you get there. In addition, the lyrics are a little altered in the end. Sorry about that but I had to do it for it to fit the story. Again, you'll see what I mean when you get there. **

**Title: **The Nightmare of Halloween

**Rating: **Teen

**Pairing: **Sora/Namine

**Genres: **Fantasy/Romance/Humor/Drama

**Summary: **She hated Halloween; in fact, Namine Kizuki could very well say she downright _loathed_ Halloween. However, fate seems to have other plans for Namine when she somehow winds up in Halloween Town—a place were it's all about Halloween all the time. Will she be able to get home back to the normal world or will she find herself falling in love with the Pumpkin Prince? Sora/Namine

**Replies to Reviews from Chapter One: **

**Arashi- **Congrats on being this story's first reviewer! Cookies to you and hope you continue to enjoy yourself.

**NaminexSora lover- **Happy to see you had some laughs. Yeah, the way how Namine's mother died is sad isn't it? Poor Nami (sniffle)

**Angle09- **thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm also honored that you say this story is well written. I hope the wait wasn't too long.

**Pikachu407- **I hope this chapter is also worthy of awesomeness. Glad you're enjoying yourself so far.

**Abysilityy- **Thank you very much. Hopefully the wait for the next chapter wasn't too long.

**sAppHiRa-hiMe- **Thank you so much for your patience. I'm very happy that you liked the first chapter. Also, I'm very pleased that you enjoyed my latest chapter for Love at First Write. The next chapter of that won't be the Somine one though; however, it's the chapter after the next one so don't worry.

**LadyJamie178- **Is this soon enough? (laughs) I hope you like the second chapter as well. Have fun reading.

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_Boys and Girls_

_Of every age._

_Wouldn't you like_

_To see Something Strange? _

_Come with Us_

_And you will see. _

_This Our town of Halloween._

**-**

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**-**

**The Nightmare on Halloween**

**Chapter Two: **

**The Town**

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Black; that's all was in her mind at the moment. Bleak, colorless black. However, despite the blackout in her mind, she felt her senses slowly coming to focus. The dirt against her skin, the slight creaking of branches, and the cool autumn breeze blowing past her face in a chilly manner.

Namine Kizuki hesitantly opened her cerulean eyes. A painful groan escaped her lips as she brought a hand up to her head. While the young teen was rubbing her noggin, she gazed up to see a black sky with eerie leafless branches.

"Ugh… what hit me?" she whispered to no one. Sitting up from the dirt ground, the blonde took a look around to see where she was exactly. Upon observing further, Namine began to look panicked.

"W-Where am I?" Namine asked herself with wide eyes frantically taking in her surroundings. All the trees were barren and she could see the yellow full moon hang eerily in the black sky. She tried to figure out where she was but all her mind was doing was coming to blanks.

Getting to her feet, Namine searched the place. Not a trace of life was about. Heck, not even the trees seemed to be alive. Everything there seemed so eerie and dead; it gave the young girl chills down her spine.

The forest she was in only previously wasn't this desolate…

Azure eyes widened in recollection as the events from a while ago flashed in her mind like a movie. She was sitting alone and crying in the forest residing next to her town. Namine recalled herself mourning of her mother's death and then her mother's wedding ring was swiped from her grasps by some floating dog!

A floating dog, she swallowed nervously. _But that's absurd,_ she thought with frustration, _dogs most certainly don't float!_

And yet this one did; and it stole her mother's ring too.

Namine ran her hands through her hair with a peeved, pensive expression. She remembered chasing the dog deeper into the forest—much deeper than she knew the forest was. She remembered that she had fallen into a ditch of some sorts where she met the dog again. The dog had run away into a door of some sorts.

It was in the shape of a pumpkin… a very frightening pumpkin.

…and she had fallen straight into it.

She rubbed her upper arms as a shudder went down her spine from the cold air. It was much colder here than her hometown. She shook her blonde head back and forth looking up at the night sky determinedly. Now's not the time to think about comparisons and useless things.

She needed to get her mother's ring back. The sooner she did that, the sooner she could leave and put this bizarre night behind her.

Deciding that staying here was getting her nowhere in her search of the floating dog, Namine Kizuki began her trek out of the desolate and disturbing forest. Not only her goal, but her instincts as well, did not want to be here.

It seemed like forever in the silent chilling woods, but Namine finally approached what appeared to be pitch black, tall gates between one story high cobbled stone walls. She gripped the iron bars tightly as her cerulean eyes gazed through.

Everything was black and dreary. Not a spice of cheer in sight. Orange flames on tiny lanterns flickered ominously. It looked as if they were performing tiny, exotic dances.

Seeing that the coast was clear, the teenager rattled the bars a little. They didn't budge an inch. A slight jingling sound made her look down to see the gates wrapped in chains and a padlock. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance meanwhile rattling the gates once more. Again, no such luck.

Sighing in displeasure, Namine backed up from the gates a couple of inches. Her eyes moving from the top of the pointy gate to the bottom rooted in the dirt. She knew she wasn't gong to enjoy this; she just knew it.

With a low grumble, she mounted her feet on the lower bar of the gate. Looking up at the higher bar, she took a deep breath and began to clumsily climb up the tall gate. She slid multiple times making her hands burn from the friction. Namine hissed in pain but still continued her climbing.

Once she grasped the higher bar going across the gates, she maneuvered herself over to where one of the stone walls was. Pushing her weight off of the slippery bars, she caught the ledge of the stone wall quickly before she fell. Tightly gripping the ledge, Namine pushed herself up with her arms and laid her upper body on top of the ledge. Bringing up the rest of her, she moved to the other side of the narrow ledge having her legs hanging as if she was sitting. A victorious smile alit on her features.

_And Olette said I wouldn't be able to do this since I quit gymnastics when I was seven, _she thought grinning as she proved her brainy friend wrong.

Taking a deep breath and counting to three to calm her nerves, she clenched her eyes tight and pushed off the ledge onto the other side of the gate. However, Namine toppled to the ground ungracefully letting out an agonized groan.

On second thought, maybe quitting gymnastics when she was seven was a bad idea after all.

Rising up from the cobbled ground, Namine began walking down the cobbled path into what appeared to be leading into a town of sorts if the creepy and dark buildings near were any indication. Everything was silent and deserted along the cobbled road surrounded by stone walls on both sides. Instead of the silence being comfortable as she was used to, Namine felt herself grow goose bumps from the constant silence. As if the dark and chilling atmosphere wasn't enough.

It seemed as if her prayers were answered for as her steps echoed along the path, she began to hear sounds. Something along with lines of… music?

Curious, the blonde walked a little faster towards the source. She swept through the pathway swiftly closer to the music. Finally coming to the end of the pathway in what appeared to be the town square, she hid behind the corner leading into the pathway as to not catch attention.

Peeking around the corner, Namine watched in a sense of wonder and apprehension at what this strange gathering was. Pursing her lips, the music traveled through her ears leaving her with a spine-chilling, yet fascinated, feeling.

And just as soon as she acknowledged that feeling, this gathering started its enticing dance of mystery. Her azure gaze watched while her heart beat in her chest with the frightening song

_Boys and girls of every age  
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

_Come with us and you will see  
This, our town of Halloween_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night_

_This is Halloween, everybody make a scene  
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright  
It's our town, everybody scream  
In this town of Halloween_

She gripped the corner of the wall tightly. Her normally pale features a ghostly white. _T-they're c-creatures in folk tales, _she thought in fearful awe. But all this was impossible! None of these creatures were supposed to exist! They were just made up to scare little children!

And yet, she was looking at them celebrating their strange ritual with her own eyes.

_I am the one hiding under your bed  
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red_

_I am the one hiding under your stairs  
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair_

She moved from the corner of the entrance of the pathway further to hide behind a lamppost. Yeah, it wasn't a good hiding place, but she needed to get closer. Besides, she was all the way back here away from their festivities. No one would notice her she was sure.

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!  
In this town we call home  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

_In this town, don't we love it now?  
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise_

Namine had to cover her mouth to hide her yelp. She hated vampires, she was angry to admit. They always scared her even when she was a child. And…did that guy have… two faces?!

_Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can  
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll scream_

_Scream! This is Halloween  
Red 'n' black, slimy green_

"Eep!" she let out quietly when something made a sound in the direction of the pathway like a trash can crash. She moved away from the lamp post a little leaving one of her hands to still hang onto it.

_Aren't you scared?_

_Yes, _Namine gulped. She was indeed very scared of this bizarre place. All she wanted to do was go home!

But the loss of her mother's ring prevented her from doing so.

_Well, that's just fine  
Say it once, say it twice  
Take the chance and roll the dice  
Ride with the moon in the dead of night_

_Everybody scream, everybody scream_

_In our town of Halloween_

_I am the clown with the tear-away face  
Here in a flash and gone without a trace_

_Must not scream, must not scream, _the poor girl repeated in her mind like a mantra. She tried to look at something else to make her calm down.

Oh great, it was a guillotine next to a fountain emitting green slime. That didn't help her frazzled nerves.

_I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"  
I am the wind blowing through your hair_

_I am the shadow on the moon at night  
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright_

Bats flew everywhere making Namine jolt and speed back to where she was at the beginning of this frightening and beautiful dance. Peeking again around the wall, she stared at the display once more.

_Am I really this pathetic as to run back around the corner? _She asked herself dryly. No one better have answer that thought.

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween!_

_Tender lumplings everywhere  
Life's no fun without a good scare_

_That's our job, but we're not mean  
In our town of Halloween_

_In this town_

_Don't we love it now?_

_Everyone's waiting for the next surprise_

_Trickster Sora and Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back  
And scream like a banshee  
Make you jump out of your skin  
This is Halloween, everyone scream  
Won't ya please make way for very special guys_

Interested, Namine peeked farther around the corner to see the commotion. The music haunting and powerful. She knew the climax of this festive ritual was here.

_Our men Jack and Sora are king and prince of the pumpkin patch  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Prince and Pumpkin King now_

Fire danced as a scarecrow with a pumpkin head came alive. Beside the tall of lanky scarecrow was what appeared to be a dark gargoyle of some sorts (A/n: think of the Heartless gargoyles in KH2). It's yellow golden eyes glowing eerily as it looked upon the audience.

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

Namine's eyes widened when the gargoyle and the scarecrow crashed into the fountain of slime gracefully. Everyone crowded around it not missing a beat.

_In this town we call home  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

And just as that line was sung, two beings began to rise out of the slime fresh and anew. The scarecrow and the gargoyle were gone to reveal a tall selection and a boy dressed in black and Halloween style clothes. As these two rose from the fountain, the chanting of the creatures grew and they danced in unison.

But she wasn't playing attention to the creatures or to the skeleton.

She was watching the boy.

He appeared to be fifteen, the age of herself, with chocolate brown spiky hair and a pumpkin cat thing covered part of his left eye. His clothes were black and white with mostly black and he had little bat wings on his shoulders with two white fangs poking out of his lips—Namine didn't want to even think about if they were real or not. His face was mostly dark do to some black shading on his neck and around his eyes. He moved elegantly with the dance as the creatures sung their haunting song. However, the thing that caught her most was his eyes. That striking shade of ocean blue mesmerized her.

In fact, she was so spellbound by this mysterious boy that she had unconsciously left her hiding place behind the corner. Namine took another step forward before rooting herself on the cobbled stones not being blocked by any object. She was out in the open.

The dance ended and everyone had clapped. The witches crackled joyously the sound ringing dull in her ears. Her attention was still on the impish grinning boy who still stood on the edge of the fountain elevating him from the creatures. The skeleton stood next to him on the ground. Creatures from all over were praising them. Saying how scary and magnificent they were. Namine watched the scene in wonderment—her fear in the back of her mind at the moment.

Suddenly, it was unexpected, but the boy's striking sapphire eyes caught hers. He stopped whatever he was doing and looked upon her with a dumbfounded expression. It was accidental on his part to actually catch her in the act of staring, but all her brain could register at the moment was that she was no longer hidden.

And yet, why wouldn't she move? Why wouldn't she run? Was it because his surprised gaze was capturing her? Was it because he was just staring at her?

Finally, Namine's common sense kicked her adrenaline into gear and she bolted the other way not looking back in fear he might've told everyone else about seeing her. Fear kept her from turning to see if mythical creatures were chasing after her.

That was something Namine wished to avoid thank you.

Without looking where she was going, Namine ran straight into something. The force of the impact made her fly back onto the ground roughly.

Was it just her or does she seem to be making an acquaintance with the ground a lot today?

"Oh! Are you alright?" a voice asked her in concern.

Namine shook her head a little to banish the ringing in her ears before turning to look up at the speaker. Her mouth dropped in shock as her ability to speak deserted her entirely. Although, she supposed she shouldn't be surprised to see anything strange after what she just witnessed.

There standing in front of her was a tall skinny woman with long red hair and a dress sewn together by little cloths of neutral, dull colors that Namine had become accustomed to seeing in this strange place (I mean really, do you expect to see anyone wearing light blue and pearly white like she was wearing in a creepy town?). However, that wasn't what astounded her. The woman herself was sewn together like a doll that had to be repaired many times. Her skin was blue as her lips were a rosy red. The woman's big eyes stared down at Namine with that same thoughtful concern.

"F-fine" Namine choked out. The woman helped her up from the cobbled ground easily. Namine dusted off her clothes and fixed herself a little before speaking again, "Um, who are you?" she asked the woman.

The doll gave her a smile. Namine had to admit she was really pretty even with the many seams on her body and blue skin.

"I'm Sally" the woman, Sally, introduced herself. Sally then made a hand gesture with her hand at Namine, "And you are?"

"Namine" the blonde replied shyly her awkward nature kicking in. She fiddled with the hem of her blouse—a bad habit she tended to do when she was nervous—as she looked up at Sally.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Sally asked kindly yet knowingly. This caused Namine to bow her head in shame with a pink blush across her features. Was it really that obvious?

The answer is yes, Namine, it is completely obvious.

"Not really" the teenager mumbled out.

"I noticed from the way you dress and the fact that you're very uncomfortable here" Sally admitted placing a hand on Namine's shoulder. Namine jumped a little before relaxing. "Are you from another holiday?" Sally asked her.

Namine raised an eyebrow in confusion. Another holiday? What was she talking about?

"Erm… sorry, but I don't get what you mean" Namine answered sheepishly.

"Hmm, this is odd," Sally said with a questioning expression. If this girl didn't know what Sally was talking about then she couldn't be from another holiday who stumbled into Halloween Town by accident. "If you're not from a holiday, where did you come from?" she asked the girl.

Namine was totally lost in this conversation. Where did she come from? She came from Kyoto of course! She lived there since she was born! Where else could they be?

"I really don't understand what you're asking me Sally. I'm in Kyoto still, right?" the girl asked. Sally's eyes widened when Namine said the word "Kyoto". That was somewhere in the human world….

Uh-oh. This wasn't good.

"Namine…" Sally started gaining the blonde's attention. "Do you remember how you got here?" she asked the younger girl.

Namine gave off a thoughtful expression before nodding.

"Yeah, I was in the forest nearby my house and there was this strange pumpkin shaped door… I fell inside…" she murmured the last part but Sally heard her clearly.

Oh yeah, this was definitely not good.

Sally contemplated what to do. She couldn't most certainly go to the townsfolk about this. Who knows what would happen if anyone found out a human had gotten into Halloween Town by accident. She didn't think Namine would be very at ease either with all the residents of Halloween Town scaring her.

Sally then gazed at Namine. The poor girl looked like she's been through enough already. Besides, Sally was sure she was harmless. It wasn't like Namine posed any threat.

Plus, the girl seemed so adorable.

"Um, Sally?" Namine asked bringing Sally out of her thoughts. Her curious cerulean eyes gazed into big wide ones. "_Where_ am I exactly?" she squeaked out.

Sally gave the child a look of sympathy while she placed a blue hand on her shoulder. She moved to stand beside Namine and began leading her down the cobbled path away from the direction of the town square and the euphoric citizens of Halloween Town.

"Halloween Town" Sally said with a gentle smile.

"Halloween Town?" Namine repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, this is where Halloween is celebrated and commenced existing only for that purpose" Sally told her kindly. "In fact, this is where humans had gotten the idea of Halloween from in the first place many centuries ago" Sally explained.

"I find that hard to believe" Namine deadpanned.

"But it is true, Namine" Sally said as they walked. Approaching black tall gates like the ones Namine saw earlier, Sally opened them and they walked into the courtyard. Some trees with leafless branches resided with a tall tower.

"Then how come no one knows about Halloween Town now?" questioned Namine skeptically. Sally gave her a sad smile.

"Well, the existence of our town died out in the human knowledge plaguing our town's inhabitants as myths. Still, Halloween is alive as ever, which is very special to our citizens who love Halloween" Sally said.

The two females entered the tower. It was plain and cold, Namine concluded. Her and Sally didn't dwell there long for Sally led her up the stairs of the tower. Finally coming up to a door, Sally opened it and led Namine inside.

"Pssh, like there's anything good about Halloween" Namine grumbled taking in the interior of the room. There was only a bench and a large window allowing the moon's light to leak in. There was no glass, just iron bars crossing over not really blocking out the cold breeze. Namine really wished she had a jacket right now.

"This is where I sleep" Sally informed her. "I don't really have need for pillows or blankets, but for you I guess it's a different story" Sally said as she watched Namine shivering. She walked over and rubbed the girl's arms as to help create warmth. Namine thanked her through chattering teeth.

"A-are y-you r-r-really gonna le-et m-me stay her-re?" Namine asked shivering wildly. Sally came back into the room with an old ratty blanket. It wasn't much but it would have to do.

"Where else do you have to go?" Sally asked as she dusted off the bench a little. "Besides, it's best if you stay here until we can get you home" She unfolded the blanket and shook it to get rid of the moths and other things clutching onto the blanket.

"W-what d-d-do you m-mean?" she stammered to Sally in confusion. Man, she hated the cold!

"It wouldn't be wise if any of the other townsfolk found you. I don't think they would hurt you but I can't be too careful" Sally said. "It's best if you lie low here, alright?" she asked the younger female with a motherly expression on her features. Once Sally was sure the blanket was clean enough for Namine, she walked over to the girl and wrapped the blanket around her. Namine sniffled in reply since the cold was making her nose runny.

"W-wait, I can't e-exactly leave yet" Namine said, her voice becoming less broken thanks to the thin blanket. It was thin and ratty, but she would take it over no blanket any day. "I have t-to get something" Namine said in fortitude.

Sally raised an eyebrow at that. She had something to get?

"What do you mean?" she questioned the blonde as she led the girl to the bench attached to the stone wall by chains. She sat them both down with Namine away from the window in order to keep her warm.

"I lost—no, something _took_ my mother's wedding ring from me" Namine said scathingly.

"Your mother's wedding ring?" Sally inquired. Namine nodded.

"Yeah, they went into that pumpkin shaped door I told you about and that's how I fell in" Namine explained. She looked at Sally with eyes of begging. "Please, at least wait until I get my mother's ring back before you send me home" she pleaded the older female.

Sally looked upon her sadly. She had to admit she admired this girl's conviction to get something as little as a ring back even if it meant staying in a strange and unfamiliar place. Nonetheless, Namine couldn't go outside unless she wanted to be discovered.

Sally was stuck in a stalemate.

"How about we talk about this tomorrow?" Sally suggested. "Right now, you need sleep. You had a long day" Sally said and laid the blanket over Namine who was lying on the bench. She made a move to go to the other side of the room, but Namine held her wrist back.

Sally turned to see Namine looking at her with a slightly vulnerable gaze. She bent her head so she wasn't making eye contact with Sally and spoke.

"Can you stay with me?" she asked slightly ashamed. She really _was_ pathetic if she couldn't sleep on her own. "I just… feel better if someone was here" Namine admitted.

It was silent for a moment with Sally having a shocked expression on her face. However, it soon melted into a caring look and she nodded with a smile.

Namine moved over a bit and let Sally climb on the coarse, creaky bench with her. Sally stayed on top of the blankets while Namine was under them. It felt nice and yet so alien to be like this, Namine thought. The last time she was like this was when her mother was alive.

"Good night" Sally told Namine closing her eyes.

"Night" Namine mumbled before slumber took her.

And thus ended Namine's first night in this bizarre Halloween Town.

* * *

**Karin: Kay, there you have it everyone! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter! So, Namine has met Sally! They kinda act like mother and daughter wouldn't you say? **

**Moving on, just to let you guys know—Sora isn't a vampire. He has vampire fangs in the game so I kept them in this story. In case any of you were confused, I decided to clear that up for you. Sorry if I did confuse you though. **

**Sora: Awww, I'm not a vampire? **_**(munches on some chips)**_

**Karin: Nope, sorry **_**(takes a chip from the bag)**_

**Sora: Anyway, Karin-chan hopes that you'll be kind enough to leave a review if you can. **

**Karin: it would be nice if you did, but I'm not making you. It's your choice. **

**Sora: Now, we present the preview! **

**Preview of Chapter Three: **

"_Hey! Come back here!" Namine exclaimed to the runaway dog. She bolted out the door—Sally's warnings far from her mind—in pursuit of the floating dog. Almost tripping down the stairs and skidding fast on the floor in order to get out of the tower to chase the floating thief. _

**End of preview: Uh-oh, Namine had forgotten Sally's words to stay out of sight in the tower. What's going to happen as she chases down the thief of her mother's wedding ring? **

**See ya Next time! **


	3. The Boy

**Karin: Mwuhahahahaha! I'm back people! Did you miss me? **

**Sora: What about me? **

**Karin: Oops, sorry. I mean—Did you miss **_**us**_**? **

**Sora: Thank you**

**Karin: Ahem, so, here's the third chapter to "The Nightmare on Halloween"! I'm very happy that this fic is loved by people and I hope it continues to be loved. Now on with the story! **

**Sora: **_**(salutes)**_** Aye-aye, captain! **

**Disclaimer: **No owning of Kingdom Hearts was obtained during the making of this fic.

**Title: **The Nightmare of Halloween

**Rating: **Teen

**Pairing: **Sora/Namine

**Genres: **Fantasy/Romance/Humor/Drama

**Summary: **She hated Halloween; in fact, Namine Kizuki could very well say she downright _loathed_ Halloween. However, fate seems to have other plans for Namine when she somehow winds up in Halloween Town—a place were it's all about Halloween all the time. Will she be able to get home back to the normal world or will she find herself falling in love with the Pumpkin Prince? Sora/Namine

**Replies to Reviews from Chapter Two: **

**NaminexSora lover- **Thank you for not rushing me. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter as you have the last one (smiles). It's good that you listened to that song to help you—I listened to "This is Halloween" too when I was writing that scene (laughs).

**Angle09- **I'm glad I made your day. It always makes me smile when I see that my stories have that effect on people. Thank you for complimenting my story.

**Abysilityy- **(takes a bow) thank you, thank you! Don't worry—I think the same thing about Sora too (laughs) ;D. I'm very happy that you like my story a lot. Hopefully you'll be with it until the end—I sure hope you will XD. Anywho, I think I already answered your question in a forum topic, but I'll answer it again just in case: I do not know exactly how long this story will be, but it will definitely be past ten chapters—most likely fifteen with the way I write. I just can't write really short stories (rubs back of head sheepishly).

**Anime-devil-kym- **It's good that you think my story has originality. The best Sora/Namine story you've read on this you say? (blushes) I don't have high standards for my writing so seeing you think that is very touching to me.

**sAppHiRa-hiMe- **I know, isn't he? (squeals at Sora's adorableness) Oh! I read your reply from your Somine story "Scarlet Temperament" and let's just say I was literally in tears of joy and humbleness that you'll continue to support my stories and the fact that they're always worth your time, Sapphira-chan. I don't deserve such praises (sniffle). Oh crap! I'm tearing up again! Anyway, Hope you received my review for the forth chapter. It was amazing by the way! (grins)

**Pikachu407- **The song _is_ cool! Your equation kinda sounds like mine! Karin-chan + orange soda = insanity! (laughs) Yeah, poor Sora for not being a vampire, but Namine and Sally have met! Yay!

**Arashi- **True, true. Makes it more bearable, wouldn't you say? Glad to see you liked the second chapter.

**Wolves4life96- **Of course I will continue it—especially since you said "please" X)

**Pandiita- **(blushes) I'm humbled by the fact that you think I have talent. That comment really made my day. Good to know you find my story unique and I hope you'll stick around to the end of it. Thank you for the hugs! Hugs are nice! (hugs you back).

**Gabyrendon- **Thank you for being patient with me. I'm very glad that you like the story so far.

* * *

_Oh, Somewhere deep_

_Inside of These bones_

_An Emptiness_

_Began to Grow_

_There's Something out There_

_Far from my Home_

_A Longing that_

_I've Never Known. _

**-**

**-**

**-**

**The Nightmare on Halloween**

**Chapter Three: **

**The Boy**

**-**

**-**

**-**

Namine let out a small groan as she felt sunlight radiate on her cheeks. Oh great; the sun was up—which meant she had to get up for school. Olette was probably heading her way over to her house right now and Namine was still in bed. Man was she going to get it when Olette discovered Namine wasn't even out of bed.

In retrospect though—it wasn't like Namine supported skipping school, even if she wasn't fond of the educational institution. However, when you add sleep in the mix, it was a tough decision to make.

And besides, Namine mumbled a little in irritation, she felt like she hadn't slept at all last night. It was like gulping down Hayner's special punch all over again! She must've done just that because from the weird dream Namine had, she was pretty sure that accursed punch was the cause of it.

'_I'm going to kill Hayner when I see him today,' _she thought with distain. '_I don't care if Olette _does_ like him! I told him to keep that crap he calls punch away from me!' _

Turning away from the sunlight, something hard creaked under her making Namine freeze. That didn't sound at all like her bed.

Now that she thought about it—her bed was never this uncomfortable. Namine was currently lying on her right side and it felt like she slammed it into a door or something. Or at least spent the night on her floorboards. Yeah, that sounded more like it.

Suddenly, everything that had happened last night came back in a flash in her mind making her cerulean eyes snap open in surprise. With a yelp, she fell off the wooden bench onto the stone cold floor. It was silent for a couple of seconds before her lips released a moan of pain.

Sitting up and looking around, Namine found herself in Sally's room in the tower from the night before. Orange rays of sunlight shined dully inside the large window with iron bars. Taking one last look around the room, Namine bowed her head and sighed dejectedly.

"That's right" she murmured, "It wasn't a dream at all"

Now aware of her surroundings, Namine stood up from the floor and dusted herself off. Redoing her low ponytail, the blonde haired girl sat on the bench feeling out of place in the room.

Sally was nowhere to be found at the moment. She must've left sometime during the early morning, Namine figured. Rubbing her right shoulder that ached from her stiff night of slumber, Namine bowed her head once more in sorrow. She felt quite lonely right now.

"I wonder how the others are doing" Namine thought aloud while she began swinging her legs back and forth. "Olette's probably waiting outside my window about to burst with joy about confessing to Hayner. And the bloke is probably so embarrassed about the fact that he didn't realize Olette liked him until she said it straight to his face, but happy nonetheless. Pence probably got the whole thing on camera…" Namine mused to herself with a melancholic smile.

She missed them. She truly did.

She wondered what they would do when they found out she was missing. Would they miss her as much as she missed them? Would they try to look for her? But then again, even if her friends had discovered her missing and decided to look for her, she was pretty sure they wouldn't find a clue as to where she went off to.

'…_disappeared to is more like it,' _the blonde thought dryly.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were not the only ones Namine had missed dearly. Yes, they were precious to her but she also had another person whom she worried about during her departure.

Her father.

She was scared what her father would do if he had discovered her missing. She didn't want to worry him—not her father. She couldn't forgive herself if she let her father worry.

Her head swimming with depressing thoughts, she fell onto her side on the bench in a lying position. Her legs were still hanging off the bench as her upper half rested on the cold wooden surface.

A slight crinkling noise caught her attention making Namine turn her head towards the sound. There, on the left side of her head, was a folded piece of paper.

Getting curious, the fifteen year old picked up the folded paper nimbly. Still lying down, she unfolded the paper to be greeted with the delicate scrawl of Sally.

_Dear Namine, _

_Don't be alarmed if you wake up to find me gone—I just went out for a little bit to pick some deadly nightshade and grab you something to eat. You must be hungry and I can't let you starve now can I?_

'_No you can't,' _Namine thought with a quite laugh. Having finished her chuckle, she went back to reading.

_Now Namine, I know I told you last night, but I must remind you—_don't leave this room!_ Do you understand? I'll make sure I come back soon so please just stay there and don't make a lot of noise. The doctor doesn't know you're here nor does anyone else so it would be troublesome if he or any other citizen of Halloween Town were to find you._

_Please be patient. I promise I won't make you wait long. _

_-Sally_

"I know not to go out, Sally" Namine said with a little irritation in her tone, but through the whole thing she had a soft smile on her features. She was touched by the fact that Sally seemed to care about her. It was nice to know you had a friend in a strange world.

But after ten minutes have passed, Namine was about ready to claw the door. There was nothing to do and if Namine was left to her thoughts in a room of isolation she might actually go insane.

"It's so _boring_!" she whined as she lied on the bench. Her right arm was lying over her eyes as to shield them from view. "Jeez, if I knew it would be this boring I would've brought some kind of entertainment" she said jokingly. However, the attempt at a joke was fruitless when lightening her mood.

With a whine of frustration, Namine turned on her side to face the wall on the wooden bench. Her cerulean eyes were blocked from view by her pale eyelids. She hugged herself more to induce some body heat from the cold autumn air. Still, that wasn't helping much since the wooden bench itself was ice cold.

'_Maybe by a small stream of luck I can go back to sleep,' _Namine thought idly. One of her hands reached up unconsciously where her mother's wedding ring was supposed to reside only to clutch nothing in her delicate fingers. A wave of sorrow washed over the blonde depressingly.

"Mom…" she whispered mournfully.

Suddenly, a loud bark roused her from her hazy dreamlike state. Namine Kizuki sprang upright with a startled yelp. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage in fright.

"What the—"she was interrupted when she caught sight of who the visitor was. There floating a little above her a few feet away, was that insufferable dog that she had encountered not even twenty-four hours ago.

"It's you!" Namine gaped as she pointed a finger at him in anger. "What are _you_ doing here?!" she said in outrage.

The dog only barked out playfully doing a few flips in the air as he did so. Meanwhile in the midst of his acrobats, Namine spotted something shiny hanging from his mouth. Her eyes widened when she realized what exactly it was.

"That's my mom's ring!" she exclaimed standing up from the bench. Pushing herself forward, Namine made a grab for the silver chain hanging from the white, transparent dog's mouth.

…or at least she would have if the dog didn't flip out of the way in time making her plummet flat onto the stone floor. A loud crashing sound accompanied her as she did so.

"Ow…" Namine whimpered out in pain. Sitting up, the poor girl began nursing her head by rubbing it gently. It was only when that sneaky dog barked again to gain her attention that made her remember he was there.

The dog made a few panting noises in excitement before flying straight out the door entrance of Sally's room. Azure eyes were wide in panic as once more that mutt was getting away with her most prized possession.

"Hey! Come back here!" Namine exclaimed to the runaway dog. She bolted out the door—Sally's warnings far from her mind—in pursuit of the floating dog. Almost tripping down the stairs and skidding fast on the floor in order to get out of the tower to chase the floating thief.

Namine had no idea where she was going or what were her surroundings. All she was focused on was the mischievous dog that stole her mother's wedding ring. Pumping her legs in order to keep up, Namine panted a little to keep her breathing straight.

The blonde reminded herself to thank Hayner for convincing her to take track all throughout middle school. Because if she didn't, the teenager was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to stay in pace with the rambunctious floating canine.

Speaking of the little thief, he was currently up ahead of her looking back at her with his tongue out in exhilaration—as if it was it all a game to him!

'_Damn dog,' _Namine thought in distain, _'This is precisely why I'm a cat person' _

Making a sharp turn, Namine skidded on the cobbled street before pushing herself forward in accurate speed. Her blue eyes were alit with determination that refused to fail like the last time.

The canine gazed back once more at his pursuer. She was good at keeping up. Not many could do that since he was such a handful. Seeing this, the dog yipped out in joy at her and picked up some speed making another sharp turn into the town square.

'_So that's how he wants to play it, huh?' _the blonde haired girl narrowed her eyes. Running very fast, Namine skidded more sharply the second turn with the help of her hands sliding across the payment to steady herself. However, she slid right into a trash can making them all tumble down like dominos into the town square.

Pushing herself off the tin can causing the force of her push to make a dent on the waste basket and maneuvering her body to run again, she took neither notice of this destruction nor the startled and panicked yells of the other people in the town square.

Jumping over the slime green fountain and making a left turn where the dog had flown, many crashes and bangs occurred with many of the citizens of Halloween Town tumbling into one another and becoming disoriented in the chaos that she had unknowingly caused.

Oblivious to what was going on, the blonde chased the canine out of town square onto an abandoned cobble stone street leading away from all the dysfunction. Her tennis shoes beat against the ground in a rhythmic pattern.

The once bustling noise of town square became quiet as the culprit of theft led her farther and farther away from civilization. Following the long stone path, Namine continued keeping the floating dog in her sights.

Seeing that she was still indeed following him, the dog had slowed down a bit doing another acrobat for her and resuming towards the iron gates up ahead.

As for Namine, she too slowed down to a jog when she noticed her pursued was unhurried unlike before. She doubted he would attempt to lose her now—of course not, for if he just flew off there would be no game for him anymore, she thought with a glare.

Continuing to follow the hovering pup, Namine saw him pass through the iron gates up ahead. While they were much smaller than the large iron gates she had encountered before when entering Halloween Town, they still had the same style.

Slowing to a stop, she let one of her hands grasp the cool metal. Goosebumps arose on her arm from the icy contact. Namine shivered a little as she grasped another bar and thrust opened the gates. In reply to being moved, the black as night iron gateways screeched in displeasure at being disturbed from their stationary spot.

Entering cautiously, Namine rubbed her arms to create some warmth. It was colder at night—that was for certain—but it was still chilly especially since she was wearing a skirt and a thin blouse.

Looking around, the blonde observed that she was in some kind of graveyard. Oh great; she was surrounded by dead people, but only this time they probably _can_ come out of their graves and attack her. Oh yes, just _lovely_.

'_Don't think about it. It will only make the anxiety worse, Namine,' _she told herself proceeding warily. What she wouldn't give for some of Pence's corny jokes right now.

All was silent in the small and dreary graveyard. Not a color besides shades of gray in sight. It was rather depressing really, she thought as she walked along towards the opposite iron gates that were probably one and a half heads taller than her, that she's basically the only thing with color in this place with her light blue plaid skirt, white blouse, plaid light blue tie, navy knee socks, and blonde hair.

Approaching the new set of iron gates, Namine saw a vast plain with pumpkins littering about here and there with a large hill with its tip curled up at the top. Around the plain was a wooden picket fence even then showing it wasn't completely free.

A barking sound caught her attention making her open the gates quickly. She would bet Olette's favorite book that that bark belonged to none other than her playful canine thief.

She looked around in order to locate the tricky mutt, but he was nowhere to be found. Nevertheless, when she heard him barking out again, she crept quietly where the source of the barking was.

Quiet steps advanced forward to the hill. Namine still kept her caution and suspicion though. She would not lose that levitating pup again until she obtained her mother's ring. After all, that was what she had come for, wasn't it? The whole reason she was in this mess?

With that thought in mind, the blonde snuck silently near halfway to the other side of the hill. It was no wonder she couldn't spot the transparent pup for he was on the other side out of her view, she told herself.

Stopping just halfway at the bottom of the hill, Namine was a little bit elevated able to see the other side perfectly. And what she saw made her cerulean eyes widen.

Hidden from view from where she once was at the entrance gates, was the same boy from the night before snoozing life away at the bottom of the hill. Light snores erupted from his lips as his spiky chestnut brown hair framed his face. Namine took a couple steps backwards when she spotted the object of her chase barking and nudging the boy. She felt herself gulping while she bent down a little on her knees in order to hide herself.

Finally, the boy let out a sleepy groan and sat up groggily. The floating dog yipped out a greeting happily when he saw the boy awake. Luckily for Namine, though, the boy's back was to her.

"Hey Zero," she heard him greet the transparent mutt with the glowing nose sleepily, yet welcomingly. "What you got there buddy?" he asked tilting his head to the side when he caught sight of what was in the panting dog's mouth.

The dog, Zero she now learned, barked out excitedly dropping the item in the boy's hand. The brunette brought it closer to his face to better examine it in wonder. He raised an eyebrow in question at the object.

"Where did you get this, Zero?" the boy asked the floating dog. Namine's eyes widened and she gasped when she spotted the very thing the boy was holding.

Her ring. Her mother's wedding ring!

All conscious thought left the blonde's mind and strictly on impulse, Namine sprang up from hiding and raced over to where the boy was. She was huffing a little as her exhaustion began to catch up on her and she glared at him with fiery cerulean eyes.

"Give that back! It's mine!" she yelled angrily at him. Her stance was rigid and she held out her hand while the other was clenched at her side tightly. All caution was thrown into the wind and Namine Kizuki was exposed from hiding.

The boy blinked surprised at her sudden appearance. He was probably still absorbing her outburst as he turned his bright azure eyes back to the ring then to her again. He repeated this process three more times before finding his voice.

"This is yours?" he asked in a confused tone. "What is it?" he inquired.

Namine felt her eye twitch in irritation. She just wanted to get the ring back, not answer his questions!

"It's my mother's wedding ring" she told him hotly. "Give it back" she demanded again.

The boy tilted his head to the side as if not understanding. Instead of listening to her command and giving her the ring, he asked another question.

"What's a wedding ring?"

Now it was Namine's turn to blink with a dumbfounded expression. He was joking, right? Yeah sure teens weren't into marriage around their age but she was pretty sure they knew what marriage was.

"You're joking, right?" she asked him seriously with her dumbfounded expression still in place. The boy just shook his head clearly not offended by her statement.

"Nope" he answered her.

The blonde just rubbed the back of her head in bewilderment. A perplexed expression upon her features as she gazed at the boy before her.

"It's, well…" she paused trying to get her words together, "How do I put this…?" she asked herself while running a hand through her loose ponytail a little. "Um, you see—it's what two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together give each other to show their bond I guess" she explained unsurely to the brunette.

"You mean like friends?" he asked her. "Do I have to give rings to all my friends then?"

"No! No!" Namine corrected him embarrassedly. She felt like she was dealing with the mind of an innocent child. "It's only for special people! You don't just go around giving wedding rings to all your friends. It can only be given to one person!" she elaborated using her hands to help get her point across.

"But if they already know that they're my friend, why do I need to give them a ring?" the boy questioned just like the child she thought his innocence matched.

As for Namine, she felt like slapping her forehead. This was getting her nowhere.

"Look, that person may know you care, but the ring symbolizes to others that you care as well and that no one can take that person away from you" she replied tiredly. The blonde lifted a hand through her bangs in weariness.

It was then that realization stuck her like a bolt of lightening. She was no longer in hiding. She was seen. She had not heeded Sally's warnings. Sally wouldn't like that; maybe she would even hate her. Namine began to feel nausea bubble up in her stomach. Despair flooded her being as if it was a massive flash flood.

She was stupid. Really, utterly stupid.

"Please," she choked out with pleading eyes. Her arms were stationary at her sides. Her posture was straighter now, but still slightly tense in her own fear and shyness. "Can I have it back?" she asked the boy hesitantly.

He just stared at her for a few seconds pensively—as if trying to look for an answer that was supposedly found on her face. Namine averted her cerulean eyes not being able to confront the attention. She hated it when people stared at her.

"Kay" he replied with a tiny smile. He took her right hand in his own and placed the chain with her mother's wedding ring in her open palm gently. Enclosing her fingers and letting go, he continued, "You must really like it"

"I do" she faltered in her speech not expecting the close contact the boy had given her. As she looked at him, the blonde was shocked to see that she was in fact shorter than him only reaching the tip of his nose. Her friends—even Hayner by three quarters of an inch to which he really hates—are all shorter than her so it was strange to actually have to look up a bit to look at him.

"Hey, what are you dressed as?" he asked her suddenly bringing her out of her inner musings. "I've never seen clothes like that" he added.

"I'm not anything." Namine replied with a furrowing of her brows. "This is what I wear when I go to school" she told the boy.

"School? What's that?" he inquired full of questions.

"It's where you go to learn things" Namine replied using the general definition.

"Learn? Like what?" curious sapphire eyes blinked at her.

"You know, like math; science; history; literature—basically things that will assist you later in life," the blonde said. The boy only wrinkled his nose in response.

"That sounds boring. I've never had to learn any of that" he told Namine. Namine only raised an eyebrow.

"What do you learn then?" Namine questioned him with a suspicious tone. At this, a playful grin—like the one he wore last night in the sea of creatures—came upon his boyish features.

"Halloween of course!" he stated it like she was silly for not knowing that. "Like how to scare people, play tricks, and trick or treat" he said sounding like a little boy at Christmas time.

"That sounds… nice" she hesitated with the last word. Truth be told, she felt very wary when he said that. It was then that she noticed his sapphire eyes were wide and recognition was apparent on his face.

"You were there last night! I remember now!" he said excitedly. Without warning, he grasped both of her hands with his own and shook them energetically. "You were standing beside the lamp post! I never knew there was another who looked like me in Halloween Town! Where were you all this time? Surely you had to be around here somewhere all this time, right? The mayor said there was no one like me here in Halloween Town but he was wrong!" he rambled out happily as he continued to hold her hands tight.

Namine could hardly focus on what he was saying for she was too concerned with the fact that she could feel his warmth on her own hands through his gloves. Both his enthusiasm and lack for personal space was making her dizzy.

It was only a few seconds later she noticed that the boy had gone quiet and he had stopped shaking her hands up and down vigorously. Cerulean eyes snapped up to see the boy looking at her hands worriedly.

"What happened…?" he asked her still holding her hands, but more delicately this time as if they were made of glass. "They're all red and scraped. They even might be bleeding a little." he muttered to himself but she heard him clearly.

Oh, that's right, Namine reminded herself. When she had skidded against the cobble stones using her hands as breaks. Funny; she didn't even notice her hands in that condition, but now that the boy had pointed it out, she was beginning to feel the sting of her reckless stunt.

"It's oka—"

"We have to get this checked up" he interrupted her dismissal.

"Look, it's fine. You don't need—"

"Come on," he cut her off again and began pulling her along briskly. "We'll go into town to see if they can be bandaged up. It might get infected"

"But, no, wait!" Namine tripped over her words.

However the boy didn't listen to her protests as he guided her against her will back into the direction of town square. Her heart was pounding in her ears from fear at the prospect of her cover being blown so easily. Why, oh why didn't she listen to Sally?

The boy's hand held her wrist in firm yet gentle grip as to not hurt her. He was oblivious of her anxiety more preoccupied with worry and getting her hands checked up.

"No, really, it's okay—forget about it" Namine told him in a begging tone.

"But we need to see someone to help your hands" he protested.

"I'll go later! I'll go later! Just please! Don't take me back there!" she lied trying to sway him. Surely she could get Sally to help her when she returned back to the tower unseen.

He stopped pulling her and turned back to her with eyes of concern mixed with curiosity. Her eyes were wide and frantic and she was beginning to tremble.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he questioned seeing her fear. "Are you okay?" he asked with a little more urgency.

Namine opened her mouth to answer, but her voice never came out of her throat. Her entire expression became pale and her cerulean eyes looked like she was surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. The boy raised an eyebrow at her behavior before a voice yanked him out of his thoughts.

"Ahem"

It was then that the boy turned around to see all of the citizens of Halloween Town glaring at him—or more precisely—what was _behind_ him. The mayor, usually sporting his cheery face, looked upon him and Namine with his white frowning face—his expression grim.

"Sora," the mayor began his eyes never leaving the blonde, "Perhaps there something you wish to share with us?"

* * *

**Karin: Woo! Finally! Third chapter out and finished! So, Namine has met Sora! What will happen now that the citizens of Halloween Town have found out about Namine? Find out nest chapter! **

**Sora: We hope you all have a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. **

**Karin: **_**(nods) **_**Remember to spend time with your family and have a good time! And eat lots of food too! **

**Sora: Like turkey or chicken! Oh, and sweets! **

**Karin: But eat some veggies too! **

**Sora: Well, that should be it, shouldn't it Karin? **

**Karin: Yep, hopefully you all liked this chapter and enjoy your holidays. **

**Preview of Chapter Four: **

_Namine shivered as she felt all of the citizens' of Halloween Town eyes on her. The unpleasant feeling lurched in her stomach making her feel as if she would throw up but never wound. _

**End of Preview: Things are getting interesting. Poor Namine—how will she get out of this one? **

**See ya Next time! **


	4. The Trial

**Karin: Yay! Yay! Chapter Four is here! **

**Sora: Sorry it took a while. Things have been hectic here. **

**Karin: Yeah, first midterms in January and then Standardized testing at the beginning of March. But now I am back to my regular education schedule and will be happy to update since I didn't update in January like I had hoped I would. **

**NOTE1: replies to reviews are moved to the bottom of the chapter now so you can get to the chapter faster like you want to. ****  
**

**NOTE2: I made a little mistake in describing the orange, pumpkin cat thing on Sora's costume from Halloween Town. It's on the **_**right**_** side of his head, not the left. Sorry about that. **

**Disclaimer: **No owning of Kingdom Hearts will ever come true for me.

**Title: **The Nightmare of Halloween

**Rating: **Teen

**Pairing: **Sora/Namine

**Genres: **Fantasy/Romance/Humor/Drama

**Summary: **She hated Halloween; in fact, Namine Kizuki could very well say she downright _loathed_ Halloween. However, fate seems to have other plans for Namine when she somehow winds up in Halloween Town—a place were it's all about Halloween all the time. Will she be able to get home back to the normal world or will she find herself falling in love with the Pumpkin Prince? Sora/Namine

* * *

_Oh There's _

_An Empty Place_

_In_

_My Bones_

_That Calls _

_Out for_

_Something Unknown_

_The Fame and Praise_

_Come Year _

_After Year_

_Does Nothing for_

_These Empty Tears_

**-**

**-**

**-**

**The Nightmare on Halloween**

**Chapter Four: **

**The Trial**

**-**

**-**

**-**

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and resonating throughout her skull was the only thing Namine could hear at that moment. Not the vehement arguments or the hammering of the Mayor's hammer calling for order. Not the protests or echoes whatsoever. It was all deaf to the sound of her heart throbbing against her rib cage making her feel a little dizzy.

Oh dear god, please let this be a bad dream. Just a silly, tedious nightmare in which she could talk to Olette about in the morning with a joking atmosphere. Please let none of this be real, she begged in her mind.

But Namine knew it was fruitless to pray. She knew praying wasn't going to help her. Nothing could help her at this moment in the middle of horrific creatures from dark myths and folklore.

Because this wasn't a dream. This is was _real_.

And as much as her subconscious wanted to block everything out and put shields around her mind making her believe this was just a nightmare in order to protect herself, Namine Kizuki knew even that wouldn't make anything better.

No matter how appealing that option was from where she stood.

Currently, Namine was sitting on a chair next to the podium on top of the platform with the Mayor calling—and unsuccessfully, she might add for good measure—for order among the fellow citizens at the podium. As if that wasn't bad enough, her wrists were tied behind said chair disallowing her to escape.

Namine shivered as she felt all of the citizens' of Halloween Town eyes on her. The unpleasant feeling lurched in her stomach making her feel as if she would throw up but never would.

Bowing her head, the blonde couldn't help but wish she were at home again. She hated being tied up like some sacrificial lamb towards a pack of hungry wolves. Not only could she not escape, but she was completely alone in this sea of people. No Olette. No Hayner. No Pence. No Dad.

The realization of that stung her severely.

Pressing herself into the back of the chair, all Namine wished she could do was sink into the floor. God, she hated it when people stared at her. She hated being the center of attention. She was not a socially talented person. Olette said her shyness was adorable, but Namine couldn't help but curse her lack of confidence while sitting in the Town Hall among the citizens of Halloween Town.

"Order! Order everyone!" the Mayor cried banging his hammer. "For goodness sake! Let's get this meeting started!" he told the townspeople with a hint of frustration in his voice. Frustration that had been caused by her she was sure.

It took a little bit, but finally everyone had quieted down enough for there to be a civilized meeting. However, Namine thought she preferred their yapping rather than their silence. At least then, their attention wasn't completely and utterly on her.

Hmmm, she wondered if the whole "there's no place like home" thing from the Wizard of Oz would work right now. Knowing her luck, it probably wouldn't.

Still, the thought did have its appeal she supposed.

The Mayor cleared his throat after silence settled in the Town Hall. Setting down his hammer upon the podium, he got down to business.

"Now, we are here today to discuss the matter on what we should do with the human girl. Does anyone have any proposals?" he asked the audience.

"How in the world did she even get here?" asked the werewolf in a raspy voice making Namine cringe. "I was sure no one in the human world even knew about Halloween Town anymore." he said with the others nodding in agreement and murmurs breaking out into the crowd.

"That's right! There's no way a human could've known about Halloween Town!" another creature chimed in.

"Oh really? Then what's that up there on the platform? A plant?" someone snapped resembling Pugsley from the Addams Family at the creature.

Namine felt her eye twitching as they talked about like she wasn't there. With the way they were treating her, she might as well be a plant for all they cared.

"Can humans even be plants?"

"Are you serious? Of course they can't be plants!"

"She does resemble some kind of wilted flower if you look at her."

"Will you all stop with plant comparisons with the human! Humans and plants are two different things! End of story!"

Resisting the urge to curse them all off for their complete nonsense, Namine counted to ten in her head. She knew that it wasn't in her best interest to yell at the people who were holding her captive. No matter how tempting and satisfying it would be.

"People please! Stay at the topic at hand!" the Mayor begged.

"The human should leave!" some cried. After that, others voiced their opinions loudly.

"It's not like I had a choice…" Namine muttered to herself irritably. "I mean, how the hell was I supposed to know that there was another world in that stupid door…?"

Unfortunately, that sentence meant only for her ears was heard by a little girl as well. The girl wore a witch hat, mask, and a grey dress with her hair sticking out a little under the hat.

"What do you mean stupid door?" the girl sneered with a slightly high-pitched voice. Everyone seemed to stop their discussions and turned to the blonde being held captive. Namine could've sworn her face resembled that of a tomato from embarrassment.

"I mean…" she began uncertainly, "I had no intention whatsoever to come here. I was just minding my own business in the forest near my house and then I—"

"What were you doing in a forest?" interrupted the boy in the devil costume

"None of your business!" Namine growled out. She did not want to share that she had run away from her house because of the shock of her father openly mourning and the grief of her mother's death crashing down on her. Calming down somewhat, she added, "Do you want to know what happened or what?" seeing that no one was objecting, she continued.

"Anyway, some ghost dog—Zero, I believe—stole something from me so I chased after him. He led me to this strange pumpkin shaped door and I accidentally fell inside. Next thing I know, I'm here. End of story." the blonde finished. "To be honest, I didn't even know about Halloween Town until I was actually here. I can assure you no one in the human world has any idea about this." she promised. It was quite obvious no one had any idea about Halloween Town because if they did, they would probably do everything they can to get inside and ruin it for money or whatever.

"Zero led you here?" one of the vampires inquired curiously. Namine resisted the urge to shudder in fear.

"Yup." she said shutting her blue eyes for a bit, and then opening them to look at him. "That's how I found the door to this place. You know, you should really get that dog trained—he's really disobedient—so nothing like this will happen again." Namine told them dismissively.

There was some mumbles about Zero seeming to only listen to Jack or Sora, but Namine wasn't sure.

"Zero's never done anything like this before." the Mayor said. "Usually he stays inside Halloween Town. Why in the world would he be in some forest? Something must've caught his eye I suppose. That dog loves to scavenge for things…" he explained.

'_And my ring just happened to catch his eye…' _Namine thought miserable. Well, it was shiny so she guessed Zero must—as most dogs—like shiny things.

"You said that there was a door in the human world?" the Mayor asked finally turning to Namine. Said teen jumped a little from being startled, but nodded nonetheless.

"Yeah, a pumpkin shaped door was in the very deep apart of the forest. Maybe that's why no one knew about it…" she trailed off.

"Hmmm, this brings light onto the situation," the Mayor said gravely. "I guess the only solution would be is to get rid of you."

"What?!" Namine exclaimed.

"Oh! Can we do it?" yelled the three nasty little children. Each had a sinister grin on their faces.

"We know just what to do with her!" the girl said excitedly.

"She'll be gone by tonight!" cheered the skull masked boy.

"Our guarantee!" the devil boy said.

"Wait! Hold on a second—"Namine cried as the others began unanimously voting for whatever these children had planned. Did they know something she didn't?

"Splendid then," the Mayor agreed smiling just about to bang his hammer to signify the end of the meeting, "The girl will be given to Oogie Boogie by sundown. He can do whatever he wants with her."

"We most certainly will _not_ give her to Oogie Boogie!" a new voice proclaimed echoing throughout the Town Hall.

Everything fell silent as the newcomer entered. Namine's cerulean eyes widened when she saw it was the skeleton from Halloween night. What surprised her more was that Sally and the boy, Sora if she remembered correctly, were right behind him.

"It's Jack" some whispered.

"What is he going to do?"

"Look, Sora and Sally are with him…"

"Jack!" the Mayor gave a delightful cry. His happy face still in place when he saw the tall, skinny skeleton. "How are you? What do we owe the honor?" he inquired pleasantly as if he wasn't sending a girl to her execution seconds earlier.

"Why was I not informed of this meeting, Mayor?" Jack asked a little outraged. "In fact, I had no idea about it until Sora and Sally came to get me." he said.

"Oh Jack, this is just a measly matter. I didn't want to disturb you with something as silly as this Don't worry, it's all taken care of." The Mayor laughed nervously with his happy expression still in place.

"Even so, a matter is a matter and I wished to be informed about it!" Jack snapped. He then turned to the audience in a calmer stance. "Have we really stooped so low as to give her to Oogie Boogie? I thought we were better than this."

Some bowed there heads in shame while some others looked away. Tiny, fruitless whispers broke out to provide an excuse but none came.

"B-but Jack! She knows way too much!" the Mayor protested his frowning, distressed face taking place of the happy one. "What else should we do?"

Sora climbed up onto the platform and began untying Namine. Once that was done, she stood up while he held her wrists and examined them worriedly since they were red from the tight, rough rope that bound her. The blonde fought down a blush as he did so.

"We keep her of course!" Jack said. Namine's head snapped up at that statement. Did she hear him right?

"Keep her? But she's so ugly!" the witches chimed in together.

"And she's wearing silly clothes!" the three evil children that wanted to sacrifice her said in unison.

"She won't fit in at all!"

"She's no use here!"

"That's not true!" Sora said letting go of Namine's wrists and moved to stand in front of her glaring down at the crowd. "She's nice! And I'm sure we can find something for her to do! Plus, if she doesn't want her silly clothes, we can just give her new ones!" he told them angrily. "And she most definitely is _not_ ugly!"

If Namine wasn't peeved by the fact that he called her clothes silly, she would've completely died of embarrassment from the fact that he indirectly called her pretty so bluntly in front of everyone.

"Perhaps I have some use for her." a man with a large, bolted cranium began as he rolled up in his wheelchair. Sally was right beside him the whole time. "She can help me with my work. Sally is only one person—"Namine could've sworn he muttered something along the lines of Sally also being very troublesome and rebellious as well—"and I could use someone who will listen without complaint."

Why did that sound like he was calling her a dog rather than a person? Namine resisted the urge to growl at him for he was saving her butt here.

"Where will she stay?" asked the Mayor.

"With me, of course. She'll work as payment for me letting her stay in my laboratory." the man in the wheelchair replied.

"Marvelous, Doctor!" Jack praised the man. "What a splendid idea!" he then turned to the Mayor with a smile. "You see, there are other solutions. I mean, after all, we can't really send her back because the door isn't there anymore."

Namine froze when she heard Jack say that. What did he mean the door wasn't there in the forest anymore?

"Yes, that is true…" the Mayor said reluctantly.

"What are you talking about?" Namine spoke up to the skeleton. "What do you mean the door isn't there anymore?" she demanded.

Jack turned to Namine with a genuine confused expression on his face. Titling his head slightly, he answered her question.

"It seems no one has told you yet," at this, he shot an accusing glance at the citizens of Halloween Town before turning back to her, "You see, each holiday has their own door leading to the human world—"

"Sorry, but what do you mean by holiday?" interrupted Namine politely.

"You know—Christmas, Valentines, Easter—they each have their own door and world inside like Halloween Town." Sora answered her cheerfully.

"So, there's not just a Halloween Door? There's one for each holiday?" she asked understanding what Sally had said before when she had asked Namine if she had come from another holiday.

"Of course!" Jack told her enthusiastically. "And each holiday can travel to another holiday through those doors whenever they want. Fascinating, isn't it?" he grinned excitedly at her. Namine used all her self-control not to wince a little from him being too close. However, he moved away from her immediately before she did give any sign of being uncomfortable.

"Yeah, really fascinating…" she muttered. Jack then straightened out and went back to answering her original question.

"As I was saying, each holiday has their own door leading to the human world as well. Usually they're in secluded areas as to keep themselves hidden as was the agreement of the humans and the holidays a long time ago, but they don't stay there year-round." Jack explained.

"What do you mean by they don't stay there?" Namine asked with a tone of dread. Why was everything getting numb all of a sudden? Why did it feel like she was being sentenced to her doom?

"That's the thing; the door leading to the human world only appears in the human world on that specific holiday. So, you see, you got here through the Halloween Door on Halloween. Since Halloween is over until next year, the door has disappeared until next Halloween." Jack explained with a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid you're stuck here until next year…"

Not even bothering to listen to him anymore, the blonde haired girl sprang off the platform and pushed herself through the crowd of ghouls and goblins. Bursting the doors open, she raced towards the direction of where the door was the previous night.

He was joking, right? There's no way the door couldn't be there anymore! Doors just don't disappear! He was lying! He had to be lying! He just didn't want her to go back so she could tell everyone on what she saw!

He was lying. Jack had to be lying.

Reaching the gates that entered the forest, she kicked them open without a moment's hesitation and on pure adrenaline. A loud clang sounded in her ears, but Namine was solely paying attention to the fact that they sprung open and continued through them in a heartbeat.

Her tennis shoes pounded against the ground as she ran towards the spot where she had woken up at only the night before.

Jack was a liar. He was lying to her. The door was still there.

It had to be there…

It felt like an eternity before she had finally reached the spot where the door should be. The door that led her to this place. This place where all she wanted to do was leave.

To go home again.

But no euphoria came when she thought it would when she would see the door. No joy. No contentment. No happiness. Only despair registered in her mind.

Because the door wasn't there.

No. This couldn't be right. Maybe she had gotten her bearings wrong. Maybe this wasn't the place where she first woke up in Halloween Town. Maybe the door was somewhere else in the forest.

But she knew that wasn't true. She knew she had her bearings correct. She knew this was the first place she was when she first arrived in Halloween Town.

She knew that the door was gone. Just like Jack said.

Shaky hands touched the bark of the tree where she was sure the door used to be. Did she get paler all of a sudden? She had no idea. She was always pale. And yet, right now she felt ghostly white.

She felt dead.

No! No! No! No! No! No! NO!!!! she screamed in her mind. This couldn't be happening. But it was, and there was nothing she could do about it. Not until a whole year at least.

Namine's lips quivered unsteadily. Tears build up in her eyes. No waking up late for school. No going on shopping trips with Olette reluctantly. No cooking with Pence and trying out new recipes. No hearing Hayner call her big sis and teasing him. No father to take care of because they were both all they had left.

No Olette. No Pence. No Hayner. No Dad.

None of them for a year.

She wouldn't see them for _a_ _whole year_.

The blonde bit her lip hard—to the point of almost drawing blood. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't break down. Not like this. No, she wouldn't break down like this

And yet, why did her legs feel so weak to support her making her kneel on the dirty ground? Why did her eyes become so watery? Why did choking sobs erupt in her throat as the realization settled in?

"Hey," a familiar voice said as she felt them put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?" genuine concern sounded in their tone.

Just like that, Namine felt the dam containing her chaotic turmoil of her emotions shatter. Without really realizing what she was doing—as all logic had deserted her at this point—she turned and latched herself onto them with an agonized cry. Tears flowed down her cheeks like a rushing waterfall and her choking sobs were so powerful that they shook her whole body.

Namine couldn't take it. She felt like she was drowning and wasn't going to resurface. Everything came crashing upon her in distress and misery.

Sora only stared in shock as Namine held onto him as if he was the only thing keeping her from sinking deeper into darkness. As if he was her lone lifeline in all of this.

He honestly didn't know what to do in this situation. He's never experienced something like this. In fact, he could very well say he didn't understand any of this at all.

On the other hand, he did understand that she was hurting. He may not get why, but something in him ached at seeing her like that. Not saying a word, Sora wrapped his arms around the petite girl awkwardly and pulled her closer.

Namine continued to cry in Sora's chest not caring on how stupid and pathetic she looked right now. She didn't care that for once, she wasn't being the strong person. She didn't care that this might affect Sora and hers relationship later on.

She just didn't care because she really needed comfort right now.

And while she cried, while she sobbed, while she broke down, one thing loomed upon Namine Kizuki's mind—what was she going to do now…?

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**Karin: Yes! All finished with Chapter four! Hope everyone enjoyed it. Poor Namine! (glomps Namine) but yay for Sora for giving her a hug, right? **

**Sora: I'm happy that we'll finally be able to update this. Let's get something to celebrate. **

**Karin: Like orange soda? **

**Sora: Well, I was talking more along with lines of food, but that works too. **

**Karin: Yay! Oh, and reviews are highly appreciated. Thank you very much. **

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**Reviews from Chapter Three: **

**Angle09- **Glad you're happy that they met. Hope you liked the Sora/Namineness in this chapter as well. I had a fun time writing the part where Sora called Namine pretty indirectly. I was like "that's so Sora". So this is one of your favorites you say? (bows) thank you very much. Oh, and about Crimson Twilight, I actually did start the next chapter, but I just don't feel like finishing the chapter/updating it at the moment, but don't worry, I'm pretty sure I won't abandon it. Hopefully I'll get around to finishing the third chapter soon.

**NaminexSora lover- **Happy that you liked the chapter and that Sora and Namine had finally met. Poor Namine, ne? Since she can't go home until another year. But Sora was there to give her comfort and this way they'll be able to grow closer, right? I can't wait to write more Namine/Soraness. Wish you'll be around for future chapters to read them.

**Abysilityy- **yes, he is the sweetest hottie, isn't he? lol XD Of course they'll be getting closer. After all, there wouldn't be a story without that, would there? (laughs) Glad to see you'll be joining this story until the end. I'm very excited for that. Thank you for the Happy Holidays wish. I hope yours was well also. By the way, I read some more of your "Cold Taste" fanfiction and let me just say that it is amazing! God, Sora sounds like such a hunk! Lucky Namine. I hope to see more chapters for it in the future. That story keeps me on the edge of my seat.

**Haretikers- **well that's good to know about the whole originality thing lol. Hmm, we'll just have to see if Sora will be able to let go of her. And yes, now he has found someone like him—and a she indeed (laughs).

**Wolves4life96- **of course because it was so nice and polite. Thank you! XD lol Hope you liked this chapter as well.

**Arashi- **Definitely uh-oh. And now Namine must stay there for a whole year. Poor Namine, ne?

**sAppHiRa-hiMe- **I know the feeling Sapphira-chan. My computer got sick last year and it was a pain. It's okay that you didn't get to read last chapter right away; you still read it so that's what counts. Awww, that is so sweet Sapphira-chan! You are so awesome! And yes, Sora is so cool in his Halloween costume. He's just that amazing XD. Anyway, about your question—which I don't mind at all, don't worry about it because I'm happy to clarify—You know how the whole "Pumpkin King" name is a title to Jack in the Nightmare Before Christmas? It's basically the same thing for Sora. He's not an _actual_ prince with crowns and stuff, but he organizes Halloween like Jack and everyone respects him as being so great with Halloween and the festivities. So, it's like a nickname or title among the citizens of Halloween Town that they know him as. Hope that answered your question. If it didn't, I'll try to explain it some other way, kay? Don't be embarrassed if I confused you because as an author, it's not good to confuse the readers or else they won't understand what's going on. Also, love your "Scarlet Temperament" story. It's so great and awesome. You're doing such a great job with it, Sapphira-chan.

**DarkxRose13- **Awww, thanks (hugs back) Your praises honestly made my day. I hope you continue to like this story.

**TwiDawnLight- **Glad to see you're so excited about this story. Wishing you continue to enjoy it.

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**Preview for Chapter Five: **

"_S-Sora!" she yelled out positively mortified as he snapped out of his trance and ran straight out the door. Her face was completely red like a tomato—identical to his own blush on the other side of the door. _

_Oh jeez, not even Hayner or Pence made an idiotic mistake such as walking in while she was changing. _

**End of Preview: What the heck had I left you guys with? (laughs) wonder how Sora made that kind of mistake. Well, then again, it IS Sora. lol **

**See ya Next time! **


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Kingdom Hearts, Fantasy, Romance