Romy

Romy ( ロミー)
Age	18 (KHII)
Role	Juggler | NPC
Home World	Twilight Town
Current Location	World Traveler

"One, two, there you go-- oh, no no no. Okay, it's okay! Try again, you'll get it this time."
―Romy

   A rather androgynous, pigeon-hearted girl with a sunny deposition. Romy likes to juggle anything and everything, but prefers her personalized boomerangs. She can be often found hanging out in Sunset Terrace out wide in the open when she's not working for munny in Twilight Town, waiting for people to approach her so she can try to convince them to juggle with her. Romy really loves her hobby and wants everyone else to have fun with it as well.

   Romy has a somewhat boyish face, stands fairly tall, and has a flat chest, so in combination with her short hair and somewhat more masculine voice, on occasion she'll have people mistake her gender. She doesn't mind the flubs at all, and while she personally IDs with female pronouns she's not offended by others' confusion and comfortable with answering to male pronouns. 

Story

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

   While Romy doesn't take part in any events of the game, it's safe enough to assume this was around the age that Romy started getting into juggling, starting with balls and working her way up. Her sister Yoka had just been born, and her parents needed Romy to get out of the house a little more so she wasn't constantly underfoot while they fussed with the new baby. She understood well enough, babies can be a lot! While it was a little scary outside alone, it wasn't like the people in town were mean and with a little bit of help, even she could figure out how to take the train to Twilight Town. It was during one of these little days out that she first caught sight of a street performer. Romy was entranced; before, juggling was just a fun thing she did to keep busy while her mom was too busy with the pregnancy to play with her. The performer had a crowd and seemed to be making money just playing around. If she gets good at street shows with her juggling like this guy, maybe she could save up and afford a toy or two for her new little sister.

Kingdom Hearts

   Romy doesn't take part in any of the main events of the game. It can be assumed she's practicing her new juggling career somewhere, blissfully ignorant as things shift around her, completely unknowing about how much her world is going to change. She's 17 now, decent enough at her hobby to be bringing in more than enough spare change. It's plenty to fund a train habit to get in and out of the city on her days off from school. Romy made friends with some of the younger kids in Twilight Town, but she doesn't really hang out with many of them while she's in town. Usually if she's on the Twilight side of things, she's in the streets flexing her skill, working and gathering up enough munny to buy her sister Yoka the latest new toy. Romy knows she could just ask her parents, and they would probably hand her the funds without question, but it feels better when it's bought through her own determination and skill.
   It's through that determination that her talent with juggling balls has completely expanded. Now, her favored item is a pair of toy boomerangs she saved for, though it's not unheard of for her to call to the crowd to toss miscellaneous items her way mid-performance to add to her juggled pile. The more difficult the better, and even if she fails she can laugh it off and try again.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

   Most days, Romy spent her time up on Sunset Hill practicing her juggling. The wide open space gave her a great view to watch the world go by below her as she practiced her catches, and it was an even better place to not accidentally smack a few people with her boomerangs compared to the tight streets of Twilight Town. Though, It also put her in a disadvantage for being out in the open and generally alone, unless some couples on a date are out looking for a cozy view. Being alone doesn't really scare her, if anything bad or scary was going to happen in Twilight Town it would've happened by now, after all she's been coming here alone off and on for ten years now. So far, so good.
   Sometimes Romy will go to Twilight Town with her little sister on day trips to go visit her friends and watch their Struggle matches, as it's one of Yoka's favorite pass-times. Romy dropped Yoka off with some of her friends and left to wander while the matches finished up. She hadn't gone too far, just around the corner where participants hung out to see if her friend who had participated earlier was free to talk, when she caught sight of a couple of black coated people skulking around. It wasn't like the scene meant anything to her, it only struck her as a little odd that a group of people were dressed in coats, boots, and gloves like that when the weather was as nice as it was. Before she could think any harder about it, a sound pulled her attention away and by the time she looked back, the strangers were gone. Romy never saw the mystery group in town again as far as she's aware, but every so often she has a feeling she's being watched while she's practicing her juggling, or just watching the sunset up on the hill.

Kingdom Hearts II

   For the most part, Romy spent her time during the events of KH2 unaware of what was going on around her. She had seen Roxas, Xion, and Axel during their time in Twilight Town in 358/2 but remembers little of it since they were no more than oddly dressed strangers to her. In the data world Roxas is thrown into they have little contact, though the boy did meet Romy on the streets in his attempt to gather munny for their beach trip. She'd taught him how to juggle a boomerang to mixed success, and later glitched due to DiZ's programming error to be in Sunset Terrace, waiting on the hill when the teens did their ghost hunt, hard at work practicing her boomerang tosses.
   Romy had the smallest twinge of deja vu after seeing Sora later once he arrives in Twilight Town, though she couldn't place why. After all, Sora was just another oddly dressed stranger. There wasn't anything that make her think of the trio she'd only seen once, for no longer than a blink. Romy quickly grew fond of Donald and Goofy, preferring Donald over Goofy just for "how funny" he was with his own attempts at her boomerangs. It didn't occur to her to question why Sora's friends looked so weird, because after all the Vivi boy in Twilight was kind of an odd one too wasn't he? The trio of heroes left soon after to finish their journey and Romy would've continued on completely ignorant to what was happening in the expansive universe if circumstances hadn't aligned to drag her into it all, kicking and screaming.

   One day after taking the train to go visit her friends in Twilight Town, she had some time to kill. Her friend's Struggle match was taking a little longer than planned, which wasn't unheard of during the training months. Romy opted to spend the extra free-time wandering the various sidestreets she'd grown so used to after so many years. Usually she just stuck to the main streets with shops and good places to perform. She only really came to the back alleys when picking up or delivering Yoka to whatever friend she was visiting that day. It was in those alleys and sidestreets that Romy heard a ruckus coming from Olette, Pence, and Hayner's secret hideout. Despite everything in her heart telling her to run and find someone to investigate with her, Romy quietly snuck around to take a look herself. She was, technically, the nearest adult. If something terrible was happening that needed immediate help, it was up to her to do something about it, right? Peeking around the corner, Romy was just in time to see Axel drag Kairi into the black portal. Instead of running in to help her friends like she had planned, Romy ran off in the opposite direction-- terrified.
   Romy felt awful that her first instinct was to run instead of trying to save the mystery girl. She'd always been a coward in tense situations, but she'd hoped that her chickenheart would've let her at least protect her friends. She wanted to, had to make up for it... somehow. After talking with the trio of teens that she'd failed to help to figure out who the girl even was, and after talking to Sora later when he returned to learn that Kairi had been taken, Romy started realizing just how vast the universe was outside the boundaries of her little world. Romy's wish to help get Kairi back and make up for her mistake would be incredibly difficult. She wasn't anything like the keyblade wielders who could travel dimensions and realities. She was so heavily unequipped and unprepared to help as she was just a normal, human girl without any of these magic abilities or talking animals that the world travelers seemed to have. It was almost enough to make her give up; her own anxious fears and worries about the danger of going out into the unknown so ill-equipped making her legs shake. But... she was determined. Kairi getting kidnapped might have been thwarted if she wasn't such a weak hearted girl, and at age 18 you'd think she could've done more. Should've done more. If she couldn't save Kairi, how was she suppose to think she could save Yoka if something happened?

   Without much of a plan beyond "I have to help," Romy reached out to her closest friend for some ideas. The girl had always had somewhat of a magical lean and was well-versed in struggle matches, maybe she had a good idea on what they could do.

Kingdom Hearts III

[TBA]

   Through tough trial and error, though she didn't have a direct hand in finding Kairi, or helping Namine, Romy managed to at least assist in some way to help Sora and the others get to their end goal. She chose to stay behind in the final battle, wanting to protect Twilight Town from any Darkness that tried to take over while the Heroes were fighting elsewhere. She may have started out the journey with little more than showy acrobatics and juggling under her belt but with all the hands-on training, she felt confident enough in her growth that she could help keep Twilight Town from Falling, and keep her friends safe.
   Once Xehanort was defeated and everyone gathered in the aftermath, Romy joined with them on Destiny Island. She spent the evening playing frisbee with the boys-- Or, well, it starts out as frisbee. Her override determination for wanting to juggle everything she could get her hands on kicked in and she ended up stealing the disc from it's stuck-in spot in Donald's sand statue to try to juggle it. Since meeting him and seeing his weapons, after accepting Axel as a 'decent enough person', she'd always wanted to juggle Axel's chakram and was constantly refused for good reason, so the little disc is about as close as she can get to it. It'll do. The only problem was there is only one, so Romy made due with a rather large clam shell, the stolen makeshift frisbee, and Goofy's "borrowed" shield. Saying "it did not go well for her" is putting it lightly, as each item landed in the sand shortly after. It's not her fault, it's difficult to juggle items with such difference in weight while actively fleeing from their owners in sand. The real miracle is nobody accidentally got clobbered with anything.
  Romy is a good sport about it at least, as she's all but tackled into the sand for her playful theft.

Personality

   Romy is cheerful and friendly to strangers in case she can make new friends out of them. Though her parents meant no harm by it, Romy learned quickly how to ask strangers for help due to be shooed out of the house when her sister was just a baby. Almost everyone in her hometown knows who she is, so she was able to force herself not to be fearful of talking to new people. She is, however, not without fear in practically every other way and is easily defeated by her own anxiety. While not a complete scaredy-cat, in a fight or flight situation her answer will almost always be Flight. With some help from her friends and general experience, Romy was able to learn how to combat the nerves and stay rooted to the ground when it counts. It does, however, take some time. The world had to be saved before she felt comfortable enough to say she's practically fear-free... though that's more a confident fib than anything. Romy can still feel her anxieties clawing up if her friends aren't there to help in scary situations.

   While her normal speaking voice tends to be a bit boyish and lower toned, when Romy is nervous or scared, it will crank up a few octaves. She hates the shake in her voice when she starts to feel the anxieties clawing, and it's difficult to talk around the lump in her throat to seem threatening. Despite this she still tries, especially when her friends' lives are on the line. She'll squeak and shake her way through it if she has to.
   Romy is the type to force herself to talk through her tears, even if it's difficult. Thanks to how scared she gets, it's become second nature to fight through the tightness in her throat. She hates it, but it's just another part of her life until she can get her nerves under control. She doesn't cry often thanks to sad situations, more often than not she's crying out of frustration for not being strong enough to overcome her heart.

Abilities

   Romy is a juggling fanatic. While she started with standard juggling balls, she graduated fast to her custom boomerangs. The two item types aren't all she can do, however. She's had plenty of practice with a lot of different styles ranging from things you expect to juggle (fruit, toy balls, three items of equal size) to the obscenely over the top (ocean-caught food, sharp pointy things) to a variety of success.
   At the start of her journey, Romy was never was much of a fighter just because there was no reason to learn. She'd had some practice at least swinging a blunt object just from helping her friends' practice and train for Struggle bat matches, but there is a big difference in Struggle matches compared to the real danger of a life or death fight. Luckily her traveling companions was kind enough to help her practice nightly, and the little battles here and there as they encountered hostile enemies solidified any training Romy had so she quickly became somewhat capable of defending herself.
   Though still not great at combat as a whole, Romy is at least flexible and acrobatic enough to survive and win your standard darkness battle. The assistance of her friends is more than enough to fill in where she lacks, and with time she'll only get better. Romy has no magic whatsoever, though, and has to rely on her athletic abilities to get around. Due to the nature of fads in Twilight Town, Romy is decent enough at skateboarding or at least balancing on wheels that she can dart her way around a fight should one be in the area.

   When she gets better at fighting, and with more specialized practice, Romy gets a lot better at using her boomerangs as throwing weapons. At first she used them as blunt force weapons, akin to a bladeless dagger or tonfa, since she wasn't certain on how good her aim is for throwing weapons. Her aim in short-range tosses is good, and her hand-eye coordination is perfect, but when you have to throw something out and have it come back to you... she needs a bit more work before she can claim herself as super competent.
   Romy has never wielded a keyblade, nor does she believe she ever could. That's all well and good, she's more comfortable with her boomerangs anyway. Though, she would like to try and juggle a few of the keyblades one day...

Relationships

[★★★]

"Please, take me with you!"

♥ Mina:
   xxx

"It's time to show them what we're made of."

♥ Yves:
   xxx

"It's like I've known you for so long, but this is the first time we've met, isn't it?"

♥ Kairi:
   For never having met her before, Kairi has a huge impact on Romy's life. It's because of her that she's even on her journey, since Romy feels like she failed Kairi by letting her weak heart take over. All that Romy knows about her is what she hears from the others, and with every new thing about how kind and friendly Kairi is, Romy feels worse and worse that she let her down like that. At least in the end she makes somewhat of a small impact in helping Kairi return to everyone, and Romy can start their friendship. 
   Kairi ends up just as friendly and compassionate as all the stories said she was. They may not be that far apart in age, but Romy still feels like a big sister to this girl she just met. They were technically both 'normal girls' who were thrown into this all, though Kairi has a back-history to make her way more special. Still, as 'average' girls, Romy finds a kinship in their shared story of having to learn how to fight in such a short time to help out. Though they're separated out again fairly quick with Kairi needing to go to Radiant Garden to start her process of helping find Sora, the little bit of time they spent together was special to Romy and she sends the girl texts with her gummiphone as often as she can, so they can keep in touch. 

"You-- are not a very nice person."

♥ Axel:
   Only after Kairi vouches for the man does she stop half-hiding beyond a friend, clutching her boomerang tight. He's the catalyst that started this journey for her, and while she's partially thankful that it was because of his 'very dumb idea' that Romy got to go on such a world-changing adventure, she still can't help but feel a little uncomfortable around him. With time, she grows to trust him a little more, but it will take a lot of group hang-outs before she'll ever consider anything one-on-one.
   Romy is one of the few that calls him Lea, despite any of his attempts to get her to call him Axel. She's not sure why she prefers that name, but there's something about using the name of "when you were a good person" that sits right in her, compared to the name Axel that's connected to such a negative first meeting. Though he'd still prefer if she didn't, he stopped trying to stop her pretty quick-- and Isa's constant use of that name has made it easier on his ears again, anyway.

"Since Sora's not here, you guys can rely on me!"

♥ Twilight Trio:
   Romy had known of Pence, Olette, and Hayner just from her time around town, it's hard to miss the rambunctious trio and their antics. They were 'friends', but more friends in the way that Romy knew everyone more or less, and she would occasionally throw a few stray bits of munny their way if they were just close enough to their savings goal. She was actually on her way to see what was up with them when her story path started, and the trio helped talk to her about everything that was going on once they themselves had learned from Sora. 
   During KH3, Romy stays behind to help protect them from the uptick in Darkness attacks, especially once the main heroes leave for their final fight against Xehanort. They're grateful to her for her assistance, with Pence joking that he'd buy her ice cream if she kept saving them. "Dude, you're gonna owe her so much ice cream at this rate!" 

"I heard so much about you, we should hang out sometime!"

♥ Destiny Trio:
   Out of all three of them, Romy has the most connection with Sora since she actually spoke to him and hung out with him for a little bit. It's through him that she learned more about the other two, so her views on Kairi and Riku tend to skew to Sora's own feelings since that's all she can really go off of. Eventually she does meet Riku, with Mina's goal of helping Namine, and they get along well enough. Her mutual interest in keeping Kairi safe helps bond her to the boys.
   Though she's upset at the loss of Sora at the end, the other two treat it more like just another leg of the journey than actual sadness so she tries her best to remain cheery and not think too hard on it all. They seem to know what they're doing, and she'll help out as much as she can. It's the least she can do, since they saved the universe and all.

"Do you recall... that time in Twilight?"

♥ Seasalt Quartet:
   Romy was all but willing to accept that the black coated figures she had seen before were just dreams, until she saw Axel. While she learned who he was, she never got to really know who the blonde boy and black haired girl were until much, much later. It was only on the beach did she see them and learn their names. They, along with the blue haired man, all seemed to be friends with Lea though, so any tension she may have had was all marked off as an "awkwardness by association". They were Lea's friends, and Namine and Kairi's friends, so surely they couldn't be bad people?
   Romy can get along well enough with Roxas thanks to a mutual fondness for skateboarding, and Xion she's eager to teach any kind of juggling technique to. Lea, she's working on, but Isa-- she's not sure what to think of Isa. He looks lonely, and she's not about to try to enjoy a party with someone looking so lonely, not when she can do something to help. "Help" may end up being walking right up and talking to him like he was any old member of Twilight Town that she wanted to befriend, and it's an awkward struggle to get him to open up at first, but she's persistent. If she can learn to fight, if she can learn to forgive Lea, she can learn how to talk to Isa. 

[ ☆☆☆ ]

"❀❀❀"

✂

Trivia

• Romy is pretty bad at staying up. She's an early to bed/early to rise type, but she gets distracted at night sometimes. Trying to stay up past midnight is a struggle, but she'll try to stay awake if friends need her to. Either way, she's waking up between 5 and 7 am due to a very strong internal clock. If Romy sleeps in, she's probably ill, or very very tired
• Romy swears she's had a dream before of three people in long black coats, the same ones she'd seen before in her blink-and-miss-it, watching her juggle and agreeing to join in after she asked if they wanted to give it a shot. She can't remember much beyond that, it's all just a weird dream-like haze when she tries to remember. In reality that was her data-form who encountered the trio. She's sure her dream was just from her curiosity of the group when she saw them in the real world, and doesn't think much on it.
• Romy is very wary of Axel when he reappears as Lea, since she had seen him as Axel kidnap the girl she later learns to be Kairi. It'd been her goal to make it up to Kairi for choosing to run instead of helping, so she only gives Axel a second chance after Kairi vouches for him. She'd love to try to juggle those fire wheels one day, but you know. No. Romy no.
• Romy's younger sister Yoka is around 10 years old in KH2. Her parents explained the gap between the two as just holding off as they "found themselves". She has a good relationship with her parents, despite how hands-off they tend to be involving the sisters. They live in Sunset Terrace in a smaller house, with Romy sharing her bedroom with her sister.
• Her favorite color is in the chartreuse family. When asked, she'll say it's "kind of a weird yellowy green, you know?"
• Everything said here is still technically a WIP! Things may or may not change without warning!