Focused on You

Chapter 1: Picture Perfect

Summary: A photo says, you were happy, and I wanted to catch that. A photo says, you were so important to me that I put down everything else to come watch.

It was sunny outside, much too sunny for Namine's taste. There was a gentle breeze flowing through the air, swaying the palm trees left and right. Namine looked at her watch and moved toward the shade as she gazed at her surroundings. Namine smiled as she saw two little children playing with each other and decided to take a photograph of the children laughing. Photography was her life; she took pictures of everything around her and placed the pictures in her photo album. The camera she was using was a gift from her mother. She smiled sadly as she stroked the camera gently; her mother had died when Namine was six and the only memories she had left of her were of the photos that her mother took with the very camera Namine was holding. Namine shook her head and focused on the scene in front of her.

Namine felt like she was watching a silent movie and that is exactly what life is: a movie full of actors with stories of their own. That was what Namine loved about photography; she took pictures of the people in front of her and thought of that person's life story. In one picture that Namine took, there was a woman holding her child while looking off into the distance. People who would see this would probably think that the woman was looking for someone but not Namine. Namine thought that the woman was thinking of someone in particular, perhaps a long lost love or was waiting for someone to return to her. No one noticed the sadness in her eyes as she held her child tightly except for Namine's camera.

Namine looked through her lens and saw a spiky blonde hair boy eating sea salt ice cream. She sat amused watching the boy try to eat the entire ice cream bar whole; she chucked to herself and took the picture. Interesting, she thought to herself, this is the third time I've seen him here, I wonder who he is? Namine looked at her watch; it was getting close to twilight. She packed up her stuff and looked behind her shoulder to see the boy holding his head, as if he were experiencing brain freeze. Namine giggled and left.

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The next day, Namine sat on top of a hill and looked down to see the interactions that were taking place. She took a few quick snap shots of couples holding hands, of children playing, and of dogs happily playing with their owners. She looked for the spiky blonde hair boy and saw him. He was alone again sitting at the same bench again and was working on what appeared to be homework. Namine took a picture and smiled slightly at the boy's frustration with his homework assignment. His focus and concentration was so cute. Twilight was approaching, and that meant that both he and Namine would leave soon. Namine stole one last glance at him as he threw down his textbook and pretended to shake his fist and yell at it. She laughed at the sight and departed.

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Everyday Namine silently take pictures of the blonde hair boy and soon enough, she started to look forward to going to the park. As she took photos of him, she saw little things that she liked about him. He wasn't afraid to sleep on the park bench during the middle of the day, something she had always wanted to try. He was kind and loved animal; every once in awhile he would offer a treat to one of the dogs running by. He was always alone; he never looked for anyone in particular and he never waited for anyone. She could never figure out what his story was; he was too hard to read. This intrigued Namine, why does he come to the park by himself? She thought but ignored her curiosity. Every once in awhile she would see him smile to someone toward her direction; she looked behind her and wondered if he was smiling at her. Impossible, she thought to herself. There are dozens of people behind me, there's no way he's smiling at me! But she always hoped that it was her.

Sometimes he would laugh to himself; Namine liked his smile and his laugh. She took a picture of them. Her album was quickly growing; she noticed that there were three whole pages dedicated to photos of just him and this made Namine smile. She eagerly developed the latest photographs she had taken and smiled at each one of them. She looked at one of the photograph of the blonde hair boy smiling. He appeared to be holding something but she couldn't figure out what it was. Whatever it was, it made him smile. Maybe I'll introduce myself tomorrow. Namine's heart started beating faster and she felt herself blush. C'mon Namine, get a grip on yourself! You don't even know the guy, there's nothing to be nervous about. There's absolutely nothing to be worried about…

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The next day Namine nervously looked around in search of the blonde hair boy. She took deep breaths and tried to calm herself but he was nowhere in sight. She waited until it was almost twilight and still no sign of him. She stayed at the bench he always sat at until the sky grew dark. She was sad, but then again she was use to only having photos of people as the only memories she could hold on to.

Day after day, the boy didn't show up. Namine could feel herself losing interest in the photos she had taken. One day, Namine decided to come to the park without her camera; it had been awhile since she enjoyed the park itself instead of the people in it. She walked toward the bench she had seen the blonde hair at and sat down.

She saw a piece of paper next to it saying "take a nap; it's such a beautiful day." She questioned it and looked around; no one noticed anything out of the ordinary. She gazed suspiciously at it but decided to take a quick nap. When she woke up she felt refreshed and saw another note next to the previous one. It had an arrow pointing to the right. She followed the arrow and saw an ice cream truck nearby. She looked at it and asked the man there if he knew who put up the signs. He put his finger to his mouth signaling that it was a secret but gave her a free sea salt ice cream and pointed to a direction and told her to follow the arrows.

She walked further and noticed more arrows directing her to have a stroll around the park. A very cute puppy greeted her at another bench and the owner let her play with it and told her to go to another bench in the park. She did this for the entire day until Twilight arrived. She returned to where she had started earlier that day. On the bench were a rose and a picture of her laughing. She looked around but most of the people had left. She picked up the rose and saw the blonde hair boy approach. He extended his hand.

"Hi, my name is Roxas," he said. "What's yours?"

She shyly shook his hand, "My name is Namine."

"Did you enjoy your day at the park?" he asked.

"Um…yes I did! Did you do this for me?"

He nodded his head. "I noticed you taking pictures of everyone at the park, including me."

She blushed and looked down, "I'm sorry…"

He lifted her chin so that she met his gaze, "For what? I don't mind." He smiled. "I was sleeping the other day and noticed you with your camera. At first I thought it was strange but then I saw you laughing and when I thought about it, I didn't mind. Then from that day on, I'd see you smile a little from random things I did and I don't know, I kind of liked it."

Namine blushed, "So you planned this entire day just for me?"

He smiled and nodded his head, "Yes, and I was thinking that maybe you can do this again but next time with me?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," she smiled at him. "Thank you for the rose, it's very sweet."

"No problem."

"Just one question, though."

"What would that be?"

"Where did that picture of me come from?"

Roxas picked up the picture and smiled at her. "You weren't the only one looking at someone from afar. When I saw you laughing and I just couldn't take my eyes off of you. I wanted to have a picture to keep and hoped that one day we could have a picture together."

Namine blushed again, "Oh shoot I didn't bring my camera with me, I'm sorry!"

Roxas winked, "Don't worry I brought my own." He held the camera in position, "Say cheese!" he said as he took the picture. "So what do you think?" She leaned in closer toward him to get a better view.

"It's perfect."