Listen Like Summer.
It was fate, perhaps, that night they met.
It was a night blanketed by the arms of summer, hugging them tightly with its warmth. He saw her beneath the illumination of the happy streetlamps that lit her pathway, with her free hanging light wisps that were the object of the winds joy. She held in her gentle hands a cluster of white sheets of an art pad. She lifted her eyes.
Theirs eyes met in that single moment.
A goofy grin played on his lips.
She looked at him with her precious eyes for a few moments, before chuckling softly. He looked at her porcelain skin and noted just how wonderfully that simple white dress suited her.
Beneath the dimly streets, along with bustling moonlight, she looked like an angel.
He wanted to ask her if she was, but decided that with her beautiful smile so faded, she wasn't, and it was better not to ask.
At first when he pointed at her blatantly, her eyebrows furrowed, questioning. He smiled at her gesture, and whispered out from his distance.
"Your dress. I like it." Her cheeks glowed apple for a moment, and she whispered a swift "thank you" before she nodded back with a tender smile.
Her eyes shined beneath the florescence.
With caution, in subconscious fear she would fly away like angels often did, he walked over to her, casually.
Only, his walking wasn't really walking.
Sora tripped over the cobblestone road, straight onto his stomach.
She looked at him, a sharp gasp expelling from her, worried if he'd been hurt, for a moment. But within moments, he grinned up at her happily, with a tooth missing.
Her heart went two beats faster, and his went three.
The night moved on, like the clouds, and the two ended up sitting against a tree together, in silence.
Finally the boy with chestnut hair mustered up the courage to speak.
He slid a lopsided smile on.
"I'm Sora." He took pride in his name, watching the faint smile take form on her angelic features. He wasn't like anyone else in the park, she knew. Not that there were many people strolling around the park at the moon's dawn, but, even then, she could tell.
He talked on about odd, random things that made her dizzy, but happy all the same. He came upon his mom a few times, relating to her how his mom was the best cook in the world, but an awful nag. He told her of things like how he simply adored anchovies and how he hated how his best friend, Riku, always won their races.
She never spoke, but she listened, intently.
Something about being with him seemed natural, like they had known each other for years.
He was a warm comfort.
Neither of them had a legitimate excuse for staying so long that night. Just each other's company, and that was all they needed.
When Sora finally, with a heavy sigh, told her he had better get going, he asked her name.
She was hesitant to answer.
She saw his expression drop, as she was silent still.
"N… Naminé." She finally admitted, softly.
She saw his eyes light up, and for a moment, she thought his eyes reflected a wonderful world.
"Naminé? It's beautiful." He said, loudly, waving his hand ridiculously.
Naminé watched him turn his back, headed down the very path on which he'd fallen, literally, right into her heart. She smiled slightly.
She saw him turn around.
He grinned and suddenly yelled her way, "And if somebody pointed out the fact you have no wings, it wouldn't mean a thing!"
She smiled.
--
It was a silly idea, she thought.
She poked around from beneath the street lamp that sheltered her beneath light the previous night. What were the odds they would ever meet again and that he would join her for another night? In childish hopes, Naminé gripped her sketchpad, promising herself only five more minutes.
The moon sailed high like an anchor in the sky. She smiled, faintly.
Fate wasn't so kind to her, she knew.
She looked down at her old shower sandals. They showcased a dirty off-white, but were awfully comfortable all the same. She hummed a few beats, kicking the ends of her sandals against the cobblestone. She did so until the mental count of 'just five minutes' came to an end.
She expelled a long sigh. Five minutes gone.
As Naminé began her way down the barren pathway, in her mind never to return to the spot ever again, she heard a rather awkward call.
"NAM ee nay!" It echoed against the streets. She slowly turned around to see chocolate spikes and azure eyes staring at her, as he panted with his hands on his knees. She smiled at Sora, awry.
"You're strange." She said, gripping her sketchbook, trying to sound as calm as possible. A weight lifted in her heart, seeing him there.
He wrinkled his nose at her. "You're pretty." He grinned, sending her heart in flight.
"You're goofy." She said.
"Let's walk." He announced.
She briefly wondered why he had come through the trouble of meeting her again, but deep down, she pleaded with all her heart that it was because he felt something that night as well. Something warm.
This routine of him telling his parents that he had to go to the bathroom, and couldn't do it am home because their toilet gave him nightmares, so he had to use the one by the park, and she sneaking from her home each night in search of "inspiration" went on for what seemed like a brilliant forever.
They met for nights on end. Every night.
He met her again every night by the humble lamp, watching her figure come closer. He would wave his hand wildly. Then, She would hurry over with her pad tucked neatly beneath her arm.
It was beautiful nights like these, under the milky twilight when the two kindred souls communed, under brightly illuminated cobblestone streets started by friendly street lamps that broadened their pathways. They played along under the moonlight as if the world was their own, and who was to say it wasn't? They would tie their pinkies together and she would spin so childishly, tugging him along as he smiled in a beautiful, round crescent.
They did many things in their world.
They met the queen of hearts in spring while dancing by the lake, and she would kindly ask, "Bring more friends, but don't be late."
They hitched a bus to a castle, but didn't have to pay, because they were in with the bus driver who was the jester's brother.
When they arrived the king sighed gravely, for someone thieved his cake.
Sora and the Jester sang to the King's request, but in the end, she would never forget the awful off-key melody the two produced and the misshapen glances the court gave them.
Then, to the King's compliance, they rode over the ocean in a balloon, to gardens and different worlds.
Then Naminé would awake, exhausted but happy, in the early mornings, remembering the adventures the two shared at the park.
So, maybe in the end, it was fate.
--
One night, after having tea with the Queen again, Sora asked her from the blue.
"You draw, Naminé?" She gave him a lop-sided smile. She recollected telling him, but she knew Sora could use a few more brain cells than he accounted for, so nodded his way. So, Sora wasn't playing with a full deck, it hardly mattered.
He nodded back her way, carefully observing the bound parchment beneath her arm. He thought for a second, pensively, something he hardly ever did. He finally gained the courage to ask his fragile companion. "May I see?" His voice was slightly hesitant, still somewhere in his mind thinking he'd see feathers flail and she'd have flown away.
She frowned. She had never shown anyone her art pad before, or rather, the contents inside. But, he was different and she knew he wouldn't laugh at her, or make her sad. She carefully gave him the pad and she saw his expression escalate in excitement. Her heart thumped a little louder, and he opened up the first page.
He smiled, expectant.
"Wow." He squeaked out, awkwardly in his aging voice. She saw him toss through the pages like he was hungry for more and slowly his mind grew in wonderment. But then, as he reached the last page with sketching on it, his allurement ended. His breathing slowed as well, and the climax quickly ended. Naminé grew disappointed.
She never meant for him to see that.
He put his fingers along his chin, gazing upon the sketch like a professional art spectator, carefully examining the sketch. His serious expression surprised the timid girl, to the point where she almost wanted to get into his head and see what pensive thoughts he was formulating. He stopped and looked at her.
Naminé struggled for the right emotion.
His expression softened and he said suddenly, "And if somebody pointed out the fact you have no wings, it wouldn't mean a thing!"
She was again caught by surprise. She never quite understood just what he meant, but smiled all the same.
He turned the sketch to her, grinning widely. She searched over the sketch of the Queen's lake, all the while as Sora and herself danced with the flurry of cards. Then, meshed into the same picture, were the King's castle, with Sora and the Jester singing horribly. Then, there was the bus and their big balloon.
It was their little Wonderland of Life.
"Naminé," He said, setting the pad down, "Do you think, if it would be okay, could you paint this?"
Her heart grew in excitement. She nodded to him.
"Anything for a friend of the Jester."
--
"So?" He inquired, pointing at the pad beneath her arm. She shook her head with a lopsided look.
"No, not yet. But I promise, when I'm finished you'll be the first to see it." She said. He smiled, sweeping his hand across her shoulder.
"So, then Naminé, want to take a walk?" She nodded, smiling gently. And thus their night began.
She kicked her sandals along the roads again, and street lamps, laughing away of silly things, brightened them.
It was nights like these, with the summer air so strong that brought the two just a little closer, but both afraid to take the flying leap. It was a little secret of their own. On nights such as these when both had clusters of homework and sleep to be had, a responsible, quiet girl like herself disregarded such things, which was otherwise unlike her.
As they walked along like feathers in the sky, both Sora and Naminé smiled, so comfortably in each other's company.
It was at night when Sora shared his thoughts on life and love with Naminé, and when she told him about getting out and seeing the world from beyond her lonely canvas. They conversed about all things important and yet utterly carefree and unimportant, that neither told another.
Both were afraid to take the flying leap.
--
It was fate, perhaps, that day they met.
She was exhausted again from lack of slumber the previous night, but didn't let it ruin her mood. Tiny extracts of sunbeams warmed her face, through the classroom window she was seated near. She was too distracted by the oncoming sunshine to notice a hand desperately waving in front her face. Finally when with a snapping voice, the girl who waved her hand yelled "Naminé", and she awoke from her reverie.
Naminé blinked a few more times, adjusting to proper vision. "Oh," She said, dazed, "Kairi." The name mumbled with a small tingle on her light cherry lips and tongue, sensitively. She warmed a tiny smile to the girl with wisps of vermilion moving about in the tiny wind that the borders of the windows let pass.
"You seem happy," Kairi said, in her usual casual-elegance, "That's great." She added, meaningfully. Kairi was a sweet girl who always seemed enjoying to talk to Naminé, and often did. Naminé found nearly the same delight in speaking with the lively, vibrant girl. Kairi had taken up being Naminé's resident, self-proclaimed, best friend.
Of course hyper, painfully so, Selphie Tilmitt was Kairi's best friend, but Kairi liked to make it her business to be everyone's best friend. Naminé didn't mind, seeing as it was one of the things that made Kairi so unique and likable.
As Kairi trailed off about Selphie's latest attempt at Tidus' attention, Naminé remembered Sora thoughtfully, and dreamt fondly of the dirigible they rode and their childhood whimsy and dances with the Queen. Naminé spoke in her gentle, polite manner.
"I am." She said so, truthfully. Oddly, that goofy, eccentric boy had filled some empty void in her.
She ran her fingers lightly along her sketchbook, remembering the canvas back in her room, holding the near finish painting of her sketch:
Her and Sora dancing with the queen of hearts, riding the jesters' brother's bus, and flying high in the sky after joining for singing and cake with the King.
She held empathy for her world that no one but Sora could understand.
She even dreamed she heard his voice saying something silly again, and the soothing octave rung in his ear as if he were right next to her. He said, oddly, "Hey, Kairi." Naminé thought about this for a moment.
She looked around, slight dazed. In her line of vision stood that same boy who couldn't sing. She began mustering her voice to say something, questioning how he was here, there, now. Kairi beat her to it. "Sora!" Kairi said, and suddenly Naminé was acutely aware. She was a little dazed when Kairi grew excited, tugging at her arm, giddy with delight, she began to register what exactly was happening.
So, fate was throwing things at her, haphazardly, was it?
From the time Kairi squealed and introduced his familiar face as "Sora" and "boyfriend" all in one sentence, Naminé noticed the utter look of shock on his face, and felt her heart begin to collapse. His familiar, ocean eyes were sparked with remembrance, and Naminé knew that the memories of Queens, Jesters, and hot air balloons were rewinding back in his mind. Just like her.
"Ah." Was all he managed out, and Naminé, with the utmost unfamiliarity looked at him, coldly.
"Nice to meet you." Her mind ran wild, but mostly with thoughts, as she looked him stiffly, disregarding him like another unimportant matter.
Her eyes grew for, only a moment, sad.
As she walked to greet him by hand, she thought,
I look like a fool, don't I? That's not cool anymore, is it?
"Naminé." He said softly, so only she could hear. She looked at him, anxiously. "Yes, and you're Sora?" She said, painfully innocent sounding. Kairi bragged on about Sora and everything that Naminé already knew. Her heart began to ache, and the beats that had quickened around Sora, began to slow.
The king lost his cake again.
--
The paintbrush rested in her hand, limply, lifeless. The colorful canvas was holding less and less meaning for her, painfully. She resisted the urge to slash through the canvas, perhaps break the axel. She watched through the frosty glass window in her room, musing how the sun fondly looked like it was floating atop the clouds.
The painting that once stood before her in prideful, beaming colors was now blurred.
"Can I imagine the true colors?" She asked herself. She tousled hair with one hand, and wondered aloud, "You don't care." Many thoughts swarmed her mind. One particular was, how on earth could he? No, it definitely wasn't Kairi's fault, she knew, remembering back on the bubbly girl.
How could he do that to Kairi, and herself for that matter? Did the redhead know her 'boyfriend', she thought of the word bitterly, was out every night spending hours playing in wonderland with her? How could he talk to Naminé each night, of life and love and forget something important like his girlfriend, or disregard it?
He was so big, she thought, and wondrous, that it was like he could fit her in his pocket.
The painting looked rather lonely now. Not even the smiling King could elate the light haired artist.
"You most certainly don' t have wings."
--
She wasn't sure how she never noticed before. Today, she could hardly find any moments where she didn't see him. After strategically noting the places he went to, she did her best to keep from his way. She didn't go to the park that night either, and she figured, she would never again.
Under her arm, she held a tightly bound canvas.
It wasn't hard to find where his next class was, seeing as many people took delight in knowing the goofy teen. She just had to ask one of them. So, she did.
The classes were mainly deserted for lunch hours, and thus being the ideal time. She quickly, unnecessarily, with all the clandestine she could muster, set the canvas on a desk. On top of the thick covering, in her neat script read, 'To Sora', and with that she left the room.
She quietly stepped through the empty halls, off to her own destination. Maybe she would go have tea with the Queen of Hearts, but surely the Queen would be upset by Sora's absence.
"Perhaps not, then." Her words softly echoed through the corridor, and with a few more steps, she was out of sight. She clutched her chest, and an elongated, raspy bell filtered through the school.
Her heart sank a bit, after all, he taught her how to dream and to long and such.
--
He gazed at the painting with the same look he had when observing the sketch. He pondered, grasping the long canvas tightly. He smiled.
"Beautiful." He mumbled, running his fingers of the thick brush strokes, evident along the canvas. He saw the swirls and sharp edges of her signature on the bottom right. He pressed both his hands behind his neck, setting the painting down. He sure made a mess of out of things.
He smiled wistfully at the King, appearing frantic from his missing cake. Reflections of he, Naminé, the cards, and the Queen spread over the lake in a brilliant forever. The dirigible escalated over the King's castle as the Jester waved 'goodbye' to them, after singing the royal court away, besides the king, who grew giddy with laughter.
He stared at something else, something that stood out from everything. Beneath Naminé and he running, hand in hand, was a little line, reading,
'And if someone pointed out the fact that you have no wings, it wouldn't mean a thing.'
He watched out the window, guilt lumping on his chest. He should have just been honest.
"Listen Like Summer," He mused, eyeing the title of the piece, written in her beautiful script.
It took Sora some time to notice that looming over his shoulder was Kairi. Red hair tickled his cheeks, gently. She was smiling, admirably, paying no mind to him. Just the painting. He looked at her, concerned by her silence. "Kairi..?" She didn't speak, like he wasn't there at all.
Observing Kairi, Sora then smiled with a lopsided-ness.
"Naminé." She said.
Sora watched her, intensely. Her cerulean gaze was fixated on the portrait with an airy smile, and to Sora's surprise, she giggled in delight. She lifted the canvas carefully from the desk, looking over the wonderful painted details with interest. She had a merry, soft laughed that Sora, as well as many others enjoyed.
"Naminé?" Sora repeated, restating it as a question, sweeping his bangs aside.
"Naminé," Kairi said, matter-of-factly. "You love her, right?"
Sora didn't speak, a loss for anything witty or even repliable to say, and just kept his eyes on Kairi. For a moment, he thought about her statement, and came to realize, it was very much true. He gazed at her, smiling softly as she tiled the painting around and around.
"Sora, I could tell, Y'know? The way you looked at her yesterday, and now, look at this painting."
"I, I'm," Sora began, feeling a weight gather on him. "I'm sorry, Kairi."
The girl only smiled, waving her hands in front of him. "You know I love you Sora, so, it wouldn't be right." She pointed her finger along his shoulder, emphasizing her point. "If I didn't let you have the same thing."
He wondered how she knew about Naminé and he, but, then again, by the look of the painting, it was obvious.
"Listen Like Summer, and smile like spring," Kairi said, "Hold hands in the warm nights,"
"It's a beautiful thing." Her hair lay on her shoulders, whilst she recited the bit of rhyme beneath the paintings title. Kairi was remarkable, he knew. Only she could openly tell him she loved him and that it was all right that he didn't, all in on instance. She waved her hands before him, ridiculously.
"Don't worry 'bout me," She grinned, passing him the painting, "I'll be fine."
"I told you only a little while ago," She remembered back on that time, "Even if we get torn apart, I won't forget."
"Go." Kairi smiled, a supportive octave, something soothing, ringing in her voice.
"I won't regret a thing." Kairi said, urging him, smiling as he ran.
--
Midnight blinked passed in a matter of seconds.
Sora skipped across on the cobblestone, heaving a sigh, brushing against the happy streetlamps once again. He plopped down with a thud onto the Earth, resting against the great tree. He watched the smoky clouds glide along in the sky, peacefully, setting him in repose. For a moment, he felt his angel in the sky. He wished he could see her, with straying feathers, float along like the clouds.
How long would he have to wait, he thought?
Two more hours slowly passed, as slowly as the anchor in the sky descended, making way for the fiery star, brought upon by Apollo.
Night soon enough broke into daylights first twinkle, and there he was, propped against the tree, grasping the painting.
Still, there was no sign of the angel.
And again, hours passed, he even missed school, and there was no sign of stray feathers.
There might never be tea with The Queen of Hearts again, no cake with the amusing King, or singing with the Jester. He pushed back his hair, sulking, sighing, and doing his best to ignore the lofty glances people gave him.
In reverse, Naminé at school, held the same thoughts, watching out the window.
Kairi, in turn, watched her. Kairi' s bright eyes were dull, in ambiguous contrast to her usual, compulsory bright, and she looked sadly at the girl. Naminé had an expressionless face that always confused Kairi. She never could quite understand why everyone was not as transparent as herself, seeing as how it made things vastly easier.
Kairi considered tapping the girl, declining the decision in her mind after a few moments of thinking. She didn't want to disturb the girl, who undoubtedly, was dreaming up Wonderland of sorts. She could never decipher the young artist, who now looked back at her, having felt Kairi's glance on her.
Naminé didn't say anything; she just gave Kairi an apologetic look.
Kairi smiled her way, and Naminé frowned, turning away.
A few moments later, with thoughts swarming feverishly through her mind, a whisper tickled her ear.
"Listen Like Summer." Kairi said.
Naminé jerked her head, moving to look at Kairi. Naminé's expression softened, looking back out the window. Kairi just set her hand along Naminé's shoulder.
Naminé said, lightly. "And smile like spring."
Kairi glanced her way, grinning. "It's a beautiful thing."
--
She had never run so fast in her life.
She, at the beginning, had never intended go gallivanting around with a deck of cards by lake, finding missing cakes, and flying over the oceans to gardens unknown. She never intended to fall in love.
The cobblestone fled by in different blurry shapes as she ran by, watching her feet. Soon enough, rows and columns of illuminating streetlamps joined in with the mesh. She tousled her head, ridding herself of the distractions, contemplating what the future held.
She looked the sky wistfully, as she ran. "We'll meet once more, right?"
Naminé felt her heart begin to beat again. She grinned, sheepishly, averting her gaze to the sky, the moon waving high.
Her run eventually came to a hault, admiring the way the sky shined so brilliantly.
As she stopped, in the flurry of cobblestone and streetlamps, she noticed something. Something quite remarkable, actually. Underneath the same happy light when she first met Sora, and his goofy smile, was the very same boy, drawing around in hapless circles just as she had.
Theirs eyes met in that single moment.
A goofy, hapless grin played on his lips.
She looked at him with her precious eyes for a few moments, before chuckling softly.
Beneath the dimly streets, along with bustling moonlight, she looked like an angel.
She didn't move, and neither did he.
"Hey," He said rather loudly across the short distance, and mumbled out, "The Queen was inquiring about you."
She drew out a long, elated breath. "And the Jester you."
Another silence hung in the air, nearly tangible, as she kicked the front of her sandal against the road. The silence lasted until she saw Sora lift up her painting, and smile, genuinely.
"Like a dream, we saw the world together."
Sora began her way, in caution, still thinking in alarm that she would fly away and never return.
"Naminé," Sora began walking her way, distance slowly closing in, Naminé interrupted. "Along the way, I think, I fell in love." She said.
She didn't move or falter, composing her posture around him. She looked at all the light guiding their pathways and began to think on the journey fate was pulling her and Sora through. Fate, she thought, was something quite remarkable.
"You know, Sora," Naminé said quietly. "When you think you have everything planned out to the end, and then things haphazardly get thrown around, and somehow, it all ends for the better. I think that's what fate is." Sora thought about this for a moment, and like when they first met, he grinned childishly, agreeing with her in a large nod.
"So, will you come dance with me?" He asked, thinking back on the Queen's short-tempered, but loveable disposition.
Naminé took this into consideration.
But, soon enough, she was on her heel, her sandals slipping off, and she was running barefoot across the cobblestone, straight into his arms.
She jumped onto him with a large impact, a collision of their hearts.
Her heart went two beats faster, and his went three.
She whispered, her breath licking at his ear, "I'm small, and I speak when spoken to, but do you think…" She paused, griping around him significantly tighter. "You could love me anyway?"
He was silent, only their panting in the foreground. He thought about this for a moment, fondly, mentioning sheepishly to her. "And if somebody pointed out the fact you have no wings, it wouldn't mean a thing."
"You know, somehow, I think I can manage that." A grin tipped to his laugh, and his eyes sparked.
Her heart went two beats faster, and his went three.
It was a night blanketed by the arms of summer, hugging them tightly with its warmth. He held her beneath the illumination of the happy streetlamps that lit her pathway, tenderly. It was beautiful nights like these, under the milky twilight when the two kindred souls communed, under brightly illuminated cobblestone streets started by friendly street lamps that broadened their pathways.
Their world was theirs.
She whispered one last thing, to tickle in his ear, in a playful tone,
"Ands if somebody pointed out the fact that you can't sing...
Wouldn't mean a thing."
- -- - -
Making this quick, I am unsure about this.
I enjoy the beginning, but most of the end and middle seem forced.
So, sue me? Yeah, well, I don't know.
Three different Maaya Sakamoto songs
were used for this, but only tiny bits,
like with the wonderland and the king, queen and the jester.
The excerpts come from 'Park Amsterdam'.
Ah, this was hard to write, because I dislike sominé alot.
& it was originally for a different challenge, but I didn't
finish it in time, so, I finished it up for this one.
This is for Hana's challenge, as well as for her.
She deserves it, I'm just sorry I couldn't give you something better,
Worthy of your beautiful writing.
& thanks Binki & Fuji for reading over this with me.
So, that's it.
disclaimer; standard disclaimer applies.
¤ composed by lunamaria.