You and I: This Star Won't Go Out
While Roxas lists down the things he likes about her, Namine jumps ahead to the Big Question: will you marry me?
E
(^w^) (O3o)
"Ooh, so serious."
The corner of the blonde's mouth twitched a little, but she didn't say anything. Grinning, the boy who was previously lying on his back rolled onto another position so that he was now lying on his stomach, one arm propped up to support his head as he observed the girl.
She had platinum blonde hair, which she had tied into a messy bun. He rather liked it when she tied her hair like that – she rarely did it, only when she's painting. So...maybe that's why he liked it whenever she painted something? Meh. He tilted his head a bit to the left, eyeing the canvas on which she was painting the room they were in.
"You're almost done, huh?"
Naminé sighed very, very silently, but then she began to smile and shook her head a little. Roxas' grin widened. He knew that she didn't like to be disturbed when her 'serious business' mode was on. As quietly as possible, he stood up and approached her from behind.
"That's really well done, Nam."
The girl, surprised at how close he was to her, leaned away and frowned at him. "Roxas!" she laughed, and before he could avoid it, Naminé had touched his cheek with her paintbrush – and it was his turn to lean away.
"Argh! Oh – oh, man!" He wiped the yellow paint away from his check while Naminé dipped three of her brushes into the blobs of paint she had on her pellet. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" he apologised as she began to chase him around the room, armed with her paint brushes.
It was just another bright day for them.
S
(8D) (XD)
"Who do you want to meet the most?"
Naminé thought for a while. She didn't frown whenever she was thinking hard – instead, she would just stare at nothing for a long time. That was when her blue eyes would really pop out. He liked her eyes whenever she was thinking – you could actually see her thoughts swimming.
"Dumbledore. Professor Albus Dumbledore," she answered, bringing Roxas back to reality.
"Come on, seriously, Nam."
"No, I am serious," she said. They were in the kitchen, bent over Roxas' English assignment at the kitchen counter. "He is one eccentric headmaster – I really, really wanna meet him. You know I can meet him. You're just jealous."
He shook his head as he scrawled something in his notebook. "Okay then, a normal person – who do you wanna meet the most?
"Where's the fun in normal?" she giggled, as if the idea of a normal person was far too absurd. "If you insist...well..."
She was thinking again, but Roxas could tell that she already had the answer, because her eyes seemed different from before when she was thinking real hard. Well, you could say that there were no thoughts 'swimming around' in either of her eyes. A weird way to explain it, eh? Yep.
"The normal person I'd like to meet the most," she said, handing him the grammar survey she had filled up, "is probably just you."
"Probably? Just? Probably just me?" he repeated. "You make me sound like a boring pers..."
"Well, you are, in a way," she said, grinning as she stood up and walked towards the fridge. "Ice cream, Roxas?"
"Yeah, yeah," he said, still staring at the survey form that she had returned to him: she had sketched his and her face on the paper with a purple crayon, but she had also answered the all questions with different coloured crayons.
"Err – peanut butter with toasted almonds, or blueberry cheese?"
Roxas looked away from the survey form. He smiled at her. "What are you having?"
"The blueberry one, I think."
"Okay, let's have that, then – no, no – we don't need cups...let's just eat the whole tub!"
The two friends then spent the rest of the evening laughing and exchanging stories as they tried to finish the ice cream.
At the bottom of the survey form, she had scrawled the words, "You and I together" using a pink crayon.
T
(~_~) (=..=lll)
Roxas was one of the first to spring up to his feet and run out of class when the bell rang, signalling the end of school. He stuffed his book, pencil case and water bottle into his bag before making his way hurriedly to his locker. Full of concentration, with his tongue protruding from his mouth, he entered the correct combination that would unlock his locker.
"Hey, Roxas."
Taking out three chocolate bars and putting it into his bag, he replied, "Oh hey, Olette," without even looking at her.
"Wow, aren't you in a hurry?" she teased, leaning against the locker next to his.
"Well, yeah," he said, glancing at her and flashing a huge smile, "busy evening ahead!"
"Oh, come on. It's Friday night, how could you possibly be busy?"
"That's just my life," he replied absent-mindedly, shrugging.
He could sense her stepping closer. "Listen, Roxas," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. His rummaging-the-locker-for-the-right-things-and-stuffing-them-into-his-bag activity stopped abruptly as he eyed the girl next to him. "If you're busy on a Friday night, then you're either a single mom working at the diner to make ends meet, or you're just not normal. I mean, c'mon – we know why you haven't been hanging out with us lately. Hayner thinks—"
"Did Hayner really say what you're about to say," Roxas cut across her in a flat voice, "or is this your own opinion?"
Olette made an impatient noise."Okay, okay – I think you're getting too attached to her. I mean—" here, she stepped a little bit closer to him, "—you're not her babysitter or anything. So...come and have some fun with us. You know...hang out with us again. Do crazy stuff."
By now, a mild frown was visible on Roxas' face.
"Oh, that reminds me," Olette said, reaching into her pocket and taking out something that looked like an invitation card, "Selphie's birthday party is tonight – you know that. She's been waiting for your reply since forever! Why didn't you reply sooner? She wants me to give you this – again – because she's worried you won't turn up."
"Well," said Roxas, shutting his locker door, "I don't need it. I'm not going." He hopped onto his skateboard and began to skate down the hallway. Much to his dismay, Olette began to chase after him.
"Roxas! Come on, you've never missed Selphie's birthday party before! It's not like you and Naminé can't hang out together some other time after this!"
Her words made him stop skating abruptly. Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath before turning around to face her. Olette stood there, stretching out the birthday party invitation, a smile on her face. "What about you have some fun tonight, huh? Quality time with us!"
Sometimes he wondered how people could be so...so...
Before he knew it, he was shaking his head and was looking at her as if she were something pathetic to look at.
"You are unbelievably ignorant, do you know that?"
She just looked back at him blankly.
"Also, my mom is a single mother who works her ass off to make ends meet, so that was pretty insulting."
The look on Olette's face when she heard what he had said was priceless.
Later, he and Naminé spent the whole evening abusing and making fun of Olette. Naminé was always keen to listen to his reports of what happened at school – her reactions were always fun to watch, because despite being a very quiet person, Naminé actually was a very expressive person once you get to know her.
He enjoyed the way her eyebrows raised and the way her mouth formed an "O" when he told her about the Sora-Kairi-Riku-Xion confrontation.
He enjoyed the sound of her high-pitched voice when she defended Mrs. Dyer, the obese librarian, when he told her about the students bullying the librarian.
He enjoyed the way she had practically cackled at the news of Seifer being punished (running a hundred laps in only his boxers) by the new discipline teacher, Sir Leon.
He enjoyed her company.
A lot.
H
(=_=) (:D)
"No, I am not buying the blue one, Roxas."
"Aww, I thought you don't like normal things?"
"Yes, well, I don't, but this is...!"
"Hey, Mrs. Nakamura! Come here for a sec!"
A thin lady in her forties stopped chatting with the girl at the payment counter and came over to where Roxas and Naminé were. "Oh good – has she found one yet?"
"Yes," Naminé said quickly before Roxas could say anything. "The blonde one, mama," she said, pointing at the doll with blonde hair.
"No, no! She's getting the blue one," Roxas said, pointing at the doll with blue hair. "I mean, look at it – it's beautiful."
"It's blue."
"Well, so? It's time to have some fun, Nam!" He stroked the doll's blue hair. "See, the texture's nice, too."
"I am not going to buy the blue one – mama, tell him I won't buy that one," she said.
"Oh, I don't know, dear," Mrs. Nakamura said, looking thoughtful. "The blue one does seem nice. It seems fun."
Roxas pulled a see?-I-told-you-it's-fun expression, and Naminé rolled her eyes.
"Mama, I have blonde hair, so I'm buying the blonde one—"
"But I thought you don't like normal things, honey?"
"Yes! Exactly what I asked her just now!" Roxas said triumphantly. "You can't keep saying normal is boring if you choose for normal things, Nam! It's like, going against your nature!"
"He's right, you know," Mrs. Nakamura said.
Naminé groaned. "Oh, you two!"
"Tell you what, honey," said her mama, "why don't we buy the blue and the blonde one, hmm? Then you can make your choice later at home."
Roxas began to nod in agreement. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a great idea, right?"
"Okay. Okay, the blonde and the blue one then," Naminé said at last.
"But I bet you're gonna fall in love with the blue one instantly. It's meant to be!" Roxas said.
"Oh, shut up, Roxas."
And so it was settled: Mrs. Nakamura paid for the blonde and the blue ones, and they went home. Roxas tagged along with the Nakamuras, and while Naminé was in her room, he helped Mrs. Nakamura unloading the groceries from the shopping bags.
"She'll love the blue one," Roxas said confidently, storing the fruit juices in the fridge, "trust me, she will."
Mrs. Nakamura merely chuckled. "You know, she really will listen to your words – I told her to buy crazy coloured ones before, but she refused almost at once and stood her ground no matter what I said. But today, she agreed to it just like that!"
Roxas grinned.
"Thank you for escorting us today, Roxas," Mrs. Nakamura went on. "Most boys your age would rather spend their time with their friends, you know."
"Well, Naminé is my friend. My best friend, in fact," he said.
"I'm glad, then," said the older Nakamura. "She doesn't have many friends, and you know that. Most of the time she fears you're going to get bored of her. And so I told her that true friends don't get bored of one another."
"I keep telling her that," said Roxas, sitting down next to Mrs. Nakamura. "I wish she'd stop worrying."
"She will, if you stay for dinner. Can you stay for dinner?"
"Oh, heck yeah – when it comes to food, you can count me in!"
Later, he, Naminé and Mrs. Nakamura spent their evening in the kitchen, making dinner. Mr. Nakamura came home right when the dinner was ready, and the four of them spent the rest of the evening talking about mundane things and telling lame jokes to one another.
It turned out that Mr. Nakamura liked the blue one better than the blonde one, too. Roxas gave Naminé a smug grin, and received a spoonful of mashed potatoes on his face in the end.
E
(D':) (T_T)
"I told you you'd fall in love with the blue one."
Naminé looked up from her bed, and smiled at Roxas, who was leaning against the doorframe. "Okay, you win," she said, still smiling. Shaking her head, she beckoned him to enter. "I thought you have a test tomorrow at school? Why are you here?"
"Well," he said, sitting down next to her on the bed, "I know you'd miss me if I don't drop by."
She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Roxas, you should go home and study."
"I will, I will! Let's just chat first, okay? I'll still have time to study, so relax... Here, your favourite."
Naminé smiled like a little child as she took the chocolate bar from him. "Thank you."
"You're most welcome."
"So," she said, peeling the wrapper off, "what happened at school today?"
"Hmm – where do I even start? Today's filled with drama and tears."
She frowned. "What? Is it about prom?"
"Bingo – it's about prom," he said, nodding. "Sora and Kairi are obviously going together – but Riku confronted Kairi about it in the cafeteria in front of the whole school. He said something about a secret phone call that Kairi had apparently made last week. Poor Kairi burst into tears and ran off to the bathroom – and then Sora and Riku were engaged in a fight."
"Ooh. Must've been nasty."
"Yep," he agreed. "Sir Leon punished both of them, for sure, but I dunno what happens in the end. I mean, are Sora and Kairi still going together to prom? What d'you think?"
Naminé took her time chewing and swallowing before replying, "Well...Sora and Kairi are definitely going to have to talk about that secret phone call... I mean, if I were Sora, I'd be suspicious, too. If you already agree to go to prom with someone, why talk with Riku over the phone about prom, right?"
"Well, maybe Riku misunderstood what she was trying to say to him... You know, he never gives up that easily."
She shrugged her scrawny shoulders. "Oh well... Enough about them – what about you?"
"What about me?"
Naminé glared at him pointedly. "How many?"
"Err... Hmm..." He thought for a while. "Meh, just a couple of girls."
"Lemme guess – Olette?"
"Bingo."
Naminé grinned. "Well, what did she say?"
"She wanted me to go with her, but I said I can't because I've promised Hayner to ask her on his behalf. So it'd be awkward to go with her – it's like betraying Hayner."
"Did Hayner really ask you to ask her on his behalf?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Roxas grinned and shook his head.
"It's a lie, Nam, duh."
"Okay then – who else?"
"Xion," he said rather uncomfortably. "She was upset about Riku. She wanted to ask him to go with her to the prom since forever, but he doesn't seem to notice anyone else but Kairi... So after chemistry class, Xion hung around with me for a while. She's really upset..."
A small pause occurred, and Roxas could almost sense something from Naminé's expression. Was it jealousy?
"So she reluctantly asked me if I've had anyone to go to prom with," he went on, "because she's one of the few who still doesn't have any partners."
"What did you tell her, then?" Naminé asked rather monotonously, refusing to meet his eyes. Roxas frowned, and sat on the floor so he could see her face clearly.
"Hey, hey," he said, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "What's this? Are you jealous?"
"N-no, I'm not!" she said, her face turning red.
"Nuh uh – don't deny it!" he said, grinning. "You're jealous – oh, oh, you are!"
She grabbed a pillow and hit him across the face with it. He fell onto the floor, cackling.
"Stupid Roxas!"
"Oh, look who's talking, stupid Naminé!" he shot back. "Gosh...what d'you think I said to Xion?"
"Well...I dunno."
"I said no, of course!" Roxas said, pulling himself into a sitting position on the floor by the bed. "I said it politely, of course – but I said no, nonetheless – because I, obviously, am going with you." When she didn't say anything, Roxas moved from the floor to the bed, and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek. "What, you think I'd ditch you just like that?"
"I dunno. You might."
"Oh, come on! I'm far too courteous to do that."
Much to his relief, Naminé began to smile again. A long silence visited them: Naminé went on eating her bar of chocolate, and Roxas merely watched her as she did so. He loved these long silent moments – to him, it was a symbol of how strong their feelings for each other was. They didn't need words to enjoy each other's company.
"Hey Roxas?"
"Yea, Naminé?"
She smiled at his cheeky reply. "If you're stuck with me for the rest of your life, what would you do?"
He thought for a while, and then the answer came to him. "I'd marry you."
"You'd marry me?"
"Yea, I'd marry you."
She giggled at this. "Would you marry me?"
"Yes, I'll marry you."
"Mama!" she suddenly called out. Seeing his confused face, she said, "We need a witness – mama! Mama, could you come here for a while, please?"
A confused Mrs. Nakamura entered the room with a laundry basket in her hands. "Yes, Nam, what is it honey?"
"Roxas and I are getting married – we need a witness," Naminé said calmly, which made Roxas laugh. Mrs. Nakamura looked even more confused as she put down the laundry basket.
"You're – getting married?"
"Yeah. I'm going to propose now." Naminé pulled herself onto a kneeling positing on the bed, and took his hands. "Roxas Hikari," she said with a straight face, "would you marry me?"
Smiling, Roxas nodded. "Yes. A thousand times yes." With that, he leaned in and kissed her.
"Honey!" Mrs. Nakamura called out to Mr. Nakamura. "Honey! Get the camera, please!"
Mr. Nakamura arrived soon with a camera. "What's going on?"
"Our daughter's married!" said Mrs. Nakamura as she snapped a picture.
"Our – what? Oh – oh! Oh, this is – this is big, honey!" said Mr. Nakamura as Naminé and Roxas pulled away from each other. "Hold on, I'll get the champagne—"
"But they're too young to drink, dear!"
"I'll get them the orange juice, don't worry!"
"Ooh – I'll go get the fancy drinking glasses – be right back!"
Roxas shook his head. "You know," he said as Naminé settled on the bed comfortably again, "you have the coolest parents ever. Do they ever freak out at all?"
"Nope," she said, grinning. "That's why I love them. And I love you."
He merely smiled at this.
"Roxas? One more thing."
"Mmm?"
"Make sure they bury me with this stupid blue wig – I think it does make my eyes stand out. I think I'm in love with it!"
To Roxas, Naminé's happy-go-lucky attitude was probably the best damn thing on earth.
He loved her for that.
R
(U_U)
"Dang, it's cold, Nam."
The cold wind blew his messy hair this way and that as he took out a chocolate bar.
"Got you your favourite again. This thing is kinda difficult to find nowadays, you know. I think they're gonna stop making it soon...which sucks."
Roxas took off his schoolbag and settled himself comfortably on the grass.
"So, have you met Dumbledore?" he asked, peeling off the wrapper of his chocolate bar. "Tell him I said hi."
He began to munch on the chocolate, and fell silent for a while.
"Oh, hold on – I just remembered something," he said, grabbing his schoolbag and rummaging it. "I got back that grammar survey thing – got an A-, and it's all your fault I didn't get an A+. My English teacher didn't quite appreciate your doodle, Nam."
He took out the grammar survey form and settled it next to the chocolate bar.
"But I think it's wonderful," he went on as he observed the form. There was a stain at one corner – he remembered that Naminé had spilled some ice cream there that evening. "Also, I've printed our wedding picture."
He rummaged his bag once more, and took out an envelope. He then took out several pictures and began to look at them one by one.
"You look fab with the blue wig, Nam, trust me," he said, grinning at the picture where Mr. Nakamura was making a toast. "But I did wish I could taste some champagne, really. But all we got was orange juice!"
The wind blew again, a little strongly this time.
"I don't think I can stay long today," Roxas said, looking at the sky. Dark clouds were taking over. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"
With that, he laid the envelope with their wedding pictures next to the chocolate bar and the survey form, and took his schoolbag. He stood up.
"One last question, Naminé."
Roxas took a deep breath before continuing:
"You've met Dumbledore... You even get to meet him with your awesome blue hair, because, well, because we sent you off with it... But... Do you miss me?"
Silence was all he received as a reply.
"Because I think I once told you I'd spend the rest of my life married to you, and dammit, Naminé, I sure do miss you."
He let out a shaky breath.
"I miss you."
It rained rather heavily that day, and the caretaker was deeply impressed: the boy with spiky hair had never failed to deliver chocolates to his friend – never. This time, there were an envelope and a piece of paper next to the chocolate bar.
He went over to look at it. The envelope had the words, 'Our Wedding Pictures – Enjoy!' written on it.
"Now, wouldn't it be a shame if we let this go wet?" the caretaker said. With that, he took the envelope. "Don't worry, I'll keep it safe for you. It'll be in there, okay?"
With that, the old man slowly made his way towards the tool shed near the gates of the graveyard.
"No matter what happens, even when the sky is falling down, I promise you: that I'll never let you go. "
A/N: Esther Earl was a sixteen-year-old girl who lost her battle to cancer in late August this year. This story is deeply inspired by her, and it's also kind of based on Park Bom's 'You and I.' I listened to it non-stop for one night and one day while writing this.
Naminé did get her wish: she was buried with her blue wig on, and I'd like to imagine that she managed to meet the headmaster of Hogwarts, wherever they might be right now.
Rest in Awesome, Esther.
The things in brackets are emoticons/smileys/faces, by the way. They kind of represent Naminé and Roxas. In the end, there's only one left, because Naminé had finally passed away.
Did this story confuse you? I'm sorry! (D:) My aim is to make it seem like a normal day-to-day thing that Namine went through in her last days without making it seem obvious that shew as dying of cancer. So I'm really sorry if this confuses you...!
Also, a special shout out to NothingButANobody, who has managed to make me write again. Thank you!
Please review and tell me what you think! Was it confusing? I wanna know~