No one can say all the things they feel
Without the risk of a failure
So keeping my cards close to my heart
I'll view our love from a distance
Oh, this should be magic after all, after all
x x x
My sole inspiration for this fic was the song After All by Sondre Lerche. It's a song that's very special to me, and on top of that, it's awesome. You should listen to it.
This concept might not be very original, and it might not fit the prompt very well, and it's not very well-written, but I think I like it anyway.
Thanks for reading.
x x x
12:00 AM
This was great—just great. Of course a storm would blow in on tonight of all nights. The night she'd picked to execute The Plan.
Nami dragged a chair over to the window and sat in it, staring out into the murky darkness and cursing every raindrop that whizzed past the glass.
She debated with herself for a while. Was it really worth drowning herself in torrential downpour? Maybe, maybe not. All she knew was that she couldn't stand the thought of putting The Plan off for one more day...
She had no idea how long she sat there until there was a knock at her door. For a moment, she thought it was part of the noise from the storm, but when it came again, slightly louder than the first time, she rose slowly from her perch at the window and went to check who it was.
Unexpectedly, it was Rock—though at this hour, she wouldn't know who to expect. "I thought you could use some company," he said the instant the door was open. "You know, because of the storm."
Nami stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. It was weird enough seeing him standing at her door—he never came to her room. "Why would you think that?" she asked bluntly, eyebrow raised.
She was quite sure she didn't say he could come in, nor did she move out of the doorway to make space for him, but somehow he took her question as an invitation and pushed his way past her. "Excuse me," he said politely when his elbow knocked against her arm in the process.
He then strolled to the middle of her room and looked around, surveying with his hands on his hips. "You have a great room," he commented after a moment's pause. "It looks really nice."
Nami never let anyone into her room, except maybe Tim or Ruby if they were bringing her fresh bedding or something. And so it felt very odd to have Rock, the last person she'd ever picture in her room, standing smack in the middle of it, telling her how nice it looked.
"But this is an inn," Nami pointed out. "I'm sure your room looks exactly the same."
Rock laughed his corny laugh, ya-ha-ha, before pointing to the wall opposite her window. "But in my room, the window faces that way," he said, like this explained everything.
She tried a different tactic. "Why are you here?"
"Like I said, I thought you could use the company."
"And why, Rock? Why did you think that?" Already Nami felt exhausted.
"Well, I couldn't sleep because of the storm," Rock answered simply. "You couldn't either, right?"
Nami pictured throwing him out, slamming the door in his face, just like she'd done to almost every other person who'd dare try to poke their nose into her business. But then she remembered The Plan. Maybe this could be her farewell party, except that Rock wouldn't know that he was even at her farewell party—that was part of The Plan, after all. No one knows, so there can't be any goodbyes. And Rock didn't know, so there wouldn't be a goodbye…
Oh, what the hell. It would be the strangest farewell party ever thrown, but at least she was getting one.
"You can stay," she said finally, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. She dragged over another chair and joined him by the window.
x x x
1:00 AM
Nami was a very interesting person. That was something Rock had always been sure of. She wasn't like any other girl in the valley, and he was certain she wasn't like any other girl anywhere else, either.
But unfortunately for him, Nami didn't think he was very interesting—otherwise, why would she ignore him so much? It was kind of disappointing, but he didn't take it too personally. He knew Nami ignored a lot of people. On top of that, he'd only seen her smile once in his life, when Tim told a funny story from one of his trips. And even then it was only a smile, not even a laugh.
But that one little smile—that was part of what interested him so much. That was what brought him to Nami's room on that dark and stormy night.
It was true that he couldn't sleep, but that was only because he couldn't stop thinking about what she was doing that very moment. Normally, he never knew what she was doing or where she was, since she was constantly out of her room, wandering around all over the valley. But tonight, because of the storm, she couldn't be possibly out there. Instead, she was stuck inside like everyone else.
And then finally, it struck him—this time, he could know what Nami was doing that very moment because for once, he knew exactly where she was. All he had to do was cross the hallway and find out.
So that's what he did, and now an hour later, he was still sitting next to her, both of them watching the rain. It was a miracle.
However, thus far, he'd been unable to get her to laugh, or even to smile—though he could've sworn he'd seen a hint of the latter a few times.
They'd talked a bit, but Nami didn't seem interested in saying too much. Mostly they sat in a comfortable silence and looked out the window, enjoying each other's company. Or at least, he was enjoying hers—he couldn't tell what Nami thought about the whole thing. The biggest reaction he'd gotten out of her was when he asked her about her backpack.
"What's with the backpack?" he'd asked, gesturing over to the bed where the bag lay. "Going somewhere?"
"None of your business," she replied. She didn't sound angry, Rock thought—just flustered, and so he didn't ask again. At least, he wouldn't immediately. But the curiosity nagged at him.
At the moment, however, the backpack was forgotten. Rock had run to his room to get a deck of cards, and after Nami proclaimed that card games were boring, he'd started showing her card tricks.
"Where did you learn all of these?" Nami asked, shaking her head in disbelief as he predicted her card correctly for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Who taught you?"
"It's magic," he said, flashing her a cheesy smile, and then—oh! there it was. A tiny tiny smile that was gone in the blink of an eye, but it was there for sure. He felt proud.
"Magic," Nami echoed musingly. "Hm. I don't believe in it."
"Really? Not even when you were a kid?"
"Nope." She shrugged. "Not even when I was in a kid."
"How could that be?" He couldn't help it. He was shocked. He thought believing in magic was part of growing up, like high chairs and learning how to walk.
She picked at the fabric of the chair and glanced at him and then back to the window. "Is it that strange?"
"No." He mulled over his answer and then grinned. "You're just a cynic," he teased.
"And you're just naïve," she shot back, but the smile had resurfaced, a little bigger this time.
"For believing in magic?" He laughed. "All right. How about love at first sight?"
"What about it?"
"Do you believe in it?"
"In love at first sight?" She wrinkled her nose at the phrase.
"Yeah," he affirmed, though he could already tell what her answer would be.
Sure enough, Nami's smile twisted into a wry one. "Well, isn't it the same thing as magic?"
"Not exactly," Rock answered defensively. "Not really."
"Tell me what it is, then." She gave him an expectant look. "Why do you believe in…love at first sight?"
"Well…haven't you ever felt a connection to a person just by looking at them?" His mouth suddenly felt very dry and he stumbled over his words a bit. "Like, you see this person and you just know, with the right chance, and the right timing, you two could be good for each other? That if you could just talk to her—to the person," he corrected quickly, "the two of you would realize you both feel that same connection?"
Nami's attention still seemed to be directed out the window, but Rock could tell she was listening carefully. "But what makes you believe in something that? Does it happen to you a lot?"
The sarcastic implication of her question was evident, and he sat back in his chair—in his passion, he'd leaned forward while talking. Now he relaxed again and felt all of the zeal go out of him. "No," he said, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
Nami turned away from the window and looked right at him. "Whatever. That still sounds like magic to me."
Rock shifted in his chair, feeling uncomfortable beneath her gaze. He picked up the deck of cards that lay abandoned on the windowsill and began to shuffle them. "So? What about you?"
She gave him a quizzical look, so he clarified.
"Why don't you believe in love at first sight?"
She stayed quite for a little while before answering. "Well, love is supposed to be more than a random encounter with a stranger, right?"
"I…I guess, yeah."
"I mean, I'd like to think that love based on more than what's seen on the surface. Isn't it supposed to be deeper than that? And at first glance, how are you supposed to know anything about a person, let alone enough to fall in love?"
Rock set the cards back down and leaned forward again, smiling again. "But you at least believe in love then, right?"
He waited for her to say something, but she didn't. She merely smiled back slightly in reply and looked back out the window.
x x x
3:00 AM
Rock awoke to Nami shaking his shoulder. He rubbed his eyes and stretched—his back felt sore from sleeping sitting up. He paused in his stretch, however, when he realize the room was oddly silent.
"The storm passed," Nami explained when she saw his puzzled expression. "Just a few minutes ago. And the rain's almost completely stopped now. I didn't want to wake you up, but I figured you'd want to sleep in a bed instead of a chair…"
"Oh," he said, getting to his feet and wincing at the feeling of a cactus being dragged down his calves. Both of his legs had fallen asleep from being still so long and were almost completely numb, save for the prickling sensation. He wondered how long he'd been asleep. "Well, thanks for waking me up, then. And for letting me hang out."
"No problem."
He shook his legs to get the circulation back, but really he was stalling. He'd forgotten that his stay was going to have to come an end eventually. He stretched again, longer this time, and yawned.
"So. Have a good sleep," she said, scratching her head. He nodded and walked over to the door with Nami close behind.
"Hey, Nami?" he said, stopping in the doorway.
"Yeah?" Her voice still sounded clear, without even the slightest hint of tiredness.
"What's that backpack for?"
Her face went blank for a moment, and then she smiled, a sincere, big smile, and at the sight of it Rock was seized with the abrupt, bewildering urge to kiss her, right there, right then. But he didn't, and instead he waited for her response.
"None of your business," she said, the same answer as before, though this time her tone was softer, almost sweet.
"I'll get the truth out of you someday," he joked in a threatening voice. "Just you wait."
She laughed—the first time he'd ever heard her do so—and he marveled at the sound. "Okay," she agreed, her hand on the doorknob, ready to shut it.
They both stood there, neither one moving, and Rock realized that he had to say something before the moment slipped away.
"I really liked talking to you, Nami," he said, hoping his voice sounded sincere. He didn't want her to think he was kidding around. "We should do it again some time?" His voice turned up on the last word unintentionally, making it a question.
"Okay," she said again. And then, with one last smile exchanged between the two, she shut the door.
x x x
-:-- AM
Stupid Rock for messing up The Plan.
It was supposed to be easy and painless and quick. But instead she'd had that moronic idea about the farewell party, and afterwards everything was the exact opposite of easy and painless and quick.
She wanted to leave in the middle of the night so that no one would notice her. And she had been so sure that no one would miss her. But then Rock had to go and—
She'd barely even said more than two words to the guy before that night. They didn't even know each other. And still he had to go and have expectations, to ask her if they would do it again some time, when she couldn't. She just couldn't.
Nami wondered what he would think when he woke up. She sighed and adjusted the straps of her backpack.
x x x
11:00 AM
Rock ended up sleeping in later than he thought. He'd assumed that as soon as he got back to his room, he'd lie awake just like he'd been before. But instead, he crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
When he woke up, he stayed there for a while, deep in thought. He wondered if Nami was awake yet, and how things would be now. Were they friends? Or had last night been an isolated event, a spell broken by daylight?
He couldn't wait any longer to find out. He threw off his blankets and jumped out of bed.
When he knocked at Nami's door, there was no answer. Damn. She was probably already out and about and he'd missed his chance to talk to her, to confirm that last night had really happened. He tried the doorknob anyway, and surprisingly, the door swung right open..
"Nami?" he said, hesitantly stepping inside when there wasn't an answer. Almost immediately, he had a sick feeling in his stomach.
He walked into her room and stood in the middle of it, just like he had for the first time hours before. But this time, it was empty.
The furniture was still there, and Nami was right—it was exactly like his room, with the same bed and the same dresser and the same lamp sitting on the same nightstand. But difference was that this room was supposed to have Nami in it.
Rock knew she wouldn't normally leave her door unlocked, and so something had to be wrong.
The bed was neatly made, and in place of the backpack from the night before there was now a scrap of paper sitting atop it. He snatched it up greedily, desperate for some kind of explanation.
It was brief—too brief—so brief that it didn't make any sense to him.
Ruby and Tim,
Thanks for everything.
Nami
He clutched the paper in his hand, hardly able to breathe.
This was it? This was it? All she left was a note? A note that didn't even mention him?
He flipped it over on the back, but once he discovered it was blank, he tossed it back down onto the bed. He sighed and ran both hands through his hair, too shocked to form any single coherent thought. Maybe it was foolish of him, or selfish of him, but he would have thought there would be more. In fact, there should have been more. She should have left more behind. He should have meant more to her.
He really was naïve.
And for her final trick, Rock thought bitterly to himself, she'll make herself disappear.
He went over to the window and stared out with his nose pressed to the glass, as if he'd actually see her out there. He didn't, of course.
But when he looked down, he saw the deck of cards still on the windowsill, and under those, another scrap of paper peeking out. He stared at it for a moment and then picked it up, careful not to knock over the cards.
There were two sentences. Rock read them both three times.
Actually, I really did believe in magic when I was a kid. Go figure.
There was no signature or addressee, just those two lines. Rock closed his eyes and for one moment, he thought about all the things that could have been, and all the things he'd never understand.
Then he folded the note in half and put it in his pocket.
x x x