The Sun and the Rain

Meet Namine. Clumsy, tiny, and far-sighted. She lives in a world where it never seems to stop raining, but one day the sun might just come out…

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A single drop of rain landed smack-dab in the middle of Namine's forehead, causing her to crinkle her small nose in annoyance.

She really didn't need rain right now, seeing as this day had been depressing enough.

She wrapped her taco up in a brown bag and shoved it in her backpack, not caring about what kind of mess it could make.

Her only incentive at this point was to make it home before it started to rain hard.

As she sat in the lumpy subway seat, Namine looked in the foggy window.

She could only see a bit of her reflection.

Namine was small, in all aspects.

She was pale, too, and desperately wanted to tan—somehow. Like the girls in her school, or in magazines.

Her eyes were brightest blue, and they added some excitement to her plain figure.

Her nose was small, too, but at least it wasn't HUGE, or anything.

The train pulled into Sunset Station, and the window de-fogged.

A beam of tired sunlight shined through, and the glare reflected itself in Namine's silver-rimmed spectacles.

She didn't like wearing glasses, but the world was basically a broken kaleidoscope without them, so they weren't an option.

Namine picked up her bag (after dislodging it from the seat) and made to get off the train. The conductor stopped her at the door.

"You got to pay the fare, missy," she said in a deep, gravelly voice.

Namine registered the statement, and then her eyes slowly narrowed.

"Look, lady," she snapped. "I gave you my ticket, and last time I checked, this wasn't a BUS, so forget about the fare. And another thing, I didn't think you could stop me from getting OFF the train, so back off."

The bus driver recoiled at Namine's snippiness, and waved her off the train.

The small blonde re-adjusted her poncho and swung her bag over her shoulder as a collie bounded past her, followed by a frantic looking brunette boy.

"Tuki, come back here!" he bellowed, moving as fast as his legs could carry him.

"That's Twilight Town," Namine said, grinning as she passed the waterfall where people had been rumored to see their doppelgangers.

Her house was just a block and a half away from here, nut every day she liked to stop and look at it.

It was a strange thing she did, but even she didn't know why she did it.

Finally, she reached her familiar gates. They were plain and white, and grass stains lingered at the bottom.

"I meant to clean those," she said, slapping herself on the forehead.

It was because of all the stupid rain they'd been having lately... in sharp contrast to the drought they'd had last summer.

Namine made her way up the front steps, her footsteps getting softer each time.

She was tired to death, and stairs were painful to walk.

She pushed to door open (almost falling down when it opened unexpectedly) and threw her bag down in the foyer.

Her mom was probably taking a nap or something, and she didn't usually like to be woken during naps, or it would be a battle.

After making a sandwich, Namine heaved up the stairs to her bedroom.

Namine's bedroom was mostly white.

Her bedspread was lavender, sure, but most everything was white.

Even her iMac was white.

She made her way into the immaculate room, and left the door ajar as she sank down onto her bed.

"I'm so tired," she sighed as a wave of tiredness fell back over her.

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"Namine! Get up! It's time for school!"

Namine turned over and felt like she was falling through thin air, which was explained when she hit the floor. Her poncho was lopsided, and her blonde hair was frizzy and messed up.

"You've got thirty minutes," her mom said.

"THIRTY?!" Namine shrieked.

As soon as her mother had left the room, Namine ran around and started to pick up all of her school things (books, papers, pencils, and glasses) and ran a brush through her blonde hair.

She pulled her outfit out of a pile of clothes laid out over her dresser, and put them on.

(To see Namine's outfit, look in my profile under "Namine's First Day Outfit".)

She grabbed her backpack when she'd reached the foyer, then Namine slid on her black flip-flops and took a pack of gum off the table.

Her mom had bought it for her yesterday, and she needed gum.

It was sort of a pacifier, to make sure she paid attention to everything else.

"Heyyy, mom?" she called.

"Whaaat?"

"How much time do I have left!?!"

"Twenty-five minutes, Nami."

"Really?"

"Yeaaah."

Namine sighed in relief. At least she'd have a little time to hang out, eat breakfast, stuff like that.

As she made her scrambled eggs, Namine heard her mother running the vacuum upstairs like she did every morning.

In truth, Namine's mom was a bit of a neat freak, but she liked that about her mother.

Namine was neat, too, but nowhere near her mother's expectations.

Placing the fried eggs on the counter, Namine sighed idly.

She took out a piece of gum and began chewing ferociously, like setting a world record.

Everyone at school yelled at Namine for chewing gum too loudly, like a horse, they said.

But she did not care.

She loved gum.

Her cuckoo clock cuckooed from the wall, and Namine did not even bother to turn it off.

Not that she ever did, anyway.

Her mother came down the stairs and spoke.

"I smell eggs, Nami."

"I made eggs, mother."

The older woman sniffed the protein filled chicken byproducts, and looked satisfied enough. She picked up a fork, and began to eat.

Namine looked at her expectantly, and she got a thumbs-up.

"You're getting to be a better cook every day," her mother said.

"Do I have a choice?"

They sat there for a minute, Namine's mom eating eggs and Namine herself staring blankly out the window.

"Ooh," her mother said, breaking the silence. "You've got to go now, if you're gonna make the train on time."

Namine picked up her backpack and popped a piece of gum in her mouth.

"Bye," she said hastily, as she swatted a fly away. "So do I have to babysit Yuffie?"

"Go over there at 2:00; Aerith'll be waiting."

Yuffie was Namine's three-year-old cousin. On the whole, Namine enjoyed being around her, but after that first 5678 "food"'s it got a little dicey.

"Alright."

With that, Namine shut the door behind her, off to another uneventful day in that torture chamber uniquely named "Twilight Town High School; Home of the Dusks".

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