A/N: Woo, another one down! The writing has so far flowed a bit awkwardly, but at least it's flowing.
This is set in canon-verse, and is taking place in some nebulous time in the future just after Sora and Riku have restored everyone in Sora's heart and etc. But I'm putting very little effort in fleshing out these settings, as these are mostly just supposed to be quick snippets of the ships. Mostly, this one in particular is just an excuse for me to give Naminé some long overdue happiness in canon. XD
Pairing: Xion/Naminé
Warnings: None, really. There's some angst with Naminé, and references to angsty canon events, but Xion isn't having any of it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, etc, etc. Title taken from the song "Back At One" by Brian McKnight, with the summary taking inspiration from "If I Never Knew You", from Pocahontas.
Say Farewell to the Dark of Night
For Me?
After the initial rounds of tearful reunions, everyone seemed to unanimously agree that they needed to take some time to be alone, to let everything sink in and process recent events. And so, everyone had drifted apart, to seek out some pocket of solitude, at least for a few hours. Destiny Islands wasn't a huge world, but despite the rather large number of restored people, everyone seemed to be managing okay in finding some space. Even if other people were in sight, they were being politely ignored, with everyone too absorbed in their own thoughts to spare much energy for the turmoil of others.
Xion, for one, was grateful for the reprieve. As much as she was thrilled to see Axel and Roxas again (or, see again in the flesh, in Roxas's case, as they had been together in Sora's heart), and as ecstatic as she was at the prospect of being real people with them at last, she needed to take a moment, to be truly alone for the first time in years. Plus, she knew the three of them needed to take this time to shore up their strength, and to prepare themselves to air the old grievances and wounds their relationship had taken towards the end. Roxas and Axel had never had the chance to talk things through, and Xion knew that she hadn't been fair to Axel at all, in forcing him to choose between her and Roxas. So, they were all long overdue for a talk. And the need to hash everything out didn't end there; there were others Xion knew she needed to talk to as well, like Riku, Sora, Isa…
But for now, Xion sat at the shoreline on the beach of the play island, concentrating on the feel of the breeze ruffling through her hair, the warmth of the sun on her skin, the smell of salt in the air, the sound of the waves washing over the sand, staring at the dazzling view of the ocean stretching on and on for endless miles.
There was a part of her, a leftover echo from Sora that she suspected would never truly fade away, that felt almost as much at peace here as she did at the clock tower in Twilight Town.
It wasn't a new thought, as she had felt that feeling of kinship with this place the first time she'd set foot here, back in the days of the Organization, when she had been looking to collect sea shells for Roxas, and it had grown stronger, the more she had absorbed Sora into herself. Looking back, Xion was pretty sure that the intensity had come from the deep well of homesickness that Sora had barely acknowledged all through his adventures.
Now that she had the time to truly sit and soak in the atmosphere, Xion thought she could understand even better why Sora had missed this place so much.
Xion didn't know long she had been sitting by herself, staring out at the horizon, when she heard the shuffling of indecisive footsteps making their way across the sand towards her.
When she looked over, she was a little surprised to see that it was Naminé.
As their gazes met, Naminé halted, uncertain if her presence was welcome, or if she would be rebuffed.
When Sora and Riku had finished restoring Xion, Roxas, Naminé, Ven, and Terra, and Axel and Aqua rushed to their friends, tears flowing freely, Naminé had been left hanging at the fringes. She had been greeted cheerfully by Kairi and Riku (though, more quietly and somberly in Riku's case), and had some sort of reunion with Sora, and she had seemed happy enough about those. But no one had been dashing to hug her, to hold her tightly and whisper through tears how much they'd missed her, and how happy they were to see her again. Thinking back, and no longer focused entirely on Axel and Roxas, Xion realized now just how little Naminé had in the way of friends. Xion had thought that Naminé had spent a lot of time with Riku, back when Sora was asleep for that year, and maybe they had, but seeing them interact now, they seemed more like business partners than friends.
The only time Xion had met Naminé before, she had been too caught up in her own problems, to notice much else about the girl, other than the aura of mystique she seemed cloaked in. But even then, Xion could remember a melancholy air about her, and that seemed to hang about her now, that even restoration into being a real person couldn't dispel.
And so, even though Xion was still reluctant to face reality, she found that she couldn't turn the other girl away.
Xion smiled, and patted the sand next to her in invitation.
The relief that filled Naminé's face broke her new heart a little.
Naminé delicately sat down next to her. She had apparently ditched her sandals at some point, and she immediately burrowed her toes and left hand into the sand. She seemed to be clutching something in her right hand, but Xion couldn't see what it was, only that it had to be small.
Upon noticing Xion watching her movements, a light blush rose in Naminé's cheeks. "I've spent so much time in memories of this place. But no memory can truly recall the feeling of things like sand, so the novelty of feeling the real thing…definitely hasn't worn off yet," Naminé explained quietly.
Xion nodded. "I hear that. It was the same for me, while I was in Sora's heart. And it's why I'm sitting down here in the sand now. His heart manifested a reflection of Destiny Islands a lot, but it didn't come close to feeling like the real thing."
Naminé's lips tilted up into a small smile. "I won't take up too much of your time. But I wanted to give this back to you." She lifted her up her right hand, and opened her fingers, offering the small object to Xion. Sitting in the palm of her hand was a thalassa seashell.
Xion looked at Naminé in confusion. "What's this for?"
Sadness eclipsed Naminé's features, and she looked away. "It's one of the sea shells you gave to Roxas. He had it in his pocket, when we captured him. From what I understand, when you…disappeared, this shell was the only thing left behind, and so he kept it. I could barely remember you, but I could still feel that the shell was important, so I didn't throw it away, like DiZ had ordered me to, and instead I hid it along with a few other things at the mansion in Twilight Town. I made a quick trip over there, to recover those things."
During this explanation, Naminé hadn't looked back at her once, keeping her eyes fixed forward, gazing towards the ocean. But now, Naminé seemed to gather some inner courage, and turned her head to meet Xion's eyes.
"It's only right for me to give it back to Roxas. But I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want anything to do with me, after what I did to him. So, I thought I'd see if I could ask you to return it."
Xion had kept quiet, letting Naminé say her piece. Now, she smiled at the other girl. "Of course I will," Xion promised, taking the shell from Naminé and putting it into her pocket for safekeeping. "Thank you, Naminé."
A part of her couldn't help but notice how soft the other girl's hand had felt against her fingers, and Xion wondered at the way her mind seemed to stutter over this seemingly inconsequential detail, but she pushed that aside, for now.
A bitter smile pulled at Naminé's lips. "You don't need to thank me. It's literally the least I could do."
Xion wanted to say something, to do anything to erase that bitterness, but she knew only too well how difficult it was to root out self-loathing.
"Besides, I know how important tokens of friendship are," Naminé continued, a thread of wistfulness seeping into her tone amongst the bitterness.
Xion remembered; Kairi had given Sora a good luck charm. And Xion had also gotten a few fragments of Sora's memories of Castle Oblivion, of his encounters with Axel there most prominently, but she was also sure she remembered something about a good luck charm exchange in the fake memories Naminé had given Sora…
Inspiration struck.
"Wait here," Xion instructed the other girl, before she jumped to her feet and dashed towards the water.
It took her a couple of minutes of searching, but soon she was snatching up a seashell. It wasn't a thalassa shell, but that made it all the more perfect, really.
As she jogged back to Naminé, she couldn't suppress the grin that felt like it was overtaking her face.
Naminé's brows were furrowed in confusion as Xion dropped back down beside her.
"What was that about?" Naminé asked.
"Here, I want you to have this," Xion replied, dropping the newly acquired shell into Naminé's hands. It was a pale lavender color that Xion thought suited the other girl's pale skin well.
Naminé looked from Xion, to the shell now in her hand, and back to the black-haired girl, uncomprehendingly. "It's for you," Xion repeated.
"For me? Why?"
"That's our friendship token," Xion informed her, smiling even more brightly.
"We're…we're friends? You…want to be my friend?" The disbelief in Naminé's voice tugged at Xion's heartstrings.
"Yes," said Xion firmly, with all of the sincerity she could muster.
Happiness, Xion decided, looked amazing on Naminé; the joyful smile that dawned on her lips was lighting up her whole face, and making her look positively angelic, and not at all like the demon of ruin that she seemed to be convinced she was.
Xion's own cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much in response, but as consumed as she was with thoughts of Naminé, there wasn't much room for thinking about anything else.
