A/N: See? I didn't give up on this story! Albeit, it took me a while, but it's still here! Haha, well, I'm glad I got over my Writer's Block. Anyway, enjoy this chapter! It was fun to write ;)

Disclaimer: As said before, I own nothing except the actual written story as a whole; the superior owner is Square Enix (Tetsuya Nomura as the main designer/creator).

Chapter Three- Persistent Apology

A sigh escaped the lips of the dirty-blond haired boy. His fingers drummed lightly on the desk he sat at, eyebrows furrowing in deep thought. He had screwed up...majorly. At first, he had been thinking of reasons why Naminé would miss an appointment that didn't eventually lead back to himself. Then again, it could just be that she wasn't feeling well, like his father had said, right?

But it was too much of a coincidence...

His dull blue eyes glanced at the phone to his right. Maybe if I called-? He could easily call the Omura residence and inquire about Naminé's current state, or would they be angry? His hand was slowly inching towards the phone as he debated his situation in his mind and before he knew it, he had already dialed their house number.

He wiped his sweaty palms on his black pants, listening intently to the dial tones on the phone. He contemplated on hanging up before they even had the chance to pick up the phone once two rings passed, but the phone was finally picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" a curious voice answered, unmistakably a woman's voice.

Roxas held the phone away from him as he let out a shaky breath- he didn't want to sound like a creepy stalker after all. Once he had composed himself, he returned his attention to the phone in his hand. "Um, hello? This is Roxas Takano, calling from Destiny Center."

There was silence for a few seconds before she slowly spoke, "Destiny Center...?" he could almost hear the light bulb flicker on in her head as she said, "Oh yes, allow me to retrieve Mrs. Omura."

Mrs. Omura? So this woman wasn't Mrs. Omura? Roxas thought hard for a minute until he realized that it was probably the maid he had seen while snooping- er, investigating- at Naminé's house the other day.

"Hello?" a deeper, yet still feminine without a doubt, voice startled him out of his train of thought.

"Ah, yes! This is Roxas Takano, son of Dr. Takano of Destiny Center..."

"So I heard. May I help you?" Roxas could easily detect how her voice tightened as if she was expecting some bad news.

"Oh, I was just wondering about Naminé's well being since I noticed her absence today..." he started. "And, well, do you know if she will be attending tomorrow's appointment?"

"Hmm...well, I can't guarantee anything, but I'm assuming that she will. She didn't seem to be seriously ill today; I'm mostly certain that she'll be feeling well enough to make it to the appointment tomorrow, but I'll call if she proves otherwise," Mrs. Omura answered honestly. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Oh, uh, no, that's fine; I was just checking to make sure. Thank you!" he hastily replied. He didn't want to prolong the awkward conversation any longer than necessary.

"You're quite welcome. Goodbye then." The older woman ended the call gracefully as she hung up the phone.

Roxas stared down at the phone in his right hand. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye back...Shrugging, he set the phone down in its appropriate cradle and let his mind wander onto the phone call he had just been involved in. 'I'm mostly certain that she'll be feeling well enough to make it to the appointment tomorrow...' She had said. Well, if she was almost entirely sure that Naminé would be coming tomorrow, he was safe to assume that she was, right? He hoped so...

Roxas stilled at that thought. He wanted her to come? Now that he thought of it, what was he going to say when he saw her tomorrow? No doubt she would still be pretty mad at him for what happened the other night. Should he dare to ask for her forgiveness?

It was times like these which he reflected on what his father would do in his situation. Then again, his father wouldn't ever have this problem to begin with since he was always able to charm anyone with his sincere smile and convincing words- of which Roxas failed to inherit.

Jeez, that certainly didn't help any.

He considered asking his friends for advice again but once he remembered the horrible experiences he endured last time he had asked for help, he immediately shot down that idea. But, maybe Olette could help him...after all, she was a girl herself and would probably understand how Naminé was feeling at the moment.

"I just hope she doesn't attack me after finding out what I did to make her so upset..." Roxas mumbled under his breath.

"Talking to yourself again?" a haughty voice drifted into his ears.

Roxas looked up and met the green cat-like eyes of his other best friend, Axel. For a minute he stared dumbly before remembering earlier that day that he had vowed to not speak to Axel; after all, he had been the one who persuaded Roxas to sneak- err, explore- around Naminé's house in the first place. Though it was partly his fault for agreeing to it...

No. Roxas shook his head. It feels better to just pin the blame on Axel.

"What? Is my appearance so stunning that you can't even speak now?" Axel retorted sarcastically. "You never seemed to have a problem before."

Roxas willed his lips to stay shut, trapping his tongue between his upper and lower rows of teeth in the process. He instead turned to the desk he was residing at and shuffled papers around randomly. He soon felt Axel' s presence behind him. "Yo." The red head said while poking the back of Roxas' head. "Hell-o?"

Roxas grit his teeth together and got up from his seat, wandering over to the filing cabinets and stuffing documents in their appropriate folders. Some papers were left sticking out messily. I'll fix those later...

His ears picked up Axel's sigh, and his hand landed firmly on his shoulder. "Hey, are you mad about what happened at that girl's house?" Roxas grunted and continued his so-called 'organizing'. "You weren't mad at me then."

The dirty-blond haired stilled. He's right. I'm just being a jerk by making him feel guilty.

He turned at faced his friend with a tired sigh. "Yeah, I know, sorry. I'm just...feeling bad, you know?"

Axel nodded, then shrugged. "But you were just trying to solve some things; you didn't mean to get on her bad side or anything."

"Yeah, but I still should have asked her up front instead of spying on her," he replied. "At least then I wouldn't have to be in this awkward situation and not know how to act around her."

Axel frowned. "Speaking of which, how did you act around her today? Didn't she have an appointment today?"

Roxas winced. "She did, but my dad got a call saying that she wasn't feeling well." He looked up when he heard Axel let out a soft 'ah'. "Yeah, too much of a coincidence, huh? Now I feel even more guilty." He laid his head on the desk, effectively burying his face within the articles piled helplessly.

His friend patted his back. "Well, she's bound to come back some time, right? You can just apologize then. I'm sure she'll forgive...in time."

"Maybe...I called her house earlier and her mother said that she'll most likely attend the appointment tomorrow," he informed the red-head. "I guess I'll need a whole apology speech readied before then, huh?"

An idea suddenly struck his mind. "Oh!" he lifted his head from his desk quickly. Axel raised a questioning eyebrow at him as his moody friend locked eyes with him, catching the flicker I his cerulean eyes. "Yes?"

"Do you know what girls like?"

Axel blinked owlishly for a second. "Hmm, let's see...boys, clothes, doing the unmentionables-"

"Axel!" Roxas flushed darkly. "I didn't mean that! I mean, what kinds of things should a boy get for a girl to get her forgiveness?"

The red-head let out an "Ooohhh....that's what you meant." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't know for sure...a ring would be too much...aha! flowers, of course!"

The younger teenager perked up. "What kind?"

"Eh, I'm not an expert on flowers; whichever one looks pretty?" he shrugged nonchalantly and pulled up a chair beside Roxas. "I'm guessing you're gonna give her some flowers?"

"I guess so- she might see that I really mean it when I say I'm sorry," he said while pursing his lips. "I'll have to go after work. Want to come?"

Before Axel had a chance to voice his answer, the phone rang unexpectedly, causing Roxas to jolt out of his seat. He resumed his seat after calming his heart and picked it up. "Destiny Center, how may I help you?"

"Is this Dr. Takano?" a deep, confused voice sailed through.

"Uh, no, this his current secretary." He frowned as he recognized the voice as that of the mysterious man who had called a few days ago. "I can forward you to his office, if you'd like; he doesn't have an appointment at the moment."

"Ah, yes, that'd be great. Thank you," the strange man replied.

"No problem," Roxas responded as he clicked a button on the phone cradle. "Dad, there's a phone call for you."

His father's voice filtered through, "Alright, I'll pick up; thank you."

Roxas answered with a short 'mm-hmm', clicking off the speaker and hanging up the phone. He leaned back in his chair, "Weird...I wonder who that guy is..."

Axel cocked his head to the side, "What guy?"

The dirty-blond haired boy shook his head, not wanting to tell him about the mysterious man just yet; it probably wasn't anything too important anyway. "Never mind. So will you be able to come with me to pick out flowers? Not that I need help..."

Axel snorted. "Sure you don't. And why not?" he reclined back lazily on the rolling chair. "I have nothing better to do. You don't mind if I hang around here till you get off, do you?"

"Nah, besides, you'd stay here even if I told you I minded."

A smirk graced the red-head's lips. "You know me too well."

***

"How about that one?" Axel pointed at an Anthurium.

Roxas made a disapproving face. "No...I don't really like it." They were currently wandering through a flower shop, picking up random flowers yet disliking each one so far. It had been awkward at first when they had entered for several of the costumers had stared at them and wondered why two teenage boys would roam around a flower shop. Some thought they were buying flowers for their girlfriends, earning a soft "awww" from the females, others believed the same but only because they had broken their girlfriends' hearts, earning critical shakes of heads, and others thought they themselves were a couple, who, when heard by Roxas, were immediately corrected.

The older teenager sauntered through the rows and stacks of flowers. The smells would surely be the death of him. His green eyes skimmed over the area, looking for exotic flowers. "How about that one?"

His friend craned his neck to look at the one the red-haired boy was pointing at. He shook his head when his eyes came upon a Heather. "Eh, that one looks too bushy."

"That one?" a muscular arm pointed at a spiky-looking plant.

"That's a cactus, Axel."

"Okaaayyy....those?" this time he pointed at slim red flowers.

"There's no way I'm giving her red roses just for an apology. Do you even know what they mean?" Roxas shot him a disbelieving look.

Roxas continued walking through the small flower shop, furrowing his eyebrows as he came upon each type of flower. The name of the flower, the price, and a brief description of each kind of flower were displayed on small signs. He weaved in and out of the rows, reading the helpful notes. At last, his eyes landed on beautiful, fragile white flowers labeled "Queen Anne's Lace" signifying "sanctuary". He bounded over to them and scooped up a handful, dropping them gently into his used-to-be empty basket. Satisfied with his new discovery, he turned around and scanned the place for his active friend and spotted the mass of red hair about ten feet away. With his basket secured in his grasp, he went to meet up with him.

"Hey, I got something," he said as he approached the red-head. Axel tore his gaze from some pink plants and caught sight of the flowers in the basket.

"Nice. What are they called?" he nodded his head at them curiously.

"Queen Anne's Lace, I think." He looked down at them before frowning. "This seems too small. Maybe I should get some more?" He turned to head back at the stand he found them but Axel's sudden grip on his arm stopped him. He sent him an inquisitive expression.

"Don't get the same flowers, stupid; you should different ones for variety," he rolled his eyes like it was obvious. "Duh."

"Fine, fine. You pick out some this time- good one, I mean," Roxas added.

Axel let go of his grasp on Roxas' arm and peered around. His eyes stopped flickering and he pointed at another set of flowers two feet away from them. "How about those?"

They went over the mentioned flowers and looked at the sign beside them. It read: "Statice- Sea Lavenders". Skipping over the description of where they came from, what they were used for and so forth, they both read the last line: "...often known to stand for Remembrance."

"Hmm, not bad, eh?" Axel nodded appreciatively and grabbed a few, depositing them into the basket. "That should be good enough; let's go."

The two teenagers made their way over the cash registers to check out. Roxas set the basket on the counter and reached into his back pocket for his wallet...only to find nothing there. Panicked, he wondered where it could have gone and patted his back pockets repeatedly, hoping to hit something small and solid in them.

"Um, Roxas? Patting your butt won't make it shrink, you know."

"No, not that; I lost my wallet! I think I might have dropped-" he suddenly remembered his leather wallet sitting innocently in his drawer at work. "Oh no...I left it at work." He groaned and slumped his shoulders.

"No problem, I'll pay," Axel said simply, whipping out his wallet from his jacket. He pulled out a handful of munny as the cashier scanned the items.

"Thanks, I'll pay you back," Roxas smiled gratefully.

Axel shook his head, "Nah, forget it. Consider this a 'thank you' for the ice cream yesterday." He flashed him a toothy grin before handing the necessary amount of munny to the cashier and grabbing the bag of fresh flowers.

Roxas smiled again as the two began their journey home.

***

I can do this, I can do this... Roxas said over and over again in his head. Naminé was supposed to come in today so he had diligently brought the nicely arranged bouquet of flowers purchased yesterday and had attempted to clean up his usual wrinkly attire. He cursed silently when he forgot a part of his apology speech- though he had a feeling that he would most likely forget it when he was actually facing her- and tucked some stray papers into a drawer to make his work area more presentable. Once everything was clean and spotless, Roxas settled back in his chair and awaited the appearance of Naminé.

Her mother didn't call saying that Naminé wouldn't be here so that means she should be here... He checked the clock on the wall. Anytime now...her session begins in eight minutes...

One minute passed by...

Two minutes...

Three...

He glanced back at the clock- her appointment would begin in a couple of minutes. Why wasn't she here yet?

He sunk into his chair, thinking deeply. Was she lost? His mind told him that she probably wouldn't be walking to Destiny Center, seeing as her house wasn't that close; plus, her mother didn't seem like the type to just send her daughter- purely innocent and vulnerable- on a walk. So, where was she? Had she told her parents about what he did a couple of days ago and they decided to leave? But wouldn't they have called?

Roxas continued his heavy thinking in this general direction until he peeked back up at the clock to realize that...it's already been an hour?!

"Roxas, has Naminé arrived yet?" his father walked towards him, a puzzled and concerned frown etching his facial expression.

He shook his head. "No, and it's been an hour...should I call her parents?"

Dr. Takano nodded. "That will do. Tell me what they say, alright?"

"Okay." He picked up the phone and, once he found the phone number for the Omura residence, punched in the numbers. A couple of rings passed until the maid- Ms. Tanaka, if his memory was right- answered dutifully.

"This is Roxas Takano from Destiny Center-"

"Right, please hold on for a minute."

Silence ensued until the familiar voice Mrs. Omura greeted him. "Yes? May I help you?"

"Oh, yes, I was wondering if Naminé will be able to make it to the appointment today, since it was supposed to begin about an hour ago..." he began uncertainly.

"Pardon? I already sent Naminé over- she isn't there?"

Roxas stilled. "Um, no ma'am. We haven't seen her yet, but I'll look around a few more times and get back to you."

"Uh...yes, alright...thank you..." he could hear the confusion and the beginning of a panic in her voice before she hung up.

He set down his own phone and stared at it, dumbfounded. Naminé was supposed to be here and her own mother doesn't even know where she is at the moment...

He had so many questions running through his head, but only one seemed to be stand out the most: Where is Naminé?

---

A/N: Finished! Yes, it's shorter than the rest, but at least it's here, right? I was going to continue this chapter but then it would probably be too long so I decided to cut it off here. Oooh, cliffhanger! Anyway, thank you all for being patient with me- I'm glad I finally posted this up!

Merry Christmas!

-Hatsuya