A/N: ...*ducks and hides* I hope that this is actually coherent to you all, that this chapter makes sense. If not, y'all know how to tell me about it!
Warnings: Light yuri (as in, two girl kisses), and...well, canon, remember? Also, a bit of speculation on my part, in regards to the scope of Namine's powers.
Pairings: Olette/Namine, unrequited Sora/Namine, possible sprinklings of my other shipping biases, but I don't really think so. XD
Dedications: Lys, Ghostwriter, and Fruity
Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Watercolor in the Rain
Confused
Olette didn't say anything further until after Naminé had hiccupped herself into silence, surprisingly worn out by that bout of near-hysterical laughter. She returned to sitting next to Olette, and for several moments more they just let the silence exist comfortably between them. With the tang of salt on her tongue, and the sea air whipping at her hair, Naminé could close her eyes and imagine that she was actually sitting on a different beach, in Destiny Islands, with trees laden with the special star-shaped paopu fruit and thalassa shells washing up onto the sand.
But when she opens her eyes and sees Twilight Town instead, it doesn't hurt as much as it used to.
"Is that guy—Riku—is his friend doing better now?"
Naminé winced slightly. "I really shouldn't have told you his name, or said anything. But…Sora…he's…yeah, he's doing better."
Olette scrutinized her. "I sense that there's a 'but' in there."
Naminé scooped up a handful of sand, and then let it fall from between her fingers again. "I don't know how to explain in a way to make you understand."
"You mean, you don't know how to explain using as little of the truth as possible."
Naminé sighed. "Yes, but it's more than that, too."
Olette was perceptive. "You know, but you're too afraid to let yourself understand."
Naminé ducked her chin in silent agreement. "Olette, I'm a witch."
Olette couldn't help her body from tensing reflexively, but her voice showed no sign of it. "What kind of a witch?"
"I have power over Sora's memories. And through him, over the memories of anyone his heart is connected to. But…I don't think that's the only scope of my power, though that's all I know for sure so far."
Olette wasn't running away in fear (yet), but Naminé still hated the new, subconscious wariness in her eyes.
"Before, I took apart the memories chained together in Sora's heart. And now, I'm putting them back, the way they were. But…his memories, they've been scattered, and now they're going somewhere else, into someone else. I—I don't know how to get them back."
"You do, but you're scared of the answer," Olette corrected her quietly. Naminé hunched her shoulders under the weight of those words.
"You don't understand. The link—it's too faint, and—once the memories have settled, I'd have to take them back by force." Naminé looked into Olette's eyes to impart the full gravity of this. "I'd have to destroy another mind, another person. But—without the missing pieces of himself, Sora—he won't be able to wake up. I don't know what to do, Olette."
Naminé felt like crying again, and she looked back towards the ocean.
"Isn't there anyone who can help you?"
"No."
"So basically, in order to save Sora, you have to kill someone else."
Naminé hesitated. "Not—kill, exactly. But maybe what I'd have to do is worse than that."
She startled when arms suddenly came around her in a tight hug. Astonished blue eyes flitted back to stare at Olette.
"I can't help you, or make any of this easier. But I can do this much."
The urge to cry was worse than ever.
"I can't remember any of this, can I?" Olette really was perceptive. Naminé's lips trembled. Olette pressed her own lips to them, to stop the trembling. "It's okay. I give you my permission. I'm really glad I got to meet you, though, Naminé."
Naminé pressed their lips back together one last time, and traveling along her own pathway for the first time—instead of through Sora—she extracted the memories she needed from Olette's mind.
A single tear slipped down her cheek. "I'm not," she whispered to the now-unconscious girl.