Once Upon a Time...
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! Is this REAL? Could this POSSIBLY be an update? Stick around to find out! XD (Hello guys. Yes, it's an update.)
- 9 –
"I admit...I am confused."
Naminé merely observed Prince Roxas as he clutched his head in both hands, frowning. School was over, and the two of them were in Naminé's room (she was on her bed and he was sitting on a chair). Naminé had told Hayner all about the audition, and had decided to have the prince over at her house for the evening to see what she could do about the whole situation. He mama was delighted to see the 'sweet, polite transfer student' again, and when they arrived from school, she started to bombard Prince Roxas with questions. Thankfully Naminé managed to pull the prince away and lock themselves up in her room.
"How so? I thought you have no feelings," Naminé replied calmly after a while, breaking the silence. Prince Roxas looked at her immediately with a frown. She lifted her eyebrows. "And that anger – is it genuine, or are you acting again?"
He sighed. He really seemed agitated...which was confusing Naminé. She didn't want him to pretend in front of her – she wanted to see the real him.
"Nami? Nami!" came her mother's voice from downstairs. "I'm going out with Jecht, will you two be okay?"
"Yes, mama, we'll be fine!" she hollered back, rolling her eyes. She heard the door closed as her mama left. "I'm sorry about her," she said apologetically. "Look – why don't we just forget everything that happened today?"
Prince Roxas didn't say anything.
"Let's forget about the audition, about that slap (I'm sorry about that), about your kingdom, your father and brother—"
Here, he opened his mouth to protest, but she held up a hand and managed to silence him.
"No, listen to me, Roxas. You have to focus – if we don't figure out this thing, you will never be able to help your family. Now...forget about your mission, about Axel, and school. Forget about Hayner's crazy driving skills that almost killed us today—"
The prince sniggered as he heard this – and Naminé clapped her hands together as she saw his reaction.
"—And let's talk about...that." She pointed at the prince's smile. "You just sniggered. We know now that that wasn't your honest reaction, since you basically are emotionless. So, my question is: why did you react the way you did when I mentioned Hayner's drunktard behaviour earlier this morning? Is it, like, an obligation or something?"
Prince Roxas leaned against the chair and folded his arms. For a moment he said nothing, and then he reached the nearest item (which just happened to be a sharpener) – and casually threw it to Naminé. With a squeak, she avoided the sharpener, which landed on her bed. Now bits and pieces of wood dirtied her bed.
"What was that for?" she yelled. The prince remained expressionless as he reached for the second-nearest item to him (a Tupperware filled with pens, pencils, markers and other art items), and raised it into the air as if he was going to throw that to Naminé. "Okay, okay, STOP!" she said, standing up and grabbing the Tupperware from him. But still, the prince remained expressionless. "Well? Aren't you going to explain yourself?"
He shrugged, his face unfathomable. "What do you mean?"
Naminé rolled her eyes, feeling seriously annoyed as she sat down on her bed once more. "Don't act all clueless! My bed's a mess now because of you."
"Was that annoying?"
"Heck yeah!"
"You misunderstood me. I meant getting no reactions from me – was that annoying?" Prince Roxas asked monotonously.
She suddenly saw what that was all about. "Well...yes, it was annoying..."
The prince nodded. "That's exactly why I reacted the way I did. When I was young, my brother told me that it was tiring to be around me because I gave no response whatsoever to everything he said or did. I was a dull boy. When this went on, people mistook this...disease of mine as arrogance. The servants wished me good morning, and they got a blank stare from me as a reply. Princesses came from all over the world to my father's ball, and they giggled and joked when they were around me and my brother – and all they got was a blank stare from me as a reply. Now, why do you think I give out fake reactions to what others say or do?"
There actually was a tinge of sarcasm in his question, and Naminé felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry," she muttered. "Okay – so, you've been faking your emotions for how long now?"
A pause occurred when Prince Roxas did a quiet calculation, and then finally he said, "I believe I cannot recall."
Great. Just great...
"All right then... D'you – d'you think that...somehow, after pretending for so long – d'you think you have developed emotions now? Like, maybe some of those 'fake' reactions are actually real?"
"Hmm. That is an interesting question," he admitted monotonously.
"And I take back what I said – please show some emotions when you talk to me, please. This is getting rather..."
"...Annoying?" Prince Roxas provided, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, that," she said. "Think carefully about what I asked, okay? I'm gonna get you something to eat."
"That won't be necessary."
"Okay then, I'll get something for myself...I'm starving. Stay put, kay?"
The prince gave no reply, so she left the room and headed for the kitchen. When she returned to her room, Prince Roxas was actually on the phone. Naminé raised her eyebrows at him, silently asking who it was on the line.
"She is here now – your cousin is requesting for you," said the prince in a stoic voice, stretching out the hand holding his cell phone. The action somehow made her smile – the name 'Prince Roxas' usually reminded her of wizards and castles and magical beings, and a very reluctant Mama, reading out the story for her before going to bed...but now, seeing the prince in modern clothes and holding out a cell phone for her – it seemed simply ridiculous and so out of touch with reality that it made her smile.
"Naminé? Your cousin is requesting for you," Prince Roxas repeated.
"Oh, I heard you the first time," she said taking the cell phone from him, still smiling. "Yeah, hello Hayner. What's up?"
"I, being a brilliant person, just had this brilliant idea."
"Okay, O Brilliant Cousin, shoot."
"You need to talk to my dad."
"Your dad?" she repeated. "About the prince, you mean?"
"Oh no, I thought you'd like to chat with him about how annoying Olette is – of course it's about Roxas! Hello! Am I here for a picnic or somethin'? I'm here to help!"
Naminé rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. Sheesh."
"Anyway, I was saying – you need to talk to my dad. I mean, Uncle Matt is awesome and all, but he's never managed to solve his own crazy axe-murderer thingy – how is he supposed to help you out if he failed at his own mission? Okay, that came out really offensive. Didn't mean it. Sorry!"
"It's all right," Naminé said slowly. Her papa hadn't been much of a help. When she thought about how her papa had put Olette first over her (well, kind of, but still! One would think a fictional character coming to life is enough to get the attention of one's own father, but no, not in this case!), Naminé immediately agreed: Hayner had a point there, really "You've got a point. I need all the help I can get now. So, when can I talk to him? Is he even available to chat with his niece?"
"Actually, he's on hold right now. Enjoy talking!"
Naminé swallowed. Hayner's dad wasn't exactly the good-natured, always-helping-out-nephews-and-nieces-in-trouble type of uncle. He's a busy person, always working abroad and rarely at home. Of course, all of that munny on Hayner must come from somewhere, and the source was Hayner's dad. He was as mysterious as any other rich, rarely-at-home uncles there are, so Naminé didn't really know him. The thought of speaking to him just made her mind go blank for a moment.
"Hello, Naminé. I hope you are well?"
"Uh – umm, yes, yes I am—" Yes I am, what? Uncle? Sir? "Yes, I'm well, sir!"
She heard her uncle chuckling at the other end of the line. "Let's not talk like that. We're a family, no?"
"Err – yes, I'm sorry," Naminé blurted out. The prince was now frowning at her, and she mouthed, "I'll explain later – eat up!" before exiting her bedroom and entering the small guest room next door. She shut the door behind her and sat on the neat bed.
"I always have that effect on my colleagues. They always feel the need to call me 'sir' even over a casual cup of tea," Hayner's dad went on with a little sigh. Naminé laughed nervously.
"Shows how much they respect you, I guess," she said casually.
"Yes, but whatever I do, I've never been able to make Hayner stop calling me 'pops' – that is one person who seriously needs to respect me just a little bit more."
"That's Hayner for you!" she said. Her uncle sighed again.
"Well! Let's stop this chit-chat, shall we? Time is gold. Now...tell me about this prince you've got."
"Okay – umm, his name is Roxas; he's the one with the heart of stone..." From there, Naminé began to tell her uncle how things had been going on, how they had worked out that the prince could basically feel nothing at all, how the prince had been faking his anger all along, and how she had hit a dead end.
"I mean, how do you teach someone to feel something?" she finally asked. Her uncle had been silent while she told him the story, and now he gave a thoughtful, "Hmm."
After a short pause, Hayner's dad spoke: "Something you said earlier managed to catch my attention, Naminé. You said he's been faking his anger?"
"Well, yeah – and every other emotion, really."
"Did he express much of this 'every other emotion' as much as he expressed fake anger?"
"Not really...he's always serious and...well, serious."
"All those years of faking emotions must have affected him. And I believe, from what you've told me, that the first emotion he's managed to master all by himself, without realising it, is anger."
Naminé thought about this, and she could see that her uncle might be right. From the very moment he popped out of the storybook, Prince Roxas had been violent and angry. If he wasn't being angry, he was being serious.
"...But of course, you should know better, you've been with him all this while. This is just my opinion, Naminé."
"No, I think you're right," she said, frowning. "I wonder why I've never thought of that before."
Suddenly, her uncle began to laugh. "Oh, trust me – dealing with this curse will make you wonder about a lot of things. Almost drive me crazy – definitely drove your father out of his mind, as far as I know. Do you know what your father and I did to Allen?"
"Who?"
"Allen, the axe-murderer!"
"Well...no... What did you do?"
"We fed him sleeping pills almost every day for an entire week! At least that managed to slow him down – he was so sluggish, he couldn't lift the magical axe for three days afterwards..."
"Wow, you must have had a really hard time," she said. "I should be thankful...a prince..."
"Yes – you are among the lucky ones, I believe... Anyway – back to your problem, Naminé, we're going off-topic here. Forgive me...where were we? Oh yes – anger. You might want to start there. Test him on other emotions and see how he responds to them."
"I will – thanks for being brilliant," Naminé said, remembering Hayner's earlier words about being a brilliant person. "I think Hayner's inherited your brilliance."
"But not my manners, apparently."
Naminé laughed out loud at this because it was very true.
"I told you about the sleeping pills because I want you to always think outside the box," Hayner's dad went on, "think differently, think of crazy impossible things – because, after all, we are dealing with something crazy and impossible...Very well, Naminé. I wish you the very best of luck," said her uncle from the other end of the line, "If you wish to contact me, just tell Hayner to do it and I will see what I can do."
It really felt awkward, as she really wasn't that close to Hayner's dad at all, so it really took all the courage she could muster to say, "Thank you very, very much, sir!"
Hayner's dad simply chuckled before saying, "Uncle, Naminé, uncle. Have a good evening." With that, he hung up. Naminé took a deep breath before lowering the cell phone.
"Anger, huh?" she murmured, standing up and getting out of the guest room. When she entered how own room, the prince had already finished the pasta, and was simply staring at nothing. He looked up when she entered the room.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
"That," said Naminé, sitting down next to the prince, "was Hayner's father. He knows a lot more than my father does, so Hayner contacted him just in case he could help... And he's been a lot of help, just from one phone call."
"Your family really is made up of amazing sorcerers...sometimes I forget that I am in the company of the White Witch..."
This little speech made Naminé laugh, and even as the prince fumed about it, she felt really thankful that someone could, after all, help her out. She wasn't doomed after all, and neither was Prince Roxas.
– X –
A/N: Aaand she leaves things hanging again~! I noticed something really disturbing about this chapter: it is only 6 pages long, while the previous chapter was 12 pages long. D: I'm really sorry!
It's been a while since I've updated anything, and to be completely honest, I haven't been writing at all, all this while. I kinda got into depression, and when that happens, I tell you, it's like being in a very deep hole and you just can't climb out of it – and everything seems uninteresting to you. I stopped writing, I stopped drawing, I stopped playing new songs on the piano – everything's just so completely difficult and horrible.
I've also been having a lot of unpleasant thoughts of "going away", but after a talk with my parents in the car on the way to college (which means I couldn't escape or avoid the conversation!), we managed to straighten things out and BOOM! Here I am, writing again after oh-so-long!
:D
I'm happy to be back! I hope you are happy to see Once Upon a Time again. :D