EPILOGUE
Their first kiss had been on a classic date.
She'd been nervous as hell getting ready, and she spent a whole hour trying to steady her nerves. He showed up, looking nice in a white shirt and dark jeans, and handed her a bouquet of flowers. Naminé could tell her mom was pleased as the woman politely excused herself to get a vase.
Naminé could also tell her mom was secretly snapping pictures of them from the kitchen.
For a moment, Naminé feared that she had overdressed, but one smile from Sora and a quietly muttered, "You look beautiful" assuaged her fears.
A classic date to Sora meant the typical restaurant-movie shebang. Not that Naminé minded. She was all for the typical experience. And things went really well. There were no major mishaps, probably because both of them could tell how nervous each other was.
Things were going so well that Naminé started growing worried. Wasn't there supposed to be some mistake? Some charming little mishap that they'd be able to look back upon fondly with laughter? It didn't take long for Sora to catch onto her growing anxiety, and she felt stupid laying it out for him. He laughed, and they ended up skipping the movie to spend the night talking about stupid clichés in romance stories.
What was that, a self-fulfilling prophecy?
And so he'd walked her home minutes before her mom's curfew and stopped on the front porch. He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek and she was surprised that she didn't even blush when he leaned in to kiss her on the lips. It felt natural; it felt right. They'd been taking things slowly, and Naminé felt they should at least be comfortable with this.
Things almost got a little too heated, considering they were standing in front of Naminé's house.
Sora let her go, and despite being a little flustered, she glanced at his disheveled appearance. She just hoped she didn't look as messy as he did. Sora's charming smile made her forget about how self-conscious she felt, and she kissed him on the cheek before heading in.
The imperfectly perfect first date.
Sora was traditional, and Naminé liked going on dates he planned. They had a romantic walk at the boardwalk. They hung out for a day at the mall. They did have a movie night at his place (though Xion crashed and it just felt like they were all hanging out). When Naminé finally wrestled date planning rights from him, she brought him to an outdoor movie venue her mother used to bring her and Terra. She brought him to her favorite bookstore. She was surprised he spent an entire day in there with her.
He then asked her to prom. It was nothing special. He'd asked her how she wanted to be asked, and she told him she didn't care for the flashy effects. So he broke the question in her room, after a eat-in date, with music playing from his phone and a teddy bear holding a poster that read: Beary Please Go to Prom With Me?
She laughed, and she teased him about going dateless now that she was going to prom with the teddy bear.
Naminé knew she was happy. She had somehow gotten such an understanding, amazing boyfriend. Moreover, she still had one more year of high school to enjoy with her friends by her side. She wouldn't have things any other way.
They were just hanging out one day after school in a nearby coffeehouse, him cramming his paper due at midnight and her perusing a pleasure read. Naminé noticed he was obviously distracted by his phone.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Uh – " He slid the phone to the side and looked at his laptop. "Three pages down, five more to go."
"Not bad. You want something to eat?"
"Nah, still got this soda," he said, pointing at his bottled drink. He typed a little and then stretched his arms, cracking his finger's joints. "Break time!"
"But you still have five pages!"
"I'll finish it. I'm well-rehearsed in the art of BS."
"Okay…" Naminé said, trailing off. Nothing she did or said could get rid of his senioritis. She figured he deserved it. "So, can I ask?" she decided to broach the subject.
"What?"
"What's the plan for next Saturday?"
"Next Saturday? Oh, you mean – " Sora cut himself off, looking into Naminé's wide blue eyes. "Oh, no you didn't."
"What?" Naminé said innocently, though her mouth was threatening to split into a wide grin.
"I'm not gonna just give away my prom night plans like that!"
"Oh c'mon, Sora," Naminé wheedled. "You know I hate surprises."
"But life's full of surprises. So just consider this as practice."
Naminé frowned. She'd been trying to get the details of their prom night date out of Sora for weeks now. But his lips were sealed tighter than cork. She'd managed to coax some details out: he'd be driving her, it was a seafood restaurant, and there'd be flowers. A lot of flowers.
The last bit had worried her a little, but Sora had reassured her it'd be nothing too over the top.
…that still worried her, but nothing she did or said could change Sora's mind.
"You know," Sora began, "you need to stop asking or I might do something like kiss you just to shut you up."
Naminé's cheeks flushed and she told herself to will it away. She needed to stop letting Sora use physical displays of affection as a threat.
She gathered her voice. "So if I keep asking, you'll kiss me?"
"Uh-huh," he declared emphatically.
"So, if I want you to kiss me, I should ask what time we're getting to the venue?"
"Yeah – wait." Sora turned towards her with narrowed eyes. "What?" he lamented. "It doesn't work anymore?"
Naminé frowned. "So it was just another way to get me to shut up."
"Don't look at me like that!" Sora protested. "It was Riku's idea!"
Naminé chuckled. "Your friends are strange."
"So are yours!"
"Olette's about the most normal girl you'll meet."
"Exactly. It's so weird that she's so normal."
Sora logic, Naminé had come to call it. It was so bizarre she had to forfeit.
A comfortable silence settled between the two of them. After a moment, Naminé spoke.
"So, you weren't gonna kiss me?"
Sora paused. "You want me to kiss you?"
"You don't want to kiss me?"
"…this isn't a test, is it?"
Naminé chuckled. "Don't think too hard."
She leaned forward, smiling when she felt Sora's lips stretch into a wide grin.
"…and so after that, all you need to do is use the grenade and then the – "
"Wait, where do you get a grenade? I've searched every corner of the map and there's no grenade."
"No, you have to complete the side quest first…"
"And of course this happens," Olette commented with a grin. She and Naminé watched Sora and Hayner's riveting conversation about some video game or another they both happened to play. Since they all had the same lunch period, Sora began sitting with Naminé and her friends occasionally, which Naminé appreciated.
"What are you doing, Pence?" Naminé asked, staring at the photographer busy snapping away on his camera. There wasn't much to take pictures of, in Naminé's mind. He set his camera down and grinned.
"Creating memories. This is how you'll remember things in the future, right?"
A jolt of nostalgia and melancholy struck Naminé. It was hard to imagine that school would be ending in less than a month. So much had happened this year that it flew by so quickly. She almost didn't want it to end.
She really didn't want it to end.
(Those thoughts could wait, though.)
"You're getting all sentimental on me, Pence. I'm gonna cry," Olette complained. "I can't believe we're almost done with junior year!"
"Whoa, don't cry," Hayner rushed. "Last time you did, I had to buy you three pints of ice cream!"
"Well, excuse me," Olette commented, "I didn't know I'm worth less than three pints of ice cream."
"Th – that's not what I mean! I was just saying – "
"Hayner," Pence said sternly.
"Yeah, Hayner," Sora added.
"Hayner," Naminé finished.
The three of them agreed: it was in Hayner's best interests to stop talking.
"Err, anyways," Sora interrupted smoothly, changing the subject, "do you guys have a bucket list?"
"Bucket list? For high school you mean?" Pence asked.
"Yeah, or even for this summer before high school. Dude, bucket lists are awesome. Me, Kairi and Riku had one for the summer before freshman year, and man that summer was so much fun. That was when Selphie had a crush on Tidus, and we made fun of her for the entire summer…"
While Sora shared tales regarding his summer-before-high school misadventures, Olette and Naminé talked about what they'd put on a bucket list. "Well? It does sound fun. Anything you wanna do before senior year?"
"Not particularly…" Naminé trailed off, watching Sora's animated expression. It was hard to think about senior year sometimes, because she knew that was when Sora would be off to college.
…and what would happen to them?
This time, Naminé knew she was 'burying the problem' so to speak, but she didn't want to think about the draining topic. It made it so much harder to enjoy the present with that lingering thought. She'd get around to it eventually.
She tried to think about happier thoughts and things she wanted to achieve this summer. "I want to…start preparing for college apps. Read more, cause I haven't had time for that this year. Try to draw. Maybe do some soul-searching and figure out what I wanna do when I grow up. Cause being an ice skater doesn't seem so realistic anymore." Naminé chuckled, remembering her childhood dream.
"That's so true, I gotta figure out if law school's really what I want to do. That's seven years of schooling after high school." Olette paused. "Anything else?"
"Umm…go somewhere I haven't? Make memories, I guess?" she said, borrowing from Pence. "I don't know…I've never made a bucket list before."
"Neither have I!" Olette chirped. "Hey, guys," she said, gathering their other friends' attention. "Ideas for the bucket list?"
"Dude, Sora said they had a day where they had to say 'yes' to everything, and it was hilarious – "
"For the most part, we ended up telling each other to do stuff," Sora said with a chuckle.
"How about a road trip? We can all drive, right?" Pence suggested. "I'll take pictures!"
"Ohmigosh, road trip sounds so much fun!" Olette exclaimed. "Where should we go?"
"We totally need to hit the beach like at least three times," Hayner declared.
"Agreed. Nothing beats Destiny beaches," Sora said. "And speaking of beaches…" he turned towards Naminé with wide eyes but Naminé shook her head.
"No."
"Aw c'mon!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "You don't even know what I'm gonna ask!"
"'Speaking of beaches' can only refer to one thing," Naminé deduced logically. She narrowed her eyes at him. "And I can't believe you're bringing it up now."
"Bringing what up?" Olette chirped.
Naminé frowned, her mood instantly souring. "Why'd you have to go and ruin the mood?"
"What mood?" Sora returned. He turned towards Olette. "Can you convince her to go to the senior bonfire with me this Friday?"
"Senior bonfire?" Olette repeated.
"What the hell, Naminé, you got invited to hang out with all the cool seniors and you're turning it down?" Hayner exclaimed.
"No, I have a reason!" Naminé protested. "Sora's got senioritis and nothing to worry about, but we still have tests next week!"
"Don't stress out, Naminé!" Pence said. "Your grades are fine."
"If I get a bad score, they won't!"
"See, your life totally revolves around school! C'mon, you gotta live a little!" Sora exclaimed.
Naminé frowned and tried to convince herself that his words weren't getting to her. "Sora…my grades matter to me. As they should."
"I know, I know," he said. "But they're not everything. You know, you won't remember your grades when you graduate." He wrapped his arm around Olette and Pence's shoulders, since they were sitting by him. "You remember your friends!"
Naminé sighed wearily. They'd had this conversation twice already and both of them stood by their viewpoints. Neither would budge anytime soon.
"What do you think, Olette?" Sora asked, turning towards the sensible brunette.
Olette blinked. "Me? Well, I don't think what I think really matters…"
"Just say it, Olette," Naminé coaxed. Olette had to have something to say to bolster her argument…
"Uh – uh…" Naminé felt a little bad putting Olette on the hot seat like that, but Sora had brought it up.
Olette drew a deep breath. "I think…I mean, it wouldn't hurt to go – "
"AH HA! See? Even your best friend agrees!"
Naminé was still shocked to hear that Olette wasn't on her side. What about the code that required girlfriends to stand with you before your boyfriend? She definitely broke some rule or another…
Naminé let her mind come back to the subject at hand. "Wha – why?" she demanded.
Olette nervously bit the bottom of her lip and shrugged. "Well…it sounds like fun. And you'll get to meet Sora's friends. He's been wanting to introduce you to them for a long time." Naminé felt like Olette was hinting at something, but she couldn't tell what.
"But my grades – "
"You'll still have two full days to study. We can study together! Heaven knows Hayner needs remedial algebra lessons."
"Hey! I passed algebra II!"
The girls ignored the wayward protest. "But…I mean," Naminé hesitated, "they're seniors. They're scary."
"They're my friends, Naminé," Sora stressed. His deep-set frown started to upset her. "I'm practically one of your group now, and my friends still haven't met you."
Naminé squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, her hands grasping the hem of her dress. "I just – I need some time."
"Is this because of Kairi? I swear, she's over it, and so are you."
Naminé couldn't help flinching at the redhead's name. It was a habit she couldn't get rid of. She looked down at her lap.
"No, just – please, not now. I don't wanna meet them now."
"…so that's it, isn't it?" Sora said, his voice dropping to a deadly, low pitch. "You still haven't gotten over it."
"That's not it!" Naminé exclaimed, raising her head and glaring at him. "Stop using Kairi as the reason whenever we have a problem!"
"Problem? So now there's a problem?" Sora's raising voice scared Naminé. "Okay, you tell me. What's the problem?"
"You're just…being pushy, okay? I warm up to people slowly, so you can't expect me to be excited about diving into a situation full of strangers!"
"Bullshit," Sora swore, "I think you just don't wanna meet my friends."
Half of Naminé wanted to protest how unfair he was. Did he expect him meeting her friends and her meeting his friends to be the same? She was your typical shy introvert, and it took forever for her to feel comfortable with new people. He was loud and gregarious and probably loved meeting new people. Her friends were juniors; his were seniors. It was different.
The other half of Naminé just wanted to shut up and retreat back into her own world, where she understood and was in control. Because right now, she was anything but.
"Well…awk-ward."
"Shut up, Hayner!"
"C'mon, Olette, it was too quiet. I had to say anything."
"Hayner, listen to Olette and just be quiet."
And it was even more embarrassing that he had to go and pick a fight in front of her friends!
Sora sighed and rose to his feet. "I'll just go. Sorry for making things awkward," he said to Naminé's friends. He shot her a final look but Naminé quickly turned away. Then, all she could hear were his footsteps leading him away.
Naminé sighed. Needless to say…this was bad.
They each took the easy way out: avoidance. To the best of their ability, they limited contact for the next week. To give him time, Naminé thought to herself. And to give herself time as well, if they were being honest.
Naminé felt bad though. She was completely forgoing Sora's lessons to deal with problems head-on instead of letting them grow and fester like an untreated wound.
Media studies class was the most awkward. They had to sit next to each other – to not would be even weirder – but they remained at best civil, barely sharing any words before and after class. They had an unspoken system: whoever got out of his or her seat first would scurry off and the other would dally for awhile before leaving. It was the best way to avoid each other.
So Naminé knew what Sora meant when she stood up first one day and he followed thereafter. She looked at him and he looked at her and then she sighed. "Okay," she mumbled, "we should talk."
Sora nodded.
They found a somewhat isolated place outside on the grass. They took a seat, and Sora took out a lunchbox from his backpack.
Naminé cracked a smile. "Your mom packed you lunch?"
"Just PBJs," he said, passing one to Naminé. "Here you go."
"You planned for this," Naminé noted.
"Yeah, I did."
…
"Look, I'm sorry.
They both spoke at almost the same time. Naminé couldn't resist laughing at how they were so in sync. He gestured for her to speak first as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
"I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted that day. There wasn't a problem with us – there was a problem with me."
"No – " Sora took a moment to chew and swallow. "I shouldn't have pushed you. If you need time, I should give you time."
Naminé gave him a moment but he didn't continue his sentence. "But…?" she prompted. She knew there was a 'but.'
"But…I dunno. I was getting kinda harassed by my friends. In a joking way. Cause I'm always sitting with you and your friends for lunch now, and they think I'm whipped, or I don't wanna share you, or something. It's starting to get to me, I guess."
Naminé frowned. She didn't know his friends also wanted to meet her and it wasn't just Sora showing her off or something. "I – I didn't know. I'm sorry."
"Nah, I shouldn't let them get to me. What's us is us, none of their business."
"Still," Naminé said, "you hang out with my friends all the time and it's not fair that I don't even want to meet your friends. I guess why I don't want to is because…they're seniors. They're scary. I'm shy. Okay, these are just excuses," she confessed. "Also…I'm just scared of what they'll think of me."
"C'mon, Naminé," Sora said. "They're nice. They know I like you, and at the very least they'll respect that. Anyways, what's not to like?" he joked.
Naminé smiled. "I've always been like this. Worried about what other people think of me. I think that's why I used to just close myself off to everyone. It was easier. If I didn't care about them, I didn't need to worry about what they thought about me."
"It gets tiring though," Sora said. His admission surprised Naminé a little."I've also shut people out. After Kairi and I…broke up…it was just easier to not care. I was tired of letting other people dictate how I felt. I didn't like being so vulnerable."
Naminé knew and remembered: he had built a wall around his heart.
"But, you know, it gets lonely. You think you can control yourself, but you can't control your loneliness. So with you, I started opening myself up. It's tough, leaving it up to someone else to make or break your day. But I think in the end…it's worth it."
Naminé smiled.
"So, we good?" he asked, laying his back down on the grass. It was a nice day to watch clouds. Naminé hesitated for a moment because she was wearing a dress, but she followed his lead and plopped herself down on the ground as well.
"…yeah, we're good," she said. "You know, we did well."
"We? Did well on what?"
"On making up after our fight. A week. Not bad, you know?"
Sora made a 'psh' sound. "You've been counting?"
"You haven't?"
"…okay, I have. It's technically been nine days."
Naminé blinked. She hadn't realized he had been counting. Like, counting-counting.
"Hayner and Olette had a fight about Riku and solved it within two minutes."
"Whoa! About Riku? How?" he asked eagerly.
Naminé chuckled. That wasn't the point of her bringing this up, but whatever. Of course he'd be interested in his friend. "It was at that game when Riku turned up. Olette noticed him, and then she – she, umm – "
Naminé's eyes widened and her voice trailed off with a yelp.
"Naminé, you okay?"
"U – umm, yeah - ?!" Her voice ended in a high-pitch squeal as she jumped up to her feet. Sora quickly followed suit, staring at her running in place.
"What…what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Naminé felt tears in her eyes. She looked towards Sora. "T – there's a bug!"
"Bug?" he repeated. "I'll get it for you! Where is it?"
"It's somewhere between my – " She cut herself off and felt her face heating up. Trying to be inconspicuous, she tried to mask it her motions as smoothing out the hem of her dress. "It's – no, I'm – oh my!"
"Oh my god – wait, is it on your – "
"Just – turn around!" Naminé cried out. She just wanted to get the prickly feeling of a crawling bug off her!
Sora whirled around, not before Naminé caught his eyes drifting towards her legs and his face flushing red. Naminé was pretty sure she was also a little pink. As elegantly as she could, she swatted at her dress and the insides of her thighs, trying to dust away any itchy feeling. Finally, when she was pretty sure the bug was gone, she smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress and cleared her throat pointedly.
Sora turned around halfway and then paused. "Is it…gone?" he asked.
Naminé nodded timidly and then realized he couldn't see her. "Yes," she whispered.
"Okay…" he mumbled as he faced her. They stared at each other for a moment before the corner of Sora's mouth quirked and they broke out into laughter. Naminé dropped to the ground, and Sora came over to plop himself down next to her.
"So…bug-phobia?"
"No," Naminé protested.
"You were terrified that a bug was on you. It's like 1000x smaller than you, you know?"
"I know," Naminé said. "I just don't like the feeling of a bug crawling on you. It's icky."
"Sure. Icky," he repeated with a grin.
They had a short exchange about fears and phobias. And then, they fell back to the normal beat of their relationship.
Naminé grimaced, staring at the outside of Olette's house. She was nervous, she supposed. Sora would pick her up for prom in five hours, and she still didn't know what the night entailed.
Somehow, Olette knew Naminé was coming before the blonde even rang the doorbell. "Naminé!" she exclaimed as she opened the door. Naminé smiled and let Olette hug her. "Oh my goodness, this is gonna be so exciting!"
"Yeah!" Naminé said. She sounded a little hollow – she told herself it was just the nerves.
And of course Olette noticed. "Why do you look so nervous? It's just getting ready for prom!"
Naminé chuckled as she followed Olette into her house. "Yeah, well, I haven't really gotten ready for a dance with…girl…friends?"
"Hey!"
"S'up, Naminé."
Naminé stared at Hayner and Pence lounging on Olette's couch. Wait, what happened to girl's-getting-ready-for-prom? Unless…Hayner and Pence were gonna get ready with them?
To Naminé's relief, Olette spoke up. "Alright, you two, time to clean up and get outta here."
"You sound like my mom!" Hayner exclaimed, focused on the game he was playing on Olette's TV screen.
"And bring me a red velvet cupcake when you pick me up," Olette decided.
"Whipped!" Pence exclaimed. Hayner and Olette turned towards him at the same time. "I - I mean, with whipped cream on top!"
"C'mon guys, I promised I'd get ready with Naminé, so unless you wanna stick around for manicures and celebrity gossip, get moving!"
"Alright," Hayner obliged. And to Naminé's utmost surprise, he paused in the middle of his game! When had Hayner ever willingly stopped a game for someone? "I just passed a save point a few stages back."
"C'mon, my mom's gonna kill me if she realizes we ate on the couch."
"We got it. C'mon, Hayner," Pence said, hopping to his feet. "I'll grab the vacuum."
"I can…?" Naminé began but Hayner cut her off.
"Nah, just sit down, Naminé. Do whatever you came here to do." He jumped to his feet and headed to the kitchen.
"I just came to…hang out with you?" Naminé said hopefully as she turned towards Olette. Olette smiled.
"Don't worry, they're leaving. Hayner dropped by to confirm evening plans, and Pence just…he said he was passing by so he invited himself in."
The whirring of the vacuum drowned out any thoughts Naminé had to say. She followed Olette to her bedroom and set down her bags. They then went to the kitchen, where Olette grabbed two juice boxes from the fridge. She offered one to Naminé.
When Pence finished vacuuming, Naminé asked Hayner, "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning out her fridge."
"You mean clearing out?"
"I'm gonna go broke tonight! So just let me have it," Hayner said, stuffing a slice of banana bread into his mouth.
"All done!" Pence announced, coming into the kitchen. He looked at Hayner. "Hayner, you're cleaning up the crumbs."
"I know," Hayner said in between bites.
Pence sighed.
"So!" Olette exclaimed cheerfully, clapping her hands together. "What are your plans for tonight?"
"Hmm? Oh." Naminé chuckled. "I dunno. I just told Sora he can pick me up at 5:00pm."
"Ooh, a surprise! I'd have Hayner surprise me but he asked me for my suggestion on dinner and we ended up planning it together."
Naminé chuckled. They were basically married.
Olette chased Pence and Hayner out of the house. Once they were gone, she turned towards Naminé and beamed.
"Time to get ready!"
Naminé felt herself getting excited too.
Olette cranked up the volume of the music until she could hear it from any corner of the house. Her mother was out catching up with a college friend in town, so they had the entire place to themselves. Olette showed Naminé her night's outfit: a spaghetti-strapped pale pink full-length dress with a beaded bodice over a mesh top. It fit Olette's sweet personality.
Naminé went to Olette's closet and grabbed hers that she'd placed inside. Hers was sky blue with a flowy bottom and straps that wrapped around her neck. Naminé was a little worried about the slightly revealing back, but her mother had assured her she looked gorgeous and there was nothing to worry.
"Sora's just gonna put his hands on your hips, right?" her mom had asked innocently.
Her mom sure knew how to rile her up.
The two girls spent the majority of the time just chatting. Prom night meant the end of the year wasn't far away, which meant their senior year was about to begin. While getting ready, they talked about their summer plans, their reflections on the year, their apprehensions for the future, and their excitement about the present. It was fun hanging out with Olette, able to talk about deep stuff and also get hyped about something small at the same time.
A ringing phone interrupted their conversation. Naminé realized it was hers and anxiously picked up.
"Sora?" she spoke into the phone.
"Can't you just – oh hey, Naminé!"
"Everything okay?" she asked worriedly. She didn't know why he'd be calling her now.
"Yeah, I'm just – okay, Xion, cut it out! You can have the remote!" he exclaimed. After some indiscernible background noise on his end, it got a little quieter. "Okay. Can you hear me?"
"Yeah. What's up?" she asked, trying hard to not smudge her still wet nail polish.
"So, my mom and dad had, uhh, emergency plans and no one's free to drive Xion to her friend's place to sleepover. So I've been tasked with that duty. I'll still pick you up at 5:00 from Olette's place, but we'll have to drop Xion off before heading to dinner. Sorry about that."
"Oh, no worries. It's a good thing you can take her. Wouldn't want her to be all home alone," Naminé said.
"Yeah. So…I'll see you in a few hours?"
"Mhmm. Alright, see you!"
Naminé set down her phone and examined her nails. They looked dry. Tentatively, she blew on it a little before touching it – yeah, she was safe.
"Everything alright?" Olette asked as she came over with a makeup pouch in hand.
"Yeah, we just gotta drop off Xion at her friend's place before heading to dinner. No biggie. He didn't even need to call, really."
"Well, a heads-up is nice."
They spent the rest of the time pruning and prepping themselves for the highlight of their year. Despite the butterflies in her stomach, Naminé told herself to curb her expectations. Having high expectations usually made disappointment inevitable.
Her phone rang again at 5:05pm, just as Naminé was putting on her earrings. She put the phone on speaker. "Sora?"
"I'm almost there!" he exclaimed. "I'm like 5 minutes away!"
"More like 10 in this traffic," a snarky voice added.
"Hi Xion," Naminé greeted with a chuckle.
"Hi. You all dressed up for my brother, Naminé?" Xion asked.
"Just leave her alone!" Naminé could hear Sora in the background. "She's still getting ready!"
"Yes I am," Naminé responded to Xion.
"Cool. Wanna describe it to us?"
"Well, you'll see in just a bit."
"C'mon. Make us look forward to something. Sora's convinced he got the wrong shade of blue for his tie.
"It's – it's sky blue?" Sora asked.
Naminé chuckled. "Yes."
"I told you!" Xion exclaimed.
"That's what I said!" Sora insisted.
"No, you said navy blue, which is not sky blue, okay? Thank god you have me," Xion mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah," Sora said.
"Anyways, like my brother said, we'll be there in five to ten minutes. Are you ready?"
"Just about…I'll be ready when you're here."
"Cool! I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing then. See you in a few!" With a cheerful chirp, Xion was out.
"Five minutes, huh?" Olette said as she came over and rested her hands on Naminé's shoulders. "You ready?"
"Yeah! Yeah, I think," she repeated a little quieter.
"C'mon, you gotta be confident! To be beautiful, you must believe you're beautiful."
"But not vain, or self-absorbed," Naminé added.
"Oh come on, Naminé. It's prom night. You're allowed to be self-centered for once. I'll drag your head back down to earth if you get cocky next week."
Naminé grinned. "Okay. I just need to go through my things one more time…"
The doorbell rang, and Olette excused herself to go get it. Naminé flipped through her purse, checking her belongings. Phone, check. Wallet, check. Eyeliner, check. Hairband in case something happens to the updo, check. What else…
"Umm, Naminé?" Olette returned with a confused one. "Your…mom's here."
"Huh?" Naminé said, rising up. She went to the living room and stared at her mother standing by the door. "Mom?"
"Naminé! You look gorgeous!" she exclaimed, kicking off her shoes and rushing over. "The dress looks beautiful on you! I knew blue was your color. And your makeup! Olette has talent."
"Thank you, Mrs. Blanc," Olette chuckled.
"What are you doing here, Mom?" Naminé asked.
"It's my daughter's prom night! I'm just here to take a few pictures."
"Mom!" she complained. This was partially why she wanted to get ready at Olette's house.
"It'll just be a few. This house is rather photogenic. If we used the fireplace and mantle as the backdrop…"
"Mom - Mom, is this really necessary? We'll take pictures at prom, I promise."
"Please, Naminé. I'm excited for you and I want to memorialize this moment. Time flies, Terra's off to college, and pretty soon you'll be too. Just let me have this one moment."
Naminé frowned. She was still a little uneasy about the whole her-mom-takes-pictures thing, but she didn't want to tell her mom no. She sighed. "Sora's running late and we have reservations at 5:30. It can't take too long."
"I think he's here!" Olette exclaimed, pointing at something outside the window. "Naminé, you stay inside! I'll invite them in and you can walk out and make Sora's jaw drop to the ground!"
"I like that idea!" Naminé's mom chimed in." I'll just stand right here and snap a picture when he enters…"
Naminé watched as Olette and her mom scurried about, assuming their places. Upon Olette's insistence, she retreated back into Olette's bedroom and waited for Olette to invite Sora in. She heard footsteps, and then chatter, and then Sora's voice.
"…should go, we're running a little late…"
"Okay, lemme get her. Naminé!"
Was that her cue? She checked her reflection in the mirror one more time before coming out of Olette's room. She then found herself face-to-face with Sora and Xion behind him.
…
"…wow, we nailed that shade of blue."
Naminé blushed, a little self-conscious under Sora's stare. He then smiled and inched towards her with a corsage in hand.
"You're beautiful. Here's the finishing piece," he said as he slipped it onto Naminé's wrist. Naminé blushed when his fingers brushed by her hand. She felt extra sensitive today.
FLASH
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Naminé resisted groaning as her mom retreated into a corner, jamming buttons on her camera. "I didn't mean to ruin the moment. It's been awhile since I've used this thing and I don't know how to adjust the settings…"
"Let me help you, Mrs. Blanc," Olette insisted. Naminé chuckled and looked back towards Sora.
She didn't know if she'd subconsciously chose sky blue because it reminded her of Sora's eyes.
"Ready?" he asked, extending an arm.
Naminé grinned, snaking her arm around his. "Ready, handsome sir," she said with a smile.
"Gross!" Xion exclaimed, pretending to stick a finger down her throat.
"Xion!" Sora and Naminé both exclaimed, turning towards the younger girl. Xion raised her hands in a surrendering posture, mouthing 'sorry.'
"Oh, before you go, let me take a nice picture," Naminé's mom insisted. Naminé looked towards Sora with a helpless expression, and Sora smiled. Sora positioned himself behind Naminé and rested his hands on her hips. Smiling, they looked towards Naminé's mom.
FLASH
"You two are perfect," Naminé's mom remarked. "Enjoy the night! And Naminé, remember what we talked out! Don't let him - "
Naminé felt blood rushing to her face. "Mom!"
"Okay, okay, I know I'm embarrassing you. I'll leave now," she insisted. "Have fun everyone!"
Before anyone could say anything, the older woman scurried out of the door.
"Umm…okay," Naminé said, breaking the awkward silence. "Should we go?"
"Yes!" Sora exclaimed. "I guess I'll see you there, Olette!"
"Yup! See you guys later!"
"Except me!" Xion added in.
"Except you, Xion," Olette said with a grin. "You guys should go though, you have 15 minutes till it's 5:30."
"Shit!" Sora exclaimed, grabbing Naminé and Xion's wrists. Leading the both of them, he ran out of Olette's house, with Naminé hoping Olette had heard her frantically exclaimed, 'bye!'
"Okay, let's get going!" Sora exclaimed as Naminé hopped into shotgun and Xion got in the back. Sora stepped on the engine and they were off.
"You look nice, Naminé," Xion piped up from the back.
"Thanks, Xion," Naminé said appreciatively.
"And now…"
"Xion!" Sora barked.
"What? I even told you what I'm gonna do!"
"Just – " Sora paused, concentrating as he turned a corner. "just don't!"
"Well you can't stop me!" Xion declared. Naminé turned around and looked at Xion curiously. With a toothy grin on her face, Xion spoke. "It's time for my possessive younger sister speech!"
Sora groaned aloud and Naminé couldn't resist an amused chuckle. "What?" she said.
"I even told you about it!" Xion exclaimed. "At your house once! And you said it doesn't apply! Hmph, I was right to not run it by you! Now you can hear it for the first time so it has the right effect!"
"Just ignore her," Sora mumbled, stopping at a red light. He turned to face her. "I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed to be like this."
Naminé grinned. "No, it's okay. It's fun in its own way." She looked up at the rearview mirror. "So? Run it by me now."
"Okay!" Xion exclaimed. She reached for something in her bag. "I was serious, y'know. I have a script written out."
"Huh," Naminé commented.
"Here it is!" Xion exclaimed, pulling out a wrinkled piece of paper. She cleared her throat before beginning. "To, my stupid brother's date, girlfriend, friend with benefit, or any combination of the above."
"Hey!" Sora exclaimed. Naminé didn't know if he was protesting to the 'stupid' or the array of labels that were suggested to define her.
"That'd be you, Naminé," Xion clarified. Naminé nodded and let the young girl continue.
"First, I wanna tell you how stupid you are. No offense. Maybe kinda. Cause you agreed to go out with my stupid brother, I can only assume you're kinda stupid."
"Xion!" Sora barked.
"It's okay," Naminé murmured. Sora made a discontent whining sound but focused his attention on the road.
"Anyways, my brother's not only stupid, he's also super lazy and kinda selfish. And I'm telling you now! You'll only ever be the third woman in his life! Mom and I are tied for first place, so you'll just have to deal with it! He's a total momma's boy and overprotective older brother!"
"What the – where the heck did you learn all these words, Xion?" Sora asked.
"I asked Roxas to revise it."
"That punk…" Sora trailed off. "Please tell me you're done."
"Almost!" Xion chirped. "So, in conclusion, you must be someone if you can see past my brother's stupidity and whatnot. Cause he's a pretty simple guy once you get to know him. That's why it's my job to make sure people don't take advantage of him. So, this is your warning! If you hurt my brother in any way, be prepared for me to release terror on you!"
"Meaning?" Naminé asked curiously.
"Axel with a stash of firecrackers."
Sora abruptly pulled the brakes on the car as they stopped at another stoplight. "Why – how do you know about Axel?"
"We've met."
"You've met? Roxas let you guys meet?"
"By chance. And that's irrelevant. So, Naminé! You got the message?"
Naminé smiled. It was heartwarming watching Sora and Xion's interactions. Ultimately, despite how they would pick at each other's faults, they were always looking out for each other. "Of course, Xion. I mess with Sora, I mess with you."
"Good!" Xion exclaimed. "Because we're almost there and I didn't think of a good summary for all that. 'You mess with Sora, you mess with me!' Got it?"
"You just repeated what she said," Sora pointed out.
"Got it," Naminé said.
Xion smiled. "Thanks, Naminé," she said, her voice softer than before. Sora pulled to a stop in front of a typical suburban house. Xion grabbed all her bags and got off.
"Call Mom or Dad and let them know you got here!" Sora hollered. "I don't wanna be blamed for not getting you there safely. And be safe! Stay indoors, you got it?"
"Okay, got it, sheesh. You just don't wanna take responsibility." Xion looked at the two of them. "Have fun, you guys. Tell me all about it!" She paused for a second and then smirked. "Or on second thought…don't tell me everything. PG it for me, okay? It's my brother, I don't wanna hear about – "
"Lalalalala!" Sora hollered, starting the engine again. "We're gonna go, bye Xion!"
Naminé waved as Sora drove off. Thankfully, Xion's friend's house was on the way to Atlantica. They got to the restaurant ten minutes after their reservation and the waiter seated them.
Atlantica was a pretty classy restaurant with waiters in uniform, dim yellow lighting, and a classical interior design. They had gotten a seat by the window, where they could look at the starry night sky. So far, so good.
After ordering their meals, Naminé decided to get her number one concern out of the way.
"So, about the bill – "
"We haven't even started eating yet and you're thinking about the bill?" Sora said.
Naminé grinned. "I call dibs."
"Not happening, Naminé. Not. Happening."
"But Sora!" she protested. She knew this place wasn't cheap. It just felt wrong, after he'd paid for her prom tickets. "I want to. Just let me. I haven't spent much of my allowance this month, and – "
"Save it, Naminé. If you really want, you can leave the tip."
"Now that's not fair. Why do you have to pay for everything? You paid for your own gas to drive here too. Just let me pay for something!" When Naminé saw Sora wasn't gonna budge, she changed tactics. "We've been splitting the bill for all our other dates. How is this any different?"
"This is prom! I'm supposed to spoil you and you're supposed to enjoy it!"
"I don't like you spending all this money on me. It makes me feel like I'm indebted to you."
Sora huffed, looking up from his drink. "You make this so difficult."
Naminé grinned. "You said you like me for who I am."
Sora also smiled. "I did say that." He pondered the dilemma for awhile. "Okay, let's go dutch. But you can't bother me about any other payment for the rest of the night."
"Okay," Naminé said, glad to have dealt with that. "I kinda like being spoiled actually."
"See! Things are so much easier when you go with the flow. Be glad I'm not a stingy boyfriend."
Their entrés soon came out and both slowly savoured their meals. It was delicious, Naminé had to agree. Probably worth the price they were paying tonight.
They each ordered their own dessert, but Naminé was stuffed so Sora ended up finishing her tiramisu. Naminé enjoyed the dinner with him. The atmosphere was a little different than usual because they were dressed up and pretending to be adults in this classy restaurant, but chatting with Sora felt the same as chatting with him in class, by their lockers, or in his car.
"We should get going," Sora said, standing up. As promised, they split the bill and both paid with cash. They split the tip as well (after Naminé glared at him for ten seconds when both of them slammed a $20 onto the table at the same time).
After standing up, Naminé realized the butterflies in her stomach were still rampant. She frowned and sighed. Why was she nervous? Well, she hadn't been to prom before, but it was probably like any other school-sponsored social: with some mingling, dancing, and having a good time with friends. Nothing to stress about.
Sora held the door open for her as they exited the restaurant. Before he opened the car door for her, he looked at her and smiled. Naminé blinked.
He extended his hand. She paused for a moment, a little nervous again. But once she put her hand in his, everything felt right. She felt like she was at the right place.
"Let's go!" he hollered excitedly, and Naminé smiled as well. That's right – this was Sora. Where else could she want to be?
They both got in the car and he stepped on the gas. Together, they drove into the night, to the night of their lives.
The ballroom was getting heated up when Sora and Naminé stepped in. To Naminé's surprise, she recognized the greeter.
"Eri?" she called out hesitantly.
"Oh my god!" Eri shrieked, rushing over and shoving the other greeter out of the way. "Sora and Naminé! You guys are so cute!"
Naminé was a little embarrassed by how loud Eri was. "Thanks, Eri. What are you – you're part of the prom committee!"
"Yup! Figured it'd be fun. I signed up with Shiki, hoping we'd be able to greet everyone together, but instead Shiki was reassigned to technician's work while I'm stuck with this clumsy fool."
"Hey! Who're ya callin' clumsy, huh? And Shiki got called cause she's good with hands-on stuff like that!"
"My god, Beat, any louder and everyone'll have to dance to your voice," Eri huffed. She turned back to the couple and beamed. "Anyways, let my associate take those tickets off your hands! We hope you enjoy The Starry Night!"
"What she said," Beat said, pointing his thumb at Eri as Sora handed him the tickets. Naminé beamed and followed Eri's instructions to walk down a red carpet.
"Wow. I knew it was Hollywood-themed, but this is pretty intense," Naminé commented as she and Sora walked down the path defined by the red rope railing. She spied Olette in the crowd, but she was talking to someone so Naminé couldn't say hi.
"Come here please!"
"Wait, Pence?" Naminé exclaimed.
He lowered his camera and grinned sheepishly. "Yup! I'm on duty tonight," he said, pointing at his DSLR. "Now if you could stand with the carpet and the rope on your side…"
"You're working on prom night?" Sora asked incredulously. "Dude. They can't make you do that."
CLICK.
"It's nothing like that," Pence insisted. "The photography club's got a lot of seniors, so I volunteered." FLASH. "I'm off-duty in an hour and I'll be mingling with everyone by then."
"Oh," Naminé commented. "That's incredibly selfless of you." She remembered that Pence didn't have a date and wondered if that was why he was willing to work tonight.
FLASH.
"Smile, Naminé! Don't look like that! This is all gonna be immortalized, y'know? You're gonna look back on today and remember yourself like this. So smile! I'm just glad I can help you and everyone else create a beautiful memory to look back on."
Pence's warm words brought a smile to Naminé's heart, and she beamed as Pence snapped one last picture.
"Alright, and now you're holding up the line," Pence said with a grin. "I took a few extras for you guys. Don't worry, I'll pick the best one. Have fun, and I'll catch you later!" he exclaimed, ushering the next partygoers over. Naminé and Sora waved at him and inched towards coat check.
"Here you go," the boy behind the counter said, passing a laminated notecard to Sora with a number for their belongings. "I put them together, unless you'll be leaving separately?"
That was an odd question to think about. "Nah, we're leaving together. Thanks, man."
They officially entered the venue, in awe of the classy design. "The prom committee really did a good job," Sora commented, looking around. "This is awesome!"
"It is. I love the room too," Naminé said, examining the sloped walls and open space.
"So, remember!" Sora exclaimed. "First and last dance are mine! The rest, most of them will be mine too, so dance with other guys sparingly! I'm just kidding. Sorta," he said with a smile.
"I should be the one telling you all that, Mr. Popular," Naminé said with a grin. "You're supposed to keep your eyes on me tonight."
"Got it!" he said, raising his voice as the DJ put on a fast song.
They walked towards the bar, where (non-alcoholic) drinks were served. Sora downed his cola in one gulp, while Naminé sipped on her ginger ale. There were a few 'hey man, looking good's and 'oh my god Naminé, I love your dress!'s interspersed between as they feasted on the salmon cream cheese crackers Naminé swore were to die for. So far, so good, she thought to herself. Besides the fact that Sora had way too many friends. Before she could sneak another cracker in, they were talking to some senior Naminé vaguely recognized.
The party was paused momentarily for the president of the prom committee to give a short speech about rules and guidelines and whatnot. After officially kickstarting the night, the DJ put on a fast song that everyone knew. Eagerly, the throng of students took to the dance floor, and after some coaxing from Sora, Naminé joined in.
Seeing Sora take to the dance floor like a natural made Naminé a little self-conscious. It seemed Sora could tell she was a little awkward so he tried to smile encouragingly but it was hard for a dancing newbie like Naminé.
"H – hey!" a voice from beside her exclaimed as a hand latched onto her shoulder. Naminé whirled around and saw Olette. They hollered their greetings and Olette looked around, reaching into the crowd with one hand and effectively dragging back Hayner by the collar of his shirt. Naminé laughed at the sight.
"Hey, what're you – oh, hey Naminé!" Hayner exclaimed. Naminé was impressed with how nicely he cleaned up. His hair was gelled flat and neat for once, and the suit, while formal and fitting, still leaned towards the casual side.
"This is my favorite song!" Olette exclaimed as she cheered loudly with the others at the chorus. Jumping excitedly up and down, it was evident that she didn't really care what other people thought about her dancing. She eyed Naminé and grabbed her by the hands.
"I don't – " But of course, Olette couldn't hear her above the booming music and hooted loudly as she threw their hands in the air.
Naminé felt herself growing more relaxed with Sora and her friends by her side. She noticed that she was probably the only one who was looking at other people and at this moment – no one was looking at her. There was no reason to be self-conscious. She let herself sway to the beat and joined in on the dance fest her friends were having.
Another fast song quickly followed, and Naminé felt herself growing tired. These heels weren't easy to move around in, much less dance. After that song drew to a close, Sora suggested the two of them take a break. He led her to the sides and they found an empty seat to sit down.
"My goodness!" Naminé exclaimed, laughing as she almost stumbled on her heel and Sora steadied her. "I'm fine," she said before Sora could say anything. She took a seat on the high chair. Sora loosened his tie a little and pulled on his jacket. She was sure she wasn't the only one tired.
"You're a good dancer," Sora teased with a smirk.
"As are you," she returned, feeling the adrenaline pumping through her system.
Sora rested his arm on the small round table between them and leaned towards her. "It's like they say. Every good girl has a wild side to her."
Naminé shrugged and grinned, leaning forward as well. "If you think that's wild, you ain't seen nothing yet."
Both of them didn't say anything, just watching each other. And then Sora gave her a chaste kiss.
When he pulled away, Naminé blushed and looked down at her lap. "What?" Sora asked, slightly worried. "Are you embarrassed?"
"Y – well," Naminé considered, "it's just the first time we've kissed in public. That's all."
"If you don't like it, I won't do it again. I know PDA can get annoying."
"No! It's just…a pleasant surprise," Naminé said. She grinned, kissing him on the corner of his mouth. "I liked it."
"Okay, duly noted," Sora said.
The DJ cleared his throat over the intercom system. "This next one," he began, "goes out to all those beautiful couples tonight. Whether you're together or just friends or even if 'it's complicated,' grab a partner and let's dance, shall we?" A soothing ballad came on, and pairs of students slowly entered the dance floor. Sora jumped off his seat and offered a hand to Naminé.
"Shall we?" he asked with a grin.
"We shall," Naminé responded and got off the seat.
They swayed to the slow song, keeping each other at a respectable distance. They felt so traditional and classic. He was a perfect gentleman, and thank goodness they both could sway simply to a beat. They kept quiet, listening to the song and enjoying being in each other's arms. It was sweet. It was warm. It was right.
She enjoyed her first dance with Sora and left the dance floor when another fast song came on. They returned to their seats and sat in silence for awhile. When Naminé was about to break it, another party joined the scene.
"Sora."
Naminé looked up. It was Kairi. Of course, the redhead radiated beauty. Her hair in perfect ringlets framing her face, an elegant gold number showcasing her curves, and a confident smile on her face, Naminé knew she had to be prom queen tonight.
"Kairi." Sora jumped to his feet. "Wow. You look great."
Kairi grinned. "So do you." She turned towards Naminé and also smiled. "You too, Naminé. I love your makeup."
Interesting that she didn't comment on Naminé's dress. "Thanks. Olette – my friend, she did it for me."
"Huh. Really? I thought you went to a salon to get it done professionally. Your friend's talented."
Naminé didn't know that. "Thanks. I'll tell her you said so."
Kairi smiled and then looked between her and Sora. She twiddled her fingers together, a telltale sign that she was nervous, but spoke steadily like she wasn't hesitant at all. "I'm not sure how you guys planned tonight to be, but I was hoping to get a dance with Sora. If you're both fine with that."
Sora looked towards Naminé. They'd discussed this. They could dance with other people. After a moment of hesitation, Naminé nodded. Sora stared at her for a moment longer before turning back to Kairi.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Just curious, where's your date?"
Kairi pointed towards the dance floor. "Out there doing his thing. We came as friends so it doesn't matter who we dance or spend our time with."
"I see." Sora turned towards Naminé. Naminé stared back with wide eyes. They'd talked about this to avoid thinking up a solution on the spot. Of course Sora could dance with another girl. Though he had a complicated history with Kairi, they'd been friends for a long time that a dance was almost warranted.
It did leave Naminé a little uneased though.
"So, who are you gonna dance with?" Sora asked, looking at Naminé.
Naminé blinked. What was he talking about?
"You know, cause I'm dancing with someone so you should be dancing with someone. Or I'll feel bad for leaving you here. Anyone?" he prompted.
Naminé paused. Just earlier, Sora had jokingly not so jokingly told her he didn't want her dancing with too many other guys. And now he wanted to pair her off with someone?
"I'm sure Tidus could – "
"Nah, she doesn't know him." Sora looked around. As if on cue, Roxas happened to be within earshot. Sora reached out and latched onto his cousin's arm, jerking him towards their group. "Hey man, how's it going?" he asked.
Roxas blinked as he looked around. "Oh hey…everyone," he greeted. "My date? She ditched me."
"Sucks, man." Sora didn't sound apologetic at all. "Wanna dance with Naminé?"
Naminé and Roxas both looked towards Sora. "Uh…sure." The second slow song started playing. "Now?"
"Yeah. Thanks, man. I owe you," Sora said as he and Kairi went to the floor. Naminé's eyes followed his back until he was one of the crowd and she could barely make out the top of his head.
Roxas turned towards her. "Well...it's my pleasure to dance with you," he said with a grin. Despite how awkward the situation was playing out, Roxas seemed to be rolling with it. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, should we…?"
"Umm, yeah, I guess," Naminé said. She followed Roxas to the opposite side of where Sora and Kairi were swaying. Comfortable distance, Naminé noted. For her, it was awkward dancing with Roxas. Sure they were friends, but not the type that danced with each other at prom.
"So…" Roxas trailed off, trying to make conversation with her to break the awkwardness. "How's your night going?"
"Good, good. Sora and I had dinner at Atlantica, and it was good. You?"
"Not good. My date – Rikku – asked me out in front of everyone, so I said yes. And then she called me thirty minutes before I was supposed to pick her up and said she was going to her friend's anti-prom instead. I ended up dragging Axel's lazy ass out of his house to come eat dinner at the restaurant I'd picked."
Naminé frowned. "That's not fair," she protested.
Roxas shrugged. "Life's not fair."
"That doesn't make it right."
Roxas paused and then nodded. "You're right. That doesn't make it right." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, you okay with this?"
"This what?"
"This. Us dancing, while Sora's with Kairi. Isn't it weird?"
Naminé shrugged. "We talked about it. We can dance with other people tonight. Sora's known Kairi for a long time, so they deserve a dance."
Roxas stared at her for awhile, making her grow self-conscious until he choked out a laugh. "Uh, I'm sorry. That was…just…the first time I've heard someone talk so rationally about her boyfriend and her boyfriend's ex. You're not upset?"
"Upset? Why would be? Like I said, we talked about this."
"Just because you talked about it doesn't mean you can't be upset."
"I'm not. I mean, I shouldn't. Right?" Naminé then began to doubt herself. It just sounded like she was trying to reason it out to herself. Maybe the uneasiness in her wasn't because dancing with Roxas was awkward (he was quite graceful, if Naminé had to say so) but because she couldn't see Sora and Kairi across the dance floor. She trusted him, but she didn't like the feeling.
"Just because you shouldn't feel bad doesn't mean you can't. Don't let your brain do the rationalizing. For once, let your heart speak for you," Roxas said.
Naminé grinned, remembering the age-old analogy of their friendship. "You're dispensing wisdom as always, kind sir."
Roxas chuckled. "And you're as naïve as ever, young ingénue."
"I'd like to think I've matured a little since the beginning of my story," Naminé said. "Character growth, emotionally if not physically, development, change, etcetera."
"I agree," Roxas nodded. "The old wizard agrees. Hey, why am I old? Why can't I be a young, dashing wisdom dispenser?"
They grinned and joked about their designated roles for the remainder of the dance. It certainly wasn't what the atmosphere was supposed to be like during a ballad. But Naminé was glad she got to share this dance with Roxas. It was something special that she'd treasure.
"Thanks for dancing with me," Naminé said appreciatively as the song ended and she took a step away from him.
"That's my line. Since I'm the old coot and you're the belle of the ball. I'm starting to sound like a pedophile, you know…"
They walked towards the side and went to get more drinks. Before Naminé could take the first sip of her soda, Sora returned.
"Hey! Thanks, Roxas. Now go forth and be merry," he said, giving Roxas a shove. Before Naminé could even properly say bye, Roxas was nursing his drink and heading towards the other side of the room.
"Did he step on your foot?" was the first thing Sora asked.
Naminé rolled her eyes. "Roxas was a really good dancer. Smoother than you, I must say."
Sora glanced at her. "…are you upset? That I danced with Kairi?"
Was it that obvious? She didn't want to play the passive aggressive game with him, considering Roxas had helped her figure it out. "A little. I think."
Sora sighed. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea…"
"I dunno," Naminé rushed out. "Cause it makes sense in my mind why you can dance with her, but somehow I'm still a little…irked. Roxas said I should let my heart speak instead of my head."
"Roxas never makes sense," Sora said dismissively. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. We had to…get some closure, you know? Years of friendship…like that," he said, snapping his fingers.
"Gone?" Naminé said.
"No…but not the same." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I should've realized you were upset."
"No, you couldn't," Naminé reasoned. "I only really got upset after you and Kairi left. And I didn't even figure it out till I talked with Roxas. So there's no way you could've known."
"…still. It's bad form, isn't it? To dance with my ex."
Naminé shrugged. "It's…complicated, we'll say. Let's not dwell on it. I'm not upset anymore at least."
Sora smiled and used his hands to pull Naminé closer to him. "Thank you."
The rest of the night passed by smoothly. Both of them didn't dance with anyone else, an unspoken agreement they seemed to have reached. It certainly set Naminé at ease. She was just too sensitive about anything regarding Kairi. It was habit ingrained in her and would probably take awhile to undo.
"I'm exhausted," Naminé complained as she sat on a couch and lifted her feet in the air. "These heels are killing me."
"Make you look good though, so no complaints here," Sora said with a snicker. "You really that tired?"
"My feet hurt," Naminé whined. She just wanted to take those heels off and lie down on this couch. That would be indecent public behavior though. They were nearing the end, but Naminé estimated there were two more slow songs.
Sora scooted over towards her. "What do you say…we get outta here?"
"Huh?"
"Ditch the end. It's just gonna be the president thanking everyone for coming and kicking us out on time to clean up the venue. Boring stuff. And everyone will be pouring out."
"But – don't you wanna see who won prom king and queen? What if you won?"
"Nah, it won't be me. There's an unspoken agreement among most of the guys tonight to vote for Wakka. He helped put together a lot of the Student Council events this year. I think he picked out this venue too? Anyways. It'll just be Wakka and whoever dancing and I don't really care if we get to the last dance." The more Sora talked, the more excited he grew. "Let's ditch! C'mon, it makes so much sense now that I think about it!"
Naminé shrugged. "I guess...okay. Okay, let's go."
They turned around and grabbed their coats before heading out into the crisp night air. Sora glanced at Naminé shivering and offered his jacket, which she draped around her shoulders. She tried to sneak a whiff of the collar – it smelled like some nice cologne, what Sora smelled like tonight.
They hopped in his car and then paused. "So…where to?" Naminé asked. Was he just gonna drop her off at home? She technically still had thirty minutes till curfew.
"Let's go grab milkshakes," Sora suggested.
"Dressed like this?" Naminé exclaimed, pointing at herself. "People will stare."
"Okay, we can go through the drive-through. Man, thinking about that milkshake just makes me want it even more."
They headed out, and there was something special about driving at night on the road. It was like feeling invincible and able to go anywhere they wanted. It was exhilarating and exciting and she was just so glad she could experience this with Sora by her side.
The drive-through lady didn't seem too impressed by their dress, but she handed them their fries and milkshakes without a wayward comment. Sora parked and they munched on their fries quietly. Naminé made a face when Sora dipped his fry in the milkshake but tried it out when Sora offered her one.
"Thanks for tonight," she said, remembering what she wanted to say. "It was fun. A lot of fun. I don't think I've ever had this much fun before. And it's all because of you."
"Don't say it like that," Sora said, "you'll make me blush. At least it's dark so you can't see."
"I'm serious," Naminé insisted. "Before I met you, I was determined to just get through high school with my head down, or at least until Kairi left. But now…I have friends and I have you. And it's all because of you."
"…no one's ever said anything like that to me before. Thanks, Naminé," he said. "I've always liked how you can be so honest. I don't have to play games or figure out if you're being passive aggressive with me, cause somehow you always tell me exactly what I need to hear. Thanks for always being so honest with me. It makes me wanna be honest with you too, and myself."
"We bring the best out of each other," Naminé summarized with a smile. Sora looked at her and nodded.
"So…what's something you haven't told anyone before?" Sora asked.
"What?"
"Tell me something! I feel like now's the time to share our deep, dark secrets. You know, the secrets we don't want other people to know."
"You can't just…force intimacy like that."
"Oh yes I can. Okay, I can't force you, but I just wanted you to think about it. I'll go first," he volunteered.
"Okay, you go first," Naminé said, hoping for an example as to what 'secret' Sora was fishing for.
He drew a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Okay. I've read Xion's diary."
"Sora!" Naminé exclaimed. "How can you violate your sister's privacy like that?"
"It was just right there on her desk, and I didn't realize what it was till I was halfway through! I'm sorry, I never read it again." Sora inhaled noisily. "That's…not the secret. I read her journal entry about how she started…you know. Not eating. And she wrote that – so she got pneumonia once a few years back and that freaked out my parents. That was when my parents started having their arguments. And somehow, Xion noticed that our parents wouldn't argue over her when they were in the hospital with her. So she somehow thought that if she – if she made herself sick, then they wouldn't argue and everything would be okay."
"Oh my goodness," Naminé breathed. How could…how did a preteen come to that type of conclusion, and how did she carry out such an act by herself?
"That's – that's not my secret though." Sora paused for the longest time that Naminé wanted to tell him it was okay, and he didn't have to tell her. But his lips were moving, like he was running lines by himself, and Naminé waited until he spoke.
"I read her diary two years ago. And…I didn't do anything about it. Because a part of me then thought she was right, and I thought that if she did that…then our family could stay together."
"Sora…" Naminé began but she didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say?
"I'm a terrible person, aren't I? I just…let my younger sister do that to herself just so we could keep our broken family together, hanging by some thread. But we were still broken, and I should've known that this wasn't something we could fix. And Xion's health and wellbeing was not worth it, would never be worth it, and I was just so glad that I didn't have to do or give up anything for my family to be happy and together – shit, Xion was not happy and this was all my fault."
"Sora, you can't – you can't put that much pressure on yourself. You said it: Xion was ten or eleven, and you were, what, fifteen? How were you supposed to know better? It's not like you didn't care about Xion; you wanted to fix your family. You can't…don't burden yourself with the 'what ifs.' Because you're not living in that 'what if,' you're living now. And it's okay to hurt and feel bad, perhaps even good because that's proof you care, but you can't define yourself by one thing you did in the past."
Naminé wasn't sure if Sora was crying. He sniffled loudly and she thought that he was tearing up. He grabbed a tissue from their paper bag of fast food and blew his nose. After inhaling and exhaling a few times, he settled down.
"Yeah, sorry to just…dump that on you. I've never told anyone. I mean, I'm not sure who to tell. I just…" He sighed. "I just wanted you to know something about me I've never told anyone."
He raised his head and looked towards her expectantly. Oh crap. He was waiting for her to reciprocate, wasn't he?
"I've told you stuff, haven't I?" she said in an attempt to buy herself time. "You've seen what I can do, with the whole thing with Kairi. I can hold grudges. I can tell myself a problem I've created doesn't exist. I can play the blame game very well. I – "
"You don't have to list out everything you don't like about yourself, Naminé," Sora said with a chuckle. "I don't want you to do that to yourself."
Naminé quieted down, not sure what to say then. She felt like she'd told Sora everything. Like he said, she tried to be honest with him.
If she were to be honest, though, there was something. It'd been bothering her last week but she'd managed to suppress it in her thoughts. "I…" She frowned. What if Sora just thought she was being pessimistic? And this was such a beautiful night – she didn't want it to end on a moot point. He'd heard her start her sentence, however, and was watching her intently. So she let the words fall.
"I'm scared of what'll happen to us when you go to college."
Silence. So that meant…that meant what? That Sora didn't know what to say? Silence means consent. So Sora agreed? Or maybe…he was thinking of how to let her down gently. Something like, 'Yeah, Naminé, about that…' and then explain how he couldn't let a high school fling hold him down when he was going to one of the largest public universities in the world on the furthest island from her –
"Should we…talk about that…now?" Sora asked, his question hanging in the air.
Maybe they should just finish their milkshakes and end their night with a goodbye kiss. Picture perfect. But Naminé knew that life wasn't always so ideal. She knew that now that she'd mentioned it, it'd hang over them till they talked about it.
"Yeah…if you want to," she said.
Sora nodded and made some sort of grunting sound of acknowledgement.
Naminé was pretty sure both of them weren't prepared for this talk. So maybe they'd go into it with openness and sincerity. "So, I mean, there are only two options," she pointed out. "Either we break up or we do long-distance."
"Would it even count as long-distance?" Sora asked. "I mean, I'll technically still be in Destiny Islands."
"You're going to the island furthest from here. It's a three-hour plane ride."
"Okay…yeah, that's probably long-distance," Sora agreed. They then settled into silence again.
"I, umm," Naminé spoke up again, "do you have any…experience?"
"Experience? You mean…with long distance?" Naminé nodded. "Uhh, no. I've, uhh, never tried before."
"O – oh, I see," she stuttered, looking down at her lap again. She was getting emotional thinking about the likelihood of 'breaking up' as their solution.
"But I – I mean, Riku's told me about his experience. He met the girl during his summer volunteering abroad. She lives in Twilight Town. They met, insta-attraction, plus the summer heat and just bam! Insta-couple." Naminé grinned at Sora's choice of words. "Then he came back here for college, and they tried it."
"What did he say?" Naminé asked.
"They…they broke up after three months. It was just too hard. Riku said matching time zones was hard enough, and then they were both busy with college that they stopped making time for each other. They just started seeing each other as a burden to spend time on."
Naminé frowned. That was exactly what she wanted to avoid with Sora. If need be, they could break up now to avoid those ugly feelings and leave their memories of their relationship with only the beautiful ones.
"So…no long-distance?" Naminé concluded.
"That's different though, and he's different," Sora argued. "They started dating after knowing each other for two months. And they're very different people, or at least lead very different lives. Riku's gonna be a lawyer soon enough, while the girl was gonna take over her family's restaurant. As for the two of us – I mean, last time I checked, you're going to college too, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe even your college, if I get in."
"Psh, you'll get in. You shouldn't come to my college – you'll definitely get in a better one, and you should go."
"In theory. I'll need to apply first." Naminé drew a deep breath. "So what you're saying is…yes long-distance?"
"What do you think? About what Riku said."
"I think what happened to Riku is exactly what I want to avoid. If we're just gonna become a tedious chore for each other when we're apart, then I'd rather just…break up now and save each other the pain. Makes sense, right? If we know we're headed down the path to doom, then we should just end things. Now."
Okay…judging by the silence, that was way too pessimistic of her. It wasn't that she wanted to break up…but she knew of the risks of staying together…and was it really fair to make Sora stay loyal to her while he'd see a million new girls in a new environment on a daily basis…?
"Makes sense," Sora finally said. "I don't want that happening to us either. But…" He looked at her.
"But…?" she repeated with hope in her voice.
"But…that's just what might happen. What do you want? Do you…want to try long-distance?"
Naminé thought about it. It was like what Roxas said about her head and her heart. She could logically list out the pros and cons for each side. In the end, there were a million reasons to say no, and only one to say yes.
"Yes," she whispered.
She just wanted to see Sora smile now.
He did exactly, and despite knowing what might happen down the road, Naminé felt like she made the right decision.
"We can't predict the future," she reasoned. "We can't say for certain that we're doomed."
"You're right," he said with courage in his voice. "Cause whatever happens down the road, at least we can say we tried. I don't want you to be my 'what if.' I don't wanna give up without a fight."
So maybe it was good that they ended up talking about their future. It ended their night with a sense of hope and courage for anything that may come their way. They were two young teenagers, and to them, it was 'us against the world.' They felt invincible and let themselves feel that, because that was what teenagers were supposed to feel. They were supposed to have the bravery and naivete to face the future headfirst believing they could, simply because they believed.
Naminé thought back to where everything all started. At the start of the school year, Sora had barged into the media studies classroom. He then subsequently barged into her life. Or, in reality, Naminé really didn't know what she was getting herself into when she stumbled into the popular Sora's life. He had helped her find a better version of herself who was honest with her faults, brave enough to be vulnerable, and carrying love in her heart. He had taught her that everyone in life needs a friend to lend an ear. He had changed her, for the better, and she couldn't be thankful enough to have met him.
Sora kissed her, and this kiss felt different. With everything she was feeling at the moment, it was simply…euphoric. When their lips touched, there was a dull desire churning in her stomach. It made her feel like with the bright, shining future ahead of her, she was blessed to also have this wonderful partner by her side. And with him, everything would be okay.
Their hearts might be unsteady, and they may sometimes waver, but in the end, they'd have each other.
A/N: This. Monstrosity. Is. COMPLETE.
COMPLETE.
COMPLETE.
COMPLETE -
Okay, I'm sure you get the point. It's almost 2am in the morning as I type this, and I have to get up at 7am to get to work. I had decided after passing the two-month mark that I'd definitely no matter what get this chapter up by Jul 8, cause when I checked my story, I realized it was its three-year anniversary.
So happy anniversary to myself, my beloved baby story, and all my fans and readers out there. It's hard to believe it's been three years since this baby was conceived, essentially (okay, sorry if I'm weirding you out with the analogy, I'll stop now). Three years ago, I was a naive high schooler who thought all that mattered was whether this one boy in my class liked me. I had friends I loved, friends I hated, and a pretty self-centered view of the world. Not to say I'm not still a little selfish and talk behind my friends' backs at times, but I'd like to think I've gotten somewhere in life. I wonder if it reflects in my writing…?
But anyways. I'm so blessed to be able to wrap up this story with this uber long epilogue. I didn't plan for it to be so long, but every character wanted to make an appearance, so I wrote out a scene for as many as I could. I was hoping to squeeze Axel in somewhere but alas, I could only get him a passing mention. And the thing is...this is 13,000 words give or take on my Google doc right now, and I wrote 12,000 of it tonight while procrastinating for Camp Nanowrimo. Man, I'm on fire! I'm also 5,000 or so words behind on my Nanowrimo story.
ANYWAYS, anyways (since this is a longer chapter, I'm allowed a longer Author's Note), I just wanted to thank all my readers and supporters out there for being there for me, either by upping my read count, leaving a thoughtful review, or just chatting with me. I'm honored, as I realized while writing this chapter, to officially add a Completed 100,000+ word Namora fic to the KH fandom. It's been a rough journey, with long dry spells and OOC moments and random references that might've only made sense in my not-so-well-explained headcanon, but I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. A review would be duly appreciated, and a congratulations to you is perhaps due for getting through this long chapter of filler fluff. Wasn't even that fluffy at the end…
Last but not least, I'm writing more original works now, so I'm not sure when my next contribution to this site will be. At least I can rest a little easier now that this story is complete. If you'd like to check out more of my writing and also some extras stuff for Wavering Hearts, including a list of fun facts that'll explain more of my headcanon for the WH-verse, check out my writing blog at: .com. I've tried to put up a link on my profile but it keeps linking it back to my profile page...I wonder why? But like I said, I'm doing Camp Nanowrimo this month, so there might not be any updates though you can see what I have!
Alright, my rambling has gone on for long enough. I'm awesome, you're all awesome, this story is awesome for having reached its third anniversary. #complete#finally
Aaaaand, Clogallie out.