"Kairi, can we take a break? I think my intelligence circuits have melted." Naminé hung her mouth open like a dead animal.
"What do you think of this one?" Kairi strutted gracefully in front of the chairs, stopping at each and every mirror she passed to look at herself. "I think I like the eighth one better, though." she put her arms above her head ta-da style and twirled in a circle, almost falling head first into a blue parka wearing mannequin.
Naminé rubbed her forehead. "Was that the pink one or the other pink one?"
"The pink with the ruffled tulle and the beading." Kairi said.
To Naminé that meant all of them. The last six dresses Kairi had tried on had looked exactly the same to her. And the last four hours had felt like even longer.
Kairi kicked her feet from below the dress and admired her choice of shoes. Pink heels, of course, so they'd match every dress she tried on. "Though this one looks nice with my pumps." she cocked her head to the side.
"Mmhm." Naminé looked at the ground, her eyes starting to feel heavy. She nodded her head as she tried to stay alert.
"Do you like the mermaid style or more of the ballgown?" Kairi put her hands on her hips and looked at Naminé.
Okay. That was it. Naminé sat up and yawned. "I'm going to go look at the dresses in the front."
"Okay." Kairi smiled and turned back to the mirror.
Naminé stood up. She had to get out of here before she accidentally started to pay attention. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her light blue hoodie and shut the door of the dressing room, leaving Kairi inside with her reflection. Slowly she walked to the display windows and hummed a tune, barely glancing at the dresses. When she had nothing to do she sifted through a rack that was clearly out of her price range just because she had nothing to do.
She was sorting through some gold embroidered cocktail dresses when something bright and orange caught her eye. She could have mistaken it for a flashy dress if it hadn't have been moving the way it was. She peeked through the expensive cashmere and chiffon to get a closer look. Nothing. She looked again, moving her eyes over the rack of wedding veils to the colorful and bright bridesmaid dresses.
"What are you doing?" someone asked from behind her.
"Ahhh!" Naminé screamed and twisted her ankle in a silver silk belt, falling into the rack of dresses. A girl stood over her with an incredulous look on her face.
From the corner of her eye Naminé saw the owner of the boutique look at her disapprovingly, then lift her eyebrows as if to say, "Clean that up or I'll clean you."
Naminé quickly stood up, hanging the sparkly dresses back on their appropriate hooks.
"What were you looking at?" the girl asked Naminé perkily.
Naminé looked at her. She had bright orange-brown hair that must have stood out from very far away. It was styled kind of funky- flipped out on the sides and in the back. A style that would have looked utterly ridiculous on Naminé, but somehow worked for her. Even up close her piercing green eyes looked familiar to Naminé.
"Do I know you?" Naminé stuffed the rest of the visible dresses under the rack with her foot.
The girl swung her handbag she was carrying. "Possibly." she smiled.
Naminé tried to think. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere."
"Weird." the girl giggled.
Well. She wasn't going to be much help.
The girl's cell phone rang, and she held up a finger to Naminé as she tried to dig it out of her bag.
She flipped it up to her ear. "Hallo?" she practically shouted.
Naminé leaned on the dress rack patiently.
"No, no, that was yesterday." she laughed into her phone. Then she looked serious. "I'm already taking like two a week."
Naminé arched her eyebrows.
"No... well only a couple. No, they aren't that bad. Mmhm. Sure, I'll take more." she smiled. "Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Mizaki." Then she snapped the cell shut, dropping it in her purse.
Naminé smiled politely.
"My counselor." the girl waved her hands around like it was no big deal, but Naminé stepped back a few feet. The girl dug in her purse and pulled out a crystal fountain pen and a huge pad of pink sticky notes. She scribbled something on the topmost one quickly then put
them away.
"Hey." Naminé straightened up, looking at where the sticky notes were. "I know who you are. Selphie, right?" she asked.
The girl squealed. "That's me! Selphie Tilmitt. Who are you?" she asked hyperactively.
Naminé smiled. "My name is Naminé. I met you when I came to visit Sora." subconsciously she frowned and felt her forehead. Selphie was quite the different person when they first met.
Selphie seemed to take a moment to understand. Then she perked up. "Oh, that's right!" she smiled. "I remember now."
Naminé scratched the back of her head. "You aren't still contagious, are you?"
Selphie waved that away. "Just a mild influenza. All better now!"
Naminé stared ahead, wondering how influenza could ever be considered 'mild.'
"Anyway, I shouldn't keep you! I have to find a dress for a wedding." Selphie beamed proudly, telling Naminé she didn't get invited to a great deal many weddings.
"Yeah, me too." Naminé practically whispered. She felt like she should talk quieter around Selphie for some reason.
"Really? That's wonderful! Who for?" she asked. In a relatively small town like Twilight Town, weddings weren't plentiful due to lack of people getting married. However, when they did, a good deal of the town was invited, so it would have been very possible they were going to the same one had Naminé's not been out of town.
"It's actually i-in Traverse Town." Naminé said.
Selphie gasped louder than was necessary. "That is so weird! I am too!" she giggled.
Of course she was.
Naminé nodded. "Uh, hey Selphie. May I ask you something?" she averted the subject, but really did have other things on her mind.
Selphie nodded vigorously. Naminé feared for her head falling off and rolling onto the floor.
"Well I know you were staying with Sora." Naminé ventured. "And I haven't seen him in awhile. Do you know where he is?" she asked.
Suddenly Selphie was extremely interested in a bridal gown that was way too small for her. "He went home." she said noncholantly.
Naminé shook her head, thinking maybe she heard her wrong. "Excuse me?"
"Do you think I can fit into this?" Selphie held the dress over her hips.
Naminé didn't answer but slunk back to lean on the rack. Her heart fell aways. Suddenly her mouth became really dry and her eyes got cloudy. Sora... went home?
"Selphie.." she said slowly.
"Yes, new friend Naminé?" Selphie giggled.
"Have you met Kairi yet?" she asked.
Selphie thought. "I only know one Kairi and I haven't seen her in years. Who are you talking about?" she smiled. Though, she was always smiling.
"Come with me." Naminé said, getting an idea. She grabbed Selphie's hand and pulled her to the back of the store.
"Gee, where are we going?" she yelled happily.
Naminé burst open the door of the dressing room. "There's someone here to see you, Kairi." she said.
Kairi turned around. She was wearing a gold dress now, covered in eccentric black floral patterns. When she saw Selphie's beaming face she cocked her head to the side, as if recognizing something familiar but not quite placing it.
"Kairi, you're all grown up!" Selphie squealed and ran to embrace her.
From high in her heels Kairi looked down and saw the flipped up hairstyle. "OhmyGod, Selph!" she screamed.
They both jumped up and down screaming for a minute while Naminé covered her ears. There, she thought. Now they could shop together. And Naminé could-
"Where are you going?" Kairi crossed her arms and looked at Naminé, who was picking up her bag.
Naminé smiled. "For a walk. You two catch up... I'll be in the way."
"What about your dress?" Kairi squeaked.
Naminé opened the dressing room door. "Pick me something out." and then she walked to the other side, shutting it behind her. She knew she was trodding on dangerously thin ice with that last comment, but she hoped for the best and expected the worst.
She walked out of the store, making sure to smirk innocently at the owner on her way out. Outside the air promised freshness and renewing and she breathed deeply. It felt nice compared to the small under-conditioned boutique. She looked over the tops of some trees and through some large buildings at the sky, across the square. The always burning sky usually promised reds and pinks and oranges with tiny speckles of yellow. Today, though, the whole sky was aglow with gold. It was breathtaking and Naminé couldn't help but stare at it for a long time. In fact, It really was probably around ten minutes.
From beside her someone said "Hey," quietly.
She didn't process that anyone was speaking until the stranger said it again. Even then all she could do was look straight ahead, not tearing her eyes away from the sky.
"Look at the yellow." she laughed softly. "You never see yellow."
"Right..." the voice said. Only one syllable. It couldn't be. But it was. Naminé turned and her eyes met with Roxas' deep blue ones, looking at her like she'd finally lost it. She'd seen that look before.
She turned away. "Hi." she sighed.
"Hey." he still stood beside her. "So..." he said after a long awkward silence. "You left some stuff at my house."
Her heart fell again. So that's why had come and found her. "Oh." was all she could think of to say.
Roxas looked down. "Uh, yeah, your hairbrush and a blouse." he mumbled.
She turned to him. "Okay."
"Here." he handed her a plastic bag with her items safely inside. Then he let his head drop to look at the ground. Naminé could see a glint of sadness lurking behind his dark eyes.
"Thank you." she nodded.
"And this." Roxas pulled something small from his pocket. He opened her palm and dropped something cold and wire-like into it, closing it up again. Then he smiled. "I can always get you to give me another one." he said.
She looked down and opened her hand. There was her small gold jeweled rose that she had stuck on his windowsill. She closed her eyes. "Roxas..." she looked up.
But he was gone.
She sighed and turned back into the store, losing the energy and all-around will to go anywhere, even if it meant staying with Kairi and Selphie.
"Naminé, let's go! Were going to go watch a movie or something and then Selphie's staying over." Kairi pulled Naminé out of the door again, holding around two or three of the boutique's famous embezzled bags. Naminé was actually surprised that they had both finished their shopping in less than fifteen minutes, as Selphie had a bag too. She could only guess that both of them together with their style-savviness far surpassing Naminé's made them go quicker. Naminé looked at the bag and prayed that there was something not pink in there for her.
So Naminé quietly let Kairi drag her home. They put in a movie and watched it in the dark. Not that it mattered, they both just recollected about years before and chatted about things that have happened since they've been apart. The two old friends had a lot to talk about, so in the wavering light of the film Naminé just drew quietly as they talked far into the night.
Eventually she shut her artbook and walked outside, going completely unnoticed from the distracted friends' eyes. She huddled under a big white fleece blanket and looked up at the night sky, missing her yellow one.
Something caught her eye and she looked up to see glistening golden stars, almost taking her mind off of the sky. They sparkled and seemed to dance under the light of the moon. She smiled at her yellow stars and thought of Roxas.
She wondered if he was watching them too.