RokuNami Week 2020: Day 4 - Free Day/AU
I'm not apologizing. Ever.
Though this fic contains no spoilers for Three Houses, it does somewhat spoil some details regarding the backstory of certain characters.
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Where could she be going right now?
It was probably rude to be thinking about another girl when he was in the middle of sharing a dance with one, but Naminé always did have a talent for drawing his attention with nary a word—along with her ability to appear and disappear suddenly from places. A part of Roxas had been expecting something like this to happen. She had always been quiet and withdrawn, a little less so with her classmates since the school term began, but he noticed how she tended to stay on the fringes when they gathered together to study or to just have fun together.
Even after we won the Battle of the Eagle and Lion… Everyone in the Blue Lion class had unanimously agreed her magic had been a major deciding factor in their victory in the mock battle. She had flushed red at all the praise with the brightest of smiles on her face, but it hadn't encouraged her to stay and celebrate afterwards.
Looking back, Roxas regretted leaving her be. She'd looked so lonely back then. Like she wanted to join in on the festivities, but was being held back by… something.
Well, he wasn't going to make that mistake again. He'd never been one for dancing anyway. When the current song was finished, he let go of the girl he'd been dancing with and bowed once to her. It was difficult to shake the instincts for decorum he learned growing up in the care of a noble from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.
Slipping out of the reception hall, he spotted her heading to the cathedral and it clicked. The Goddess Tower… Of course. Where else in Garreg Mach was a more attractive place to be tonight?
Actually… if that was where she is going, perhaps he should leave her be after all. If she had made plans to meet someone there, he didn't want to intrude…
"Roxas?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice. She really did have a talent for appearing and disappearing suddenly from places…
"Were you following me?"
Busted. "I was worried," he explained. "You left so early, I wondered if something was bothering you."
"Oh…" It was like she was a completely different person when she smiled. Lighter, happier. More… carefree. "That's so sweet of you."
Embarrassed, Roxas could only glance away and scratch the back of his head. "I hope I wasn't bothering you."
"Was I going to meet someone at the Tower, you mean?" she asked knowingly. "That is where I was going, but I wasn't going to meet anyone there, so you aren't bothering me at all."
To say that he wasn't a little relieved by her answer would be a massive lie. "Would it be alright if I went with you?"
She smiled shyly. "Of course."
His heart was beating so fast, he was sure she could hear it as they walked the rest of the way together. The Goddess Tower… As the story goes, if a couple went up there the night of the ball held to celebrate the establishment of Garreg Mach Monastery and make a wish, it would be granted by the goddess. Roxas had no idea who or how such a legend came to be and, personally, he didn't believe it was real, but there was something very alluring about the prospect regardless.
Did Naminé have a wish she wanted to come true?
Looking around, Roxas had to admit to a certain degree of disappointment when he saw how… ordinary the top floor of the tower was. The place was typically only used for church rituals, explaining the bareness somewhat, but considering how students weren't typically weren't allowed entry, it really didn't look like much considering all the mysticism that surrounded it.
Naminé , it seemed, had a different opinion. At least, she had a different priority. "Wow," she breathed, heading straight towards the open window. "The view of the night sky is beautiful from here. I wish I brought my sketchbook with me."
"You will just have to remember for next year," Roxas replied. "Assuming, you can find a reason to come back after you graduate. If some Adrestian Emperor can do it, so could you."
His words had meant to be playful and teasing, but when she was quiet for a very long time, he began to wonder if he'd said something wrong, she asked, "Roxas? Would you mind if I told you something? Something nobody else knows?
"Sure. What is it."
She bit her lip. Something about her expression made her look as though she was about to cry. "I don't have much time left. Maybe ten years, at most."
Don't have… It took a little while for him to realize the implications. "Naminé… are you dying?"
"In a way," she replied, holding her upper arm. "I guess first of all, I should tell you something about my… about my Crest. Or Crests, rather. You may have already guessed, but I possess two. A Minor Crest of Indech and… a Major Crest of Lamine."
He had suspected, but to have her confirm it for him like this… He didn't know what to think. Sure, no one really understood the mechanics of how Crests are inherited, but having two just shouldn't be possible. "Naminé…"
"So there you have it. The secret I've been hiding from everyone all this time." She smiled, a little ironically. "I don't know why I was chosen to have this power. I don't even know if there's a right way for me to use it."
He could hear the melancholy in her voice, the sadness, but, unfortunately, his mouth moved quicker than his brain. "You helped us win the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. I say that was a pretty good use for it." Almost at once he wanted to take those words back. A joke, now of all times?
Naminé blinked once and then she giggled into her hand. "You're absolutely right," she agreed, a hint of laughter in her eyes. "I… I've gone through so much pain because of these Crests, but there can't be anything wrong about using them to make my friends happy."
"So I'm guessing your wish…"
"...Is to be free of this curse?" She looked thoughtful as she finished his sentence. "If I could be granted a wish, any wish by the goddess, I guess that would be the most logical thing to want, right? But, no. The way I see it, even if I had the life expectancy of a normal, healthy person, my life could still end well before ten years have passed. An accident, an illness… Things like that."
"That's a pretty morbid way of thinking about life," Roxas admitted, "But I understand what you're saying." It wasn't that he was ashamed of his past. It was just that he already felt like an interloper as it was. "I… To tell the truth, I used to be an orphan living in the streets of Fhirdiad. Lord Xemnas only adopted and named me his heir because of the Crest I bear. I didn't ask to be born with one. I didn't even realize I had one until he had me tested, but my Crest was the only thing that saved me from becoming another nameless victim of the plague. Stuff like that, you can't control."
"I heard rumors that you were adopted into nobility, but…" she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"Don't worry about it. Those days are long behind me." Truth be told, Roxas didn't trust Xemnas at all. His adoptive father wasn't the sort to do things purely out of the good of his heart (assuming he even had one), but those suspicions were not something he wanted to share right this moment.
Besides, if Xemnas hadn't adopted him, Roxas never would have been able to attend the Officer's Academy and mer her. That truly would have been a shame. So for that, he will thank the man. Once. "So, your wish? What is it?"
"Oh, right!" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "My wish is to not be forgotten when I am gone. To live on in the hearts of others." She frowned. "Is that a selfish thing to want? I mean, I've never been good at making friends…"
"There's me," Roxas countered softly. The strange flaxen-haired girl who always seemed to be doodling away where she sat at the back of the classroom. Something about her never failed to draw his eye. "I don't think you need to make a wish for that to come true, Naminé. Even if we never see each other again after we graduate, I know I won't forget you."
Pulling her arms behind her back, Naminé tilted her head and leaned forward a little. "You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"
Blushing, he could only stutter, "I-I was just saying what I was thinking!"
"On second thought," she straightened her back as she teased, "Maybe not so much."
Roxas sighed, shaking his head as he made a gesture of surrender. How did a conversation that started with Naminé telling him she was on borrowed time end with a discussion regarding his lack of charisma with girls? Commanding a battalion is way easier… "Thank you for sharing all this with me, Naminé. I won't tell anyone, promise."
"And thank you for listening." She bowed once. "Perhaps I can express my appreciation by giving you my first dance?"
"That is fine by me." Someone was bound to notice their absence sooner or later. Someone will also notice if they reappeared and then shared a dance together. Like Axel, for instance, but, as they say, to hell with that. Let them notice.
Taking her hand once they returned to the ball and leading her onto the dancefloor, Roxas found himself… believing. His more desperate prayers remain unanswered, but the small wishes he's been carrying within his heart? Granted, if only a little.
The goddess moves in mysterious ways indeed.
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My friend and I have this inside joke that Roxas and Dimitri have a lot in common temperament-wise. So. That's why they're from the Kingdom. That and my own personal bias for the Blue Lions.