Chapter 26: Meetings

sorry about the wait, although I can't really picture anyone waiting too long for it. :) I know it's a short chapter, sorry about that, but the last week of school was crap to me and then I had to go on a one week vacation with my fam. Just got back today, so I finished off the story as best as I could.

Frozen on the sidewalk, I struggled to keep my breathing even. The last thing I needed was this. At least at his house I could avoid him, but now, I had no choice. I fought to move my feet, and I barely got them to budge, afraid, I looked up to see Roxas again. He swayed a little, then righted himself, but never looked up. My hand instinctively went to the locket.

If he had come to break up with me today, instead of waiting until tomorrow, was I supposed to seem angry, or sad, or happy, or undecided? I didn't know how to act to make him think I wasn't in love with him. Did I throw the locket on the ground, or casually give it back... or did I tuck it in my shirt so that he wouldn't notice I still had it... so that, hidden, I could keep it forever.

I shut my eyes as he passed me, and I rocked a little when he bumped my shoulder. I opened my eyes, realizing he hadn't even noticed me, and I turned back quickly, now facing him on the ground before me. His head was down, and still, he didn't see me. He sat on the ground, with his hands back behind him. I couldn't see his face at all. It was a little scary, and I just stood before him, squeezing the locket ever tighter.

"Sorry," He mumbled under his breath, then got up, turned and began again.

I hesitated. "R-Roxas...?" I forced it out, and he turned to look at me. I read the expression on his face to mean that he really hadn't known it was me he had run into.

"Namine," I couldn't react, so I nodded. "Namine!" He said suddenly, as if he had remembered something. He grabbed my shoulders and nearly threw me into his chest, hugging me so tightly I thought I wouldn't be able to breath. "Namine," he said again, quieter this time.

"Are you okay?" I asked, frightened. This hadn't been the reaction I had been expecting out of him. Not to say, of course that I didn't prefer it to what I had expected, but it was alarming all the same.

"Now? Perfect." I didn't understand what he meant, but I took it to mean he had no intentions of waiting for tomorrow to tell me what he had planned to say. I inhaled deeply and pushed away from him.

"Roxas, I get the feeling we need to talk," I began, trying to sound indifferent. If he was breaking up with me, now, I didn't plan to reveal to him the pain it would inflict on my heart.

"Oh," He said, as if he really hadn't expected it. "Okay, then. Yeah, you're right." Without another word, he led me to the sakura tree at the center of the park, and I went into panic. He sat down, not turning toward me, and involuntarily, I sat, too, my back meeting his as I did. And then I realized what was happening. "Namine," I absolutely froze. "What do you think of me?"

"Eh? Wh-what do you–"

"What do you think of me?" He asked again, and I was no longer sure of the path this would follow.

I picked my brain for a second, then carefully recited the line he expected to hear. "Well, do you mean like, the way you look, or like... the way you act, or just... in general?"

His voice came out so low, I almost didn't respond. "Everything."

---

I kept a steady pace, staring intently at the sidewalk as I walked. It was hard to picture my mother coming back, I had never really imagined it would happen. And now that so much had changed, so much was happening. What would she say when she saw Natasha? When she saw my father? When she saw that her little boy... was in love?

Namine. I suddenly remembered that my time with her was slowly dwindling away, and that when I went to see her now, it might be gone forever. I slowly came to the realization that I couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell her how I feel. I couldn't put this off any longer. She had to know.

I was so caught up in my worries, that I didn't look up, even as I ran into someone, and even as I fell to the ground. Ow. I thought to myself, and then, "Sorry," under my breath. I got up, and turned away, picking up more than the original speed I had been walking at.

There was a moment when I nearly paused to look back at who I had hit, but I didn't have time before I heard her. "R-Roxas...?" Dazed, and a little more than disoriented, I turned to face her.

"Namine," I said at first, not understanding what was happening. She nodded. "Namine!" I almost shouted then, and took her by the shoulders, pulling her close to me. In the short time since I had seen her, I hadn't realized how much I had missed her. But maybe that was only due to the impending end that would soon take place. "Namine," I couldn't say it enough. Her name was like heaven on my lips, and I wanted to say it again, but she spoke.

"Are you okay?" I knew by her tone that she didn't want me so near to her, but I couldn't make myself let her go. I almost laughed at her question. Holding her, how could I not be okay?

"Now? Perfect." I waited in silence for a moment, and then Namine sucked in a big breath. And used it to push me away. I wasn't quite so perfect anymore.

"Roxas, I get the feeling we need to talk," We need to talk. I had heard that line skillfully delivered (on TV, of course) one to many times to consider this coincidence.

"Oh," And hearing the way it came out made me realize that despite knowing that it was over, part of me really believed that Namine cared. That this wouldn't be the end for us. That maybe, she loved me, too. "Okay, then. Yeah, you're right." I took her hand and walked to the cherry blossom tree at the center of the park. The place of our meeting. Our special place. I don't know what I hoped it would do, but I know that I expected something from the tree to spark in Namine's heart, to keep her from leaving me.

And suddenly, it hit me. Like a thousand pounds of... something that hits you really hard. And hurts. This was our moment. This was how it was going to happen, because this is where it all began. I knew, now, what to say. I knew what I had to say, what I would say. "Namine," She stiffened behind me. "What do you think of me?"

"Eh? Wh-what do you–"

"What do you think of me?" I repeated, and she understood.

"Well, do you mean like, the way you look, or like... the way you act, or just... in general?"

"Everything." I nearly whispered.