Chapter 2 Reality
Naminé first met Roxas when she was three years old. Around that time, little Naminé was positive that seeing a boy in her reflection was perfectly normal; the fact that the boy talked to her was even better, since she didn't have a brother or sister. Her mother and father were a bit baffled when Naminé told them; but when she tried to show Roxas to them, he didn't appear, so they set it off as an imaginary friend. From then on, Roxas and Naminé promised each other that they would never mention the other, because of the embarrassment that came from harassing parents.
Naminé often wondered what life would have been like if she never discovered the reflection of a boy hiding behind her desk. Would she still be an art major? Would she have a boyfriend? Would she be popular, with friends like Kairi, Aqua, Xion, Selphie, and Olette? What kind of person would she be? Shaking her head, she popped the last bite of pancake into her mouth and shouldered her handbag.
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" she called over her shoulder at the door, pulling her shoes over her heels. She just managed to close the door when the bus pulled up at her driveway. Grinning, she hopped on and took an empty seat somewhere in the middle.
On the next stop, Kairi came aboard.
"Morning," she greeted cheerfully, taking her usual spot by Naminé's side.
"Morning, Kai," she greeted in return. Kairi smiled and pulled a small envelope out of her bag, poking Naminé's shoulder with it. She rolled her eyes, taking it from her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"I can't believe he still thinks about me, but Sora mailed that to me this morning," Kairi chirped in excitement. Naminé resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation and roll her eyes at Kairi's obvious joy. Sora mailed her once a week, every week; and Kairi mailed right back.
"Yes, Kairi. Why would he stop thinking about you?" she asked nicely. Kairi frowned.
"He would stop thinking about silly old me if he has a new girlfriend," she mumbled, going into her 'thinking pose'. Naminé couldn't resist this time; her eyes met the ceiling and she punched her cousin's shoulder playfully.
"Sora wouldn't get a new girlfriend, Kairi. He'd write to you about how wonderful she is. And by the happiness your radiating, there's nothing about a girlfriend in here," she chided, flicking the letter in her fingers. Kairi snatched it and stuck her tongue out, pouting.
"What if she's a secret girlfriend?" she asked in all seriousness. Naminé sighed and shook her head.
"Kairi, you're being silly." she flicked her hair behind her shoulder as the bus came to a stop.
"It's possible," Kairi mumbled, stuffing the letter back into her bag. They exited in silence, but Kairi was still deep in thought when they reached their lockers. Rolling her eyes again, Naminé departed alone to art.
Her painting had to be one of her best works yet. She was up half the night just to finish it; she wanted to capture the best glow of twilight in the back ground. The blue jay nest nestled in the center of the piece held three of the beautiful blue birds; a mother chirping softly to her children. The twigs of their small home were bent and twisted, weaving a delicate basket of warmth held up by a branch that split in two. There was only a small number of leaves surrounding the nest, and the remainder of the piece was painted a light blue, purple, and grey.
Mrs. Gainsborough was so proud of her. She displayed the work before the entire class and framed the picture on the wall behind her desk. She promised the young artist that the piece would be admitted into her next gallery; news that delighted Naminé to the fullest extent. Her mood was further lifted when Xion's artwork - a pastel piece of a dog sleeping under the stars - was admitted into the gallery as well. She had a feeling today was going to be a very good day.
"I love this day, October nineteenth, and it is now the best day ever," Xion voiced when class was over. Naminé giggled, agreeing.
"I know! Our pieces, in Aerith's gallery! This is so great," she sighed, twirling in joy. They unloaded their books at their lockers, where Kairi was waiting, her face drained of color.
"Guys, I hate today," she groaned immediately, waiting patiently as Xion and Naminé fished their math books out.
"Why?" Xion asked first, a smirk playing at her lips. She exchanged a playful look with Naminé.
"Don't get me started, I'll talk your ears off again," Kairi warned. Naminé shrugged; she was going to tune out halfway through her explanation anyway. Xion motioned for her to continue.
"Ok. So first, in gym, we started doing this retarded step aerobics thing and honestly, it wasn't that bad, but when you have Selphie standing next to you singing along to Katy Perry, it's agony. After that wonderful session of karaoke, in Chem., this stupid girl behind me decided to throw eraser shavings in my hair because she was bored, and when I turned around to ask her to stop, the teacher got mad at me! So I couldn't do anything, and the girl kept throwing those stupid little shavings at me! So I went to the bathroom, and after finally getting everything out…" Kairi blabbed, a continuous stream of words that continued to flow out of her mouth even though the trio had entered class and the teacher had called for order. As the teacher shushed her once, she simply lowered her voice and continued to go on with her speech.
Naminé had stopped listening a long time ago; Kairi's sweet voice was just background music to her, and her thoughts were once again flying through the clouds. Technically, flying towards the near by city of Twilight Town.
Words Roxas once said to her; If anyone asks, I live in Twilight Town. She had given it plenty of thought before, but she could never really place answers with some questions in her mind; How did Roxas know what Twilight Town was? Why would he choose Twilight Town, a quiet, boring city without much to enjoy, to be his imaginary home? Naminé asked him once, but Roxas merely shook his head with a smile and changed the subject. But she figured she needed the information now or never, since her friends were setting her up on a blind date…
She was startled back to earth when the bell rang, signaling the start of the next class. She quickly waved goodbye to Xion and Kairi, and proceeded to Chemistry with no intention of paying attention. As she stepped into the room, she was struck with the disturbing stench of Science; huffing, she bowed hello to Mr. Vexen and hobbled off to her seat.
On hour later, and she was reunited with her friends.
"But seriously, why do you have so sing so loud?" Kairi was whining (again) to Selphie, who smirked deviously and struck a pose.
"Because someday, I'm gonna be a pop star! I'll have this secret Identity like Hannah Montana," she bragged, sticking her tongue out and picking a hole in her milk carton.
"What would your secret name be?" Aqua urged. She shared a look with Xion when Selphie sucked in a breath, thinking.
"I'd be…um…" Selphie mumbled, tongue twisted. With a sigh of defeat, she punched Aqua's shoulder playfully. "I'd be too cool for a secret name, and everyone would call me that one super sexy pop star."
"That one super sexy pop star? Yeah, that'll catch on fast," Naminé joked, earning a pout.
"Take the hint, Selph, and please, just stop singing," Kairi whined, throwing her sandwich crust in the trash. The table laughed, enjoying Selphie's humiliation.
"Oh! You guys know me and Nam's art are gonna be in Aerith's gallery?" Xion chirped excitedly after a moment of comfortable silence. Naminé beamed along with her best friend, feeling pleased. Aqua, Kairi, and Olette grinned broadly while Selphie continued to wallow in her embarrassment.
"That's so awesome! Our little babies are growing up!"
"Aqua, just because were short doesn't mean were babies. We're in the big leagues now, what with our art in the one and only Aerith Gainsborough's gallery," Xion sniped, sticking her tongue out. Aqua rubbed her head, messing up her hair.
"Hey! That reminds me. Terra's coming to my recital on Halloween," she suddenly said, ignoring Xion's protesting curses. A devilish grin spread across Selphie's face.
"Hayner's coming too!" she burst, and Olette blushed deeply, horrified.
"Selphie! Stop doing that!" she whined to her twin, but the latter chuckled.
"Olette, I'm happy for you. From all those stories I've heard of Hayner, I know for a fact that he doesn't like music. Since he's coming to your recital, that must mean he really likes you!" Naminé reassured, causing another blush to spread across Olette's cheeks. The group giggled.
"How do you know that he doesn't like music?" she tested.
"Well one, you used to always come to us on Mondays and practically vent your feelings of deep loathing for him, asking us why he won't listen to your beautiful flute playing. Two, you would complain sometime later that he won't take your music seriously, and that it frustrated you. Three-"
"I get it!" Olette burst, laughing with the rest. Suddenly, Kairi abruptly stopped and shared a look with Selphie. The two began a silent conversation using hand gestures, while the rest watched curiously.
"Naminé, are you ready for Friday?"
Naminé, who was squinting hard at a pair of adults outside fighting over a parking space, (inspiration for her next artwork) snapped back into place and blinked, confused. Kairi was smirking, a sign that said that whatever escaped the red-head's mouth, Naminé wasn't going to like it. With a heavy sigh and a mental prayer to God, she looked at Kairi expectantly.
"What's happening on Friday?"
This question caused Selphie and Kairi to burst out laughing, and they continued to communicate through gurgling noises and hand gestures. Aqua raised an eyebrow while Xion inconspicuously curled her finger around her head. Kairi nodded enthusiastically and pointed to Naminé, and the duo started a new wave of laughter. The blonde was beginning to get irritated.
"Guys, spit it out!" she near shouted, and Selphie finally tried to suppress her giggles.
"Nothing much, Nami," she released another chuckle, "Just our girl's night out, if you remember."
Sirens went off within her mind when she noticed the evil gleam in her eyes. "I remember. Where are we going?"
"To the mall, of course. All of you are coming," Kairi explained, winking at the others. She used her weird hand gestures again, and somehow, they figured it out; whatever it was. now everyone was smirking playfully at Naminé, releasing small giggles here and there.
"Guys, you're seriously scaring me…" she warned, her eyes switching between all of them. Olette shrugged.
"Don't worry, Nami. We won't do anything to hurt you. It's harmless shopping," she reassured, but the smirk on her lips said otherwise. Naminé continued to stare at them curiously, but she didn't press the matter. Lunch passed in silence, but Kairi and Selphie continued to silently communicate with each other.
"I'm seriously scared," Naminé confessed, lying flat on her back in her room with a pillow clenched tightly in her grasp. Roxas was leaning against the mirror with his back facing her, thinking.
"Well, they said it was harmless shopping, right? What if it is?" he asked. Naminé groaned, pulling herself up into a sitting position.
"Yeah, but for the past two weeks they've been pressuring me to go on a blind date."
"I thought they dropped that when you mentioned me," he said thoughtfully, turning his head over his shoulder to catch her eye. Naminé shook her head.
"No, that just made them that much more determined. Aqua said something about seriously going to Twilight Town to look for you, but I stopped that. Ever since then, They've been trying really hard to get me to start dating," she mumbled, hugging the pillow tighter. Roxas chuckled.
"You have some weird friends. Why don't you tell them something like…I don't know, maybe you have had contact with me for the past five years and we're keeping up a long distance relationship?" he suggested, smirking. Naminé stopped squirming and gave it some thought.
"That might work…but how can I prove it?" she asked, intrigued.
"Have your dad write fake love letters? Type up fake love letters? Write an email to yourself?" he joked, laughing. Naminé pouted at him, punching the glass playfully, even though she knew he wouldn't feel it.
"Because that's going to work," she grumbled. He stifled his giggles as she eyed him, but the smirk was still present in his eyes.
"Just write fake letters to yourself. Show your friends tomorrow, but only if they bring it up," he said. Naminé sighed in defeat and went to her desk, retrieving a pen and paper.
"Ok, but I'm warning you, my man-hand-writing is to neat and curly. So you'd better say some feminine things," she mumbled, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes as she sat back down by the mirror, pulling a book out of her bag for support.
"So start with something sappy then. Like, dearly beloved, dot, dot, dot," he started, sitting down next to her on the other side of the glass. She copied his words onto the paper, trying hard to turn her elegant cursive into ugly chicken-scratch writing. She succeeded partially, and just labeled it good enough to pass by her friends. Roxas cocked his head to the side, squinting to try and read the writing. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up as she finished.
"Um…How was your weekend?" he tried, and when Naminé began writing it down, he continued. "Mine was pretty good. Uh…I won the skateboarding championship after all. The trophy is pretty big, and I get to go to the National Championships in Traverse Town next month…" he murmured with ease, as if he'd been telling the story his whole life. Naminé was curious as to how he managed to keep talking; she thought he didn't have a life outside her mirror, because he was her reflection. Then again, there were times when he wasn't in the mirror. What else could he do when she was at school? Maybe there was a world of his own on the other side.
With a full letter written in Naminé's poor handwriting, the duo relaxed again and lounged before the mirror, with Roxas helping Naminé with her homework. Despite his laid back, more lazy appearance, Roxas was actually a very bright, intelligent person; Naminé would never even dream of having a different tutor. After careful calculations, dinner, and a shower, the two were gearing up for bed rest.
"Love you lots, Nami-Nami," he sighed, using his own personal nickname for her. She smiled, pressing her hand against the mirror. Naturally, he brought his up to rest against hers; the closest they could ever come to each other.
"Love you more, Roxie," she shot back, giving him one last long look before he faded away with the bright crystal-like crests.
"If only I could really meet you…"
I might as well update my most popular story! :O It's been a while, and I've been trying to work out the kinks in the plot line with this story; No worries, I solved most of them with the help of my best friend, aka Uwishuknewher.
BTW; I have this story under 'complete' because that's basically just me telling you guys 'I'm sooooo not gonna update anytime soon.' There are still a few more kinks in the storyline, but as soon as I work them out, this story is up and running for buisness! :D
~Shiori the Bookmark