Redeeming Endeavor: It's late, but for a reason. More on that later.
Chapter 27: Event Horizon
Every time Naminé looked at Roxas, she found him staring right back. She'd look away, of course. In case the fact that she tackled him on sight hadn't been embarrassing enough, knowing that he noticed every time she looked his way made her feel like some love-struck schoolgirl who couldn't muster the courage to look at her crush. It didn't help that Roxas appeared so much cooler and unfazed. While she was struggling to contain her excitement, Roxas just seemed relieved to see her.
Around their parents, Roxas was even more reserved. Naminé figured that they all knew that she and Roxas got along, but she never exactly discussed whether or not she was dating him. She didn't really know herself. When Roxas seemed to act as if they were just friends, Naminé went along with it without an issue, partly because she thought of doing the same thing and partly because she wanted to keep something from her mother for not telling her that her real birthday present was a week with her friends from Destiny Islands. It may have been petty, but the fact that her mother unknowingly invited the boy Naminé liked felt like a small victory.
As the sun began to set, everyone sat outside and chatted while Sora and his father grilled dinner. As Naminé talked with Riku and Kairi, she'd glance at Roxas when Riku and Kairi riffed into their own tangents. Without fail, he'd be looking at her. Then she figured it out. It wasn't that she looked at him just as he was looking at her; rather, he was always looking at her. Naturally, their eyes would meet every time.
Flustered, Naminé excused herself from the conversation. She saw Roxas stand up and walk to the edge of the lake, so she followed him.
"They're going to notice if you keep staring, you know," she said, stopping when she stood beside him. She kept her eyes on the lake, admiring the way the sky's colors reflected on the surface but feeling Roxas's gaze aimed at her.
"Who is? Our families? Let them," he said. "Besides, if they didn't notice before, they definitely notice now."
Naminé blushed. It was almost certain that everyone at the picnic table was watching them now. "Well then I guess we're no longer under the radar."
Roxas shook his head. "To be honest, I had no idea how to react in front of our parents. I mean, I think my mom knows I've been talking with you online or a while, but... I don't know. To think that we spent all that time talking to each other and completely forgot how to break it to the family…"
Naminé laughed. "You make it sound like this is some huge announcement we have to make."
Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Let's keep playing this down then. We'll let them wonder and use their imagination. And it'll be a little easier to get away if they don't think we're serious."
Naminé wanted to ask why they would need privacy from their parents, but chose to keep silent. She rubbed her face with her hands and immediately regretted ever raising her arms. They snapped back into a relaxed position. "Whatever. No matter the method, we're here now, and I'm happy about that. Unlike someone I know…"
"Are you saying I'm not happy to be here?" he asked.
"I didn't see you tackle me when you saw me," Naminé teased. "You also seem a little too composed here, so I feel like I'm the only one who wants to scream how happy I am right now."
Roxas shook his head. "It's only been a few hours and you're already trying to get a rise out of me. You're the one who pointed out that I won't stop looking at you, so don't act like you don't notice how I'm handling this overwhelming happiness."
"When you say it like that, it sounds sarcastic." Naminé crossed her arms. "Seriously though, what's with the staring?" she asked.
Roxas smirked. "Does it bother you?"
Naminé rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what he was doing. "If I say yes, then you'll keep doing it because you think it's funny to creep me out. If I say no, then you'll keep doing it because I'd supposedly be okay with it. Either way, you're not going to stop. Who's the one trying to rile up the other now?"
Roxas snickered. "You know me too well."
Sora called them from the picnic area to let them know dinner was ready. Roxas and Naminé turned back up the hill, taking slow and deliberate steps.
"Roxas," Naminé said, "did you know that this whole thing was going to happen?"
"This vacation? I found out a few days before. When I tried to tell you though, your cell phone service was already gone. I think Sora knew though."
Naminé nodded slowly, making eye contact with her smirking twin sister. "Of course he did."
Naminé had a feeling that Kairi had orchestrated the entire thing, which turned out to be correct.
"We'll talk about it later tonight if you want to know how to get things done," Kairi had said with a wink.
After dinner, Naminé spent her time talking with Roxas's parents, Sora, and Riku. Roxas stayed quiet for most of the conversation, leaving Naminé to reflect a bunch of questions from his mother regarding their switch from mortal enemies to close friends. Naminé never noticed before, but Roxas's mother was quite nosy and energetic. The conversation—an interview, really—proved to be exhausting.
With an active day planned for tomorrow, everyone went inside just as the sky darkened completely. The night ended with a card game that was never really played correctly since everyone was tagging in and out with shower breaks. As Naminé followed her sister up to their room, their mother pulled them aside for a small family meeting.
It turned out to be a warning not to go into the boys' rooms during the night.
"If you guys are going into each other's rooms, I want it to be when it's bright outside and when the doors are open."
Kairi rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Fine."
"No, Kairi. That doesn't mean you can leave the door open a crack. It has to be wide open," their mother said. "And you better not be in Sora's room unless there's an adult in the house."
"We don't count as adults?" Kairi asked.
"Hardly."
"Mom, I'm not going to try anything with you next door. Maybe when you're not around, then yeah—"
"Kairi!"
"But I think I know better than that. Nothing's going to happen. You won't have grandchildren in nine months, I promise."
Naminé laughed. Their mother huffed.
"Nam, please make sure your sister doesn't do anything stupid."
Naminé gave her mother a mock salute. "Sure thing, Mom."
The girls went across the hall and into their room, locking the door behind them. They broke into a laughing fit over the entire exchange.
Naminé slipped into the king-sized bed and made herself comfortable. Kairi followed, turning off the light before getting in.
"So you're going to tell me how this whole vacation thing came together, right?" Naminé asked, turning to face Kairi. She easily outlined Kairi's figure as the white moonlight came through the window.
"Why do you want to know so badly?" Kairi asked.
Naminé waited until her sister gave in—she clearly wanted to explain her master plan—and began to elaborate. Kairi explained that she had originally planned on visiting Destiny Islands during their break, but their mother had denied her. Without the possibility of repeating her previous spring break, Kairi had played her trump card.
"Why wouldn't Mom let me go to the Islands for spring break?" Kairi asked.
Naminé shrugged. "Because you pissed her off?"
"Maybe, but the real reason is probably because she suspected something. So since Mom is a total gossip, I gave her the scoop and told her about my and Sora's relationship," Kairi said.
She had cut her losses and played to their mother's weakness. The result, of course, was a strengthened relationship between the two. Their mother was happy to hear about Kairi's love life, and Kairi was happy that their mother approved. So when Kairi had brought up spring break again, she came up with a compromise involving a dual-family vacation. Kairi would get to see Sora, and their families would get to supervise. In addition, their parents would be able to hang out again.
"It was really a deal she couldn't refuse. Mom's really close to Riku's and Sora's parents, and the fact that she'd have me in her sights most of the time was pretty comforting. I had Sora tell his family to call Mom, and the rest is history."
"How come here, though? Why couldn't we all go to Destiny Islands?" Naminé asked.
"Here we get to spend quality time with Mom. At the Islands, she thinks we'd just go out and meet with our friends, which is totally true. Second, this is Riku's vacation home. His parents were supposed to come and all of us were supposed to do some sightseeing, but apparently they couldn't take time off. And finally, don't you think this is much better? Sora's a room over," Kairi said, "and so is Roxas."
Naminé snorted. "You're freaking terrifying."
Kairi giggled. "You should be thanking me. I merely played the cards I had been dealt, and you just happen to benefit in the process."
"Knowing you, though, you probably get something out of Roxas being here."
"That's rather cynical of you," Kairi said. "But it's completely correct."
Kairi threw off the covers and checked her watch on the nightstand. She walked over to the window nook and unlocked the window, then gave it a light push. It swung open.
Naminé sat up. "What are you doing?"
"I'll be sleeping in Sora's room tonight," Kairi announced nonchalantly. She climbed out the window.
The window to their room was situated just above the room of the covered patio. The room next door—Roxas's room—also had a window that opened over the roof. It had not occurred to Naminé that Kairi would go to such measures to get into Sora's room, and clearly their mother didn't anticipate it either.
"Kairi!" Naminé ran over to the window and grabbed her sister's arm. "Are you insane?"
Kairi rolled her eyes. "You and Roxas had two options: you could've told your parents that you two were dating, or you could've kept that a secret. If you told them, it would've taken a little attention off me and Sora, which is a win for me." Kairi reclaimed her arm and lowered herself onto the roof. Her head barely appeared over the windowsill. "If you didn't tell them, then Mom wouldn't think you'd let a boy sleep in your room. Therefore, she'd have no reason to suspect that I'd be sleeping in Sora's room and Roxas would be sleeping in ours."
Naminé's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean Roxas is sleeping here?" she asked frantically.
"You're welcome."
"Kairi, be serious!"
"Well he's not going to be in the room when I get there," Kairi said with a shrug. "I figure he won't have a problem here either. You're welcome to call Mom if you don't want me to go."
Naminé breathed in deeply. She had forgotten how Kairi could easily back her into corners. Naminé didn't want to tempt fate and risk their mom finding out, but she was far from opposed to the idea of spending more time with Roxas.
"Please don't get caught," Naminé whined.
Kairi flashed her a smile. "I would say I owe you one, but I'd say you're breaking even. I'll see you in the morning."
Naminé leaned out the window and watched Kairi silently walk over to Sora's window. She climbed up, grabbing someone's hand for help. Moments later, a confused-looking Roxas climbed out the window and onto the roof. The window closed in his face.
He turned to Naminé and walked over. "So Kairi told me I'm sleeping here for tonight?"
Naminé blushed. "It wasn't my idea. You can go back to your room if you want."
"You're giving me the option of sleeping with you or listening to my brother get it on with your sister. If this is considered a hard decision, this might be the easiest decision I've ever made in my life."
"You're not going to be sleeping with me!" Naminé said quickly.
"I was using sleep in the sense of sleep, not sex," Roxas said.
"Oh."
"I mean, if you—"
"Stop! Just don't even go there and get in." Naminé got out of the way.
"If you insist." Roxas climbed in and closed the window behind him. He left it unlocked. He stared at Naminé. "Are you just going to stand there?"
Naminé shuffled to her bed without turning around. Her heart pounded rapidly.
"You guys have a king bed? Why the heck didn't Sora just come here?" Roxas asked quietly.
Naminé hid under the covers and kept her back to Roxas, wondering if they were moving too quickly. Sure, she didn't exactly plan on having to sleep with the boy she was dating but wasn't really official with, but this was a legitimate problem. She hadn't even kissed him yet and he was already going to sleep in the same bed.
Or, he would be if he ever came in. Naminé noticed that ten minutes had passed and her bed hadn't shifted in the slightest. Unless Roxas was that stealthy, she was sure she would've felt or heard someone settling in on the other side. She looked over her shoulder only to find an empty space behind her. She sat up.
Roxas had remained on the window nook. He was too tall to fit comfortably, so his knees were bent and his hands were tucked under his head for extra cushion. She saw a flash a blue in under the white light of the moon. He was still awake.
"Roxas, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Trying to sleep," he said.
"That can't be comfortable."
"It's more comfortable than it looks."
Naminé gripped the edge of her blanket. Why had she assumed that Roxas was going to sleep in the bed? Of course it made more sense for him to sleep elsewhere. But he didn't look comfortable at all, and she didn't see him doing anything to her without her permission.
The thought made the room feel hotter than it was. Pushing her insecurities aside, Naminé threw off the covers and walked over to Roxas. He turned from the window, looked her up and down, and averted his gaze.
"Roxas, sleep in the bed," Naminé said.
"What?" He kept his eyes on the moon.
"You heard me."
"I'd rather not make you uncomfortable."
"There's plenty of room. Just stay on your side and we'll be fine."
He turned to look at her. "You're killing me, Nami. You know I can't say no when you're asking me like this."
"What?" Naminé asked. Did he just call her by a nickname?
He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the window nook. "This is straight out of one of my dreams."
He didn't make much sense, unless he was implying that she looked different somehow. As far as she knew, she had properly taken off her make-up and her face was as clear as it had ever been. She looked at her outfit. It was her normal sleep attire—a white camisole and a small pair of shorts she normally wore in warm weather—so it wasn't anything worth noting, except the fact that one of the thin straps of her shirt was falling off her shoulder. And, since she wasn't expecting to see a boy until morning, she wasn't wearing a bra.
She quickly adjusted her clothing and covered her chest. Roxas chuckled.
"Thanks for telling me earlier," Naminé said as she walked to the bed.
Roxas followed her and settled on the opposite side, as far away from her as the bed would allow.
It was a bit awkward at first, but Naminé knew that nothing was going to happen and calmed down a bit. Still, she knew Roxas was lying awake. She turned on her side. Roxas was on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Roxas," she called. "Did you call me Nami earlier?"
Roxas smiled and shook his head. "Must have been your imagination."
"I'm pretty sure you did."
"Is that a problem? I'll stop if you want."
"Wow, someone's a little defensive. Are you embarrassed?" Naminé teased.
"Your mom's embarrassed."
Naminé giggled, throwing one her pillows at Roxas. It hit him in the face. She laughed a little harder, but was interrupted when he threw the pillow back.
"I'm okay with it, you know." Naminé tucked her rudely returned pillow under her arms. "No one's ever called me that though."
"Good. I'm calling dibs."
"You're claiming ownership over a nickname meant for me?"
"D-Did I s-stutter, Nami?"
Naminé regretted throwing her pillow at Roxas a second time since she spent the next few hours with nothing to smother her laughter. Roxas didn't make falling asleep easy with his chatter and jokes, and every time he'd stop, she would just egg him on and accuse him of falling asleep like a newborn baby. It was an absolute miracle that they were able to remain quiet enough. After telling Kairi not to get caught, Naminé learned that she would have to take her own advice.
Their routine was rekindled, and Naminé remembered the earlier days of their online conversations and how easy it was to get lost in them and how hard it was to stop. The ones now flowed just as easily, perhaps more so than before thanks to their proximity, and they built off each other's words with snarky comments and sarcastic quips. He was vintage Roxas again. After a day of restraint and hiding his feelings, Naminé once again saw him having fun and smiling easily over what had to be the worst and stupidest jokes Naminé had ever made in her life.
It felt great to be around him again.
Naminé attempted to steal her pillow back on occasion, but Roxas always kept it out of her reach. She managed to claim it back just as the sky was beginning to brighten by throwing herself across his body. He threw her back onto the bed, urging her to quiet her giggling.
"You're going to get us caught," Roxas said, biting back a smile as he tried to rip the pillow out of Naminé's arms. "If you wanted to get on top of me, you could've just asked!"
Naminé turned her back on him, protecting the pillow. "Nobody in their right mind would ask something like that! And you were the one who wouldn't give it back. I bet that's what you wanted me to do."
"Not that I'm opposed to that in the future, but no, I actually didn't want that. How am I supposed to sleep with two pillows?"
"You mean you're actually going to sleep?"
"You make it sound like it's the weirdest thing a person could do."
Naminé turned and frowned. "Well what am I supposed to do? Watch?"
"Well we're in a bed right now, so you have options, and one of them will keep me awake."
Naminé blushed. "That's not funny."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to make it awkward," Roxas said quickly. "You should sleep too. The sun's probably coming up soon anyway."
Naminé huffed. "I'm not tired though."
"You're tired, Nami. Just be quiet for the next five minutes. You'll see."
Naminé disagreed, but she relented. She turned on her side, still facing Roxas, and closed her eyes with one of her pillows hugged tightly in her arms.
She intended to wait out the five minutes and tell Roxas he was wrong, but she began to fall asleep. The last thing she remembered was the mattress shifting as if a weight was lifted off.
The smell of bacon woke Naminé up. By then, the sun was already in the sky and Naminé's bed was empty. The kitchen downstairs sounded pretty active, and the door to her bedroom was wide open. Roxas was nowhere to be found. Behind her, the bathroom door opened, and Kairi walked out like she had just finished taking a shower. Kairi noticed her sister sitting up.
"Good morning. You look like you could use some more sleep," Kairi greeted as she put away her towel.
"Where's Roxas?" Naminé asked, still a little groggy.
"In his room, I'm guessing. We switched back this morning," Kairi said. "Did he stay at the window the entire time?"
Naminé tucked herself back into bed and frowned. He must've moved there when she fell asleep. "I guess so."
"His dad saw me on the roof this morning," Kairi added nonchalantly.
Naminé sat up, now wide-awake. "Kairi, are you serious? He knows?"
"Yeah. As I was walking back to this window, he was drinking coffee and staring at the lake. Then he looked up and saw me. I waved, and he sorta raised his mug."
"We are so dead."
"I think we're fine. All the adults are eating breakfast downstairs, and I would think that Mom would be up here giving us an earful if she knew what went down." Kairi sat on the bed. "Did you sleep last night?"
"I slept enough," Naminé said before yawning. In truth, she wanted to sleep until noon. "You?"
"I didn't sleep at all, but I had a fantastic night, thank you." Kairi got up. "I'm going to see if Riku's up and eat breakfast. You should get dressed."
Naminé cleaned herself up a little and felt a bit more refreshed. Through a bout with soreness, Naminé managed to put on her white summer dress. She walked over to Roxas's room after. It was empty, though a little messy, and smelled as if someone used an entire can of air freshener. Open suitcases sat on the floor at the foot of each twin bed, and Naminé recognized their clothes from yesterday were sitting in a haphazard pile near the wall. She then checked Riku's room, which not only smelled normal—in fact, it smelled like Riku's cologne without attacking her nostrils—but was much cleaner. She turned to leave, but walked straight into someone's chest. She yelped.
"Is there a reason you're in Riku's room?" Roxas asked.
"I was looking for you!" Naminé answered.
"In Riku's room?"
Naminé didn't have an explanation for that, so she changed the subject. "Kairi told me that you were sleeping at the windowsill when she got back."
Roxas continued on their first subject. "For future reference, I won't be in Riku's room if you can't find me."
"Why did you move back to the window?"
Roxas ignored her question and returned to his room. He organized his bag, putting his dirty clothes in a plastic bag and tucking it away neatly. He sneezed. "They went a little overboard on the air freshener."
"Or maybe you're getting sick because you slept next to the window with no blanket!"
"My god, Nami. Will you drop it? As soon as I got to the window, Kairi was already on her way back," Roxas explained. "I was there for maybe five minutes, and even then I didn't sleep at all."
"Well you could've stayed in the bed!"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Fine. If it makes you happy, then I'll stay in the bed tonight."
Naminé went silent. Not only did she realize that she was angry at Roxas for not sleeping in the same bed as her, but he also implied that he would be trading rooms with Kairi again. When did they plan all of this switching? Naminé couldn't recall a moment where they were alone to discuss it.
"How come you didn't tell me that this was going to be a thing?" Naminé asked as she followed Roxas to the staircase.
"Because I didn't know it was a thing until last night. Kairi came into our room without warning, Sora apologized to me, and then Kairi went 'How come you're wearing clothes?' to him. Then she said that it'd be better to go to your room and she'd come back to switch in the morning," Roxas said, whispering most of it before heading downstairs.
Naminé grimaced. "Oh. They were…"
"Apparently they didn't sleep either."
Breakfast was prepared by Roxas's parents and it was delicious. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but Naminé figured that their mom was a wizard of some sort since there wasn't a single pancake that wasn't perfectly round. Roxas's dad, despite seeing Kairi on the roof, didn't act any differently. He did have an interesting exchange with Kairi though.
"You wake up rather early for a man on vacation," Kairi said sweetly as she passed him the butter.
"I can say the same about you, Miss Kairi," He said as he filled out his Sudoku puzzle. "I like to wake up before sunrise and ease into my day. What's your reason?"
"I prefer to start every day with a little exercise."
Sora was completely oblivious to the exchange, and much to Naminé's relief, so was her mother. Naminé didn't understand why Roxas's dad was keeping their secret, but she wasn't going to question any of it.
After cleaning up, Naminé learned that their trip to the city was pushed back one day, meaning that they'd have to spend their time at the lake house. Relieved, Naminé made her way to back to her room for some much needed sleep. Before she reached her room, Roxas stopped her.
"You're coming with us," he said, and with Kairi working alongside him, Naminé was once again donning her swim suit and standing on the shore of the lake, life jacket in one hand and canoe paddle in the other.
She whimpered. Her arms were feeling better today, but she didn't want to test them.
Luckily, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were competitive people. They quickly claimed the kayaks and organized a race to the nearby spring that sourced the lake. Roxas, on the other hand, took his time getting everything together. He gently pushed the canoe into the water and offered his hand.
"You coming?" he asked.
"I'd rather sleep."
"Come on. I didn't get to see any of this stuff yesterday. Just come with me. I'd rather you come along than go by myself."
Naminé averted her gaze. She hated how hard it was to say no to his face. "Why should I? You didn't stay in bed when I asked you to."
Roxas laughed. "The shit I put up with for the girl I like… unbelievable." He walked over to her, lifted her off the ground despite her protests, and carried her to the canoe. He carefully placed her near the front seat. "A year ago, comments like that would piss me off," he said. Naminé was very aware that his hands were still on her waist. "Then again, I don't think that'd be something you'd tell me either."
"Uh-uh." Naminé shook her head. For once, she got a long look at his face in the sunlight. Seeing him so close from a new perspective—she always had to look up a little when he was this close, but now she stood over him—made her knees feel weak. Or maybe that was just fatigue. He couldn't possibly have been so handsome the entire time they had been together. And she would have noticed any changes since she talked with him all year, right?
Maybe it was his eyes. They were more relaxed now. They weren't pixelated or hidden by the dark or painted by surprise or shock anymore. He was looking at her like he had finally accepted that she was very real and very much in front of him, and for some reason it made her heart race to know that he was looking at her and taking her in.
"I'll paddle. I know your arms are sore, so you just sit tight until we get there." He removed his hands. Not even the sunlight was as warm as his skin.
"Okay." She sat down, finding it harder to formulate words.
"Oh, Nami?"
She felt his fingers gently tilt her head up, and then she felt his lips on her cheek.
"Wake up a little, will you?"
He had asked her, she remembered, to save her first kiss for him. That happened the last time they saw each other, and that was also the last and only time he kissed her, which was also on her cheek but very close to her lips.
Only now did it occur to Naminé that he could have kissed her earlier or she could have kissed him this entire time.
She watched him swim in the cold spring water with Kairi, Sora, and Riku. True to his word, he had paddled the entire way to the spring, even upstream, to meet with everyone. How he was comfortable swimming in that freezing water was something Naminé didn't care to find out for herself, so she stuck with watching.
She had to admit that whatever sports Roxas had picked up made him look… sturdier than he had looked in the past. He wasn't as muscular or defined as someone like Riku, but he was lean. His body had apparently found the happy medium between being muscular and being skinny. He looked healthy.
And that looked good. His face was still a bit boyish, but maybe that had more to do with the fact that she had always seen his face growing up. She never cared to look at his body, nor did she really find herself wondering what he would feel like in years past. That was a more recent development.
Boys were so…square. Naminé eyed the broadness of Roxas's shoulders and the length of his arms and the firmness of his chest and abs. She wanted to touch it. As much as she admired looking at him from a distance, she couldn't deny the temptation to actually feel him up.
She kept these thoughts to herself when Kairi swam over, who dropped into a spot right next to her. Naminé flinched and complained when Kairi flicked her with cold water.
"How are you not freezing?" Naminé asked. The sun was high in the sky and the air was hot, but the small amount of water was enough to make Naminé shiver.
"I'm just going with the flow here. I'm running on an hour of actual sleep and I am feeling so awake and refreshed and hyper!"
Naminé had that feeling every time she pulled an all-nighter for school. She'd get through the day perfectly fine, at times feeling more energized than ever, only to crash an hour before dinner. Such a state would be a lot better than the tiredness Naminé was experiencing.
Kairi's arrival distracted Naminé just enough for Roxas to swim closer. She noticed his treading water right in front of her and immediately grabbed the dock.
"Don't you dare," she warned. Her legs hung off the edge of the dock. She cocked them back, ready to kick if she needed to.
"Relax. I just need one of the life vests. Toss me one?"
Naminé reluctantly reached into the canoe and threw him one, tightly gripping the dock planks with her other hand.
"You sure you don't want to swim?" Roxas asked as he swam closer to her.
"I'm perfectly fine here, thank you," Naminé said. She didn't notice Kairi standing behind her.
"Catch!" Kairi yelled before kicking Naminé into the water.
Cold. The water was freezing. Naminé swam right to the surface, screaming profanities at Kairi until Roxas wrapped his arms around her.
"Whoa! Calm down, Nami!" He laughed, keeping her still.
Even in the cold water, Naminé felt the warmth of his skin on her back. She was glad his life vest was unbuckled. "You planned this."
"You looked like you wanted to take a dip." Roxas laughed. "I can take you to the ladder there if you want."
"No," Naminé said, almost too eagerly. "If you don't want to deal with me, you should've left me alone."
"Fair enough. I'm okay with this."
Naminé looked at Kairi, who winked before diving back into the water. For the next fifteen minutes, Naminé relaxed in Roxas's arms as they floated around. She adjusted to the water in no time, and just like Kairi had told her, the water was extremely refreshing. It helped that her personal flotation device produced heat.
Roxas sighed, dipping his head back into the water. "This is nice."
"You mean the water or this set-up?" Naminé asked.
"Yes."
Naminé giggled. Under the surface of the water, she found Roxas's hand and laced her fingers with his.
When lunch time rolled around, Naminé and Roxas followed the racing kayakers back home. After riding downstream, Naminé helped Roxas paddle back to their lake house. They took their time, eventually losing sight of the trio speeding ahead.
"I just want to eat and take a nap," Naminé said as they coasted on the water.
"That sounds perfect."
They reached the dock and secured the canoe. Roxas offered to put everything else in the shed. Instead, Naminé declined and helped him.
The plan was to take the initiative and fulfill a promise. She didn't know if Roxas would react favorably to being kissed, but she was too nervous to care. The mere planning behind the kiss was enough to give Naminé an adrenaline rush.
She realized in that cold spring water that she had wanted to kiss Roxas for a very long time. She thought about it further and learned that, rather than doing anything to get forward in their relationship, she had always waited for him to move first. As confident as he acted, she was sure he was just as scared, if not more, as she was when it came to physical contact. It was like walking on a tightrope most of the time, largely due to the fact that they had never really discussed what they wanted on from the physical side of a relationship.
Heck, they never really discussed what their relationship even was. They had never made things official despite making themselves exclusive when they were separated. Naminé's best guess was that Roxas was her boyfriend, and if not that then he was the closest thing to a boyfriend she ever had.
He had to have known what she was planning. The air felt different. It wasn't tense or thick with tension, but Naminé thought her anticipation was just obvious enough to be tangible. Whatever the case, Roxas didn't act any differently.
"Here. I'll put that in the shed." Roxas held his hand out, taking Naminé's life vest. She followed him to the shed.
"Uh, Roxas?" Naminé waited just outside the door.
"What's up?"
"You know how you asked me to save my first kiss for you?"
Roxas closed the doors behind him and blushed. "I… try not to, but yeah. I do."
"Well…" Naminé felt her chest tighten. Nope. She was going through with this. Screw it. She was not about to mess this up. She walked up to Roxas and gently pushed him behind the shed where they wouldn't be seen. "Um, here."
She stood on her tiptoes, closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
There were no fireworks or bursts of warmth or cheers from a crowd commemorating their kiss like a momentous occasion. There was only Roxas and the movement of his lips and his soft messy hair and his sun-kissed skin. Naminé's knees buckled as she continued to kiss him. Roxas effortlessly held her up, pulling her against his chest.
Despite the way Roxas's heart seemed to hammer in his chest, he kissed her so calmly and held her so delicately that she wondered if it was her own racing heart beneath her hand.
Naminé pulled away and sighed, breathing heavily. She regained her footing and leaned her forehead on his, trying to tame her breathing.
Roxas chuckled, loosening the hug he had unconsciously thrown around her. Naminé blushed, but managed to gather the most prominent words in her head and arrange them in a coherent sentence.
"Can we do that again?"
Redeeming Endeavor: So the characters were supposed to visit the city today (and revisit some old characters), but the chapter seemed really rushed. I pushed all that back and replaced it with something to help justify later interactions. I've been trying to be more conservative with my writing, but then I remembered that this is fanfiction and I can go big AND go home. So now you guys get a chapter with enough fluff to supply a Build-A-Bear Workshop. And I know I said this chapter would be around the 3.5-4.5k mark, but I don't think a little extra is harming anyone!
And dat kiss. That seemed like a good ending spot. Nam has got some smooth moves (but not really).
Special thanks to Kyorii for reading this over for me and making sure it's presentable, and also thanks to asdfghjkl3 for chatting with me on an alarmingly inconsistent basis (kidding. But for serious, we have fun, right?). Also, huge thanks to Demigod103, Lilaclia, GengaJupite, Eternal Abyss 59, Twenty-Twenty-One, CarelessWhispers13, CherryTree, Kigen Dawn, Harmonious Wolf, Xerzo LotCN, CascadeofRaindrops, Revenge of the Red Pen, InomaCallain, neverquitenough, It's My Lucky Charm, Go men123, Bookworm 11114, PinkParadise23, Ash09, GreyPurpleBlack, KurukiXV, Guest, CJ122, Kuroiikawa, Caramelized, Listless-Nobody, and Ventusblade for your kind words! you guys are the best. Thanks for sticking around! I'm going to look back on this chapter years from now and have all these wonderful names to read if I'm ever asked about my biggest supporters :')
And thanks to anyone who added this story to their alerts or favorites. I'm hoping that this story will eventually surpass M&M in terms of favorites, but we'll see. There is, after all, an extra chapter since I pushed stuff back.
I had a favor to ask of you guys, but it's completely up to you to do it. Well, it's more like a challenge. If you can, would you go out and read other people's stories and review them? It can be Sokai, Namixas, anything. You guys are awesome, and I feel like if any other writer had you all for readers as well, they'd be really encouraged to write more and get better.
If you do get around to reviewing someone else's story and like it, let me know so I can check it out too (and I will also read what you wrote to the writer, which I'm sure will be nice since that's all I get from you lovely people)! There have to be some up and coming writers in the Namixas and Sokai departments, right? Point 'em out to me in a PM and we can chat about it.
No fun fact this week either since I'm not a very interesting person. No. I just feel like I've used a lot of room already. If you want something interesting, go find a new story that we can read together :D
Chapter Data: Total Editing Time- 1506 minutes. Word Count: 6100.
I'm counting on you guys to go out and review other stories. This place can't possibly be dead. I won't hold the next chapter hostage (as tempting as it is), but I have faith in you all. I BELIEVE IN YOU.
That's all. 'Til next week, my friends! Take care, and I'll see you around.