Why, why did I have to come here.

Naminé repeatedly thought to herself over and over again as her patience was incredibly tested as she sat at the clothed table with her parents. Everywhere she look, she only saw people walking around, dressed in fancy clothing, enjoying their time at the wedding of her cousin.

At the wedding of her cousin who she barely knew and talk to.

She already begged her parents to just let her stay at home while they went ahead to attend the wedding themselves without her. But despite her efforts, she couldn't put up much of an argument, literally. And being almost directly related to the bride, she had to sit at a table near the main table, aka the table where most people sat, so she was doing her best not to make eye contact with anyone else besides her parents.

And to make matters worst, she couldn't bring her trusty sketchbook and pencils. Her only saving grace to pass time was her phone, which really didn't realy provide much source of entertainment since she barely use any social media.

Why didn't I download those games.

She sighed as she tapped on the chat application on her phone. Instantly, her eyes darted to a certain contact, the one below her mother. She read the last message Roxas sent; it was the sticker of the cat saying hi.

And just like that, as the blond entered her mind, a smile crept itself onto her lips. She recalled the time when she and Roxas had met up in the park for his 'art lesson'. Maybe it was last event where she felt fun in her life.

And just thinking about their art lesson, made her mind to recall the part where their faces were literally inches apart.

She quickly covered her blushing face with her hands. God damn that squirrel. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see her mother signing.

"Naminé are you ok? You're face is quite red,"

Naminé smiled and signed back. "I'm ok, it's nothing really,"

She sighed as she turned her head back down, her eyes falling back down onto the white knee length dress she wore. She had to admit, the dress was indeed beautiful, how the hem of the skirt landed at her knees, the translucent silk that slight revealed her shoulders, and best of all, the neck strap which covered her scar. It was that feature that chose her to reluctantly pick this dress.

If she had no choice to come, she should have a chose in at least what she wanted to wear.

"You know," her mother signed, "There's a wonderful art gallery here in the hotel, you could always go ahead and take a look to pass time first you know,"

Naminé smiled back at her. "Really mom, I'm fine, don't worry about me"

Suddenly women's giggling started to fill the air. She looked at her other relatives, most of them seemed to be huddled together, giggling and blushing at someone. She followed their trail and she saw a man talking with the groom.

And Naminé had to admit, the man was indeed quite looking. He wore a fantastic looking black suit that seemed to compliment his facial features, his neatly combed blonde hair to his mustache and well trimmed beard.

But there was something… off about it. Where had she seen that shade of blonde before? Did she recognize him? No that can't be right, she was here on the bride's behalf, so he must've been here for the groom. After chatting with the groom, the man came over to her table, and her relatives' giggling got louder.

Naminé's father was the first to stand up to greet him.

"Adam my old friend," the man greeted as he hugged Naminé's father, "it's good to see you again,"

"Axton, you're looking sharp as always," Adam complimented back.

"Flattering as always I see," Axton responded as he looked at Naminé's mother.

"Mira, you're looking stunning, as well as your daughter right here," he remarked. Naminé just gave a small smile while her mother responded.

"You really are someone flattery aren't you,"

Axton smirked. "I have my ways,"

Naminé gave extra thought about her battle plan. If he and her father were friends, there's a good chance that he would stay here and chat. More chatting between them would lead to more chatting with both her parents included. Which meant more talking.

She tapped her mother's shoulder. "I think I'll go take a look at the art gallery,"

"Alright," her mother signed back, "Don't take too long, I'll let you know if we're about to leave,"

She nodded and excused herself from the table. With a quick smile back to Axton, she quickly left the ballroom. Axton watched as she left the main doors.

"I'm sorry to hear about what happened to her, by the way," Axton said as his tone changed.

"Please, don't worry about it," Adam reassured, "She's a strong girl, she'll move on," Hopefully. "But anyway, don't you have a son as well? Is he here?"

Axton smiled. "Why yes I do, I think he should be around the same age as her, he did attend the event with me but I'm sure he went off somewhere to relax a bit.

The hotel where the wedding reception was held was indeed big, so big that they had their own art gallery where visitors could freely go in and take a look around the various art pieces that were framed. So Naminé could only imagine how much art the room would be filled with.

And she was right.

She stared in awe and a beautiful painting of a lion, overlooking other animals as it stood on a large rock as the king of the jungle. Stars grew in her eyes as she carefully examined every detail, from the brush strokes to the darker shades of paint to mimic shadows.

Naminé turned her head and saw another painting of a beautiful woman, standing in a field of flowers with her hands together. Her eyes marveled at the variation of colors the artist painted the flowers in. And next to it was a painting of harbour by the ocean with ships painted on the water.

Piece by piece, she slowly walked along the hallways, taking her sweet time to have a closer look on the pieces of art. In fact, she was so mesmerized by the art that she didn't even notice the person in front of her until she accidentally bumped into him.

"Oh sorry about that," the person immediately responded, in an all too familiar voice that Naminé recognized. And all it took was for one glance at the feather – combed blonde hair to realise who she bumped into. And at the same time upon realization, a warm feeling started to grow in her chest.

Roxas turned around and his eyes widened instantly. "N-Naminé?" His eyes did a take on Naminé and his face turned red for a second. "O-Oh, I didn't know you would be here, you look..um…nice,"

It was the first time Naminé had seen his hair combed so well, as well as the suit he wore. Her fingers flexed, wanting to reach for her sketchbook only to grab air instead. She cursed at herself for leaving her trusty sketchbook behind. As always, Roxas seemed to notice her problem, and whipped out his phone.

Naminé felt a vibration in her dress pocket and took out a phone, a notficiation from Roxas being the first thing we saw.

Alright this will be your temporary sketchbook LOL

And the message was accompanied by a snickering cat sticker.

Yeah let's just stand here and type away on our phones like anti social maniacs eventhough you're right in front of me. She typed back.

Alright so not much different then. Roxas typed back, causing her to hold back a small laugh. "Before we talk any further, let's sit down, I can only stand and type on my phone like an anti social maniac for so long,"

Thankfully, the art gallery had couches in the middle of the large room,

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" he asked as Naminé typed on her phone.

I'm here for my relative's wedding reception. The moment the message got through, Roxas's eyes widened.

"No way really? Well, it shouldn't be that suprising since you're here all dressed up, but I'm here to attend one as well," he answered.

That was when it clicked. She was about to ask on who's behalf is he here, but regardless of the bride of groom, if he was related, wouldn't that make him and Naminé, relatives? But she still had to make sure.

With anxiety inside, she reluctantly typed. Oh, are you here for the bride or groom?

She didn't know why but watching Roxas as he read the text filled even more anxiety in her. Why am I so nervous?

"Oh, I'm here for the groom but I'm not related to him, barely even know the guy to be honest but he and my dad are like, best buddies, so for some reason I got roped into coming here, eventhough I didn't want to," Roxas joked.

At this answer, a wave of relief washed over Naminé. She typed back. Welcome to my world.

Roxas snickered. "Bet you just wanna stay inside and draw all night huh,"

It's better than wasting my time here at this boring party. She typed back.

"Man you really don't run out of stuff to draw huh," Roxas commented in a laidback manner as he out his hands behind his head. "Sometimes when I try to draw I just end up staring at a blank page for an hour,"

That was when she realized something. She never got to know why Roxas was so persistent on getting art lessons from her. If he really needed help, he couldn't have just went ahead to search up some online tutorials?

She decided to answer her curiosity. By the way, there's something I wanted to ask.

"Alright, shoot,"

Why do you want me to give you art lessons anyway? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but wouldn't it be easier for you if you looked up online tutorials?

Roxas laughed a bit as he read her text. "Well, I did search up online tutorial at the time, but a lot of them were, let's say basic in a way. It's like they're trying to appeal to an audience more rather than giving useful tips," he explained. "And that's when I found your sketchbook!"

And that's when you decided to bother me with your art request. Naminé added with a raising eyebrow emoji.

"Hey, it's a two way deal, remember? You help me art, I help you to do stand up for yourself,"

Which you haven't held up. She reminded.

Roxas gave a mischievious smile. "Now that's where you're wrong, I already held up my end of the deal,"

Naminé didn't need to text a response, merely giving a face at him was all he needed.

"I mean, at least that's how I see it," Roxas mentioned. "When we met at school, I remember seeing how that blonde whats-her-name kept talking you down, and well, seeing how you couldn't do anything about it," his voice trailed off, a slight fear of reminding Naminé of what happened that day at school.

The corner of Naminé's perked up a little at Roxas' nickname for Larxene.

"And that day when you left your book, and when I saw your art that night, I was honestly amazed, I didn't think that someone like her would be so talented,"

Are you complimenting me or making fun of me? Naminé tapped furiously.

"See! That meant you were only hiding behind your mask," Roxas fingerquoted at the last word. "And now, look! We're talking and you're talking back to me, that means you're slowly standing up for yourself," he smiled.

News flash, talking and bullying aren't different.

"Baby steps young one," Roxas interjected in a wise sounding voice, "I never said it was a skill you could learn overnight, just like how it takes time to get good at art!"

Naminé wanted to argue back, but found out she couldn't. The more she processed Roxas' words, the more she found it in herself to agree with them. She remembered before meeting Roxas, she was just the only loner in school. But ever since he came, everything felt weird.

It felt weird to see someone greet her happily in the morning.

It felt weird to hear someone calling out her name when it was lunch time.

It felt weird to hear someone say goodbye to them.

And most of all, it felt weird to know that someone had come up to her for help.

She sighed as she took a look around the huge art gallery room they were in. another thought entered her mind.

Wait, what were you doing In the art gallery anyway?

Roxas coughed, putting his hand up to his mouth, momentarily looking away so that Naminé wouldn't see his face, her suspicions raising.

"Well uhh, I, just wanted to admire the art here, I mean you have to agree, whoever painted these are talented as heck," he looked at Naminé only to find her narrowing her eyes at him out of suspicious.

Sweat was slowly dripping down his face. "Uhh well, what about?" he quickly changed the subject. "I mean not about why you were in the gallery but let me know more about you," he phrased, "What got you so fascinated with art?"

Naminé thought about his words. She recalled randomly picking up color penciles and drawing who knows what on paper, and it turned out to be something she enjoyed. She remembered how she would look forward to every art class in elementary school and would always hear the teachers' praises about how well she did better than the other kids.

From then on, it would be the one thing she would always do at home. If she'd saw something small that could be considered an inspiration, she had no choice to let loose with colors on the paper. Growing up, her walls were slowly plastered with numerous drawings of her own. It became something that she truly enjoyed, something which she felt at peace.

Something that made her feel normal.

But in the end, she didn't know that art would be her only form of communication. Suddenly, her anxiety rose and her eyes widened, a drawing of a castle appeared in her head.

"N-Naminé?"

Her senses were all over the places.

The noise of glass breaking. The sound of her mom screaming.

"Naminé! Is something wrong?" Roxas' voice slowly got louder, but she couldn't focus on him. She couldn't hear his voice.

The feeling of a tight grip on her wrist.

The feeling of her heartbeat racing so fast that she thought it might jump out of chest.

The smell of alcohol in the air.

The sight of her parent's fear stricken face.

The sight of the knife being whipped out.

The feeling of cold metal on her neck.

The sight of blood on the floor.

"Naminé!" Roxas exclaimed outloud as he shook her shoulders, snapping her back to reality. The moment she did, she found herself hyperventilating, beads of sweat were dripping to the floor. She looked up to see worry all over Roxas' face.

"Your face suddenly became pale, is something wrong?"

Her fingers trembled with fear as they found themselves grasping onto Roxas' hand.

"Take a deep breath Naminé, you need to relax," Roxas advised.

She did what she was told, and slowly let it all out. Repeating a few more times until she could feel her fast heartbeat slowing down.

"What happened? Are you alright?" he asked out of concern.

Naminé did her best to put on an 'I'm okay' face to him, but realized that she was still holding onto his hand. Her face turned bright red for a split second before quickly letting go of his hand. She silently thanked for the almost empty art gallery room so no one could see how much of a blushing mess she was.

"You sure? You're face got really pale," He spoke out of concern. He gulped. "W-Was it something I said?"

Naminé quickly shook her head. She scrambled around, looking for her phone.

No no, it wasn't because of you, don't worry about. She quickly typed. Roxas read her message, but it didn't wipe away the concerned look on his face.

"Is it because I reminded you, this?" Roxas directed to his neck. Naminé's body freezed up as a regretful look replaced the concerned look. She quickly put his hand down and quickly typed out a new message.

Please, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for it, it'll just make me feel bad. This is my own problem, I'll handle it alone.

Now it was Roxas's turn to take a deep breath and he quickly calmed himself down.

"But you don't have to handle it alone you know," He voiced, " I mean, we're friends, aren't we? If you ever want to speak your mind out, or well, type, or write, your mind out, then go ahead," his smile was all she needed for her nerves to calm down instantly.

"I'm not asking you to share what happened, but it's up to you to see if your're comfortable typing or writing about it,"

Enough with the puns. She quickly typed with an annoyed face as Roxas snickered.

"But you get the point," he noted, "Because I think the only you can move past it, is that if you truly face it on your own," he said.

Naminé wanted to reply, but just as she was about to type, a notification popped up from her mother.

Naminé where are you? We're about to leave.

Her parents waited by the main door. After nodding and waving goodbye to her newly married relative, she quickly chased after them as her father jingled the car keys.

"So, did you enjoy yourself at the art gallery?" her mother asked.

Naminé nodded as she signed back. "Yeah, there art pieces there were all amazing" But she knew that wasn't the reason why she enjoyed herself.

"Adam! Ready to leave?" she heard as she turned around to see the man her father greeted earlier, and… Roxas?

"Yeah well, events like these do take the most out of me," he joked, "Is this your son?"

"Yeah, my boy Roxas," Axton spoke as he put a hand on Roxas' shoulder.

"Nice to meet you sir," Roxas greeted as he and Naminé's eyes crossed each other, he let out a little laugh. She was speechless.

Only by then she put two and two together, both of their blonde hair are almost of the same shade, and even their faces were almost similar. If it wasn't for Roxas' blue eyes and Axton's green eyes, she would've thought his father was just a grown up version of him.

Axton noticed this. He turned to his son. "Oh, you both know each other?"

Roxas scratched the back of his neck. "Well, she kinda helped me find my way home when I first came with Xion and Axel bailed on me,"

Naminé didn't need to turn. She could feel her mother's eyes widening and her gasping out loud. She sighed.

"I didn't even think you would try and talk to him, Oh my sweet girl is slowly growing up!" her mother praised as Naminé sank deeper into the car seat, her head resting on her fist as she stared out the window as they all drove home.

"He was so well mannered to," her father joined in. "I'm glad you got to be friends with him,"

Naminé gave a quick smile before returning her gaze to the window.

"But I saw that he only came with his son, his wife couldn't join today?" her mother wondered with curiosity.

The look on Adam's face changed. "Oh, you didn't know, well, his wife passed a way a long time ago,"

That statement repeated itself in Naminé's head,

What?

Her mother gasped. "Wait, what? When?"

Adam sighed. "Just a few years after they got married. From what I remember, she left when her son was just a child,"

That's when it made sense to her. All his smiles, his laughs, his optimistic attitude, how he was so much different from any other person she had met. He knew how she felt and to help her when she was in a dark place.

It was because he himself was in one as well.