Naminé lost track of time of how long she stared at her textbook. She could barely focus during the class she was having right now. For the first time in forever, she had other things on her mind besides listening to the teacher's rambling. All she could pick up was something about equations or something, but that didn't matter to her right now.

She mentally slapped herself. Get yourself together Naminé! Focus!

She was so dazed that she didn't even realized a little bit of drool was slowly coming out of her mouth, embarssingly. Luckily for her, not many people paid much attention to her, so no one noticed. She quickly used her hand to wipe her mouth. But as soon as her skin touched her lip, all she could think of was Roxas.

Her face shot red and she clenched the pen she was holding tighter. It was no use. She couldn't help it even if she tried. Her face got even redder and she dug herself into her arms.

It's been a few days ever since her last art lesson with Roxas as the latter had to take a few days off due to the high ever he got. Although she was worried for Roxas since he collapsed out of the blue, she was also glad that he was finally going to get a few days rest before he was back to 100 percent….

Is what she kept telling herself. But she knew that she were to ever meet up with Roxas again, she'll most likely cease to function as a normal human capable of getting herself together.

It was on her mind almost all the time now. When she wasn't doing art, the image of Roxas' sleeping face and the idea of what she did, it kept replaying in her head over and over again just like a broken record player. It had to stop button.

It was because of this, she didn't know how to feel knowing she hasn't run into him all day. With her head still slumped in her arms on her desk, she slowly tilted it and darted her eyes towards Roxas' empty seat.

She slowly sat up straight.

I hope he's okay…..

She wasn't one to break rules in class. In fact, she was often praised by the teacher for being such a good student, an attribute that also led her to be a good target for bullying, mostly by Larxene. But, she never admitted herself that she was one.

She slowly whipped out her phone, keeping her hand low by the drawer so that it wasn't so visible. Opening her chats application, she pressed on the chatbox she had with Roxas.

The last conversation she had with him was the one they had before their previous art lesson. She closed her eyes and scolded herself.

Idiot. Can't even send a text asking if he's okay or not

But in truth, she had tried. Multiple times. But all of those attempts ended with her being a blushing mess and throwing her phone away as all she could think about was his vulnerable face. Suddenly, her phone vibrated for a second, signalling a notification.

She opened her eyes and saw a text from Kairi.

Hey Naminé! Just a reminder that we need to meet up once class is over since we still need to talk about designing that poster for the school dance. Selphie can't make it today so it'll just be the you, me and Yuffie. We'll be waiting at the clubroom, cya later!

Ahh right, forgot about that

Her mind had been so occupied, that she completely forgot that the art club was in charge of designing the promotional poster for their upcoming school's end of year dance. It was decided that once ideas were brainstormed, Naminé would be in charge in taking most of the work as for some reason to her, the other members have completely fallen in love with her art style.

The blonde smiled a bit when she received the text. It was just another thing to be grateful for, meeting people who shared common interest, people who would always encourage you, rather than putting you down.

And it was thanks to Roxas that she met them.

Her face shot back to red again. She quickly buried her face back into her arms. How she wished class would end soon so that she could get the day done with already.

And as if the world was being nice to her again, the last bell rang, signalling that school was finally over.

Thank you

She thought to herself as she started packing her stuff.

"What about this one?" Yuffie placed sketch on the table with the other art club members looking over the sketch, roughly done with a pencil. Naminé closely examined the sketch.

Even if it wasn't so detailed, she could tell it was meant to showcase a man and a woman having a dance underneath what looked like a moonlight coming from a crescent shaped light. There were other background sketches that seemed to highlight the man and the woman but to her, that was about it.

"Hmmm….." Kairi mumbled to herself as she picked up the sketch, examining it closely.

"I think it can almost work with some minor adjustments. The dance couple seem to be off by the centre, maybe the top part could use some more stars and the way the curtains are sketched looked like they're folded in the wrong places…."

Yuffie grumbled in her seat. "More, adjustments?"

"Oh c'mon Yuffie don't be like that," Kairi giggled, "You're amazing at sketching, you just need a little push in the right direction, that's all,"

"Oh and so you have to resort to ass kissing now huh,"

"If it works, it works, besides, we still have more time anyway, once you're done with the sketch, Naminé can finalise it on her tablet right?"

The blonde nodded, and the redhead stood up straight.

"And once that's done, we can finally have the poster ready and then we can start planning for the actual event!"

Yuffie sat back up straight. "Planning? Girl, the event isn't even happening for awhile. We may be in charge of the poster, but the actual committee are still having trouble planning the actual thing, what do you even need to plan for?"

Naminé looked at Kairi in confusion. She merely closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, as if she was disappointed at children.

"My fellow girls, don't you know that for an event like this, it's a prime time for us high school girls to shine!" she exclaimed, stars shining in her eyes.

Naminé had a bad feeling about this as she slowly back away. Yuffie was about to put on her headphones back when suddenly the islander popped up between them and wrapped her arms around their shoulders.

"Oh no…" Yuffie muttered.

"The Dance, my fellow girls, is for us to break out of our outer shells and show off what we have underneath. It's time for us to glam up and slam down on the floor! We need to prepare what dress we should get, what kind of make up we need to use, what kind of shade that'll fit our skin, the type of dress-"

"Ok!" Yuffie shouted, pushing Kairi away, "We get it!"

"Anddd….who to ask to bring to the dance," she ended with a sneaky smile on her face.

Despite pushing the red head away, Yuffie had a slight look of horror as Kairi grabbed a chair and set it right by her side.

"Soooo….who you gonna ask?" she asked eagerly.

Yuffie sighed. "Like I have any idea, I've only been thinking about not failing my class and working on this poster. I wished I had the time to even think about this," she said as she started leaning on her chair, putting her legs up on another.

However, Kairi did not let go of her devious smile.

"So you really have no idea on who to ask for the dance?"

"N-No," Yuffie stuttered, seeing Kairi's face.

"Rrrrrreally, not even that senior?

Naminé watched as the black haired girl was caught off guard and immediately fell backwards with a loud thud. However, she seemed as if she didn't care about the bump on her head.

"Wha-What? What are you even talking about!" Yuffie replied. The blonde now noticing a tint of red on her cheeks. Kairi acted all innocent as she stuck her lips out and placed a finger on them.

"Hmmm…what was his name again? The one in the Karate Club? So…. So something,"

The red tint got slightly deeper in red.

"Ahhh, Sonon! Sonon Kusakabe! That one ripped guy with the spiky hair!"

It was no longer a small red tint, but a full on blush.

Cute. Naminé thought to herself.

"How…How! How do you even know his full name!" she interrogated loudly, not bothering to hide anything.

Kairi laughed as she slumped on a chair.

"His younger sister, Melphie, don't forget, she's in my class. You should see it, it's so funny knowing that she has such a reliable older brother that a lot of guys in my class who likes her are too scared to say anything to her," she commented.

"O-Ohh…." Her words trailed off. Unfortunately, it did get noticed by Kairi.

"So are you going to ask him? You're close to him aren't you" Kairi eagerly asked again. Yuffie's face blushed even redder as she tried to move away from the red head.

"Wha-wha I mean, Why would I even ask him? I mean, as if!" she stood her ground, "I'm not going to ask a guy when all he does is live, breathe and eat Karate, or making sure his younger sister doesn't have any boyfriends! I'm sure I can find someone better"

"But don't you have a crush on him?"

"Even so! That doesn't mean I'll-"

Yuffie stopped as she realized what she had done, she had accidentally fallen into Kairi's trap. Naminé wasn't sure if she could call it blushing when her entire face had gotten red. Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth.

"Ah ha! I knew it!" she beamed. "You should ask him to go with you! I'll even help you!"

Naminé was Yuffie merely stood up, walked over to one of the empty canvas, grabbing a palette of paint and put her headphones back on, ignoring the other 2 in the room.

"Do not disturb me while I work," she said with a dead tone in her voice as she started painting.

Naminé felt shiver down her spine as she saw Kairi's head turn towards her. Before she knew it, the red head quickly walked towards her and grabbed her hands.

"So….got anyone in mind?"

It was then at that moment Kairi realized she was physically preventing the blone from communication.

"Oops, sorry hehe," she apologized as she let go of her hands. Naminé was praying that the subject would be forgotten by then, but she saw Kairi already texting away on her phone.

Naminé felt a vibration in her pocket. She grabbed and turned her phone on, seeing a message from Kairi.

Soooooooo?

Naminé gulped. An event where a lot of people take the chance to dress up and get closer to others. Getting asked on who to go with to the dance, the blonde couldn't deny it, a certain feather-haired blonde jumped into her mind, causing her face to blush, something which didn't go unnoticed by her.

"So you do have someone in mind! Who is it?" she asked, starvation clear in her voice.

Still with a red face, she typed out her honest response.

I mean, I don't even know if I'll attend the event anyway

"HUH?"

Her message was also met with a sticker showcasing a cat with a dumbfounded expression. She saved it immediately.

"Wait what do you mean you might not come?"

Well, I don't know if I should in the first place, I don't have much reason to go and I'd only be in the way of you guys

"With all due respect Naminé, that's bullshit," she pouted. "There's no way you're going to be in our way, and what do you mean you don't have a reason? We're the reason! We have to go so that we can spend time together and have as much fun possible!"

Naminé smiled a bit, hearing Kairi's remark. She said all that by text, but she had to admit, there was something in her heart that was just making the message not 100% true.

"I'm not going to force you Naminé, but just to let you know, we all want you to come with us! We can even get ready together at my place!"

Naminé thought about it forawhile, thinking about how she felt and any potential doubts, and with hesitant hearts, she typed out a response.

I'll think about it, I'll be sure to let you know if I do end up going

"YAY!" Kairi cheered.

Naminé let out a sigh of relief as she walked down the hallway with Kairi and Yuffie next to her. They were finally done with their club duties and now were preparing to head back home, walking through the hallway. There were still multiple students around, which Naminé assumed had just finished their own club activities.

The thought of just finally lying down back on her bed in the comfort of her own room just seemed like heaven to her right now, especially after the day she had.

"By the way Naminé," Kairi called, "Me and Yuffie might head over to the mall to get some Ice Cream real quick before getting home, wanna join?"

Naminé gace a tired smile, holding her hand up while shaking her head, indicating a respectful decline which Kairi thankfully didn't resist. She didn't think she would eventually receive invites from people like them, so she was extremely grateful, but she knew that right now, her battery was being close to zero and the only way to recharge it was in the comfort of her sheets.

"See, I knew she wouldn't hang out with them, I mean, who would actually want to hang out with a freak like her," a bratty voice preached. A voice which was all too familiar to her.

She slowly turned around to see Larxene and some of her other friends snickering at them, hanging around by their locker.

Naminé turned back and kept walking to the front door. Yuffie clenched her fists as she was about to walk up to them but was stopped by Kairi.

"Just ignore, don't do anything," Kairi instructed.

She turned around and responded. "Yeah, well it's better than hanging out with someone like you anyway,"

Naminé and Yuffie widened her eyes as Larxene stopped leaning against the locker and walked up to them,

"Heh, is that supposed to be a comeback? So you admit she's a freak?" she sneered.

"Well I mean, aren't we all freaks in one way or another? Yuffie's a freak who's always wearing her headback, I'm a freak for always being nosy, and you're a, well, nahh you're not a freak," Kairi smiled, "Anyone who makes fun of others' disabilities is probably even lower than a freak,"

A few 'oohs' were heard just as Kairi had said that. Larxene widened her eyes in anger.

"Lower than a freak huh? At least I didn't-"

And there it was. Naminé didn't turn around, only hearing what was being shot back and forth between them. She gripped on her books tighter.

Pathetic.

That was how she felt at that moment. Extremely pathetic. Did she really change? Sure, she managed to slowly break out of her shell. Sure, she managed to finally people who to her, she can call friends. And the time she spent with them has probably been the best times of her school life.

But did I even change?

Were the lessons with Roxas worth it?

Others were fighting her battles for her. Battles which she dealt with for as long as she could remember ever since stepping foot into this school. Battles which she should be used to by now, used to losing.

Just close your eyes and walk away.

That was how she dealt with them everytime. She thought she could just keep this up until her time in the school was over since it was just part of her daily routine.

But now, something bugged her. Something bugged her a lot.

There were people around her now. People which she cherished and were eternally grateful to be by her side. People kept sticking by her side, people like Kairi, Yuffie, Xion, Axel, and Roxas.

People around her could stand up for her when she couldn't do it herself.

Her grip on her books tightened, her head lifted up.

She had enough.

"Of course you have to hold the monkey back!" Larxene snorted, "Wild animals need to tamed you know,"

Yuffie's face turned red from anger as she was being held back from Kairi. "Why I'll gladly show you what happens when you don't tame a wild animal you-,"

Her words were cut off by a dropping sound. All of them stopped and turned towards Naminé who had all but one of her books to the ground, standing still. She slowly turned around and faced Larxene. However, the difference was that she stared at Larxene, not with eyes of fear, but with the look of confidence.

"Ohh?" Larxene snorted. "What's this? Is someone finally going to say something?" She laughed, along with some of her friends.

Naminé opened one of her books and wrote out a message. It wasn't with the best handwriting she had to admit, but she didn't care. As long as the message was clearly readable and clear, it was better than nothing. She flipped the book towards Larxene.

Are you satisfied?

"Huh? Satisifed? You expect me to understand with just simple written words?"

Naminé quickly took the book and wrote more message. Writing as fats as possible, but making the message loud and clear in her own way.

Are you satisfied already? Bored? You won't ever leave me alone

"Of course I do!" Larxene boasted. "Weirdos like you need to learn your place! A weirdo who can't even say anything for herself,"

Naminé took a deep breath, flipping back to write a message.

If that's how you really felt, then I'm sorry for you. You enjoy seeing other people suffer. You're lifeless

Larxene snorted. "Me? Lifeless? Look at what you're doing! All you can do is just write away on that trash of a book! Why don't you speak up and face me properly,"

Anger slowly bubbled inside Naminé. Clearly, her message wasn't getting through. Instead of continuing, she wrote diverted the conversation.

Do you hate me?

"Naminé…." Kairi spoke soft, seeing at what she wrote. Even Larxene was caught off guard from her message.

"Wha-What? Hate you?"

Naminé didn't let her continue. She quickly wrote another message.

You won't leave me be. You always scream at me. You make others laugh when I cry. Do you hate me?

Larxene gritted her teeth, clenching her fists tight. "Hate you? Of course I hate you! Because you're not one of us! You're just another weirdo who thinks she can be a part of our world when you're not!" she screamed, everyone in the hallway now watching her.

"Suddenly just because you can't speak, you get everyone to start talking to you! If not, then it's always about you! Don't you know this sad world doesn't work like that, the weak should listen to the strong and the strong should punish the weak! In this case, it seems like the weak doesn't even know her place!" she yelled, now panting a bit due to her outburst.

Kairi and Yuffie reamiend silent as Naminé quickly added another message.

Is anyone who always makes fun of others' disability really strong?

"That's it! I'll just make sure you understand who's strong now!"

"MISS VIXEN!" a strong voice yelled throughout the hallway, catching the attention of everyone. Larxene slowly turned around in fear, her eyes meeting the eyes of the principal.

She sighed. "I was wondering what the commotion was, and here I thought I could finally relax since it was after school hours,"

"P-P-Principal Brown!" she nervously called out. "W-W-Why are you still here?"

The principal raised an eyebrow. "Because it's my school and I can do what I want? Just because class hours are over doesn't mean my work is over, which also involves reinforcing the rules, and I'm pretty sure one of them is no yelling in the hallway Miss Vixen,"

Larxene's face fell. "I-I-I mean, I didn't mean to, it was because I-"

"My office, now," the principal did not raise her voice. But she didn't need to. Her, and the people around, could most definitely feel the weight of her words. With one final glare at Naminé, Larxene slowly walked away to the office as the principal watched.

She then sighed, and clapped her hands. "Alright students, no more yelling now, carry on! Move on!" she announced before she turned around. But just as she was about to walk away, she stopped.

"Oh and Naminé," she called out, catching the blonde's attention, "Next time, please don't hesitate to speak to any teacher or me, we do not tolerate that kind of behaviour, alright sweetie?"

Naminé gulped as she nodded her head. Seeing the mood switch in the principal of the school. With one last smile, the principal walked away, as did the other students around them.

She just stood there, trying take in what had happened. After all this time, dealing with Larxene, blaming herself for everything, she had finally did the one thing she never thought she would ever do.

She finally stood up for herself.

It was as if all the words she kept to herself were finally released from her. How she felt about each message, and how she managed to get it across, it was something she always believed she could never do. Realisation caught up to her, and then exhaustion.

Her arms went limp, feeling like she was about to fall the ground when suddenly she felt something grabbing both of her arms.

"We got you," Yuffie grinned with a small smile.

"That was amazing Naminé!" Kairi cheered as she held onto her arm.

Naminé merely gave a small smile to both of them as she slowly got recomposed herself. She quickly picked up her books from the ground, still in disbelief of what just happened.

"You alright? Do you need anything?" Kairi asked with concern present in her voice.

Naminé whipped out her phone and sent a text.

I'm fine. I'm sorry but I think I'll head home myself, you guys go and enjoy ice cream.

Naminé held her books close to her chest as she walked along the sidewalk towards to her neighbourhood. As she walked, her head was slowly tilted up, her eyes were defintitely focused on where she was walking to, but her mind was somewhere up in the clouds.

Even at that moment when everything was over, she was still in a bit of disbelief.

There's a chance that Larxene might strike back even harder, but she didn't care at this point. After standing up to her, her heart felt as if it wasn't scared of her anymore. As if the fragile shield that was always there to protect her was finally finished it's job, a weak heart turning into a strong heart.

The more she thought of it, the more excited she felt.

I have to tell Roxas!

Her heart jumped at the idea. All this time, the lessons with Roxas, stemmed from a favour, it actually worked. It wasn't that she doubted him, rather, she knew that she kept doubting herself. But finally, all the doubts in her finally washed away, replaced with newfound confidence, thanks to

Roxas….I have to tell Roxas…but I need to meet him….face to face

And with that, the blushing came back as her face felt warm. Suddenly, the idea of meeting with Roxas turned from exciting to just a big mess of confusion.

How can I even meet him without making a fool out of myself

She sighed, disappointed with herself. And here she thought she finally improved, thinking she had became more confident, but all that confidence disappeared with a snap of a finger once a certain blonde entered her head.

Light hit her eyes.

She turned to the side and realized that the sun was already setting, letting it's orange lights shine upon the streets. Her anxious thoughts were suddenly replaced by a wave of calmness, soaking in the beauty of the setting sun.

That was when her eyes widened. She quickly opened one of her sketchbook and flipped pages, showing numerous drawings. Finally she landed on one page, an unfinished drawing of the sunset she drew the day she first met him.

She shook her head, trying to get thought of him out it. And with that, she made her way to the park, walking faster with the intent to try and finish the drawing as soon as she can so she could finally get to colouring it.

Once she finally reached the entrance to the park, her head was further up in the clouds, thinking of different ways on how she could shade a certain parts of the ground in the illustration. Just thinking about the final product was already making her a little but excited, seeing something she worked so hard on finally coming to life.

She walked down the steps to the area where she would always sit to sketch what she wanted. The same spot where she and Roxas would always have their mini lessons.

And as if the world was listening to her, she turned to the direction where her favourite bench was located…..and froze.

Sitting on the bench, was Roxas, relaxing on it. His head was resting on his hands behind it as he leaned back onto the back of the bench, taking in the orange light of the sun as well.

Suddenly, her body ceased to function.

She didn't know what to do. She considered walking away and back home, but was worried that it might seem a bit rude. She thought about walking up to him, but she felt as if her body couldn't even do anything to try and communicate with him at that moment. She realized that were body was turning it's back on her as she accidentally lost the grip on her book due to her being so lost in thought that a couple of them fell.

She watched as Roxas' eyes darted open the moment the books fell to the ground and turned his head towards her.

God please help me so I don't become a mess

"Oh..hey Naminé," he smiled.

No response.

"Oh uhhh….yeah I technically am still sick a bit, but the fever is gone, but I still feel physically weak, therefore I hold a valid reason for not attending school today,"

No response.

"Although the past few days I have been feeling like death after that bad fever, hehe, thanks and sorry for going through all the trouble to bring me home that day,"

No response, and she felt her face becoming warmer the moment he brought up that day.

He raised an eyebrow. "Uhhh, Naminé are you okay, you seem a bit…..red,"

RespondrespondrespondrespondrespondRESPOND GIRL!

Roxas stared at her as she suddenly dropped all of her stuff, and proceeded to use both of her hands to give herself a loud, clear, slap to the face. He merely widened his eyes, unable to give a response to the spectacle that just unfolded in front of him.

She quickly whipped out her phone, typing out a message.

Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it

Few minutes later, after the whole fiaso, both of them were sitting on the bench, pretending that their interaction with each other for the first time in a few days was not weird in the slightest, not one bit.

At least, that was how it was for Naminé

The girl was trying her best to not lose her composure in front of him. Especially now that whenever she took a glance at him, all she could see was his sleeping face and thinking about what she did that day. It didn't help much at that moment as Roxas was silent for awhile, sitting there with his hands clasped together. She noticed him twirling his fingers around.

Finally, he decided to break the silence. "I'm sorry,"

Naminé's eyes widened as she turned to him. He still didn't face her, jus looking down.

"You did so much for me that day, going through the trouble to bring me home and even making me dinner. And yet, I never gave a proper thank you. I didn't even send a text afterwards, I'm an idiot," he cursed at himself as his fingers rolled into fists.

Naminé looked at him. Without not even signalling him or doing anything, she quickly whipped her sketchbook open and started writing her message.

He shut his eyes tight, not even being able to see her face or what she had to say for him.

Suddenly, he felt something warm over his hands. He slowly opened his eyes and saw her soft hands over his. He looked over to her and saw her holding her book with a message written on it.

He read the first part.

You're right, I spent days worrying about you. You didn't message me and you didn't show up at school. You are an idiot

He winced at her words. Something he didn't expect, but at the same time, he knew he deserved it.

And that's an established fact. You're an idiot. So please, stop blaming yourself.

She smiled softly at him, and he widened his eyes. It was just something he could see with his eyes, but it was as if it was something he could feel with his heart. On instinct, he felt his own hands wrapping themselves around Naminé.

Once he realized what he did, he quickly pulled away. Naminé, who had also just noticed what she thought was a bold move, quickly pulled her hand away as well. The two of them, blushing as they face away from each other.

Roxas scratched the back of his head, and then laughed, catching Naminé's attention. "Well, does that mean you forgive me?"

Naminé responded by circling the word idiot on the message, making him laugh even more as he leaned back on the bench.

"Completely understandable haha," he pushed his hair up and turned his head towards her. "Damn, I didn't think you had it in you to call me an idiot ha ha,"

Naminé smiled. Well, the price for the art lessons was to make sure I can stand up for myself anyway.

"Well, I'm glad to know my lessons have been paying off as well,"

Naminé scratched her head, knowing that Roxas had no idea just horight he was. She must've thought she was making a weird face because Roxas noticed the expression on her face.

"Did something happen today? You got that weird look on your face," he teased.

Naminé pouted at his remark, accidentally giving the satisfaction he wanted, and then wrote another message.

Well you see, something interesting happened at school today…

And with that, using her trusty book, she started telling Roxas about what happened at school. How it started, the confrontation with Larxene, how she reacted and how she handled it. As she was telling Roxas, it was hard to say how he felt about the situation.

She had a feeling that maybe he would be proud or happy or anything positive, but instead, she noticed he kept a very straight face on. As if he was super concentrated, or upset…she didn't know. What she did learn that day, was that he had a very excellent poker face.

And that's it. She wrote as she looked back at Roxas. The blonde sat still for awhile, not showing any reaction or emotion for awhile. She dreaded as the momentary silence was coming back until he finally broke it.

"So you're telling me, Larxene was up to her antic as usual….."

Naminé nodded.

"And you did something about it?"

Naminé nodded again.

Suddenly, she watched as the widest grin slowly formed itself on Roxas' face as he threw his hands to the air.

"That's amazing!" he cheered. Before she knew it, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a big hug. It was that moment, Naminé felt as if she died and suddenly came back to life.

He pulled back and grabbed her shoulders. "Naminé that's actually amazing! Not that I never doubted you or anything, rather I was just doubting whether or not if I was a good teacher, but it's amazing!" he exclaimed.

Was it really? She thought to herself. In the end, all she did was just stand up one bully. Would that really even mean anything to her.

"No, don't give me that face," Roxas play-scolded, catching Naminé's attention. "You're probably thinking to yourself whether or not if it's enough,"

Roxas let go of her shoulders. "Well, you're right," he said, surprising Naminé. "It's just one thing that you did, it probably won't mean anything,"

She didn't even know if her heart just sank or it was just on the verge of sinking. How Roxas reacted now was a complete 360 than how he reacted earlier when she just told him.

"But, it's something isn't it?" he grinned. "The first step will never be easy and it will never be something big, that's why it's the first step, the more steps you take, the more you'll improve, and you just took your first step!"

He laid back on the bench and laughed. "And because you did, you'll definitely take more steps in the future, it's the road for you to become a better you, and I have complete faith that you will, with or without my help,"

Suddenly, her vision of Roxas became blurry. She felt something wet go down her face. She looked down on her sketchbook and saw a wet spot on the page.

She went to touch her eye and noticed it was wet.

Why? Why am I crying?

But for some reason, she knew full well why. Her heart became warm hearing Roxas' words. This irony feeling was slowly becoming so much more familiar to her, knowing that he had more trust in her than herself. Roxas must've seen her because he let out an audible gasp.

"Ahhh Naminé, wait was it something I said?" he panicked as he moved closer as an attempt to console her. Naminé rubbed her eyes, and gave a soft smile. She sniffed, and wrote down in her book.

Yeah, it was just you being an idiot and a good friend. She read.

He laughed at the joke. "Huh, didn't know me being a good friend would make someone cry,"

This is nice. Suddenly, being near him didn't bother her anymore. The embarrassing move she did, the nervousness, it was all gone. And good riddance it was for her. She truly did enjoy his company.

As he laughed, that was when Roxas noticed something about Naminé.

Without thinking, he spoke. "Hey Naminé, did you always have that scar?" he asked as he eyed her neck.

She froze. He realized what he said, and covered his mouth.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- Gahhh Me and dumb, loud, big mouth!" he scolded himself when Naminé suddenly grabbed his hand. She raised her free hand and tried to sign to him that it was fine.

'It's okay' she visibly mouthed.

Still it wasn't enough for him. He sighed. "Just, pretend I never asked,"

Naminé's mind drifted towards her neck. She touched her neck, the area where there was a horizontal, healed, scar that ran along it. Everytime she thought about, memories would always resurface in her head, traumatizing, memories.

But for that moment, for once, she did not feel scared, thinking about the origins of the scar. She would question herself why, but she had a good guess.

She opened her book, writing down a message. She pat Roxas' shoulder to get his attention and showed him what she wrote. Yeah, I had it for a long time now.

Roxas still kept his troubled look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but had a clear hesitant look on his face. He wanted to drop the subject, but the more he looked at Naminé's face, he had a feeling of what Naminé wanted to do.

And with that, he bit the bullet. "May I asked…what happened?"

Naminé smiled and nodded, preparing to write her message when suddenly Roxas stopped her.

"Actually, you don't have to if you don't want-" he stopped talking immediately as he watched Naminé quickly write a message.

This is my next step. She wrote.

The look of determination of her face was finally enough for him. He took a deep breath, and slowly let out the air.

"Alright, just so you know, I'm here with you all the way,"

'Thank you' she mouthed. She could tell how bad Roxas felt, but she knew, this was something she had to do as well.

With Roxas by her side, she opened a brand new page on her book, and begun to tell her story.