Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Roxas nodded slightly, his head still against the back of the couch. "You're stronger," he pointed out gently, his smile still on his face a little. "It's good to see that..." He was curious as to what made her stand up to Smith, but he didn't think it really mattered. Namine had, and that was the most important thing.

 

"You're embarrassing me," Namine murmured, her cheeks turning a brighter shade of pink as she looked down towards Roxas's shoulder. She knew that she was stronger than before, but still, she wasn't expecting this praise from him.

 

Roxas's smile grew slightly, the boy's eyes moving away from her hair and to her face. Indeed, he was; her cheeks were growing pink. "My praise and approval embarrass you?" he asked, though he had a slightly amused tone to his voice. Somehow, he should have expected her to react like this. Namine always was quite shy.

 

"Yeah," Namine said, hearing the slight amusement in Roxas's voice. It was making her shy, and her shyness was embarrassing her. It was a chain reaction that she very much wished she could stop; she hated feeling shy in front of Roxas. In this case, though, she couldn't really help it, hearing the praise he was giving her.

 

Roxas chuckled a little, his eyes traveling back up to his fingers as he played with Namine's hair. "Sorry," he said. "But I thought you needed to hear it." She deserved to in his eyes, considering how easily Smith could get to a person. He got to Sora and Riku eventually in the Realm, which surprised Roxas at the time, but now he realized that Smith had just been using his Darkness to affect everyone. Fortunately enough, it didn't get to Namine as badly; he was relieved for that.

 

"Thanks," Namine said, a shy smile on her lips as she glanced up at Roxas. When she saw that he wasn't looking back at her, she lowered her gaze to his shoulder again. It was really sweet of Roxas to say all that stuff, and even if hearing it made her feel shy, she wouldn't forget it any time soon.

 

"Mm-hm," Roxas hummed, his head lifting a little off the couch as he continued to watch his fingers play with Namine's blonde hair. It was soft between his fingers, which only made him want to play with it more. He couldn't really help it; sometimes he just found himself twirling her hair. It was just a plus that Namine didn't mind.

 

Namine kept her gaze downward, feeling Roxas continue to play with her hair. She was starting to wonder, though, if he had anything else in mind for this conversation. Surely he must have seen how afraid she was when Smith had his hand on her jaw and threatened to kill her. She had believed the threat, and it had been very scary to be in that position.

 

Roxas felt his eyebrows furrow a little as the silence lingered over the room, watching his fingers play lightly with Namine's hair as thoughts went through his head. What triggered Namine to stand up to Smith? He was still curious about that since he hadn't asked that. And then there was the threats Smith had thrown out, which still chilled him to the bone even if Smith was gone. This was actually the first time that Roxas thought about them, though he knew he'd never forgotten it.

 

Namine shut her eyes, not wanting to think about it. Smith was never coming back...ever. He couldn't physically threaten her, and he couldn't make her ill again. She conquered him mentally, and Roxas had physically defeated him. This time, it was truly over.

 

Roxas glanced down at Namine's face, seeing her eyes closed. He didn't want to ruin the silence that surrounded them, but he couldn't bite his tongue. "Nam, I've got a question," he said, his fingers momentarily pausing their movement with her hair.

 

"Mm?" Namine hummed, opening her eyes and looking up at Roxas's face. Whatever the question was, it must have been serious; he had stopped playing with her hair in order to ask it. She didn't know what to expect, but she was always open and honest with Roxas, so whatever it was, she would answer it.

 

"What made you do it?" Roxas asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Stand up to Smith, I mean." At the time he had been surprised, but nonetheless proud. He was still that way, though not as surprised as he was curious.

 

Namine lowered her gaze, not because Roxas's question was a bad one, but because she had to think about it. It was something that had crossed her mind as well, and she would try to put it into words so it made sense for both of them. "I guess...I realized that he was depending on me not standing up to him when he hurt me. And that if I could block him out from speaking to me, I could stop him from making me sick, too." I hope that makes sense, she thought, having had a hard time putting it into words.

 

"Mm," Roxas hummed, understanding in a sense. If Namine didn't show weakness in front of Smith, then she wasn't weak at all, both physically and mentally. At least, that's what he was getting out of what she said. Well, she was never going to have to deal with Smith again. Ever.

 

"He was only getting to me in the first place because I guess, deep down, I hadn't forgotten him completely," Namine said, trying to think things over as she said them. "But this time, I wasn't willing to let things get as bad as they were the first time, you know?" she asked, lifting her gaze to Roxas. When Smith had kidnapped her the first time, he had really broken her down and hurt her. She wasn't willing to allow him to do that to her again.

 

Roxas met Namine's eyes, but with her last words, memories appeared and made him lower his gaze. Yeah, he knew what she was talking about. He was glad she stood up for herself, because she had been shattered in the past because of Smith. Roxas didn't want that for her, and thankfully it would never happen again.

 

Namine nodded slightly, lowering her gaze again. She would never go back to that place again; she wouldn't be that fragile. She was stronger now than she ever had been before, and she was only planning on growing stronger in the future. She wasn't going to be pushed around again, because she deserved better than that.

 

"...Keep that courage," Roxas said, still staring at his lap. After a minute he lifted his gaze back to Namine, his eyes serious. "You'll never know when you'll need it." After all, they were always thrown surprises, whether it was Jeff, Smith, or a mission. The first two were definitely done with, Roxas knew, but the last one he still had to be prepared for. Anything could happen.

 

Namine looked up to Roxas when she felt his gaze on her, the girl taking in his words. "I'm not planning on losing it," she said with a soft nod. She wouldn't go back to the person she was before; she was stronger and braver than she ever had been previously. She had gone through a lot of pain to get to this point, but still, she couldn't change the past. The only thing she could do was make the pain worth it and use it to make her stronger.