Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

"I mean, I want to. It's just..." Roxas knew that his words were going nowhere, so he just stood there and stared at the counter. He wanted to believe Namine, because he loved her and ultimately wanted to know that she was his. But he was Sora's Nobody, which meant he looked like Sora and was the closest thing to Sora. Unless Namine actually proved herself, Roxas didn't know if he could find any other state of mind.

 

Namine shook her head, looking down at her lap instead of looking up at Roxas. That was the kind of answer she had expected, but it still hurt to know that he didn't believe her. "I have no reason to lie, Roxas," she said softly, biting her lip when she was done. Why couldn't Roxas just accept that she had been telling the truth?

 

"...I guess I don't see it that way," Roxas admitted finally, shifting his eyes to the girl beside him. "I mean, I'm part of Sora. I'm his Nobody, which makes me half of him myself; I look like him, can sometimes act like him without really noticing it..." He shrugged slightly. "I guess I just can't see around that."

 

Namine kept her gaze downward, trying to piece together what Roxas was trying to say. It felt like he had forgotten to specifically say how her "feelings" for Sora connected to him, but she was smart enough to connect the dots. "...Do you think that I could only like you because you're like Sora?" Even without hearing an answer, Namine knew that she had figured out what Roxas was thinking.

 

Roxas nodded slightly. "Ever since Castle Oblivion, that's all I've been thinking lately," he confessed softly. He'd pushed past it when he needed to, like with Jeff. Some instances, like the dinner date they had not too long ago, were very important, and he had completely forgotten about his suspicions. But now that Sora was back and things had changed from before, it was different.

 

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Namine asked softly, glancing up at Roxas before she looked over at his hand on the counter. He must have gone to Castle Oblivion months ago with Sora, and it was still haunting him? Why didn't he open up to her? Did he not trust her any more?

 

Roxas lifted his free hand up and rubbed the back of his head as he spoke. "I dunno. I just didn't know how to bring it up, I guess," he said softly, looking down from Namine to his socks. And he didn't, but it had come out the other day; there was no taking that back now.

 

Namine looked down at the floor, knowing that she needed to set aside her feelings of not being trusted to give Roxas some reassurance. "The idea of me liking you because of your connection to Sora never crossed my mind," she said softly, honesty coming through in her voice. "I love you because of who you are, not because of who you're connected to."

 

"Even if I came from the Organization that...controlled you?" Roxas said, glancing at Namine before his eyes fell back to the floor. That fact alone should have scared her away; or at least, he thought so. He wasn't sure why it hadn't a long time ago.

 

Namine shook her head immediately. "I always knew that you were different from them," she said softly. Roxas wasn't naturally a cruel person, or dark and selfish like the rest of the Organization had been. The first time she ever saw him and looked him in the eye, she knew that he wasn't like the rest of them.

 

Roxas looked up at Namine then, wonder in his eyes. "Did you see beyond the new personality?" he asked then. She must have known what DiZ did to him before he entered Twilight Town; she regularly visited him. He couldn't forget that.

 

Namine bit her lip lightly, looking down at the ground. By "new personality", Roxas must have meant how he was during his time in Twilight Town, when he believed that he was a regular teenager. "I knew who you were before, yes," she said softly. She had actually seen him a few times, though she never let anybody know that. She wanted to see who Sora's...Nobody, was. But not because she had romantic interest in Sora; she was curious as to what his other half would be like.

 

Roxas blinked, but didn't move as he gazed at Namine. So she saw everything? Then why was she so sad when he came back and he wasn't the way he was when he left? He rubbed his hand over his head again, still leaning against the counter. He didn't want to get into that, not when he just found out that Namine actually loved him.

 

Namine kept her head lowered, not sure what to say. She had seen how Roxas acted a differently when he was a part of the Organization, but she always believed that they were the ones who gave him a "new personality". After spending so much time with Roxas and eventually getting into a relationship with him, she found it heart to believe that his natural personality was the darker one she had seen since he returned home from his mission.

 

"Sorry..." Roxas finally apologized, glancing down at the floor. "I was just a little unsure." But now he knew, and that was enough. It had been one thing he and Namine had never really talked about, and he actually felt silly for even considering the possibility now.

 

Namine finally looked up, hearing Roxas' apology. "Next time you're unsure about something, please talk to me," she pleaded softly, shaking her head a little bit. "I don't like it when you keep things a secret from me, Roxas..." He said this was haunting him for a while, and Namine didn't like thinking that he he was keeping something this big from her for that long. It made her uncomfortable to know that there had been at least one large secret between them.

 

Roxas nodded and then looked up. "I will," he promised, seeing the look on Namine's face. He realized she was truly upset, and he didn't like to be the cause of that.

 

Namine nodded a little before she looked down, refolding her hands in her lap. She had an urge to reach up a hand and tuck back some of her blond hair, but she fought against it, knowing that was something she always did when she felt shy, nervous, or uncomfortable.

 

Roxas tilted his head to the side slightly and lifted his free hand, setting it lightly on Namine's shoulder. "Hey. I love you...very much," he told her, honesty heavy in his voice. "I was wrong. I never should've doubted you." He should've known better, but his darker way of thinking sometimes got in the way.

 

Namine felt Roxas's reassuring hand on her shoulder, hearing the words that went along with the gesture. Again, she nodded, lifting her eyes and looking up at her boyfriend. She believed that he loved her, but it still hurt that he had doubted her before.