Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine smiled softly, nodding to Kairi. "Okay. Thank you," she said again, sincerely meaning it. Their kindness meant a lot to her. "Bye, guys," she said, giving her friends a small wave before turning and exiting the room.

"Goodbye," Sora said softly, waving after Namine. He wasn't sure how he felt about all this--it was easy to be optimistic when you were actually forcing yourself to be that way, but he wasn't sure how well this would sit now that Namine had left their presence. They were all hut and confused by all this. Especially Roxas...

Namine exhaled a soft breath as she left the house, quietly shutting the door behind her before she went down the walkway and headed for home.

 

Kairi sighed softly once Namine was gone, her eyes lowering to the floor. Wow... She had been so preoccupied trying to comfort Namine that she hadn't actually paid attention to the real situation. Her best friend's memory was mostly gone, give or take a few things. What were they supposed to do? The only thing she could think of was to continue doing what they already had, and walk her through it.

 

Sora heard Kairi's sigh and turned even more somber than he had been a few seconds ago. He reached under the table a little bit, Kairi's knee close to his. He set his hand lightly on her knee, hoping to comfort her. Sora and Namine may have been close, but Kairi and Namine shared such a unique relationship that he couldn't imagine what she was feeling at that moment.

Namine tucked some hair behind her ear, walking on the sidewalk now. She couldn't help but feel very alone--she didn't know anyone here. She only knew the way home. But her home was where-ever her heart was, and that was most likely with her friends. Tears started to fill her eyes again. Oh, how I wish I could remember what's dearest to me...

 

Kairi's sight fixed on Sora at the touch, millions of questions in her eyes. "Do you think she'll be okay?" she asked softly, concern in her tone. Namine was very dear to Kairi, though not as strongly as she was to Roxas. However, she was Kairi's Nobody, so that had to have some significance.

 

Sora turned to Kairi and looked her in the eye. "I think so," he responded softly, honestly. "It'll be rough for her, but if she sets her mind to it like she just did a few minutes ago, I think she'll be fine." Actually, he was surprised at how understanding Namine seemed during their conversation., Either she was a fast learner or she was remembering stuff as they spoke. Or she was good at appearing that way...No, Sora chose to believe the second choice. She had to have been remembering things.

Namine blinked away her tears, waiting a moment and then crossing the street. Now wasn't the time for tears. No, she changed her mind on that assessment. She had a lot of reasons to cry at that moment. It sickened her to think that way--was she always grave like that?

 

Kairi nodded slightly, her eyes finding the table top once more. "...At least she's getting along well," she started quietly. "But...I don't know about Roxas..." The boy had seemed worried at just the mention of the girl not being hungry after so long, but once he found out that Namine had lost her memories just overnight... Kairi knew instantly that he was heavily effected by the news. She wondered how he was doing...

 

Sora nodded faintly, looking down at the table. "I'm worried about him too," he confessed softly. Roxas was like a brother to him, and as a brother, Sora wanted to protect him from pain--physically and emotionally. But this was one thing he couldn't fix no matter how hard he tried.

Namine kept walking, not looking up at any of the people who walked past her. She just hoped that they were strangers--total strangers, people who she never met and never would see again. She didn't want to hurt any more people because she didn't remember them.

 

Kairi glanced up at Sora when he spoke before her focus returned to the floor. She wasn't sure what to think about this whole thing, which meant that Roxas was probably going through an even tougher time. She hoped that he was alright.

Roxas listened to the wind rustle the leaves, trying to calm down. His worry had grown ever since he even got outside. He figured that was because he wasn't with Namine in the first place. But...he couldn't see her without becoming sad, at least for now. It was hard to accept the fact that the person you loved didn't know that they loved you back, or even knew who you were.

 

Sora kept his eyes down, silent. Roxas was his best friend, so if he was upset, then so was Sora. But this time, Sora knew he had to leave Roxas alone to sort it out on his own. He had nothing to say that could improve the situation. And besides, he had no clue how his friend was feeling--Sora may have been in some terrible situations, but none like this.

Namine looked up from the ground, seeing her home coming up. A soft sigh left her lips; it was good to see a familiar place. But even with that, her heart still ached. Simply being at home wasn't going to fix her current situation.

 

Roxas knew he couldn't lay there forever, but the serenity that swept over him when he got there was enough to keep him there a little longer. Even if the peace was slight, it was still enough to make him feel better. Somewhat. Namine's memory loss was never going to be a good thing, and it was probably never going to make him feel any better, but he had to deal with it, just like she did. And he vowed to stick by her no matter what, even when she didn't remember who she was.

 

Namine approached her front door and pulled a key out of her pocket, sticking it into the keyhole. With a light twist of her wrist, she unlocked the door. She entered into the silent house, familiarity surrounding her. Everything was exactly as she remembered. A soft sigh left her lips; why could she remember this but not her friends?

 

"But...my Namine," Roxas said quietly to the world around him. "Where did she go?" It was sad that he couldn't answer the question. Because she lost her memories, did that mean that the old Namine was gone too? No. He wouldn't accept it. He loved Namine, even when she wasn't herself. It was going to be that way forever, because his feelings were too strong toward her to let them diminish.

 

Namine shut the door behind her softly, hearing nothing but a silent house. Of course, she thought. My parents are away on business again. She froze at the thought--how did she know that?! The blond girl let out a cry in frustration and crumbled to the ground, leaning against the front door as she started to cry again. This didn't make any sense!!

 

Roxas sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment. When he finally opened them, he sat up, propping his elbows up against his knees. This was complicated, he knew that much. The boy groaned softly, running his fingers through his hair before scratching his head. When were things going to get easier for them? True, they had a few months worth of peace, but did that mean that something bad just had to happen to them again?

 

Namine sniffled, wiping at her nose as the tears kept falling. She had no clue where to go from here--how was she supposed to recover all she lost? Or was it already too late for that? Maybe she shouldn't even try; just start a new life. But deep down inside, she knew she didn't want to do that. Those people--no, her friends--would be hurt by it. And she wouldn't put them through pain for any reason, especially not just because she was being selfish.

 

Roxas glanced over his shoulder, toward the house. Namine was probably trying to cope with this, and he needed to be there to support her. He was her boyfriend, after all, even if she didn't know it now. Roxas turned back around, squeezing his eyes shut as he groaned in frustration. "Stop it!" he scolded himself, gripping his head with his hands. He needed to stop thinking so negatively; it wasn't going to solve anything, let alone help!

 

Namine bit her lip, jumping when she felt something touch her arm. She opened her tear filled eyes and looked over, a pair of round brown eyes meeting her. Her golden retriever. It was a birthday gift from her parents two months ago. And, from what she remembered, she loved this dog. He cuddled with me almost more than my boyfriend. She gasped audibly at the thought. Boyfriend?!

 

With a sigh, Roxas pushed himself up. He dusted himself off, knowing he must've had pieces of grass on his pants from all the pulling of the lawn he had done since he'd been outside. He turned around, squinting as he finally came out of the shade and stepped into the sunlight. Today was a beautiful day. If only things were-- Stop it! Not helping anything! Roxas shook his head to try and get rid of the pessimistic thoughts, approaching the back door.

 

Namine's dog kept sniffing at her face, but the girl was totally distracted by her thoughts. "Boyfriend," she said softly to herself. "How could I have forgotten?" Then she realized what a stupid question that was. Whatever it was that took away her memories probably didn't care what she'd be missing.

 

Roxas opened the back door, walking through the house until he reached the kitchen. He stopped short when he noticed somebody was missing. His eyes flicked every direction, but he didn't spot the blonde girl.

Kairi turned her attention to the doorway at Roxas's presence. She smiled weakly at him, still munching on her cereal. She knew exactly who he was looking for. Swallowing, she finally spoke up, but her voice wasn't cheery like it had appeared to be before. "...She's gone, Roxas," she told him softly.

Roxas's eyes darted toward Kairi, surprised. "What? Then where did she go?" he asked without thought, his voice representing his concern.