Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine's smile faded slightly as she held Roxas' gaze. "Why didn't you tell me we're dating?" she asked softly. She didn't say it in the past tense, but purposely in the present tense. If her feelings were correct, then she knew that she didn't want their relationship to be a thing of the past; she wanted to be with him. Desperately.

 

Roxas gazed at Namine for a second before his sight diverted downward. Guilt was beginning to seep in as he stared down at his lap, taking his arm back. "Uh..." Right now, he knew he couldn't do anything but tell her the truth. At this point, and by the look her eyes had held, Namine wanted nothing but honesty from him. "I...I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable," Roxas admitted quietly, eyes still lowered. "You know...you forgot everything you knew, and that included everyone you knew." He lifted a hand to scratch the side of his head. "To be honest with you, I didn't want to chase you away any further than you were from me, Nam. I-I mean, Namine..." She probably didn't remember his nickname for her either, along with other things.

 

Namine shook her head softly, a small, comforting smile appearing on her lips. "It's alright, Roxas," she said quietly, her eyes staying on his face. "I understand." Not only did she believe every word he said, but she also realized how this situation was so hard for Roxas. She felt bad for not remembering sooner, and she was about to apologize for that, but she bit her tongue to stop herself, knowing Roxas didn't want an apology. He just wanted things like they were before. It was the same thing that she wanted. And to ensure that he wouldn't hurt her somehow, he had kept their relationship a secret from her. It made sense now, and because of that, she really wished her memories would come back at that very moment so she could fully understand what Roxas had sacrificed for her sake.

 

The smallest smile fell on Roxas's face, the boy turning his head to look at the girl next to him. That was one of the reasons he loved her--she was so forgiving and understanding. The fact that Namine was still like that, even after losing her memories, made him love her even more. His smile slowly faded away, curiosity approaching once more. "...How did you remember?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing in question.

 

Namine brought up a hand, twirling a strand of hair. This was something she always did when she was thinking, and in this case, she was thinking of how to say it. She had remembered a few things, but none so clearly as the first dream she had. "I recalled this one time when we were here...and you were playing your guitar and singing a song to me," she said, blushing at the memory. She may not have known everything about their relationship, but just remembering how she felt at that moment was enough to make her blush. Her eyes wandered downward in shyness, though a small smile stayed on her lips.

 

Roxas ruffled his hair with one hand, looking away as a shy smile managed to find a place on his lips. "Yeah..." He wasn't sure what else to say, both at the timidness taking over him, and at the surprise he felt because Namine remembered something so...special to him. He'd written that song specially for her, and she remembered it...

 

"And then," Namine continued, eyes still looking down at her lap, "the rest of the night, I just kept seeing these...pictures. I don't know how to describe them. Sort of like snapshots of my life. And I saw a few things, things of us together." Really, though, that wasn't all that had convinced her she and Roxas were a couple--she had already begun connecting the dots after the way she felt for him yesterday. And that was before she had any memories reinforcing her theory.

 

Roxas looked over in interest. "Like what?" he wondered. So many things had happened over the course of the last few months, almost a year. What specific events could she have remembered? What was worrying Roxas most was if they were the good things, or the bad...

 

Namine tucked some hair behind her ear, completely unaware of any bad memories she could have with Roxas. She was also completely unaware that he was thinking about that. The blond girl smile softly, recalling what she had seen. "My favorite was one where we were standing in the park together," she started. "And there was snow on the ground and..." she started blushing again. "...we were about to kiss."

 

Roxas's eyes widened, the boy gazing at Namine for a second before turning his head away. A mix of shy and nervous laughter left him as he felt his cheeks begin to warm. "You remember that, huh?" he said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together, his elbows resting on his legs. Yeah, that was one big day for everyone.

 

Namine smiled. "Yeah," she said, though she had a feeling Roxas' question was probably one meant to go unanswered. She wished she could remember more from that day--judging by the memory, it was a terrific day. She had absolutely no recollection of the bad thing that happened later that day.

 

Roxas stared down at his hands as he thought about things. What else did she remember? And how did she feel about recalling any of those moments? Was she happy? Confused? The last emotion he could think of would be anger, and he desparately hoped it didn't come to that kind of feeling, unless it was dealing with...him. Or now, them.

 

"...But that's pretty much all I remember," Namine confessed, her voice showing some disappointment. "Just little things like that." A small smile appeared on her lips as she turned to face Roxas. "But I am happy I remembered that much," she told him. She would treasure any memory she had with him, whether it was past or present. Although it seemed premature to her, she almost wanted to say she loved him. And she was sure she did, even if she couldn't remember it. Feelings may have been triggered by memories, but her love for Roxas was still in her. Somewhere.

 

Roxas looked back to Namine, a weak smile on his face. "It's better than nothing at all, right?" he tried, hoping to conquer the feeling of disappointment from within him. He was wishful that she remembered more, but she didn't. He had to accept that, whether he liked it or not. However, he loved the fact that she at least remembered something, especially about him.

 

Namine returned Roxas' smile with a weak one of her own. "Right," she agreed softly, though she really wanted to say something else. She wanted to say she was sorry. She was so, so sorry she didn't remember more. And she was sorry for not remembering Roxas from the start. And for causing him pain...I'm so sorry, she thought, not finding the courage to say it aloud.

 

Roxas gazed into Namine's eyes, their sky-blue color distracting him from his thoughts a little bit. But once he got back on track, he remembered the question he really wanted to ask: How did she feel about them dating in her memories? He was completely unaware that she used the present tense of the word "date", so he could only imagine that she wasn't sure about it.

 

Namine held Roxas' gaze for a few more moments, but guilt made her look away. She felt so bad over all of this...remembering should have been completely better, but now things felt almost awkward. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake--maybe she should have just waited until she was completely recovered and be with Roxas then. But she didn't want that, either. She wanted to be with him now, and not just as friends.

 

When Namine looked away, so did Roxas. Thinking about it, he decided against asking her that question; he didn't want to put her even more on the spot than she already was with this whole thing. Plus, he sincerely didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, like he said before. Even if she didn't really know it from her recovered memories, Roxas still loved her. Dearly.

 

Namine inhaled a breath, and then exhaled. "I'm sorry," she said softly, finally forcing herself to say those two words. She knew that there wouldn't be peace in her heart if she didn't apologize. This situation was just wrong...it was wrong in so many ways.

 

Roxas's head jerked in Namine's direction, the boy sitting up straight as he gave her a quizzical look. "What for?" he asked softly. There was nothing to be sorry for in his eyes; she couldn't help the situation. It wasn't her fault that her memories were gone.