Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Once her shoes were slipped on, Namine turned around, her soft blue eyes finding Roxas. She brought up a hand and tucked some hair behind her ear, the girl staying silent.

 

Roxas turned his head to see what Namine was doing, and when he found her standing quietly, he offered a small smile. "You ready to get going?" he asked, blue eyes on her. She got ready in just the right time; they could meet Sora and Kairi and be right on time.

 

Namine smiled softly, nodding her head. "Yeah," she said, holding her hands together in front of her. She was excited to get going; it felt like it had been a while since she really saw Kairi and Sora.

 

Roxas nodded. "Alright, let's get going then," he said, smile widening as he started toward her. He was ready to check out this Italian place Namine talked about, and get together with his two best friends.

 

Namine smiled at Roxas' words. "Yeah," she said, agreeing. It was time to go; if they didn't leave right away, then they were going to be late for sure.

 

Roxas's smile softened a little as he went ahead and walked past Namine to leave the room. Soon they would be with Sora and Kairi and could get to the restaurant. His stomach was empty since he hadn't eaten a big lunch, so he was ready to fill it with pasta.

 

A little over twenty minutes later, Namine and Roxas were arriving at the restaurant. Namine had her small purse in one hand, since she was planning on paying for the meal. After all, it had been her idea to go out.

Sora sat with hands clasped in the waiting room, the teen looking up blankly at the television broadcasting a basketball game. He wasn't really paying attention--it was just something he could look at while he was waiting for his two friends to show up. Kairi, however, was right beside him. He had picked her up and then they walked over together. They had gotten there about five minutes early just in case Namine and Roxas came sooner than expected.

 

Roxas looked up at the restaurant's sign, now understanding how nice this place was. He let his hand slip from Namine's as he approached the door, grabbing onto the handle and opening it for the girl. "After you," he said with a smile.

Kairi sat next to Sora in silence, her focus on the hem of her dress that she was wearing. It was a lavender purple sundress, one that she had bought near the beginning of the vacation, when she had gone to the mall with Namine. She adjusted the bottom of it as she sat with her legs crossed, the dress normally falling to just above her knees when she stood up. After fixing it, Kairi looked back up at the other people in the waiting area, folding her hands in her lap as she waited for her friends.

 

Namine met Roxas' smile with one of her own, her eyes finding his. "Thank you," she said, stepping inside the waiting room. It wasn't extremely crowded; there were a few small groups waiting. But her eyes immediately located the redhead and the brunet boy beside her.

Sora blinked, but he kept his eyes on the screen. He hadn't heard the door ring when it was opened, because now the game was actually getting interesting. One play caught his attention, making him subconsciously curl a hand into a fist in anticipation.

 

Kairi's head turned at the ring of the door, her eyes growing and lips widening at the sight of her two friends. "Hey, you guys," she waved. She was in an exceptionally good mood today, which was also the reason why they were out to dinner. Namine's recovery, of course.

Roxas came in after Namine, in time to hear Kairi's greeting. His small smile grew slightly as he returned the redhead's greeting gesture, waving. His eyes fell on Sora for a moment, but then his eyes followed the brunet's up to the television. Immediately Roxas was hooked on the game.

 

Namine smiled, walking toward her friends. "Kairi, Sora," she greeted, her eyes shining brightly. The tone of her voice and facial expression reflected just how glad she was to see her friends. But before they headed in to eat, Namine felt like she had to give her friends a hug. It had been far too long that she had been away from them, missing them. She was thinking of her real self, of course, not the girl without memories who had been living in her place lately.

Sora turned at the sound of the voice, instinctively rising to his feet. "Namine," he said with a smile. She looked great--not only dressed up nicely, but the joy coming off her couldn't help but make him smile as well.

 

Kairi stood up along with Sora, straightening her dress. She couldn't help but smile. Even though she only saw Namine a few days ago, it felt like a good friend had gone away for a while. Her best friend. It felt good to see the real Namine before her, who looked very pretty tonight.

Roxas heard the exchange of words, but the play on the television was just too good. His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on the screen, but at the same time his conscious was telling him to stop. You can watch a rerun later!

 

Namine took a few steps forward and wrapped her arms around Kairi, her head right over Kairi's shoulder. She held her for a while and shut her eyes when she felt herself getting teary. "It's good to see you," she managed, not sounding as choked up as she felt.

Sora looked from the girls to Roxas, who was helplessly hooked on the game. The brunet couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Come on man, you do this every time you see a basketball game on TV, Sora mused, thinking the thoughts but not saying them aloud.

 

Kairi smiled a little more in surprise, but returned the embrace. "It's good to see you too," Kairi replied. The real Namine. "It's been a little while." A few days, really. She, Sora, Roxas, and Namine had all hung out at Kairi's once within the past week, but that had been the last time she saw the blonde.

Roxas got a tingling feeling in his chest again after hearing a few chuckles, which snapped him out of the game a little bit. He blinked, hearing the small conversation between the girls. A time-out was called just as the boy's blue eyes fell on Sora. Roxas glanced back up at the TV, realizing what he was just doing, and then found his friend again. He let a sheepish smile spread on his face, bringing up a hand to rub the back of his head. Whoops.

 

Sora grinned back at his friend, catching onto his sheepish expression. He decided not to hold it against him, though, since Sora had just been wrapped up in the same game a few moments ago.

Namine nodded slightly, opening her eyes a crack. "Yeah," she said softly in agreement. She may have seen Kairi just a few days ago, but now if felt totally different to her. The blond opened her eyes completely and pulled away, a small smile present on her lips. She felt like her eyes were a little more moist than usual, but at least the tears weren't forming.

 

Roxas's sheepish expression melted away once his eyes set on the girls. He took a few steps forward to be closer to his friends, having been standing just inside the door from the hypnotic force the television had had on him. Time to start the night.

Kairi pulled back as well, nodding at her friend. Then she looked at the girl's dress. "Aw, you look great," she chimed with a wider smile. And Namine did--she was dressed up for tonight, but not too dressed up. She looked very pretty. Kairi then looked at her own attire. "Apparently we had the same choice of wardrobe." She giggled a little; it was ironic how they both chose dresses to wear.

 

Namine's smile widened a little at Kairi's comment, and then she giggled softly when she heard her friend's second sentence. "Well, it feels like today is worth dressing up nicer," she said with a smile. Not only the recovery of her memory, but also just getting together with her friends. She was excited for the rest of the night.

Sora looked away from Roxas and looked lightly at the girls. But then his stomach runbled softly, distracting him. Thankfully, though, it wasn't loud enough for anybody else to hear. Wow, I'm really hungry, he thought, just then catching a whiff of some pasta sauce.

 

Kairi nodded again, smiling a little more. She couldn't disagree with that.

Roxas came up next to Namine, putting a hand lightly on her shoulder. "You girls hungry?" he asked with a smile, then putting his other hand on his stomach, which he felt growl. "Because I'm starving." His small smile grew into a wide grin. Food was one of his good friends, especially Italian food.

 

Sora grinned, but he didn't answer Roxas' question, since it wasn't directed at him. If it had been a more general question, he would have been the first to say how hungry he was.

Namine looked over at her shoulder at Roxas, a small smile on her lips. "I'm hungry too," she confessed. She gently moved from underneath Roxas' touch and opened up the door into the main restaurant before she spoke to her friends again. "I've already made a reservation," she explained. "I put it under my dad's name." Earlier on the phone, she had told her friends about the restaurant and her family's connection to it.

 

Kairi turned around to look at her friend. "Really? That's great!" she said with a smile. A reservation in a place like this? She imagined it must have taken a bit, considering the place was so new.

Roxas nodded in agreement to Kairi's statement, looking at all of his friends. "Shall we?" he asked with a softened smile. He was ready to eat, that was for sure.