"Roxas, you didn't let anything happen," Namine stated softly, her gaze staying on the blonde boy. "I may have gotten hurt, but you didn't let it happen. You had no control over any of that, so you shouldn't hold yourself responsible."
Namine swallowed hard before continuing, her gentle voice sounding loud in the quiet room. "And as soon as you knew something was wrong, you came and helped me. You protected me from getting hurt worse and you saved me. I don't see that as failing." There was a slight pause. "Do you?"
Namine shook her head slightly, gazing over at Roxas now. "You're being too hard on yourself," she said gently. "In both of those situations, you shouldn't have even known that I was in danger. But you did...thankfully." She couldn't imagine what would have happened if Roxas hadn't protected and saved her, and it was something she never did want to imagine.
"You said yourself that it was lucky that you even knew I was in trouble," Namine started, pausing a brief moment before speaking again. "So how can you be so hard on yourself for not being able to protect me fully when you didn't even know until later that Brian was here?"
"I'll give you an example," Namine started softly, her eyes turning toward the fire. "Back in the alley...Jeff might have hurt me, and Brian too, but you didn't just save me. You protected me from any more pain I could have recieved." She paused for a moment, then continued. "It was the same thing today, you know. I could have gotten hurt...much worse, but I didn't. Because you protected me from that." Namine felt as if she was starting to ramble, so she silenced herself, hoping that Roxas understood what she meant.
"What? No, Roxas. No," Namine took in his words, immediatly hearing the sorrow in his voice. "You've always been my guardian angel...coming for me when I need you. Maybe in those recent situations, things escalated pretty quickly...but I still think that you protected me...in all of them." She paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next.
Namine tilted her head slightly, some of her blond hair coming over her shoulder more. "I don't see much of a difference," Namine stated softly, honestly. She didn't quite get it...what was the difference between being protected and being saved?
Namine's eyebrows went up slightly in surprise. Before he even answered, Namine knew that would be Roxas' response. Still though, it was startling to hear. She quickly regained her composure, shaking her head slightly. "How can you believe that?" She asked softly. "You always protect me from danger."
"And you believe him?" Namine said softly, her gentle gaze staying on Roxas. Brian...what an idiotic jerk! Of course she saw that none of what he said was true; Roxas loved her dearly, and he was always protecting her. Roxas had to see that was true...didn't he?
Namine kept a soft gaze on Roxas, hearing his slow spoken words. What he said was absolutely true; she was in a lot of danger lately, and she hated that. But she had a feeling that the problem was much deeper than that, so she stayed silent, patiently waiting for Roxas to say more.
Namine blinked two times, her eyes feeling dry because of the fire. So Roxas was upset about something that Brian had said... Namine bit her lip slightly, hoping it wasn't too major. Brian was a jerk, and she figured that whatever he says shouldn't be taken too seriously. But by the look of things, Roxas was taking it seriously. Very seriously.
Namine turned her head at the words, her soft eyes gazing at Roxas. She had no idea what he was talking about yet, of course. He had only said one sentence, after all. She stayed silent, waiting to hear what else he had to say.
Out of the corner of her eye, Namine noticed Roxas' movements, seeing the teen take the blanket off his shoulders. Apparently he was warming up, and she was thankful for that.
Namine blinked when she saw Roxas turning away, the movement bringing her out of her thoughts. She bit her lip lightly as she turned away, her eyes on the fire again.
Namine continued to look at Roxas without realizing it, thinking again. Roxas had said earlier that there had been another problem, other than the ones that involved Smith, Jeff, or Brian. She had no idea what that was, and she had no way to know until Roxas explained it to her. She had a feeling that this one was pretty complicated, too complex for her to decyfer just by looking into Roxas' eyes. Things weren't that simple in this case.
Namine nodded slightly in agreement, her gaze not leaving Roxas' eyes. She saw a different appearance in them now--one that looked much lighter than before. But there was still something else, deep in his eyes...
"...I think you're right," Namine said softly after a moment, bringing herself out of her thoughts and back to reality. She hadn't asked for any of this, and neither had Roxas. Jeff was the one who started all this trouble, and the chain reactions that occured because of it.
No...she couldn't have done something wrong! Jeff was saying awful things about Roxas, as well as implying that she herself could easily be manipulated. When he had grabbed her wrist, saying that he would take her back to his house to get rid of her nasty temper...Namine blinked twice at the memory, chasing it away. Defending herself had been the only choice she had, and she realized that now.
Namine's eyes locked with Roxas', those two last words impacting her the most. Jeff did start it all...didn't he? Namine had been minding her own buisiness at the park, but then he had to come up and try to make a move on her. Of course she defended herself...and Roxas. Self defense may have heated things up, but ultimately, it was Jeff who started it...wasn't it?
Namine turned her head at the statement, finally bringing her eyes to Roxas even though he had looked away. He was...agreeing?
