Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine exhaled a breath of her own, it coming out as a soft sigh. She would hold onto Roxas as long as she could, fearing that she wouldn't be able to much in the future. Or ever again, once he left. She furrowed her brows again, feeling some tears appearing behind her closed eyes.

 

Roxas gazed at Namine in silence, taking in her appearance, memorizing it. This was so he could always just picture her and everything would be alright again, if for only a few seconds. The angel in his life would be his light in the darkness, and he would be her guardian.

 

Namine's facial expression relaxed after a moment, the girl too drained to keep her eyebrows furrowed. She was exhausted from the nightmares she had lately, the lack of sleep, and the emotional roller-coaster she had just gone. Well, still was going through, actually.

 

Roxas lifted his hand resting on one of Namine's to stroke her face, seeing that she looked very weak. He knew it was mostly from the news she had just been told, and probably exhaustion. Earlier he had noticed how tired she appeared. The news on top of that most likely wasn't a good combination.

 

Despite the waves of emotion impacting her heart. Namine found it hard to keep a grip on consciousness. Perhaps she hoped that her dreams would be better than this reality. Actually, she would rather face Smith again than deal with Roxas going away. The soft stroking of her cheek acted as a lullaby, pulling the girl into a dreamless slumber.

 

Roxas continued to run his fingers over Namine's forehead and cheek, her skin still a little damp from her tears earlier. The memory made him sad, and he leaned forward again to kiss her forehead before pulling back, lowering his hand to cover one of hers. The next few days were going to be special; he was going to make sure of it.

 

Namine inhaled a soft breath and then released it, subconsciously aware of Roxas' presence. She was glad she had grabbed onto his arm, because as of that moment, it felt as if he had no choice but to stay with her.

After a while of just looking into each others eyes, Sora had moved up onto the couch next to Kairi. He wasn't holding her now, though--he was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. If he weren't in shock, he would have been holding her. All the news was impacting him again, just like it had from the start. It was almost unbelievable.

 

Kairi continuously drummed her fingertips against one another, nervous, scared, and sad all at the same time. What was going to happen to Sora? He was going to come back home, right? He would come back to her...right? Just like he promised long ago? The thing Kairi didn't know was if that promise still held true.

 

Sora brought up his hands, holding his head in them. His mind and heart literally ached from all the thinking he had done, and he wished for one brief moment that if this situation had to occur, that things would settle down for a short while. Just long enough for him to get a secure grip on reality. Because at that moment, it felt like he had been thrown for a loop.

 

Kairi glanced at Sora for a brief moment, a long enough duration to take in his posture, before her eyes settled back on her lap. She finally quit messing with her hands, instead setting them on her legs. What was she to do? To say? Something like this hadn't happened before, and it terrified her to think of the future--the future without Sora.

 

Sora was having a hard time not showing the fullness of his emotions. He wasn't sure what Kairi could feel on her side, but he was feeling...Well, he couldn't describe it. Just plain awful, pretty much. He didn't want to leave her, not now or ever.

 

The fact that they were connected soothed her a bit, despite her feelings now. But since Kairi and Sora's hearts were connected, that meant that they felt each others emotions. And right now, she was overwhelmed with the power of both hers and his. It made her close her eyes to try and absorb it all, that way it wasn't overflowing inside her heart. At the same time, though, she hated to have to take it in, because it was reality. And right now, reality was being cruel to her. To Sora, too.

 

Sora's and Kairi's emotions had mixed together so much in his heart that he had a hard time telling them apart. It left him feeling a bit flustered, and at a loss for words. What could he possibly say? He couldn't say that things were alright, because obviously they weren't.

 

Even if reality was being unfair, Kairi knew she couldn't blame anyone--not the King, certainly not Sora or Roxas, or Riku. The problem before them was governed by fate, and there was nothing any of them could do about it but follow the path. As unfortunate as the path was right now, Kairi had to accept it. She had to follow the path too, even if it led her somewhere seperate from Sora or her friends.

 

"...Someday, things'll be alright," Sora finally said, speaking very softly. "Maybe not today, or tomorrow or next week. But someday..." Someday what? Would things be alright? He had faith that they would, but what if this changed all their lives? He didn't like the thought of that, since everything they'd been through thus far had been beatable. But was this...?

 

Kairi opened her eyes at the words, her sight darting to Sora. She heard him, and felt herself believe him. But...when was someday? Was it ever going to come? The reason she wondered this was because she feared Sora wouldn't come back so soon, if he came back at all. His last journey kept him from her for a long time, over a year. Kairi didn't know if she could handle that again, not now that they were together.

 

"...It'll be alright," Sora said, finally finishing his last sentence. "It has to be," he muttered softly. He suddenly felt something new bubbling up inside of him...Raw frustration. He clenched his eyes shut, sweat starting to form on his forehead.

 

Kairi nodded, not able to speak for the moment. Her thoughts had begun to overwhelm her, just as her feelings did within. She loved Sora, very much. But, she didn't want things to change between them while he was gone. It scared her to think like that, but if he was gone for a long period of time, things were going to be different, weren't they?

 

Sora abruptly rose to his feet, hands in fists at his side. He wasn't even thinking as he approached a wall about ten feet away, his eyes not really seeing anything. He set his left hand flat against the wall and then brought back his right hand in a fist, hitting the wall hard. This is not happening! he thought in anger, sadness, and frustration. He punched the wall a few more times in frustration, not feeling the pain of the impacts immediately.

 

Kairi winced at the sound of Sora repeatedly hitting the wall, the girl squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed her lips together so she didn't have to watch. It was obvious that he was very upset about this, and his pain leaned more toward anger, while hers was focused on sadness. Kairi brought a hand to her face, covering her eyes. Seeing Sora so angry scared her a little, but she knew it was centered around the situation. She only wished she could say something, do something to make him calm down.