(LOG) Roxas/Naminé ━ as long as you are there

[memorybound]

Who: Roxas and Naminé
What: Castle building and swimming and general awesomeness.
When: .. While back? ♥ July 4th, specifically, the first day of summer in Paradisa.
Where: The secret beach.
Rating: This is made of victory and platinum, therefore it's A for awesomesauce and E for everyone. ._.
Note: Uhm, well .. This song fits the log so perfectly and it's cute, so download it! :D


The day seemed a lot less hot now in the "secret beach," the light breeze giving some relief from the sun as Naminé shuffled to the water with her light blue pail and kneeled to fill it; hauling it up with some effort as she wobbled back to the castle-making area once she was done. Though her fingers burned slightly at carrying the foreign weight, the walk back was certainly worth it if the masterpiece wasn't going to be toppled down by the recurring waves.

Carefully placing the pail on a fairly even patch of sand, Naminé took a seat and inspected the small mound she had gathered up prior. Tongue sticking out in intent concentration, the girl gathered it up some more before she began molding it into what seemed to be .. Well, a hill. Castles had hills around them after all.

Still intent on making the perfect hill, Naminé spoke up suddenly, "what should we name it?"

Though he would never admit it, part of Roxas missed this. Or maybe he was the part of Sora that missed his home: the sun, the sand, the waves. Before Paradisa, the beach had left a bitter taste in his mouth. It was something Sora had, it was something DiZ had denied him, it was one of the last things he and his friends in Twilight Town had talked about. However, he couldn't find the energy to stay bitter as he watched Naminé start on the sand.

"I'm not sure," Roxas said, looking down at the little sand dune he had made. It was kind of pathetic looking, really. He glanced over at the other nobody's and frowned thoughtfully. "How about…" Anything but Oblivion and Paradisa. He caught himself before he said it, though, and went back to looking thoughtful. "Hmm."

Biting down on her lip and reaching over to grab a whale shaped mold, Naminé placed it over the hill without a second thought. Pressing it down for the meantime, her gaze shifted over to Roxas and she smiled. "Kingdom! It should have Kingdom in the beginning. Kingdom .. Kingdom Something."

She frowned slightly when she finally removed the plastic mold, finding that the whale had no tail. .. Maybe the sand was too dry? After pouring some of the water into the whale mold, she began adding the sand until it was filled up again and smoothed it out. No one ever said making a whale would be this tricky. "Well, this Kingdom Not Named should be known for having good ice cream and .. And pancakes."

"The Kingdom of good ice cream and pancakes?" Roxas raised an eyebrow, amusement evident in his voice. "I guess we'll leave it vague for now." He picked up a starfish mold, and learning from Naminé's mistake, added some water to the sand before pressing it down near the whale. He brushed some crumbling sand off the sides before grabbing a crab one.

… and he was suddenly reminded of Atlantica. Blinking, Roxas quickly dropped the mold and busied himself with trying to make some sort of wall. He dipped his hand into the bucket of water and let it puddle on the dry sand.

Grinning, he flicked a little bit of water at the girl sitting near him and looked away, as if he didn't do anything. Roxas went back to his sand wall, wondering if he looked innocent at all.

She nodded, removing the mold with a pleased expression once she realized it had come out fine this time. Naminé took out a handful of seashells from the small bag at her side, thoughtfully picking through the pile until she found a suitable one and gently placed it on the whale.

But she let out a small sound of surprise when she felt the sudden cold drops on the side of her face, looking at Roxas with wide eyes as some of the shells fell upon her lap. Once the surprise had faded away, she carefully peered at the bucket from the corner of her eye. So, he wanted to play that way did he? The girl opted to ignore that for the time being, brushing it off as an accident.

"It's raining," Naminé commented half-mindedly, picking through the shell pile again.

He tried not to laugh as he heard some of the shells fall from her hand. Instead, he grabbed a handful from the bag and tiled them neatly on top of his wall. Roxas wasn't usually the playful type, but there were those odd days when he felt the urge to just mess around like a normal kid. Today was apparently one of those days.

"Must be," Roxas nodded. And then, once he was sure she was going through the shells, he flicked some more water at her. This time he couldn't stop his shoulders from shaking a little with suppressed laughter as he looked away. "The weather here is pretty weird."

Right. He was working on his wall… thing.

This time around, the most she did was shudder, but she managed to keep all the shells in her hand this time around. Clearing her throat, she settled for spilling them onto the sand in what seemed to be a twisting line, pushing them fairly close together so that it resembled a trail. Ridding her hands of the fragments left over, Naminé tried her very best to keep a steady face.

"I think .." That was the only warning he would get as she dipped her hand in the bucket and brought it back up in one swift motion to .. Well, throw more of a burst of water rather than just a flick in his direction. She laughed, quickly backing away a few feet and covering her head with her arms in case he tried something else.

Peeking through a small opening, she continued, "it's more like a big downpour." It wasn't very smart to just sit there, but she was fairly confident her arms could provide good shelter.

Giving in, Roxas laughed. It stopped for a moment as she got a good amount of water on him, but then picked up again. He rubbed the shoulder that the water had soaked. She had gotten him pretty good, and pretty unexpectedly.

"Downpour, huh? That wasn't too bad…" And he picked up the bucket, inching closer to the blonde girl.

Oh, he wouldn't toss it right away. He liked to be nice, after all. So he would give her a head start.

Well, this certainly wasn't heading anywhere good. Naminé peeked at him again, swallowing when she noticed what he was planning. Arms immediately falling to her sides, she pushed herself back to her feet and wobbled before she regained her composure. "You .. You .."

She had considered something along the lines of "you wouldn't," but she was pretty sure that he would. So instead, she decided to make a run for it. He was probably faster than she was and there was nowhere to hide .. Which was very bad luck, unless she beat him to it and jumped into the water herself.

Roxas would probably want to die if anyone saw him act like this. He had a sneaking suspicion that Sora and Axel thought he spent most of his time locked up in his room brooding or something like that. He knew how to have fun… it was just that he rarely had the chance to.

He took off after her in a leisurely jog, water sloshing in the bucket he still carried. "Why are you running?" He called after her, laughing.

She came to an abrupt stop, her stumbling steps sending sand flying at all sides. Turning around sharply, Naminé focused on catching her breath and replied as soon as she had enough energy to. "Because ..!" The girl trailed off, momentarily halted by the stinging in her lungs.

Now dubious of what he was actually going to do, she meekly pointed at the bucket he was holding. "Y-you're .. Going to throw that .. At me .." Tilting her head, she fixed him with a questioning look, breathing in deeply. ".. Aren't you?"

Roxas stopped a few feet away, letting her catch her breath. That last time he saw her run was when she had kissed him in the library. The memory brought a slight pink tinge to his cheeks, but the sun was already doing that for him so it was hard to notice.

"This?" Roxas raised the bucket, and pretended to throw it at her… just a good six feet to her right. The water saturated the sand, turning it a dark brown. Roxas smiled. "I just wanted an excuse to get closer to the water, really. C'mon."

And he jogged past her, heading down to where the waves were hitting the sand.

That was good to know. Letting out a small sigh and relaxing her shoulders, she spared a glance to the dark splotch on the sand. She had no time to respond to what he said last. Naminé quietly looked after him, following him soon after rather hesitantly. Just because she had been there before didn't necessarily mean .. She swam. In all honesty, she was a bit afraid. Linking her hands behind her back, Naminé gingerly neared the water, stepping in until the water reached her ankles.

Glancing down at her feet, the girl lightly brushed the soft sand beneath with her toes, exposing one small rock here and another shell here. The ocean seemed rather calm or so she observed, looking off at the blue water that reached the horizon.

By the time Naminé got to the water, Roxas was already there. It felt good, especially since the sand was getting pretty warm. He did think of Destiny Islands, remembering things he never experienced. Fighting, playing, and races along the beach. But now Roxas had some of his own memories at the beach.

Again, he inched over to his friend slowly, appearing to be watching the sand beneath the clear water just like she was. Needless to say, it was just an act. Some part of Roxas told him not to roughhouse with her, and another part told him to go along with his plan. He ended up agreeing with the latter. It was just water, after all.

Moving behind her, Roxas grabbed Naminé by the shoulders with the intent to plunge her into the water.

Naminé didn't even have a chance to protest.

His actions seemed innocent enough for her to disregard, but now she was scolding herself for letting her guard down; especially when she was currently underwater. Even if it was shallow, Naminé had managed to get a mouthful of ocean water. She quickly sat up, going off in a coughing fit as soon as she had reached the surface. Rubbing her eyes with her arm, the girl shook her head, but even that wasn't enough to fix up her appearance.

Turning a bright red in embarrassment, which was not easy to hide in her case ( unfortunately ), she looked up at Roxas and eventually burst out laughing.

For a moment, Roxas regretted his actions… especially when she began coughing. An apology was already rolling off his lips as he kneeled in the water next to her. Something about him being sorry, he didn't think it through-

And then she was laughing, and he sighed in relief. That was a close one. Still, he grinned sheepishly. "Are you okay? Looks like you fell or something. You should be more careful."

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand one last time, Naminé gave him a small nod in response. "I'm fine," she answered, pushing away a few of the strands that were still sticking to the sides of her face. Placing the tip of her index finger against her chin thoughtfully, Naminé looked about carefully. Fell in? Riiiight.

"You should be more careful too, I think." With that, she aimed to push him back into the water too, even if she had to put in some extra strength from her part.

Well, that was unexpected. Roxas hardly had time to finish the thought before he was pin wheeling, attempting to stay upright. Something in the back of his mind told him he should have expected that, but… maybe it was true, all that stuff they said about hindsight being 20/20 or something.

His back hit the water, and he laughed before a small wave muffled the sound and turned it into a cough. "Gross," he spat, not enjoying the taste of so much salt in his mouth at once. Ice cream was definitely better.

Almost outright grinning, Roxas looked at Naminé after he managed to sit up. "Guess we're even."

Smiling cheerfully, Naminé slowly pushed herself back to the deeper waters; coming to a stop as soon as the water reached her shoulders. She was still sitting down, but still, she was nervous and that was her excuse. "I guess we are." She answered, looking up at the sky.

".. It's nice here, I think." Naminé said suddenly, attempting to paddle off to the side with little success. Suddenly looking a bit flustered at her inexperience, Naminé swallowed a little and looked away. "It's nicer than I thought it would be."

Roxas followed, looking off at the expanse of water before them instead of the sky. He wondered what would happen if he just tried to swim out there, just keep going until he was too tired to swim anymore.

… with his luck, he'd probably get eaten by a whale before he got very far at all.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Roxas nodded at what Naminé said. "Yeah. Paradisa isn't all that bad once you get away from a lot of it." It was easy to forget that they were trapped when they were just playing at the beach. It was just like any other world.

Now kneeling, the girl bit her lip somewhat thoughtfully. "I wonder how long we'll be here. Maybe .. We'll grow up here?" It was a bit of a scary thought, thinking about how long you could be here, but at the same time .. It strangely wasn't. It was certainly something with mixed feelings, possibly the most confusing. Sighing, she continued rather sheepishly.

"I .. I hope no one finds this beach." Evading any kind of eye contact, Naminé busied herself with picking up some shells from the sandy floor; a shocked expression on her features when she picked up what seemed to be a tiny, tiny clam. She dropped it after a small while, gazing in amazement as it buried itself beneath the sand again.

"Maybe…" Roxas wasn't concerned about growing up. What concerned him was what would happen to Naminé and he if they somehow went back. He liked being himself. He liked being separate from Sora. And while he didn't have the keyblade, and Sora and Axel were missing memories… he had friends. And he didn't want to lose them again.

"Our little secret?" He was reminded of a cave somewhere, little drawings on the walls. "Even if other people find it, it's nice that we had it to ourselves for a while. And I'm sure there are other places around here that people haven't found yet." There was still so much of the world left unknown. But he didn't dare utter the word 'adventure.'

She nodded eagerly at what he said, the smile coming back to her face as she looked back at him. "Our little secret! It could be like the sandcastle kingdom we have, only a lot bigger." Naminé stretched her arms out as much as she could to emphasize the size of the beach, when she suddenly thought of something.

.. Well, it was actually kind of silly, when she thought it over, but it wouldn't hurt to say what it was. "We should bury a treasure around here sometime, make a map out of it, then come back here and open it after ten years~" What would go in it .. She wasn't sure about now, but it was an idea at least.

The ex-keyblade wielder nodded as well. Their own little kingdom. It didn't seem like a bad idea-however, her next idea wiped the smile off Roxas' face.

Ten years was a long time. He had been in Paradisa for a little more than half a year, and it was very difficult to imagine living through nineteen more half-years. Roxas distracted himself by leaning back so that his hair was in the water, out of the sun's warmth. Oddly enough, the water did little to the spikes on his head.

"And even we're not here in ten years, if someone else finds it… they'll know we were, right?" He smiled a little. That didn't sound too bad, when he thought about it. "If we find a way back, then it'll give them some hope that they can find a way back, too."

Tucking some of her hair behind her ear, she couldn't help but laugh a little. "And they'll know that they are standing in a very secret kingdom." Naminé attempted to paddle off to the side again, this time with more success, and she sighed to herself a bit proudly. But she suddenly stopped again, sinking down so that only her head popped up above the water.

".. If we go back," she began, a bit hesitantly. She didn't want to ruin the happy mood they had now, but these things .. These things just kept coming up, almost as if it were inevitable. Twiddling her thumbs under the water, Naminé gazed at Roxas somewhat sadly. "Would we go back .. To being a part of them?"

If they had been separated from their "Somebodies" here .. It had to have been for a reason, right? Or so she hoped - and hoped very hard that it just hadn't been some mistake.

Roxas let himself float on his back a little, only now staring up at the sky. "I think so," he said with a somewhat confident tone. Why wouldn't they? They were a part of Sora and Kairi. They had said that as long as those two were together, so would they. But… it just wasn't the same, and this independent existence was making Roxas greedy. He wanted to be his own person. Losing that wasn't appealing at all.

"So we have to make the best of it," he continued, "What we have now." It could end at any moment. He hadn't realized that in Twilight Town. If they went back to Sora and Kairi, he didn't want to be upset at chances he didn't take, or things he never did. That was part of his reason for trying so hard to make things right with Axel. Even if he didn't remember, if they went back… he would be dead. Again, and forever.

"Even with how crazy this place is, I'm glad we're able to do stuff like this." Attempt to be normal.

Naminé chose not to answer, instead taking up another handful of sand and half-mindedly flicking of a bit of it to reveal the small shells underneath. Once she had found a rather pretty, multi-colored one, she brushed what was left on her hand off and quickly placed it on Roxas' forehead. Balancing challenge.

Finally releasing a small "mm" in agreement, she lightly placed her hands on her cheeks to cool them off. Naminé was probably a really light pink now and her cheeks couldn't help but sting lightly. Was this what they called a sunburn? She wasn't sure, but the stinging began to eventually subside after a few moments.

"I'm glad too~"

"H-hey!" Roxas rolled back and forth a little in surprise, trying to keep his balance. Once he was sure his head wasn't gong to dip under water, he attempted to stare up crossed eyed at the shell on his forehead. He couldn't quite see it, so he grabbed it and looked at it in his hand before slipping it into his pocket. A memento. Or something.

Noticing the slight color she had gotten, Roxas got up. "Hey, we should probably go back, now. Too much sun isn't good. We can… get some ice cream or something." Not that ice cream hadn't been in his plans since the beginning, but it was a good excuse.

She had not expected his reaction to be such a surprised one, but it managed to make her smile nonetheless. But she didn't think the color on her cheeks would be so obvious, so she was quick to protest to that. "Ah, are you sure ..? I wouldn't want you to go back to shore because of me. You could stay, if you want."

Standing up after him, she shook the sand from her legs and straightened up. Maybe she should have put on some of that sun block cream. But with no one around to ask for help, it was kind of difficult to do. The ghosts sure did help out a lot.

The thought of the ghosts brought a small smile to her face, followed by a very short laugh. Wherever they were, she hoped they were all right, but poking fun at Roxas about it was really worthwhile.

"I'm sure," Roxas said, nodding. "We can always come back another day." Besides, he'd feel bad if she got burnt to a crisp. Plus, with the way it seemed to be getting warmer… that wouldn't be comfortable at all.

The smile on her face confused him a little, but he motioned back to the shore. "Let's go before you turn the color of Kairi's hair," he said, joking around a little. They were allowed to joke about their Somebodies-he made fun of Sora enough.

"Hey," Naminé protested, moving close enough to poke his arm. "I can't turn that red .." Trailing off, the girl looked down at her reflection, a bit disappointed to see that it was too blue to get a proper look at the color on her cheeks. Uneasily rubbing them, and regretting she did so soon after, she waded back to the shore.

Her shoulders seemed to have taken up the same pink shade, so it must have been that sunburn thing she had been reading about. Still, it had been worth it. Looking over her shoulder, Naminé decided to throw a joke his way. "You know, I think you were redder than Kairi's hair some time ago."

Roxas stumbled in his trek back to the shore at her comment. Quick to cover it up, he laughed, a little uneasily at that.

"Well… so were you." Or at least he thought so. Assuming they were thinking about the same thing: that library incident. She had ran off, but he was sure she turned just as red as he did.

So, that had certainly backfired. This time, the hue on her cheeks was a result of something else other than the sun. Her jokes really had a way of turning against her, didn't they? The girl pouted slightly at the thought, lightly kicking the water in defeat before stepping onto the drier sand.

She shrugged lightly, speaking rather hesitantly. ".. Maybe I was." Naminé wondered as to whether she should say more, but decided against it.

Again, that uneasy laugh came from Roxas. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything…

"Let's clean this up," he said, gathering some of the things they had brought to play in the sand with. He wasn't really changing the subject or anything… they just should clean up, first. So… there was no reason to feel awkward, right? Right.

Naminé nodded, leaning down once she got there and picking up a couple of the molds. They could be washed off once in the castle, so there really wasn't a need to do that here. Dropping them in the fishnet bag, she looked at what they had made of the castle before starting to scoop back a few of the shells that had fallen out.

"The kingdom is left unfinished and unnamed," she mused, later eying the pail a few feet away. They could pick that up on the way back.

Roxas added what he had gathered to the bag, taking it from Naminé so that he could carry it back. It wasn't heavy or anything, but… he just decided it would be nice if he did that.

"Well… Rome wasn't built in a day… whatever that means," Roxas shrugged, not remembering where he had heard that but it seemed to apply. "We can always come back and finish it another day. And think of a name in the meantime."

She blinked a few times, tilting her head to the side. Rome? Where was that? She hadn't heard about it before, so it was probably .. A world out there or something like that. But she smiled at him regardless, standing up and brushing the sand off her lower legs and then her hands.

Giving the kingdom a final glance, her gaze drifted off in the direction of the castle. "You're right. I just hope it doesn't rain like it did yesterday." Naminé laughed, linking her hands behind her back.

Roxas looked back at the real castle in the distance. He rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead-he was already beginning to sweat a little. It was getting hot… which was a little uncomfortable. Twilight Town never got this bad.

"Doubt it," Roxas said, "It's going to be good weather for ice cream, I think."

"Right~" Without even considering why she was doing it, Naminé grasped his hand and began to tug him back to the castle. Ice cream, ice cream .. "Oh, that reminds me -" She stopped in mid-sentence and picked up the pail in one sweeping motion, looking at him once she had to continue. "Have you tried sea salt ice cream with sprinkles?"

The said sprinkles had been found by pure coincidence when she had been looking for a few bowls earlier that week. "It's weird," Naminé explained somewhat excitedly, adding on quickly. "But a good kind of weird."

Roxas nearly bit his tongue off when he was pulled forward, but it was more from the shock than the pull itself. He laughed and let the girl pull him along. Sprinkles?

"No," he replied. Roxas wasn't that much a fan of sweet things, save for ice cream. He smiled. "Guess I'll have to try it, huh?"

"I guess so!" That was when she realized what she had done and panicked a little ( with a slight stumble in her step ), loosening her hold on him in case he wanted her to let go.

By this point, the sun had nothing to do with the blush on her cheeks, as much as she wanted it to. As long as he couldn't tell the difference, though, it didn't matter.

Roxas didn't realize her hold had loosened until he took a step forward and their hands slipped apart. He didn't want to seem weird by scrambling to grab it again, so he let it happen. That was.. odd. Roxas turned to look at her.

"Wow, you're really red… c'mon." And this time, he grabbed her wrist and began to lead her back.

He wasn't that oblivious to everything but… well. Roxas wasn't that good with girls and eating some ice cream away from the heat sounded like heaven.

Naminé shook her head quickly, almost as if that were a way to rid herself of that red color. She didn't have time to object at that moment and couldn't do much but yelp when he grabbed her wrist. It seemed that her face wasn't the only sunburned area, but she jogged to catch up anyway.

"I'll .. Well, it'll be okay." She just needed to find someone to help her and it would all be good, right? It wasn't as if she would be like this forever. "It's probably just .. Momentary."

"Whoa," Roxas gasped, looking back at her when she yelped. Next time they'd have to be more careful, but the sun wasn't usually this bad… or so it had seemed.

He gave her a look-he didn't really believe her-but decided that it wouldn't help much to argue it. Momentary. Right. "We'll still get it checked out."

She couldn't hold back this sudden amusement for some reason, covering her mouth with her free hand as she started to giggle. Naminé hadn't thought the yelp would make him react that loud, but that gave her an idea. "S-sorry, I didn't mean .. It isn't like that time when I was sick."

Explaining wouldn't get her very far, so she just went along with what he had said last. "Okay, we will."