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Love really is a strange thing. Of course, Naminé knows what love is; she’s seen it through other people. From viewing Sora’s memories of Kairi and viewing Roxas and Xion’s memories of each other (and hanging around them) she’s familiar with love as a concept. But to feel it for herself...Naminé now truly understands why nobodies like her were always so desperate to have hearts of their own.
Ever since Ven confessed to her, she can’t stop smiling whenever she thinks about them. Their first proper meeting wasn’t anything special but she’s going to remember it for a long time. She absentmindedly sketched him while he listened to Ansem the Wise talk about something that she herself wasn’t paying attention to. When she looked up and saw him staring at her, she nearly died from the embarrassment that she felt.
Yet she approached him in the courtyard and they got to talking. The next thing she knew, she was drawing him while he posed for her and she knew for certain that she was crushing on him right then and there.
A little bit later, and he asked her out and the rest was history. Now they’re happily dating.
One good thing about dating Ven is that he’s always so eager to bring her to the Land of Departure. It’s a good thing that Merlin had made her those clothes. Otherwise, she and Ventus would be restricted in how they could be together.
Admittedly, she likes the idea of meeting him outside of the castle in Radiant Garden; like a knight waiting for his princess in one of those storybooks that she’s read. The Land of Departure has its own benefits to it. Ven certainly acts like a knight in shining armor to her.
Ansem the Wise has been an absolutely generous host to her, but she can see a small twinkle in the professor’s eyes whenever she leaves to go be with Ven. Maybe Ven is going to invite her to stay with him, Aqua, Terra, and Chirithy soon? She doesn’t want to hurt Ansem’s feelings though. He truly appreciates any time she helps him out with something. It’s certainly a far cry from when he called himself DiZ.
Naminé wouldn’t mind staying at the Land of Departure with them. The older two Keyblade wielders had immediately taken to her and have made her feel like she’s welcome there. Now that she’s thinking about it, it’s actually kind of ironic that she’s so comfortable here nowadays.
During one of her visits, Aqua told her that during Xehanort’s initial schemes, she had sealed the Land of Departure off. After Ven had his heart shattered, following his battle with Vanitas; Aqua decided to hide Ven in this land and constructed a labyrinth in which to hide him from Xehanort’s reach. That labyrinth was called Castle Oblivion; a revelation that nearly made Naminé choke on her drink.
Castle Oblivion, that was the earliest place that she could recall being in. At the time, she was an unwitting pawn of Marluxia and she was made to hurt people lest he hurt her. She remembered feeling so lonely and helpless. That was part of why she had messed with the memories of Sora and the Riku Replica; she just wanted someone to protect her and not leave her, regardless of how they felt about her.
Just thinking about it makes her feel guilty all over again. She’s thankful that everyone has forgiven her for what she did. It’s still interesting to consider that Ven might have just been near her all along. Naminé can’t help but sometimes wonder what would have happened if she found Ventus and managed to wake him up. Would he have protected her from Marluxia and the others?
Maybe that’s why Marluxia and the others were at Castle Oblivion, to find Ventus? If Xemnas was Terra’s nobody, then it would stand to reason that he somehow knew that Ven was there.
Come to think of it, Marluxia, and Larxene for that matter, both looked like people that she saw in Ventus’s memories when he let her poke around in them. That had been the one time that something had acknowledged her presence while she was sifting through someone’s memories.
As much as she wants to help Ven regain his lost memories, she respects his refusal to let her try again. It makes her heart flutter to know that he’s more concerned about her wellbeing than he is about himself. Anytime she tries bringing it up, he just gives her that same sweet smile and tells her that he’d rather stay in the present with her and then kiss her.
Sweet; that’s the word that best describes Ven (or Venny as she likes to call him in private). When they first began dating, she had no clue what she was doing (and frankly, she still doesn’t know what she’s doing). Despite Xion’s advice, she finds it hard to approach him sometimes. Not because he’s distant but because she gets so nervous and freezes up.
When he sees her hesitate, Venny always smiles and wraps an arm around her, affectionately pulling her in. He’s kind of like Sora in that regard. Both of them are happy and upbeat; always able to somehow know how someone is feeling.
He’s also an absolute gentleman. When she mentioned that to Aqua, she beamed with pride, saying that it was part of Master Eraqus’s lessons that all three of them would be proper and polite at formal settings. That certainly explains a few things.
During a double date with Roxas and Xion, Naminé felt somewhat smug when she saw the other girl look at her with a tiny hint of envy when Venny was super polite and formal. It feels somewhat good to her after hearing Xion go on and on about her perfect boyfriend, even if Naminé is very happy for her two best friends. Admittedly, she does prefer it when he’s more laid back and casual on their dates, like when they’re hanging out. But it does make her blush when he treats her like a princess.
Aqua, Terra, and Chirithy have all been nothing but friendly to her whenever she comes to visit them. Chirithy usually hangs around with Ven and she honestly doesn’t know what to make of him. The fact that he’s a small talking cat is one of the least surprising things about him.
According to Ven, Chirithy seems to know everything about him and his life prior to coming to the Land of Departure yet he won’t tell him everything. From what Ventus tells her, he’s fine with that.
“I’ll know when I’m ready.” Ventus says to Naminé, standing still as she sketches him. This time he was striking a comical pose that has her fighting the urge to laugh.
“I mean, surely it has to bother you.” She doesn’t even bother to try and offer to poke around in his memories again. “I know it drove Roxas crazy to not have his memories when I talked to him in the digital Twilight Town.”
“Truth be told, it does. I know it bothers Chirithy that he can’t be fully open and truthful with me; even if he isn’t saying it.” he sighs and Naminé frowns from behind her pad. “I know what you’re going to say.”
She chuckles at that, “I’m that easy to read, huh?”
“Maybe? Or maybe I just stare at you long enough to know what you’re thinking from your posture?” She can feel him winking at her. It’s a good thing that she can hide behind her sketchpad to hide her crimson face.
Before she can nervously retort, he thankfully cuts her off, “As much as I want to know about my past; I don’t want to risk you getting hurt, you’re too precious to me. And besides…” Now Naminé knows exactly what he’s going to say. Flirting isn’t one of her specialties, but there’s a first time for everything.
“You’d rather stay here in the present with me?” Naminé looks around from her pad to see Venny smile at her.
“I’m that predictable, aren’t I?” she nods and she cuts him off,
“Maybe. I also know what comes next, Venny.” It’s certainly a rare moment when she can get him to blush and she privately cheers inwardly as he looks away from her.
“Are you sure? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to replicate this pose so easily.” he asks and she nervously stands up, mustering up her confidence as she strides towards him and cups his face.
“Just-just stay still for a few seconds.” Naminé manages before she closes the distance between their lips.
Kissing is one of those things that she's still getting the hang of; their first kiss was an accident, a happy one though. Cheek kisses are a lot easier for her. It lets her be sneaky but still affectionate. Doesn’t stop Venny from pulling her in for a proper one from time to time, which she happily lets him do.
When they pull back, he’s smiling from ear to ear, “Can I have another?”
She does her best to resist the urge to kiss him again and pulls back, moving back to her chair (she can’t believe that she pulled that off so smoothly). “When we’re done.”
In response, he frowned, but then straightened up back into position. "Let's finish this; then I can get a more close-up experience."
She giggles at that, he almost always manages to make her giggle.
Her art skills have gotten better ever since she started dating Venny. Mostly because she spends a lot of free time just doodling him in her sketchpads, but also because she started painting with Terra.
****
It shames her to admit it, but she was initially almost scared of Terra when she first met him. For starters, he absolutely towers over her; she needs to crane her head upwards in order to properly talk to him. It makes her wonder if she could match his height if Ven were to carry her on his shoulders. In fact, Terra might be the tallest person in their group of friends. If he wanted to, he could probably just carry her off with one arm. It’s a little off-putting. The other reason is a little more personal.
Whenever she looks at him, she can’t help but see the face of Xemnas. Terra looks like a younger Xemnas (or maybe it’s more accurate to say that Xemnas looks like an older Terra) so she can’t help but see his face. One day, Terra asked her if he did something to offend her and it made her feel awful that she may have upset Terra. It even briefly made her panic and think that Ven would be upset with her.
****
“I’m sorry. It’s just that, I sometimes look at your face and I see Xemnas.” Naminé admits, trying to focus more on her easel. She was currently out with Terra, painting a landscape that he found interesting.
“Ah, I should have figured that was the case.” Terra tapped his brush against his pad to use up any remaining paint before setting it down on the tray.
Turning to her, Naminé does the same, politely looking away but still craning her head upwards to address him. “I know it isn’t quite the same, but I’m sorry. For everything that Xemnas did to you.” the other man said. His voice is not as loud as one might expect from someone as big as Terra.
Biting her lip, Naminé tries to respond, “You don’t need to apologize to me. I shouldn’t be so nervous around you. You and Xemnas are not the same person and I shouldn’t treat you as such.”
“Please look at me.” Terra gently asks and Naminé properly looks at him. The tension in her shoulders evaporates when she sees him calmly smiling.
“Regardless of Xemnas being a separate person from me, I believe someone owes you an apology. Besides, I’m not offended. You’re not the first person to have mistaken me for Xemnas.”
Naminé wants to interject, but she lets him continue.
“Whenever I visit Twilight Town, I can see their reactions. Isa bows his head in slight deference to me for a moment. Lea briefly stands up ramrod straight, and I see Roxas and Xion reflexively wrap their arms around each other defensively.” She can see him look forlorn, “Were it not for me, no one would have suffered from Xehanort’s schemes. In a way, it’s all my fault.”
Clearing her throat, Naminé looks him in the eye, “Can I be honest about something?”
“Of course.” he smiles at her and she takes a deep breath.
“If it weren’t for you, or Xehanort, or Ansem, or Xemnas, or whoever; me, Roxas, and Xion wouldn’t even exist in the first place. So in a way, I have you to thank for the reason that I can even be here.” She can see him process her words and she wonders if she has upset him.
Before she can begin her apology, she hears Terra laugh. That’s confusing.
“I’m sorry,” Terra says in between laughter, “It’s just that I never thought of it like that before. I can see why Ven adores you so much. You always manage to find an upside to everything.”
She looks away and she feels a light tap on her shoulder. Somehow, Terra had managed to quietly walk up and pat her on the shoulder. It seems unreal to her that someone that big can move so quietly.
“Thank you, that actually makes me feel a little better. I can’t change what happened in the past. But I can work towards the future at least.”
Naminé continued to stand in place as Terra retracted his hand and walked back to his easel. “You’re welcome. I’m glad that I could help you out at least in some capacity.”
“This isn’t the first time that you’ve helped me out. You don’t think I remember what you did for me in the Keyblade Graveyard?” Terra asks and Naminé remembers what he’s talking about.
“I just gave you a little nudge in the right direction. You did the rest.”
She can see the other man smile and her image of Xemnas fades away, “It was the right nudge that I needed. Now come, let’s finish these paintings and show the others what we made.”
“Right!” Naminé turned back to her paints, thankfully still wet, and got back to where she left off.
It isn’t just painting that Naminé learns while she’s here in the Land of Departure. To be frank, she’s tired of being on the sidelines and wants to be right beside her friends should the darkness ever threaten the various worlds again. To that effect, she’s managed to convince Aqua to teach her how to use magic.
****
Magic is one of those things that comes naturally to Naminé. After all, her own powers are a kind of memory magic. So it isn’t that much of a stretch for her to begin learning the basic spells, as Aqua puts it. She’s seen Terra, Aqua, and Ventus utilize all different kinds of magic aside from the basic kind that she’s more familiar with. Sora and Riku are also capable of using this kind of magic, so it shouldn’t be that hard for her to learn magic, right?
Wind flies out from the palms of Naminé’s hands but not in a concentrated manner. Across the chamber, a training dummy stood idly, almost mocking her with her failures.
“Ah, I can’t get it right!” she clenches her fists tight as the wind slips through her fingers, and is gone as fast as it came.
Standing to the side, Aqua gives the exasperated girl a comforting smile. “Not everyone gets it right on their first few tries.”
“Nearly every other person I know says otherwise.”
Pursing her lips, Aqua thinks for a moment; “Perhaps you might want to try a staff of some kind. Magic works best when you have a means of channeling it.”
In response, Naminé almost snorts in amusement, “A broom for the witch then?”
The blue-haired woman shakes her head, “Not necessarily. A staff like this is also a great tool for beginners to use in regards to learning how to fight. Magic is a wonderful tool, but it isn’t infinite.” Aqua disappears into a nearby room, her voice trailing off, “So it’s prudent that you learn how to defend yourself.”
After a minute, she returns with a quarterstaff that is almost as long as Naminé is tall.
“I know it’s a bit big for your size, but we can adjust it and find a proper one for you later.”
Naminé lets the other woman adjust her fingers on the staff and get her into a proper stance.
“Magic…” began Aqua “...is mostly about emotions. It helps to fuel your power. So think about the things that you are passionate about.”
Taking a deep breath, Naminé lets wind magic course through her. Words of power certainly help, but she’s having a hard time with the passion part.
Is passion one of those things that happens in combat? It certainly makes sense when she thinks about it like that. Considering how most of the magic her friends cast is during the middle of battle, it adds up. So how powerful must her friends really be if they can casually cast magic out of battle?
Interrupting her thoughts, Aqua looks to the side and smiles. Leaning down to whisper into her ear, Naminé hears the other woman mumble, “Don’t look now...but Ven is watching.”
Ventus, sweet Ven, her Venny. Thoughts of him raced in her mind, she can’t possibly afford to mess this up now. Not when she can show him that she’s capable of learning how to fight.
“AERO!” Naminé feels the power shoot through her staff this time and she sees the wind magic erupt outwards and annihilate the dummy.
Unfortunately, the magical recoil is a bit too much for her to handle and she is knocked flat on her butt as she sees a nearby banner flutter about wildly. From right beside her, Naminé hears the sound of laughter and she turns to see Aqua with her hair all flustered and messy.
“That’s certainly one way to be passionate. I’ll need to remember that as a good motivator for our next lesson.” The other woman smooths out her hair with one hand while the other reaches out to offer Naminé a hand to help her up.
Graciously accepting Aqua’s hand, Naminé feels herself being hauled up and onto her feet. Comprehension dawns on her and she starts to smile, “I see what you meant by passion.”
“Oh?”
“You wanted me to think of things that I’m passionate about. So you tricked me into thinking about Ven.” It seems so simple in hindsight.
“Yes, and no.”
“Huh?” Now Naminé felt confused.
“Yes, in that I wanted you to think about something that you’re passionate about. No in that I didn’t trick you. He’s standing right there by the doorway.” Aqua points in a direction and Naminé lets her eyes trail over to a stunned Ventus just watching with an awestruck look on his face.
“Class is dismissed for now. Good work Naminé.”
Aqua walked away as Naminé and Ventus decided to keep staring at each other. After a few seconds, she watches the other boy bring his hands together in applause and start cheering. Looking away, Naminé feels a blush creeping onto her face. Although, she can’t help but smile at his praise, feeling a sense of pride.
****
Today, Ventus has decided to invite her to go stargazing with him at night. One of the first things that she noticed about Ven when she first visited him here is that he has an interest in astronomy. So here they are underneath a star-lit night sky, sitting on top of a soft blanket with the remains of their dinner neatly tucked away. Frankly, she shouldn’t be surprised that he made them a meal for tonight, but Venny always manages to surprise her.
Sometimes he’ll bring her something from a world that he recently visited, or even surprise her with a lovely bouquet of flowers. Venny has brought her so many flowers that she even has her own little garden in Radiant Garden. Thankfully, Dilan is willing to show her how to properly take care of them. So she shouldn’t be shocked that he prepared food for the two of them.
“Normally I’d be looking up at the sky with a telescope, but it kind of defeats the purpose of us being together like this.”
Naminé simply smiles in response, letting her eyes drift upwards at the night sky. From what Kairi has told her, Destiny Islands has a star-filled night sky, though you need to be on the island to truly see it. In Twilight Town, some stars shine, but not nearly as much as it does here.
She doesn’t know when it happened, but she feels herself leaning against the other boy, who wrapped an arm around her to bring her in closer.
“Did I ever tell you about when my journey began?” she can feel him idly playing with her hair.
Craning her head to look up at him, she nods her head, “I remember it was one of the first things you told me when I came here.”
Looking down at her, Ventus smiles at her, “So you do remember?”
Playfully freeing herself from his grip, Naminé sits upright, “Of course I do, I cherish every moment we spend together.”
In response, he laughs, “That’s right, I can’t slip anything past you.” he then thoughtfully pauses for a moment, “Do you want to know something I was told a long time ago, by Master Eraqus?”
“Sure.”
“It’s said that all of the stars we see in the night sky are distant worlds.”
“That would mean there are a lot more worlds than we first thought. I mean, it makes sense.” she shrugs, “There are worlds that you’ve been to that Sora hasn’t and vis-versa. There could possibly be an infinite amount of worlds.”
“And yet this world is the only one with you in.” he winks at her and Naminé quickly looks away, too embarrassed to look at him. Of course, she would easily fall for a line as cheesy as that, she should have seen it coming.
“Stop it...you’re making me blush.” she half-heartedly admonishes him. Truth be told, she loves it when he dotes on her so affectionately.
“But I love it when you blush like that, you’re too cute.” she feels Venny cup her chin, and guide her face towards his. With gentle care, he plants a kiss on her forehead, then on her cheek, and then on her lips. Naminé relaxes into the kiss and she dares herself to move closer to him, to not let him fluster her so easily.
When they pull back, she can see his own face, blushing red despite the dark sky above them.
“Thank you.” she says and she smiles at the confusion on his face.
“For what?” he says and she takes a deep breath, to mentally prepare herself.
“For making me fall in love with you.” It gives her a sense of triumph to see him look away in embarrassment.
“You did that all on your own.” Naminé didn’t realize just how adorable Venny could truly be as he let himself fall onto the blanket. Hedging her bets, she presses her advantage, leaning into him so that her face is hovering over his.
“Maybe, but I also had help.” Mustering her confidence, Naminé presses her lips to his once more and she smiles as she feels him kiss back. Holding him there for a minute, she cups his face, she truly does have a lot to thank him for.
Venny broke her out of her shell and helped her feel more confident around others. He properly introduced her to Aqua and Terra (and even inadvertently helped her overcome her unease around the older man). She has never once gotten the impression that he only talks to her as a form of courtesy.
When she pulls back, Naminé stares down at the silent Ventus who was still blushing like crazy. Letting herself lie down on the blanket, she lets her fingers interlock with his and they simply stare up at the star-filled sky.
“It’s still crazy to think about it.” she hears the other boy say out loud.
“What is?”
“That you were born here.” She realizes that he must be referring to the days of her earliest memories.
“I mean, it’s the earliest thing that I can recall. For all I know, I could have been born in Radiant Garden back when it was merely Hollow Bastion.”
“Is it hard? Being back here I mean?” Now he is rolling onto his side and she turns to face him, “I mean, Castle Oblivion wasn’t exactly a happy place for you.”
Naminé bites her lip, “Honestly, yes, at first. But you, Chirithy, Aqua, and Terra have all made me feel so welcome.”
“Good.” she looks at him, confused. Before she can interrupt though, he continues, “I want all of your memories here to be happy ones. I know your life was a hard one. So I want to make you happy, I like it better when you’re smiling.”
“Venny…” He’s going to make her cry with happiness at this rate.
“Thank you, for everything. I’m happy that I got to fall in love with such a wonderful person. Maybe one day, you could live here with the rest of us? It would make it a lot easier for the two of us to be together”
Before she knows it, she can feel prickling wetness coat her cheeks.
Suddenly, his smile vanishes in place of a look of concern, “Did I say something upsetting?”
Shaking her head in response, Naminé instead opts to bury herself into his chest, “Not at all. I’d like to come and live with you guys someday. I just think that Ansem the Wise could appreciate my help around the castle for just a little bit longer.”
Plus, she still needs to take care of all of the beautiful flowers that he keeps giving her.
Naminé feels Venny’s fingers rest comfortably in her hair again. “You let me know when you’re ready.”
They turned back to look at the stars once more.
****
Ventus wasn’t sure how long they were lying there, but eventually, he hears Naminé fall asleep. As much as he likes the idea of spending the night with her out here in the vast wilderness, he knows he can’t. In order to even be allowed to go out with her like this, he agreed to Aqua’s request to not stay out too late.
Slowly but steadily rising to his feet, he scoops his arms underneath Naminé’s tiny form and gently moves her off the blanket. Folding it up and making sure that the basket was secure on his arm, he silently summons his Keyblade glider. Riding is always an exhilarating experience, but he needs to be careful with Naminé. Not because she’s frail or anything, but because he doesn’t want her to be nervous. Sometimes he can’t help but move a little too fast though.
On the ground next to the sleeping girl, Ventus sees something lying on the ground. It must have slipped out of her coat pocket, he thinks to himself. Holding it up to his face to get a better look, he smiles when he sees that it’s the wooden Wayfinder that he had made for her.
The day that he gave it to her was also the day when they confessed to each other, and even had their first kiss (accidentally). She was so excited to show him the following week how she had decided to paint it. One half of it was light green, the color of his own Wayfinder; and the other half was yellow. It even had a little heart painted in the middle of it.
Hearing the other girl groan, Ven pocketed the Wayfinder, for now at least. Scooping Naminé into his arms again, he hears the sleeping girl mutter “Venny…” Carefully stepping onto the glider, he carried her back in his arms, deliberately going slower than usual to avoid waking her up.
It took a while, but he carried her all the way back home and to the guest room that was always reserved for Naminé. Suspiciously, it’s far away from his own room, almost on the other side of the building. It’s probably just a coincidence, he concludes.
Managing to gently and delicately set her down on the bed, Ventus proceeds to tuck her in. Hearing the other girl sigh contentedly, he steps back. Setting the Wayfinder on her nightstand, Ven can begin to feel his legs ache. It would be an incredibly long walk back to his own room, and he did just carry her all the way back. From what Naminé tells him, Roxas and Xion are practically inseparable, sometimes outright refusing to sleep in different beds. He and Naminé are kind of close to being as inseparable as those two. So what harm could one night spent together do?
As he contemplates this, he feels a hand land on his shoulder, feather-light, but enough to nearly make him scream in surprise. Turning around, he sees Aqua smiling at him.
“Did you two have fun tonight?” She whispers and he swears that he can feel her fingers gripping his shoulder.
“Yep, just saying goodnight.” he whispers back. Before he leaves, he leans down and presses a light kiss to the top of her forehead.
“Good night, my princess.” He swears that he can see her exhale with a smile on her face.