exnatura-archive ;   "I want to be your friend."

Send for my muse’s reaction.

         _{Many things made sense conceptually. In theory anything and everything could make sense, yet in reality it could be that none of it at all made any sense whatsoever. Human ability to fly was a good idea in concept, yet in practice it would be a flurry of chaos that would take much time to calm and regulate for one thing. Making other worlds common knowledge was a good idea in theory as well, yet when a person took into account that traversing worlds was dangerous and human curiosity could kill many, it was a horrible idea.}

                                                      _{Friendship was such an odd thought.}

         _{Perhaps it was her prolonged isolation and complete lack of contact with other people and little social knowledge on how to interact with others that made friendship such an odd idea, but something certainly did. Something that made it hard to comprehend the idea of it, to think that she could be someone’s friend; that someone could willingly want to be her friend in return. Such a silly idea, deeply and completely ridiculous, yet—}

                  _{There she stood alongside Aerith, carrying a tray of various seeds in one hand and a pail of water in the other, watching the woman crouch down in front of a flower bed and plant them carefully. The restoration of Radiant Gardens was certainly underway, but they had a long way to go, and Naminé was all too willing to help. Or at least, to help the brunette woman more so than anyone else, and really in hindsight her actions were rather selfish.}

                                                               _{Was there such a thing as a selfless good deed?}

         _{Honestly her desire to repay the woman for her kindness that continued to extend itself further and further and further was her driving force for being there. It was less because she wanted to aid the cause as a whole and more that she wanted to aid this young woman, and she wondered if that was obvious to others. Perhaps it was, because she followed Aerith around like a little duckling, but that was alright, because it was true.}

         _{Quietly watching as the woman plucked a seed from the tray and placed it gently in the small hole she dug in the soil and then pushed the dirt she had dug up back over it the blonde paused for a moment before drifting forwards and watering the area carefully. So carefully, though she had been more cautious in the beginning, enough so that the woman laughed softly and took her wrist and showed her how to water the dirt properly, how much she did not have to truly hold back.}

                           _{”Don’t dehydrate them, but don’t drown them!”}

         _{Trailing after the woman as she did her work diligently Naminé felt the urge to help in some other way, but there was little that she could do to begin with. And really the woman insisted that she not strain herself, though she definitely piled plenty of work on top of her—it was just that this was the final job on the list of things that Aerith encouraged her to do. Troublesome really, though not in a necessarily bad way, just in a manner that made her feel rather useless. But that was alright, so long as she was making some sort of impact, no matter how small it may be.}

         _{Finally they reached the end of the bed that had been carefully laid out to plant flowers in and the woman stood up with a happy sigh, rubbing her hands together to brush off excess dirt. The Nobody watered the last buried seed before turning to the woman and tilting her head inquisitively, unable to resist asking, ”Do you need any more help, Aerith?”}

                                    _{There was another laugh and words that she did not remember and then—}

_{”—I want to be your friend.”}

         _{Oh how Naminé wished that she had registered the first part of that sentence, though she was certain it was something about not being a slave and being treated like a volunteer not someone forced to be there, but it had been lost in the noise of her mind. Blue eyes blinked dubiously at the statement that she had actually heard and her eyebrows furrowed, confused, corners of her mouth turning downwards because—friendship was such an odd thought. Such a weird concept.}

                                                      _{Ace as her friend. He was important to her.}

                                                               _{Aerith was important to her—}

                                             _{Did that make them friends?}

_{Or was it simply because Naminé felt the need to repay her?}

         _{The obligation to repay the woman was undeniable, part of her reason for continuously returning to Radiant Gardens and resisting the offers to stay, only being there to help. But there was, she supposed, something else, too. Something to the way that Aerith offered her a place with a smile that seemed to fit on her face as much as it didn’t, something to the way that she made Naminé think perhaps she felt happy. Only perhaps, because happiness was also a theory that seemed to be somewhat unattainable, as many times as she thought there was something akin to joy lurking in her mind.}

                                                               _{”—You are my friend, Aerith.”}

                  _{Not a true statement yet not an untrue statement—perhaps the woman was her friend, perhaps she was not. The definition of friendship was a fuzzy one but Naminé knew for certain of at least a few things:}

                           _{Aerith was important to her.
                           In spite of everything she cared a lot for the woman.
                           The thought of disappearing without a word made her feel guilty.
                           Somehow, some way, Aerith considered her a friend.}

                                    _{That had makings of friendship, didn’t it?}

         _{And the Nobody accepted the hug given to her with only the slightest hesitance, the contact alien and odd, and her hands fluttered awkwardly like a bird not knowing where to land for a moment, before she finally forced her muscles to loosen and accepted it. Friendship was such a weird concept but—that was okay.}