Hey guys! :D
So yeah, I'm supposed to be working on proper stories (Not one-shots, like this) that're a bit overdue, in my opinion...
Oops... xD
But I've been listening to the Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack today, and the evil little plot bunnies just would not leave my mind until I wrote this!
So, here you all go~
It's not necessary, but I do recommend listening to 'Roxas's Theme (ORCHESTRAL) - Drammatica' while reading this...
It brings up many more feels ;D
But enjoy~ :D
And please review and tell me what you think of it!
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Pitter, patter...
Pitter, patter...
The rain echoed through the streets of The World That Never Was, the only sound save for the ever-so-quiet pounding of feet against cement, feet trudging their way from The Castle That Never Was and on toward...
Well, who knows?
Not even the owner of said footsteps really had any idea of where they were going. All they knew, was that they had to get out of there - away from there - right now.
"Your mind's made up?"
A voice rang from nearby, but Roxas didn't dignify it with an answer, for a moment. He clenched one of his fists tightly, the leather squeezing, restricting the movement. He turned his head to the side, his blonde hair moving slightly, and caught red hair out of the corner of his eye.
"Why did the Keyblade choose me?"
He asked - a rhetorical question, really - but one that he felt Axel might know the answer to, just like he thought Axel knew the answer to everything else, too, once upon a time,
"I have to know."
That seemed to frustrate the red-head as he stood up from his position leaning against the wall, balling his hands into fists and taking a step forward,
"You can't turn on the Organisation!"
He spat, his voice loud and clear despite the heavy rain,
"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"
Roxas had to resist the temptation to laugh, settling for a grimace instead as he turned his head forward, his eyes still wandering to Axel even though he could no longer see him.
"No-one would miss me."
Those were the final words he shared with the red-headed Organisation member before he walked on ahead, and when he did not hear any footsteps trudging behind him anymore, his chest tightened, his hands balled into fists and his eyes became blurry;
Guess he isn't going to come after me...
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"You remember now, huh? Don't you, Roxas?"
That same voice from the memory spat at him, that same tone of anger and bitterness and the sense of complete and utter betrayal...
"...Axel...?"
Roxas voiced, taking a small step closer toward the man clad in all black, whose eyes flashed an emerald green unlike any he had seen before - the fire in them, though...
It no longer seemed friendly, like he vaguely recalled it being, once upon a time.
"Ho~ So you really do remember me? Well, good for you, Roxas!"
The voice spat again, and Roxas winced, recoiling; he had to move back a step, feeling that same clench in his chest that he remembered from the memory...
"Axel... I-"
"You know what?"
The man interrupted, his fiery hair no match for the waves of anger that Roxas felt emanating from him,
"Forget it, Roxas. You left.
Left me all alone. I don't think you found what you were looking for, either. Your memory's been wiped, right?
You're all relaxed, in this perfect little world of yours, but does it really make you happy? Huh?"
Roxas winced again at that, taking another step back as Axel stepped forward with ferocity,
"Huh? Well, Roxas? Think you're a Somebody now?"
"Roxas... are you really sure that you don't have a heart?"
"I dunno. I can't... just look inside. But I figure... if there is something in there—inside us— then we'd feel it, wouldn't we?"
"A... Somebody...?"
Roxas questioned, wincing again as his head began to pound;
What were these... visions...?
No...
Memories...?
"What are you talking about? I am me. Nobody else!"
"You think now that you're a 'Somebody', none of the things in the past ever happened? Huh? Well, guess what? The rest of us are still working our butts off trying to complete Kingdom Hearts!"
"I'm going to set Kingdom Hearts free! Then everything can go back to the way it was!"
"Sh-Shut up!"
Roxas snapped, balling his hands into fists at his sides;
Who was this person to... to tell him about himself...? Things he didn't remember...?!
"What would you know? Who the hell are you? Why're you..."
Why are you here, doing this to me...?
"Once Kingdom Hearts is complete, you'll be able to do all kinds of things."
"Who am I?"
The stranger spat, glaring down at the blonde-haired teen heavily with those glimmering eyes,
"You wanna know who I am? I'm your friend!"
"You're my best friends. The three of us... we're inseparable."
The... three of us...?
Who else was there? Roxas couldn't remember...
Roxas gripped his head tighter now, the rings on his fingers and the checkered band on his wrist tipping against his head as he winced, a small groan escaping his lips,
"We're... friends...?"
He choked out, one eye closed as he tried to catch another glimpse of this man that had suddenly apppeared before him, right in front of the Usual Place...
Why had Hayner, Pence and Olette not noticed this...?
He pondered, but he didn't have much time to do so, as Axel took another step toward him;
But Roxas was too weak to step away.
"Oh, yeah, we used to be best friends,"
Axel replied, utter bitterness, anger and hatred in his voice - no sympathy at all, now,
"Until you went off, looking for something, and I don't think you ever found it! How could you, when you don't even remember what it was?"
"I have to find this Sora person, and freeing Kingdom Hearts is the only way!"
"S...Sora...?"
Roxas hissed, a bit wobbly on his feet,
"I need you... to do me a favor. All those hearts that I've captured... Kingdom Hearts... Set them free."
"Free... Kingdom Hearts..."
"Yeah,"
Axel scoffed, taking another step forward,
"That was your last supposed 'mission', one you gave yourself. You went out, trying to free Kingdom Hearts, and put all our work to waste."
"Even if I'm not ready... I have to make this choice. You have poured so many memories into me... given me so much... that I feel like I'm about to overflow. Look at me, Roxas. Who do you see? If you see somebody else's face... a boy's face... then that means I'm almost ready. This puppet will have to play her part. Roxas... This is him. It's Sora."
"S-Sora... He's..."
"Your Somebody,"
Axel supplied, taking another - albeit, smaller this time - step forward, and Roxas finally gathered the energy to step back once more,
"He is the other half of you. You're the other half of him. You belong with Sora. You have everything you want here; friends, people who love you...
Your Somebody is even here, somewhere in this town."
"I belong with Sora. And now, I am going back... to be with him."
"But you know?"
Axel sighed, the flare in his eyes a bit brighter now,
"There's only one thing I want...
One thing I know I can never have..."
Roxas finally had the courage to open both of his eyes, and he stared at the much taller, red-haired man looming above him. Axel's bony fingers were placed atop his shoulders, and Roxas could finally, properly see the glimmer in his eyes;
The glimmer of pure want and need...
"Wh-What...?"
Roxas whispered, gulping and shuddering a bit under the older man's touch, and noticing the tear-drop tattoes under his eyes. Axel closed his eyes tightly, as if willing himself not to cry;
You have to have a heart to cry...
But according to Axel, neither of them had one of those...
Axel's jaw set into place and Roxas could hear the grinding of his teeth as his grip on the blonde's shoulders tightened extremely, leaving Roxas to wince in surprise and pain,
"Give me my friend back!"
Axel yelled at him, his hands shaking,
"Please... Give my Roxas back...!"
Roxas simply stared at the man lingering above him with wide eyes, his body frozen into place as his mind tried to process what exactly was going on;
He... He wasn't a real person...?
His mind flickered with images - memories, maybe? - but not things he clearly remembered...
"Today makes 255."
"What's that about?"
"It's been that many days... since I first joined the Organisation..."
"Hey, Roxas. Let's meet up for ice cream again after your next mission. I mean, who wants to spend their days just bouncing between work, and the castle, right?"
"Well, for your information... I worry about you all the time, Roxas."
"Heh heh heh... Wow. The sun sure is beautiful. I know we've seen a lot of sunsets, but today's puts them all to shame. If only things stayed like this."
"I guess the closest thing we Nobodies have got is our past. You know, memories of the stuff we couldn't bear to lose, back when we couldn't bear to lose it."
"Once you finish your ice cream bar, check the stick. It might say WINNER."
"It's too late... for me to undo my mistakes. But you can't let Xemnas... have Kingdom Hearts. You can't. Good-bye, Roxas. See you again. I'm glad... I got to meet you. Oh... and of course, Axel, too. You're both my best friends."
Only one of the voices Roxas could place, the other, more feminine one, seemingly on the tip of his tongue. But, no matter how hard he tried, to conjure up an image of her seemed impossible;
Just who was she...?
"I..."
He finally choked out, stepping out of the stranger's grip,
"I can't... I don't..."
No longer able to form a coherent sentence he ran, ran as far as his legs could take him, past the sandlot and into the main area of Twilight Town, stopping as his legs turned to jelly. He lifted his head to see where exactly he was, dark clouds from above beginning to spout their own tears, while Roxas was left to pant in the middle of the street, clutching onto the wall of a nearby shop for support.
Taking in a deep breath he lifted his head, the rain falling heavily onto his face - his cheeks, his eyelids, his forehead, his hair - and he felt his eyes become wet;
It wasn't the rain...
But...
Axel had said...
Shaking his head to try and rid himself of the memories of the stranger, he glanced over at the shop he had been leaning against, his chest tightening once again at his realisation of where he had ended up;
"It's salty, but sweet, too..."