Title: Returning Home
Chapter 1: The Return of Roxas

Author: Harper Hisoka
Warning: Shonen Ai/Yaoi, I don't own the series (Manga, Novel or Anime).

Series: Kingdom Hearts II
Pairing: Axel x Roxas

Summary: Roxas should have died at that time, but he woke up just outside the doors to kingdom hearts. What happened to his love, Axel? If he came back, did anyone else? Now he has to search for the answers, and in the process regain his own memories. They are fragmented at best, without signs of returning.

Notes: My Kingdom Hearts story that I've held onto for the last couple of months... This is the first chapter, but I have a lot of pairings that will be going on in here and I'm not entirely sure if they will all fit. The Organization guys might end up with their own story, if it becomes less-Roxas and more-them.

Oh, and if you can imagine Mickey as a tall, handsome man with short, black shaggy hair - then this story is for you. He's complete with long mouse tail and ears, much more attractive then his 'mouse form'. Everyone here is in human form, if nothing but for the fact that I'm not a fan of human-animal sexual relationships...

Beta Check: Check.

+The Return of Roxas+

"Hey, Roxas here. So, I guess it's my turn now, huh? My turn to say, 'This is my story.' It would be nice, but I never thought I would be so lucky. I'm a Nobody. A creature of darkness, pure evil with no real will of its own.

"Well, that's not exactly true. I was born from Sora's heart and upon getting my own body, I received half of Sora's heart in return. We… he- we became one again, I never thought I would be able to see the real world again. I live in a world of Nobodies, in a place that doesn't exist and isn't supposed to exist.

"I don't exist, or shouldn't, as a general rule with all Nobodies. You remember when Sora and Riku destroyed Kingdom Hearts? Because of my actions, of who I am – some of us 'higher' nobodies, who actually had a will, became real. Somewhat real, anyway. We have bodies, and either a tattoo or some physical object we wear somewhere upon our bodies to symbolize that we have a heart. The mysterious power of Kingdom Hearts granted us, those who were not meant to exist, hearts. I don't know who else was granted a heart; I just know that I was.

"I'm on a journey to Disney castle to see King Mickey. He might know what's going on, where I'm going to find… well, we're all looking for someone, right? I want to know… I want to know what really happened to Axel. I have to know. I can't stand just waiting… I mean… if there's anything, anything I can do at all to help him…"

xxx

Roxas watched the scenery pass by just outside the huge glass window. It wasn't too long before he sat back in his seat again. Trains now ran from the more popular worlds, with shuttles traveling anywhere else you wanted to go. The trains were huge, open, yet very simple in style. Much similar to those that he rode during his time spent in Twilight town. It didn't take long at all for the smooth motion of the train to soothe him to sleep. As busy as his mind was, the motion of current events had stopped him from sleeping. Barely three days ago had he awoken from the 'in between' world to the real one. Kind of.

In Roxas' dreams, he saw his own awakening play out before him once more. It wasn't enough that he had to think about it during the day, but the night as well. It disturbed him; he kept thinking that if he slept, he might not be able to wake up again. That could be the reason he had stayed up for three days straight, refusing to sleep. The train would take at least another couple of hours before it reached the station at Disney Castle.

Roxas found himself once more standing before Kingdom Hearts. Wait… no, Sora was the one who stood before Kingdom Hearts. He stood beside Sora, the giant door closed before them. Sora turned towards Roxas and smiled. "I guess we are different now, you and I. I'll see you again, Roxas. Take care of yourself."

Roxas watched as Sora started to fade away. His words echoed in the empty space around them. "You are your own person now, so find yourself and don't, whatever you do, live with regrets. Life is short.

"But, I don't have to tell you that, right?"

Sora had disappeared, leaving him completely alone. As he turned towards the path away from Kingdom Hearts, it began to reform and shape into something new. It led, in the distance, to a train. He could feel himself walking, jogging, and before he knew it, running. The train whistled twice. He walked into the open doors and knew the familiarity immediately. The same train he- no, Sora, had ridden on his journey to see Yen Sid, a powerful sorcerer and teacher to the King.

"I remember… Sora's memories and mine, sometimes I can't even tell the difference between which is which. At least, that's what I used to think. My own memories have been getting stronger lately. Things that I have done, accomplished, learned. I'm beginning to feel like myself, finally. Sora will always be a part of me, but now it's different from before.

"I want to take this second chance. I want to live; I want to live, and have the right to live."

Memories upon memories danced around his mind. Things he had done in Twilight Town, before Twilight Town, with Axel, then after, as both Sora, and as a Nobody. His dreams were chaotic at first, and then slowly, slowly, they began to reform themselves into a linear time. His memories, his mind, trying to sort it out, connecting with his new heart and giving him a purpose.

His arrival at Disney Castle awoke him with a start. It took him a second, his transition from dream to reality seeming to blur the line quite heavily.

"Disney Castle. Disney Castle. Last stop along this route."

It didn't take him long to exit the train, trying to figure out who he was and where he was walking. "Roxas. My name is Roxas. I'm… what am I doing? Walking. Towards… the… castle! To see… the King!"

It took a while to spark his memory. The dream he dreamt on the train had not been an ordinary one. It signaled his transition from Nobody to human, complete with a soul and a heart of his own. A gift from Kingdom Hearts itself.

He breathed in the fresh air of the courtyard's gardens. One of the distant gardens connected to the castle, which also housed a small covered station specifically for Train passengers.

He knew the King's role in both his, and Sora's past, so taking the time out to see him now could only help his case. That, and the King just might know something about which other nobodies were granted actual hearts. He just had to ask, to know if Axel truly came back or not. The King would also be able to tell him how long it had been since his disappearance from this realm.

"So I hear you're looking for the King." A tiny, quick voice spoke, breaking the serene silence of the gardens. "You said so yourself, but… who are you?" sniffing sounds. "You kind of smell like Sora…"

"Ah…" Roxas looked around him in surprise, turning, spinning, until he managed to focus on two small chipmunks. "Who… are you? And… and I'm not Sora! My name is Roxas."

"I'm Chip." He mentioned towards his companion. "And this is Dale. We're the castle's engineers, but we're on a break now."

"Yup." Dale chimed in. "It's our lunch break. We're eating acorns. Want some?"

Chip bonked Dale on the head. "That's our lunch you fool! Don't just give our acorns away."

Roxas couldn't help but smile at their antics as the two tiny chipmunks continued to bicker. He answered Dale's original question, bringing the two to pause and stare at him. "Thanks, but… I'm not really hungry anyways. But, I was looking for the King. Do you two happen to know where he is?"

"Oh, of course we do." Chip answered politely. "He's in the main hall, helping prepare the preparations for the big party in honor of Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy. The five who helped save Disney Castle. You'll find that the gardens and castle in general will be pretty empty. The party is in a couple of days, and everyone has so much to do."

"That's right, uh-huh. We're pretty busy ourselves, too." Dale continued. "We have a ton of shipments coming in and out constantly. Maintenance of all the ships that dock, along with making sure we have the right crew members to help with the unloading."

"And don't forget, we have to make sure the product gets to the right areas of the castle as well. We pretty much control the entire docking system right now, which is why we get a longer break then usual." Chip nodded to Dale. "Speaking of which, we should be heading back. Our break is over soon."

"Please come and visit us later, if you have time. Stop by in the evening if you can, as it slows down somewhat around then."

Roxas waved as he watched Chip and Dale race back towards the docks, each carrying an oddly-large-for-a-chipmunk bag of acorns. He started walking towards one of the castle entrances nearby, recalling the directions they gave him to get to the castle's main chambers. They were right, though. The castle did seem eerily quiet in the halls. He could clearly hear his own footsteps echo as he walked along the hallways. If this place hadn't been so bright and decorated so cheerily, he knew it would have been almost downright creepy.

A loud commotion captured his attention, letting him know that the main hall had to be close by. As he turned the corner, the noises getting louder, he immediately jumped backwards, flat against the wall. About ten different people rushed by in front of him, carrying everything from food, to giant sets of fabric samples. Peeking back around the corner, he almost couldn't believe his eyes. Crowds of workers rushed back and forth, darting to and from a giant set of double doors; in judging from their high quality, intricate designs, and the amount of traffic they were seeing, it was probably safe to assume this was the main hall of the castle the two chipmunks spoke of earlier.

He quickly brushed off his clothing, which had not changed since he gave his heart back to Sora. "Well, it's now or never." He quickly dodged the many chefs, decorators, cleaners (and everyone else he wouldn't dare name purely from lack of knowledge about the castle's inner workings), to enter the main hall. To his surprise, again, it seemed rather empty-looking. He did expect the hall to have been royally decorated, yet with all these people, it seemed no one could actually decide on a theme long enough to actually get started. Decorations were being put up, taken down, people were cleaning the walls, ceiling, floors; hordes of planners in groups were taking notes for the overall schematic of the place. He had to stop and stare in awe for a moment.

It was a moment before the overwhelming feeling had passed. He started asking those around him where the king was, but no one seemed to actually listen to him. Too busy immersed in their work to care. He walked carefully across the room, trying both to avoid the people working and to find the King. He briefly tried to recall what the King looked like, as his memories from Sora were starting to fade. The man that ran towards him was tall, almost six feet, short black shaggy hair, very handsome. Long mouse-type tail, medium sized mouse-shaped ears on the top of his head…

"Roxas! Here!" The King waved suddenly, running towards him. Mickey gave Roxas an overwhelming hug. "Oh my gosh, it's actually you! Roxas! I… I can't believe that you're actually, really here!" Mickey let Roxas go, looking him up and down. "You… actually came back."

+Continue+