Notes: This is based off an rp timeline with my best friend. Necessary things should be explained and what isn't will be explained in coming chapters. Thanks for reading.

"We have come for you, my liege."

The voice wasn't spoken aloud, but was an echo inside his mind.

"What?"

Déjà vu. Only difference was that this time he knew exactly what it was. And deep down, he knew what it wanted from him. But why here? Why now? Come to think of it, nothing had been right since he showed up. Something was out of balance and he knew it. He could pretend it was okay after he showed his smiling face, a reflection of his own face glimmering with an optimism he could never have. But he couldn't shake it...he was still scared.

Roxas desperately wanted to know what was going on but he was limited. He'd given up his ties to the darkness long ago. While living in Traverse Town, he pretty much stopped opening up corridors of darkness altogether, stopped summoning and commanding the Samurai Nobodies that were tied to him, except in extraneous circumstances where he was in dire need of a trump card. By the time he got to Fortuna, these activities had stopped completely. He still wielded a keyblade, and now his keyblade had taken a new form. As far as anyone in Fortuna knew, he was a normal boy with a heart who could wield a weapon called a keyblade. Not a Nobody, not a creature from the darkness, not someone who was born from the heart of another. Only Nero knew the truth, but to Nero, the face that Roxas put on day to day was the real Roxas. This made him happy. He was content.

In order for him to find out what may be happening to him since Ventus showed up, he'd have to dive into that all over again. He'd have to face the darkness in his past. If it weren't for Nero, he would have done it without hesitation. But Nero...he was afraid of the darkness getting to him. He was afraid of Nero being hurt somehow because of him.

He was afraid of losing Nero.

So he hesitated. However, in his hesitation, the darkness came looking for him once again. As if it were missing a piece of itself in the creature born a Nobody and made of both light and darkness.

This was, ultimately, his mistake. Or so he made himself believe. There was something he'd missed, something he hadn't done. He'd been running away from himself, from his past, and his worst fears, which caused him to hesitate to begin with, were going to come true anyway. Something was going to happen to Nero and it would be all his fault.

No.

No, he would never allow that. Only over his cold, dead body!

It all started in his dreams.

All he could see was darkness and before him stood a tall, incredibly strong, dangerous figure that he could never forget...

He was being shaken, shaken almost violently. "Roxas! Roxas, wake up!" It was Nero's voice. His eyes shot open with a gasp that escaped his throat. Where was he? It took him longer than it should have to realize he was in his bedroom, at home with Nero. The sunlight was shining through the curtains as it did this time every morning. He could hear the patter of paws across the floor as their puppy golden retriever Spirit paced around the room. He wasn't in darkness, he was home. This was home.

"Roxas, are you alright?" Nero asked as he loomed over him, blocking the sunlight from his face. His face was twisted with worry as Roxas caught his breath. Roxas hadn't even realized he was panting.

He rose a hand and rubbed his face. "Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream." He said quietly. He'd had nightmares before, but it had been a long time. And it certainly had been a long time since he'd had one so vivid.

"You looked like you were in pain..." Nero said softly as he moved away a little, allowing him room. "I couldn't let you sleep like that."

Roxas sat up and looked away, losing himself in thought as he tried to piece his memories of the dream together. But which parts...were the dream?

"Roxas?"

"I just...need some water."

He pulled the blankets off of him and climbed out of bed, making his way out of the room and downstairs. Spirit immediately began to follow him. Nero was right after. Roxas expected that, though. He had a pretty good feeling that Nero wasn't going to let him out of his sight for awhile. If something deeply troubled Roxas, Nero knew. He always knew. He couldn't hide anything from him, Nero saw everything. Maybe it was because part of him didn't truly want to hide anything from Nero or maybe it was because Nero acted the same way when something bothered him, too, but either way, Roxas had accepted this aspect of their relationship.

He couldn't understand why the cup was shaking so much in his hand under the faucet in the kitchen. He was almost getting more water in the sink than in his actual glass. He groaned, aggravated with himself. It was just a dream, dreams happened, what was wrong with him? Before he could think any further, however, a pair of strong arms wrapped around him from behind, a chin resting on his shoulder.

"Slow down." Nero spoke softly to him in a way he never spoke with anyone else, not even Kyrie. "Yeah, it was just a dream, but look at you. Sit down. I'll get you something."

I can do this myself. That was his first thought. However, this was Nero. Nero wasn't pitying him, looking down on him, or putting him down. Nero merely recognized the fact that he was deeply shaken and acted out of love. And he knew it. So he didn't say that.

He set the now wet glass cup on the counter next to the kitchen. "I have a mission today. In Mitis Forest. I can't slow down."

A mission. Even as the word left his lips these days, he was still reminded of his days with Organization XIII. However now, his missions consisted of exterminating demons rather than heartless. He had joined Nero in the Order in Fortuna shortly after arriving there. And while he liked it much, much better than Organization XIII, the similarities didn't escape him.

He could practically feel Nero frowning. "You can slow down for now." Those strong arms left him. "Go watch some TV or something. I'll try to make you breakfast without burning down the kitchen."

Roxas couldn't hold back the small smile, the faint chuckle that escaped him. They were both pretty terrible cooks. "I'll have Spirit keep an eye on you." His eyes went to the small dog sitting on the floor near them. "Right, buddy?"

Spirit barked and wagged his tail.

"Oh, thanks." Nero said with a small laugh.

Roxas turned and started to leave the kitchen. "TV it is then." However, as he started to walk off, Nero gently grabbed his arm with his human hand and pulled him close to him, giving him a gentle kiss.

After a brief moment, Nero let him go again. "Alright, now you're free."

Roxas couldn't help but smile to himself, even despite his present anxiety, as he headed to the living room.

By the time Roxas left for his mission shortly after a fulfilling breakfast with Nero, he was feeling a little better. Nero had a way of calming him down somehow, for which he was grateful for. He told Nero what bits and pieces he could remember of the dream, and Nero just responded by saying that if anything actually happened to either of them, he'd just have to kick their sorry asses all the way to hell. Sounded good to Roxas.

This was one of the rare days where Roxas actually chose to wear his Order uniform. He actually hardly wore it for his missions, which was one of the reasons why he couldn't really explain why he was wearing it today. He was part of them, after all, a young boy with a powerful weapon who was exterminating demons and doing his part to rebuild the town since everything that had happened to it in events before Roxas met Nero. So it shouldn't be such a big deal...

He was walking within Mitis Forest when a strange, familiar feeling overcame him. It was strong, gripping tightly at something within his chest, something that Nero had convinced him was his heart. Nero never doubted that Roxas had a heart and sometimes when Roxas felt something, he understood why. However, this feeling made him feel cold inside. Hollow. It was another presence and somehow he knew...it was calling to him.

Flashbacks went through his mind. His dream went through his mind. Pieces came together.

No...

But...how?

He stopped in his tracks, standing in the middle of a small bridge. Should he turn back? Should he keep going?

The feeling got stronger. A whisper started within his mind, gradually growing louder, drowning out everything else both within his head and all around him. He pressed his temples to his head and shut his eyes, internally begging it to go away before his mind burst.

"We have come for you, my liege."

"What?"

This time, it wasn't a Dusk.