A/N: Hot daymn – I didn't think this was ever going to get done! Thank FFnet for screwing up so I could get an extension! xP
So this is for warm.summer.nights friendship challenge, and my word was plaid.
I'll warn you now… this fic is a bit absurd… hope you guys will be able to follow along… : S Anywhos, have fun!
Summary Your mind may hold the pieces; your heart will weave them together.
Disclaimer: Pooey on Square and Disney.
Patchwork
They're here, right now.
You can feel them, you want to feel them, because after all, you'd known them forever, right?
Or was it all a dream?
No, it couldn't be, you argue. They were there; you felt them, dammit. You can recall, right now, waking up everyday, and seeing her, 'cause she'd always be the first to wake with the rising sun, the first (and only) to put the day ahead. There was a never a moment you wouldn't hear her talking about school and its homework; planning ahead; contemplating the future; deciphering the past; and the little things in between. It was what made her, well, her, and there was no way she could not be real.
She was (is) Olette.
Are you okay, Roxas?
Your memory tickles; you can hear a steady drum beating around you, shaking your senses, distant and loud. You can't see much, but you can feel, and that's all that matters, right? Even if all other senses are lost, even if you're blind, or deaf, or mute, or paralyzed, feelings are still the same, no?
Don't give up.
Who says you are? Just because you're a little confused doesn't mean that everthing is lost… does it?
And besides, they're still here. You know they are.
He'll be waiting for you, you're sure of it. When you step off that train, rounding the little bend, and grabbing a hold of the bar, you'll see him. Just like you expect to. He'll stand there, arms crossed, grin plastered across his face, and you'll echo his words, "What took you so long?" and you'll burst out laughing, like you expect to. It's the way things are – it's the way they'll always be…
You'll step down, and he'll run up to greet you, but not before smacking you upside the head. You'll turn and rub your head sheepishly (because that's what you're supposed to do), and smile apologetically; he'll brush it off with a shrug. Instead, he'll say, "Race you to the Lot!" and you'll follow because you can.
Because he expects you to. You can't let him down, now can you?
After all, it was (is) always like that with Hayner.
It's dark now – you can't hear much. The rhythmical beating has faded; sounds like a clock ticking if anything else. Time is moving…
… it's not at a standstill. Not at all. And that means that time moved for you? You weren't… frozen? In time?
Yes, you lived. It was (is) all real.
Of course this is, Roxas.
He was real too, you know it. Whenever you wanted to know if something was real, he could tell you, because he knew everything about the locals. He paid attention to everything that wasn't around you, and made you feel like you were there, so you'd know. His camera never let you down, but never did his smiles either. The little black box was meant to be shared, like everything else about him.
He was (is) just like that. Pence would (will) never change.
They were… them. The people who you'd seek everyday to be with, but never admitting that to them; they were the people who you'd spend idle days at the beach with. They were the people who'd listen, to tell you to straighten up, and the people who would share.
They were (are) your friends. Nothing was going to change that… was it?
Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?
Weightlessness.
I sure hope so.
Your body's gotten lighter, or perhaps the world's gotten heavier. Either way, something's changed – and you're leaving.
To where? Who knows… you could be anywhere – at the edge of the universe; standing at the tip of a galaxy. You could be in the middle of the deepest ocean; lost in the depths of cavernous craters; or transfixed on the edge of tomorrow.
You could be everywhere, and nowhere at once.
Do you remember your true name?
Or perhaps you never were.
Nobody…
Something spurs inside of you.
"Hey guys, come on, we're going to be late for the train!" A voice calls off to your right, and you whip around to hear it, to catch sight of the owner of the voice, but still, the blackness enshrouds you.
Where…?
"Yeah, yeah, hang on! We're coming!"
From the left, this time. You turn around, and damn, you still can't see anything. What's going on?
A sun explodes behind your eyes. It takes several moments for you to blink out of the light, and suddenly, you can see again, and your heart flutters at the sight around you. The whistle calls for you, and you shift, the sound of rubber shoes cracking against cement lifts your stomach. All around you, the sky is patched with hues of pink, purple and orange. The whistle blows again.
The train station.
Home.
A pattering of feet behind you, and you turn around, grin breaking across face, the "Hi!" already forming on your tongue and –
– they run right past you.
"Hayner! Pence! Come on!" The brunette standing on the platform moves inside, after waving at the two boys now running towards her.
What? Your face falls. You can see the retreating backs of your best friends, the ones who'd always meet you by your back door, always grabbing some late breakfast from your table; the ones who would always pass homework assignments around, everyone filling in each other's blanks.
Geography. That's what he'd always helped them out with.
So where were they now?
"Olette, we said wait up!" The blond is resting on the stairs' platform, panting, as he kneels over to catch his breath.
Your mind hazes over in confusion. You want to cry out to them, shout "Guys!" and so your tongue shifts, the muscles reverbrating across your throat…
… But nothing comes out. You stop. You try again, trying to get a sound, something to come out, but still…. nothing.
Where's your voice gone?
Guys! Hayner! Pence! Olette!
They can't hear you. If they could, they wouldn't have turned the corner just now, sliding out of view after paying the ticket person, and leaving you outside.
They would've heard you.
It wouldn't be the same without you, right?
Her voice had once said to you, now barely audible through the growing haze around your head.
And you can't help but wonder if that was ever true.
All for one, and one for all!
We can do it together, right guys?
My friends are waiting for me…
Something has sparked inside you, and it's growing; the flames burn you inside, licking at the inner walls, shredding your stomach, scorching your heart (or the place where it should've been).
Is in! you argue.
My heart belongs to me!
It doesn't matter now, really, because that special place has come and gone. All you can see now is embers behind your eyes.
Why does he get his friends? Why does he get everything? Where're yours? Questions flood your mind, but no answers wash ashore.
You blink rapidly, in a vain attempt to put out the inferno behind your eyes – and suddenly, in a flash, the scene has shifted around you. A warm wind ruffles your hair, and the ground feels hot and uneven. You look down to see white sand sprinkled over top of your shoes. The skies are fresh and brilliantly blue; the sun's rays refracting over the gently lolling waves of the ocean beside you.
The beach.
This is not your home.
Roxas!
Right?
"Hey, man! Come on, wake up!"
Something stirs in his mind, and his eyes flutter open. Where…? His feet feel wet, and the ground is warm and prickly on his back. The sky is a clear blue.
We can't be together forever... so we'd better make the time we do have something to remember.
"Wha…? What's going on?" His voice. He could speak – couldn't he always? – and he looked around him. His friend, Hayner, was grinning before him, before suddenly, he finds his face soaking wet.
"Hey!" Clearing his eyes, he catches the small bucket residing in his friend's hands.
"It was Olette's idea – seriously," Hayner responded, as his eyes sparkled.
"Hey!" the brunette cried out, her hands resting firmly on her hips. "Roxas, don't listen to him. It was all Pence's, anyways –"
Roxas can't help but laugh aloud, when Pence crosses his arms and juts his chin out at the other two, before breaking out into laughter himself.
"So... what's the big idea, anyways? Can't I catch a few winks?" asked Roxas, letting out a slight yawn. Hayner rolled his honey-brown eyes, before quirking an eyebrow at Roxas.
"Well, duh… we paid all that munny to come out and enjoy the sun, and you decide to fall asleep!"
"Yeah, Roxas, come on. Let's go in the water – while it's still warm!" Olette cried out, as she waved her hand over to ocean in front of them. Roxas could see that a volleyball net had been set up in the water, by the shore. Now that was definitely Hayner's idea…
"Yeah – and volleyball doesn't exactly work with three people, you know," Pence piped up, as he stood up to brush off the sand on his swim trunks.
Hayner stood up, too, along with Olette, and he reached out an arm towards Roxas. As Roxas leaned out to grab it, Hayner pulled him, laughing, as he said,
"When did you get to be such a lazy bum, anyways, man?"
The group broke out into laughter, and Roxas shook his head, rubbing it while he hid a smile.
"I thought I always was."
He felt hands encircle his arms, before suddenly he was dragged forward.
"Come on, the last one in has to go fetch the ball!" Olette challenged, as they all began racing towards the water's edge. When Roxas saw where the ball lay, he groaned, and picked up his pace.
The ball was floating way over to the right, and Roxas swore it was almost fifty feet away.
A glance in front of him showed him three darkened figures, and he sighed – when he suddenly choked on air. Roxas looked back up, and what he saw sent a bolt down his spine.
Three cloaked figures stood in front of him; their coats long and black, and their faces hidden.
Number XIII.
The Key of Destiny.
No!
This isn't who you are, is it?
But a voice tells you otherwise.
Keyblade Master.
Damn you.
It isn't his fault though, you know that. But why then, you wonder, why you? Why are you the other half?
You're not even your own – just a part of something else. He didn't come to you, but you to him.
It's not fair.
It never was.
Fate must have have a sick, twisted sense of humour to have created this for you. To have had you live, to have let you feel, to have you remember everything you were, and everything you have lost. Everything you once were; everything you were never meant to be.
A wish never fulfilled; a journey never finished.
You want to grab your hair. You want to tear your head into a million pieces. You wish you could choke on something sharp, to have your throat explode, your knees buckle, because any pain, any, is better than the one you're feeling now.
Nobody.
No…
"Roxas?"
Huh...?
"You always say you're okay… but I worry about you, you know? What's going on?"
Your breath catches. Is that…? No, it can't be, you tell yourself. But the soft, persistant words of a young girl resonate in your head. It's the only thing you hear.
Olette?
"Over here, silly."
You don't miss a beat; you're whipping your head around, eager to catch a sight of the emerald eyes, or the deep, chestnut-brown hair – anything at all.
And then you see it. It's bright and blue, and before you know it, a hand emerges from the darkness, grabbing onto a stick. Your breath catches, as you watch the arm appear too, followed by a shoulder, a torso, legs, and finally, a head.
"For you."
Instinctively, you reach for it. Your eyes catch hers.
You really are here…
Olette only smiles at you, for a moment, and her eyes are bright and brimming with familiarity. Her head's tilted to the side, her chocolate-brown bangs grazing her forehead. You enclose your fingers around hers, around the treat –
And she's gone.
No! Come back!
She can't hear you. Maybe she was never there.
Your hand feels cold, and you realize with a start that the ice cream is melting.
She was here…
What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?
Hayner?
"Heads up!"
You turn around just in time to catch the stick that was thrown your way. As soon as you catch it, the world flashes and distorts around you, the colours blurring, and for a moment, you think it's your own eyesight that's confused.
When it all clears away, you immediately see that you're standing in the Sandlot, bat in hand, and blond-haired, hazel-eyed boy in front of you.
"Where ya been?" you hear him laugh.
"Probably slept in!" echoes another voice. Hayner smirks in front of you, and readies his bat.
So do you.
You and I have to make the finals! That way, no matter who wins, the four of us split the prize!
Yeah.
That's right – 'cause you're all friends, right? They'd never leave you behind. And neither would you.
"This is it!" There's a loud whoop from the crowd around you, and you look up to see Hayner jumping at you. You move to evade quickly, turning yourself around –
– Only to face darkness.
Huh? You turn back around, and you realize that Hayner's gone too.
Your stomach drops. Why does everyone keep leaving you like that? Don't they think you're worth sticking around for?
Unless they've forgotten you. They weren't your friends in the first place, remember?
A tremble runs through you.
"Hi, my name's Pence. What's yours?"
Once more, he could feel his eyes fluttering open, and he looked up from his desk, throwing a brief glance at the notebook on his desk. It was only the second day of school, and already his head was starting to hurt.
"Wha…? Oh, my name's Roxas." The boy named Pence laughed. Roxas couldn't help but smile. He could hear mild chatter all around him, and he noticed they were sitting on a long table.
Lunch time.
"Stuck already, huh? Yeah… me too. Algebra's hard, huh?" Roxas ran a hand through his hair, and sighed.
Wait – if they weren't real… why can I…?
"I'm stuck on the first problem – you?"
"The third – hey, I could help you if you want!" Roxas glanced at the problem before him – the one he'd been staring at for the past ten minutes, and nodded his head.
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Pence pulled out a heavy textbook – why did their teacher assign such a book? – and he quickly turned to the page they both were on.
"Okay, so look, you have take this number, and shift it to the other side –"
"Hey, what's going on?" A voice suddenly cut in. Both Roxas and Pence looked up to see a brunette looking down on the table, and Pence grinned.
"Hey, just some algebra – the class is a killer," Pence answered. He turned to look at Roxas, who was only looking at him in confusion. A lightbulb seemed to go off in his head, and suddenly he cried, "Oh yeah, Olette, this is Roxas! Roxas, this is Olette, a good friend of mine."
The brunette, Olette, turned and smiled at Roxas. "Nice to meet you. Can't stand algebra either, huh?"
Roxas smiled. "Looks like we're all in the same boat."
Pence and Olette only laughed.
Where are you, guys?
You can't help but wonder. If you can remember all this, if you can… feel what you felt then, then why is this all happening? Why were you deemed as non-existant?
Why me?
"Because, Roxas, you're the only who can."
You blink. What?
There's a flash of white light, and you blink out the dots, and suddenly, he's there. Pence. Despite the darkness, you can see the outline of his hair, the striped headband around his forehead. He's a holding a camera in front of his eye.
"Why do you keep wondering where we are? Isn't it obvious, yet?"
What…?
Pence smiles. "Hayner's right – sometimes you are such a bonehead."
Hey!
He laughs, and tosses you a small piece of paper. There's another flash of white light, and when you clear away the dots this time, he, too, is gone.
Pence!
You can't believe it – he's left you, too. And with more questions than answers, really. But this time, you know he was real. The piece of paper in your hand is more than enough proof. You flip it over, and blink at what you see.
A photo. Of all of you, at the beach. Your chest swells with the memory you saw only moments ago – or was it eons?
You close your eyes for a moment, your body suspending in the air of darkness. Upon opening them again, you look down at the photo in your hand, and decide to flip it over – maybe something was written on the back that you missed?
But no. You freeze for a moment when you see what's on the back; your breath hitching in your throat.
It's another picture. But this time, it's not of you, or the others. It's of… him.
He's sleeping, just like the last time you saw him. His brown hair spikes out around his head, and eyes – which you know are blue – are closed peacefully. His clothes are awfully small on him. You knit your brows together.
Because I'm the only who can…
What did Pence mean by that?
The ground trembles beneath you. Of course, you can't really tell it's the ground, with black painted in every corner and crevice of this lost world, but you can feel the tremor. It shakes you.
And suddenly, you're falling.
Whoa!
You miss your breath, and the world is falling away; you can feel the air rush past you, whistling in your ears. It takes you a moment, only a moment, to realize that shapes are forming as you fly past. They're barely there at first, only outlines of shadows that you can barely see. But instantly, they're transforming, and for the first time since you've been here, colours – life
– is emerging all around you.
And it's not so dark anymore.
Roxas!
Images spur past you, leaving imprints in your mind, as your eyes flash upon them. Falling, you see a blond-haired kid wearing yellow and blue, waving a wooden stick around.
Another kid with fiery-orange hair tossing a ball in the air, and a giggling girl the next. She had strikingly familiar brown hair – Olette! you think – but you didn't catch the colour of her eyes. The laughter chases you, follows you downwards.
More flashes of a duck and a dog, of a mouse and a key, and your head explodes with voices, each overlapping the next, as snapshots of a life you've never lived bullet past you.
What's going on? Everything looks familiar, yet unknown to you. With each heartbeat, you recognize one face but not the other, and with the next, suddenly the memory will flash upon you. They're racing you, you know that much, but to what? Who are these people?
Somewhere in the back of your head, though, you know. These faces are replacing the ones you've known your whole life.
And suddenly there's a flash of red and silver, of pink, blue, and yellow.
Sora! you hear them cry. No! You can still see them, their shapes are getting smaller, and your (his?) heart lurches at the sounds of their voices. You reach out, catching their worried expressions, whispers of a long-ago promise curling in your tongue, but your lips unable to release them.
I'll find you.
The world is spinning faster now; you're hurtling towards what could be the ground. You raise your arms over your face, the images now long past, and the world a vivid white –
– And you stop. Your feet touch hard floor.
What…?
You look around – the sky, you notice, is awash with pink and orange, and a darkening purple following after. You hear a whistle behind you.
No way… you're back at the train station. The stairs are infront of you.
"We hafta board the train!" you hear someone say. On impulse, you answer,
"Oh yeah…" Wait, what? That wasn't your voice! You try to turn your head from side to side, but no luck. You can't move anything – not anymore.
You watch, helplessly and confused, as a duck waddles in front of you. It sighes, and once again, you feel your lips move,
"C'mon!"
And you're moving.
"Wait up!" A voice suddenly calls from behind you. You – he – turns around, and surprise flashes in your eyes.
Hayner! Pence! Olette! They came! How'd they know you were here? You can feel yourself getting lighter, a smile spreads across your face as you see them waving towards you. You turn around, to call out to them –
– But you can't. You forget that this isn't you anymore. Your stomach plummets when you realize it was never you they were waving at.
Guys…
"Hey, Sora," you hear Hayner say, and you wish you could turn around. You didn't want to meet his eyes.
"What?" he answers.
"Nothing, but…"
"We came to see you off," Pence suddenly jumps in. His smile is wide as ever, his camera forever around his neck.
No longer would you ever be included in his snapshots.
Pence continues. "It… just seemed like something we oughta do."
Surprise flickers in your eyes – again – and you wonder briefly if it did in his.
"Oh… really? Thanks!" Guess so.
You hear a bell ring, and your body shifts.
"You should hurry and get your tickets," Olette says – to him. They don't know you anymore, do they? You were never there, so what does anything matter? Bitter anger courses through you, and it takes you a moment to calm down. You're not sure if your affecting him – he doesn't seem to have reacted at all.
Huh – you can't even do that much. Control was never on your side.
"Three tickets please!" You snap back to the present, and realize that he – Sora – had already moved to the ticket counter.
But I'm not ready to go, yet! There was so much he had yet to say goodbye to…
… and then it hits you. A flood of sadness washes over, drowning all other emotions, except the one you're supposed to be feeling now. It's intense, and you don't understand why it is, 'cause you were just feeling sad, but it wasn't this… strong. It takes you a moment to realize that it's Sora who's feeling sad – it just amplified your own.
What comes out of his mouth surprises you:
"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again..." It mattered to him?
"Why not?" the duck, Donald, says.
"You're thinkin' too much," the dog, Goofy, adds. How do I know their names?
"Yeah, you're right!" You feel your head shake. "Okay, let's go!" You feel yourself turn around to wave at the others ("Bye!"), and you put in the effort too – who knows when you'll ever see them again?
It's Hayner's voice that suddenly freezes you.
"Hey Sora… you sure we haven't met before?"
Your pulse skips, before quickening. You don't notice that your eyes are wide, your mouth dry.
What did he say?
"Positive," you hear Sora answer. No! you want to shout. If only you could reach out and say something to them – We have met before – it's me, Roxas! You can feel your eyes prickling – if only you could…"Why do you ask?
A brief pause. "I dunno."
They remember. You know they do. They can't hear you, or see you, or even recall your name, but they can feel you, and to you, that means the world.
You're here. And so are they.
We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other.
You can't help but let a tear slip, as you smile gently into the faces of your friends – the ones, that despite the dividing universe – can still feel where you are.
Moments later, you're looking up at the twilit sky through his eyes, and you know that he's feeling sad – because of you. Your… feelings are affecting him now – the one thing you were accused of not having… they're real, just like you.
You're vaguely aware that his hand has shifted, and grasped something. It's only when it returns, holding the object to the light of the window that you focus. It's the blue crystal sphere – one piece of four that belongs to a trinket celebrated by your friends.
You close your eyes, and hold your arm up, too, grasping the little blue sphere, just like you did once. You hold it tight, and when you hear something shift around you, you open your eyes again.
You're standing in the darkness, again, but this time, you're not by yourself. Three more coloured spheres have joined you – yellow, green, and red – and you're not surprised to see who's holding them. They're barely there, smiles swift but faint, and they're gone, leaving their spheres floating in front of you. You let yours go, too.
In a heartbeat, they swirl around you, in front of your eyes, and a plaid of colours are mixed before your eyes. Blue, green, yellow, and red; intricately woven together, so no one colour outstrips the other.
A plaid of personalities, dreams, and wishes – one intersecting the other's. A plaid of people, who all they really wanted was to put a smile on another's face.
Your chest swells, and you know now, that it's there, shared with someone, somebody, who loves his friends to no end, and would go to the end of the worlds for them.
And you're a part of him.
No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again.
I'm not alone.
You never were.
A/N: So yeah… I used lines from both games, just so y'all know. And also, the beginning started with the whole Roxas-disappearing-thing, just before Sora woke up (me thinks). Lol, this was uber insane... and I hope it was coherent enough. Only a review will tell! xP