The water was strangely warm as Sora felt himself whipped around in the current. He gasped for air but only water filled his lungs as he kicked desperately trying to reach the surface. He broke through, choking in a lungful of air before another wave threw him back into the current. He held his breath for agonizing seconds, willing himself in vain not to open his mouth. His lungs burned and he felt his body screaming for air, demanding that he open his mouth to take in the salty water. He couldn't help it, the urge was too strong and he was too weak; his mouth burst open in an exhalation of bubbles as he again tried to push towards the surface. It was no use though, he couldn't reach it; he stretched out his hand as if he could grab a hold of the surface and pull it towards him. His vision began to blur and he felt the remainder of his strength leaving him with what oxygen was left in his blood.

A shadow crossed his waning view of the world, and a strong hand locked around his wrist, pulling him upwards against the current. Sora no longer registered it though; his mind was becoming delirious and unfocused. He was vaguely away of wind blown rain being pelted against his face, and a familiar voice speaking desperately to him.

"I've got you; I've got you, its okay. Everything will be alright, I promise."

The last things that Sora saw and felt were strong arms wrapping around him, a hand running through his hair repeatedly and something warm, red, and sticky dripping on his face, then his mind dropped into blackness and he knew no more; his last thoughts of Riku, Kairi, and Namine.

Roxas rolled over in bed scowling at the sunlight filling his room. He sat up and stretched before stepping out of his bed; he picked up a shirt from the floor and threw it on over his bare chest. He stopped, blinking curiously. Were those voices downstairs? That wasn't his father's, or Cloud's voice, but he recognized his mother's voice. What was going on?

Yawning he went downstairs, his sandy blonde hair a tangled mess as he trudged down the steps. In the entryway a Royal Guard stood in his purple and black armor, talking to his mother, he caught the last bit of the conversation as he approached.

"—ied in the storm. They have no other living relatives that we know of."

"How horrible," his mother looked up the stairs as he approached. "Oh Roxas, good morning sweetie," Her voice cracked and there were tears in her eyes, Roxas frowned.

"What happened mom?"

His mother tried to be brave, swallowing as she motioned towards the guardsman.

"It's your Aunt Aria on the Destiny Archipelago….there's been a storm and…."

She broke down crying; Roxas went to his mother and wrapped his arms around her trying to comfort her.

"What happened mom?"

"Your aunt…she's…oh god my little sister…"

Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to say what was causing her such grief as she broke down into further tears, Roxas looked at the guardsman who stood respectfully to one side with his eyes averted, searching for the answer.

"There was a hurricane, Destin has been destroyed the islands ravaged and most of the population is dead."

Roxas felt his heart clench. Aunt Ari was dead? She couldn't be, no not her, not the warm, kind sea faring woman who laughed at her sister's worries of the ocean. He remembered the first time she'd taken him to get sea salt ice cream, how he'd cringed and she'd laughed at his distaste and encouraged him to try it again and wait for the sweetness to set in. She couldn't be dead.

Roxas' mom continued to sob; the guardsman cleared his throat apologetically as he spoke.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I truly am. Will the boys be welcome here? If not there is the orphanage, but we're trying to find as many real homes as we can before we resort to that."

Swallowing her sobs and whipping her eyes, Roxas' mother stood, regaining her composure. Roxas saw the mother he was familiar with, the worrying, loving woman who never turned away anyone in need.

"Of course, they're more than welcome and we have plenty of room. Of course they can stay, the poor dears. I'd never let them stay in the orphanage."

Roxas looked at her in confusion.

"Who can stay mom?"

"Your cousins, Sora and Leon; they survived the storm though," she looked at the guardsman worriedly. "I'm told Leon suffered a terrible injury saving Sora."

The guard bowed, his face showing sincere apology, Roxas noticed then just how tired and haggard the man looked.

"I'll inform my superiors that the boys will be welcome here. They'll be brought over with what things they have tomorrow."

Roxas' mother nodded, assuring him that everything would be ready for the boys as she saw the guardsman out the door. He bowed again and thanked her before trudging off down the street.

As she closed the door she turned to Roxas, her face ashen as she took a deep breath. She clapped her hands together in an effort to be jovial some of the color returning to her face.

"Well we have work to do, I'm going to call your father, I'm sure he can come home for this. Can you make up the guest bedroom?"

Roxas nodded, running back upstairs to get dressed, as he took the steps two at a time he heard his mother's voice again.

"Allen? Something terrible has happened."

Something terrible, he wondered to himself, still not wholly comprehending that his Aunt Aria was dead. He'd never met Sora or Leon; Aunt Aria had never been able to bring them due to money issues and then when Uncle Auron had disappeared she'd stopped coming altogether to take care of them. He wondered what they were like.

Sora looked out across the ocean as the train car trundled along; it had been a long trip from Tyre to Twilight Town. He'd stared out at the ocean the entire time, not wanting to see the red bandage across Leon's face. He still could hear his mother calling to him, telling him to get to higher ground as quickly as possible, and urging him onwards. He remembered the massive wave that had washed towards them, and thrown him away from his mother and brother. He remembered the eerie silence beneath the tropical water as he'd been tossed back and forth with no chance of escape.

The last thing he recalled was being ripped from the sea and held against someone's chest. He looked at Leon's sleeping face, swathed in bloodied bandage. He didn't remember how his brother had gotten the cut across his face, but Sora knew Leon had gotten it saving him from the sea.

Turning away from his brother he stared at the fast approaching town, there was a clock tower standing high above everything else, and the town seemed to be built like a layered cake. Each portion slightly higher than the last, he might have thought it beautiful if the situation had been different. His mother had always told them that she'd bring the boys here to meet their cousins and her sister Tara and her husband. Now she wasn't here, but they were, they were going to meet their Aunt Tara's family without their mother, and that scared Sora.

His mind turned to other things, to Riku, Kairi, Namine and the others. They'd all said their goodbyes; they'd been tearful as they each were taken away to their new families. Wakka and Tidus had been lucky, both of them still had their parents, no one knew what had happened to Selphie and no one had talked about her. Riku was being sent to Hollow Bastion, he had an aunt and uncle there who served in the army, Namine and Kairi were being sent there too to live with their grandmother.

And where were he and Leon being sent? To Twilight Town, to live with relatives they didn't even know, away from all their friends. He wished he could have gone with Riku and the others, his hand clenched around the keepsake Kairi had given him before leaving. She'd said she'd never forget him, and he didn't want to forget her. They'd shared a paupu fruit before they'd boarded their train, they all had, Riku, Kairi, Namine, and Sora. They didn't want to be apart, they wanted to be part of each other's lives, and all of them hoped that the stories about the paupu fruit were true.

The train came to a stop, and Leon stretched as he woke up and looked around. He stood up, and staggered uneasily on his feet. Sora rushed to help him, propping up his brother who smiled at him wanly through the bandages.

"Well, let's go meet our family."

The trolley ride from the train station to the district where their aunt and her family lived was uneventful; Leon did his best to have an interesting conversation to keep both their minds occupied. Most of what they talked about centered on the new town they found themselves in. Neither had ever been to the mainland, but they'd heard stories about it from both their father and mother. Now they were living their own story Sora thought, and for a change, he wished that he hadn't found the adventure he'd been searching for.

The trolley pulled to a stop and the Royal Guard assigned to escort them led them from the trolley up a steep hill before stopping at a house that looked like all the other houses. He wrapped his knuckles on the door and stepped back waiting patiently.

Sora and Leon waited behind him, Sora kept a tight grip on his brother's arm, he told himself that he was supporting Leon so he didn't fall, but the truth was he needed the support of his brother just as much as Leon needed his.

Roxas heard the knock at the door and hurried downstairs, Cloud was already waiting stoically by the door looking for all the world like he didn't care about anything. Roxas knew better, he'd heard Cloud crying the night before in his bedroom; he'd miss Aunt Aria too. Roxas had cried too, but now the crying was over and he was uneasy; not because he was meeting cousins he'd never met before, but because his mother had made them all, himself, Cloud, and father dress in suits and Roxas really just felt uneasy in his. No matter how handsome his mother said he looked.

His mother opened the door, it was a different guardsman who greeted them this time, and he bowed just as the other had. He motioned for the two boys standing behind him to come forward.

"I leave them in your hands ma'am," he said to Roxas' mother, to the two strangers on the steps he added. "Good luck boys, be safe."

The guardsman left and Roxas' mother hustled his cousins into the house.

"You must be Leon she said with a smile. Your mother told me once that you liked to be called Squall?"

Leon shook his head, Roxas couldn't see much of his features through the bandages, but his voice was a lot like Cloud's, strong.

"No, just call me Leon. Squall was a kid's name."

Roxas' mother nodded her understanding and turned to the smaller boy who seemed to be propping Leon up to a degree.

"And you're Sora."

"Yes, that's me," Sora chimed.

Roxas couldn't take his eyes off Sora, they looked almost identical, and that was just creepy. His mother introduced the rest of the family and they all said their hellos before she chased them all into the dining room for lunch. She normally didn't do anything fancy for lunches, but today had been different and she'd prepared a feast for their two guests.

Roxas watched as Leon ate, he had to maneuver his food carefully so it didn't get all over his bandages. He finally sighed in apparent defeat and looked towards Roxas's mother.

"Aunt Tara, would it bother you if I took off my bandages?"

She frowned. "Of course not dear, but…is it safe?"

He nodded. "The doctors said the bleeding has stopped and it's closed up more or less, they just wanted to keep pressure on it; if it became inconvenient though they said I could remove it."

She nodded, Roxas thought it was a little strange to hear his mother called "Aunt Tara" but was more interested in Leon as he removed the bandages, even Cloud was paying attention as Leon gingerly unwound the bandages around his head. When it was finally removed Roxas gasped, a vivid red line ran from above his right eye, across the bridge of his nose and ending just under his left eye. He couldn't have been older than Cloud, but the scar made him seem older, Roxas looked at Sora sitting besides Leon and saw the unease on his face.

After a moment of silence Roxas' father cleared his throat. "Well come on, let's finish before this gets cold. I made a special dessert for you boys."

Roxas' face brightened, he always loved when his father brought home his baking skills which he normally reserved for his bake shop. Leon ate much more heartily without the bandages obscuring his face and Sora had already been shoving down his food like it was his last meal. Roxas decided he could like his cousins, they seemed like any other brothers he'd met and who knew, having two more brothers could be fun.

That night Sora and Leon slept together in the guest bedroom, Leon had declined to re-bandage his face and lay next to Sora who stared at the ceiling restlessly.

"Hey Leon, you awake?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Why aren't you going to be Squall anymore?"

Leon sighed, taking a moment before answering. "Squall was what Mom called me, remember? I was her "little Squall in paradise," I…I don't want anyone else to use it. Only she can."

Sora nodded, rolling over and cuddling against Leon's side, Leon reached his arm out and put it around Sora.

"It'll be okay, you'll see. Everything will be fine, I promise."

Sora nodded quietly, tears in his eyes as he pressed against Leon.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Be quiet, it wasn't your fault. Some wood caught my face when I was pulling you out of the water."

He said it so easily that Sora wanted to punch him, he did.

"It isn't okay! You got hurt saving me."

Leon rolled over and looked at him, scowling.

"Hey, I saved you because you're my kid brother. Show some gratitude and don't take all the credit."

Sora moved away at the harshness in his brother's voice.

Leon's face softened. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. You're my brother Sora, you're all I got left now. I'm not going to lose you."

"Alright, you too okay? Don't do anything stupid, promise?"

Leon smiled; "promise."

There was a long pause, and then Leon spoke again.

"So you and Kairi shared a paupu fruit?"

Sora blushed. "How did you—I mean no, it wasn't just us."

"So you didshare one."

"S-shut up, Riku and Namine shared it to!" Sora protested.

Leon ruffled Sora's hair.

"Just remember, your fates are intertwined now. You're going to see all of them again no matter what."

Sora was quiet; he really, truly hoped that Leon was right. He rolled over and closed his eyes, a moment later he felt Leon wrap his arms around him and pull him close. He didn't say anything, but having his brother holding him let Sora finally drift off into sleep.