EH EH EH!
Warning!
Major spoiler alert.
Do not read if you don't want anything spoiled.
Please.
Don't.
Don't.
Just don't.
Hello. This is Re:KH3- Inferior, Superior in which I, an obvious Roxas fan, try to overcome my grief with how my favorite character was nothing but a cameo in KH3. Ouch, that hurt. So, here I am… to undo that upsetting balance by tipping the scales in the exact OPPOSITE direction. This is a story that basically focus entirely on Roxas. But, fans of other KH characters, I will try to, I don't know, fix them too. Shouldn't be too hard, right? All I have to do is not make them weak… have them appear and say more than like ten lines each…. and yeah. I'll try. Again, though, this will mostly be about Roxas. Sorry.
For all those who wish that Roxas, in order to preserve the oomph and weight of his sacrifice, should stay within Sora for all time, sorry; I will basically be bringing him back really early on in 3 for the sake of the story. However, as the description would imply… being back alive hasn't exactly just magically fixed everything for him. Just like it shouldn't. No. The damage had already been done to Roxas and this is largely how I perceive how the character Roxas should've been in 3.
Anyway…
Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own KH and won't make a single measly cent on this work. This is nothing more than me defying fate and saying, "No. Nah. I won't accept this, KH3. Nope." It's really a futile attempt as this will never be perceived as canon nor, if it is, will it ever truly be canon.
Enough hassling ya. Here's the story already:
Chapter 1:
Destiny Islands
"I'm so sorry! I just… I could've sworn you were him. For a second there, I knew I saw him."
A plate was presented before him. A steaming one that caused his nostrils to widen and accept the fresh, delicious aroma radiating from it. A homecooked meal made with care and attention. Just… for him.
"It's fine, you know," he said as if it was anything but. He didn't want to for it would give her the wrong impression and that was the last thing he wanted to do after she had treated him with such compassion and openness. But, unfortunately, no matter how much he didn't want it to be this way… it was.
Another constant reminder. He was only supposed to be carrying around one.
"So, Roxas, huh. Weird name. It's," she said, leaning back against her counter as her head titled and her pupils shot to top of her eyes, "Well, it's kind of like someone rearranged his name and just jammed in an x."
Roxas laughed, both in good nature and at how bitter the truth in that statement was. Okay, he was really carrying around two constant reminders. But, this one, he had no choice in. Not unless he wanted to shed the name. And… he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to go that far. He needed, in his mind, at least one constant reminder. Not to serve as a festering wound but as a testament to the past. Roxas figured, if he had to keep one, he might as well keep the name. It would be the hardest one to dismantle and abandon after all.
Unfortunately, for now, it was a festering wound. Course, all of this was going to change that. Or… so he hoped and told himself over and over again.
"Yeah. Weird coincidence, right? The world, huh?" he said as he took a fork and starting to stab at the contents on the plate. He stared at it, playing with it rather than eat it.
"Do… you… know him?"
The way she strayed there, in asking that lingering question he knew she had been holding back, made him pause and set down the fork. It clattered against the plate as he stared into her eyes and saw all the worry in them. Worry that was raging a fierce battle against a semblance, a silver lining, of hope.
Roxas knew Sora. Probably, if not definitely, more so than anyone else in the entire world. The big one. The one that encompassed all the individual ones. That was the thing. As much as Roxas had grown into his own somebody… he could not ever deny or forget his source of creation. Add that in with the fact that his heart had joined with Sora's and that he had stayed there for quite some time.
Roxas… knew Sora.
But, in truth, that's not what she was really asking. It's what she said, yes, but not what she meant. Roxas was well aware of that.
He did know Sora.
Did he, though, have the right to comfort her when he had no idea when Sora would be back? Cause, that's what she wanted to know more than anything and Roxas, despite knowing Sora, or perhaps because he knew him, had no clue as to when the wayward, glorious hero would finally return home.
The Nobody picked back up the fork as a scapegoat, something to divert his attention from her eyes. She had blue eyes as well. Like him. Like Sora. Like the other one he borrowed from.
He grappled with what he should tell her. He knew he couldn't say anything on the subject of when Sora would come through that door after more than a year of being missing.
People in the town… considered him dead even. His father did. Roxas could still recall that brief flash of disbelief when Sora's mom guided him in the house. Like her, he too saw Sora's form at first, and tears began weeping from his eyes. But, just as with the mother, those tears of joy became sour when Roxa's own form came into view and dismantled any hope either of them had for those brief, fleeting few seconds.
He felt terrible about that, his heart sinking into his stomach as the consequences of his rash actions caught up to him, and considered leaving the Destiny Islands after the father trudged himself back into his office and locked the door.
Incidentally, he had crushed them without meaning to. That's why he stayed though when Sora's mom, Abigail, offered to cook him a meal despite the pain he had inconsequentially brought upon them.
"You do don't you. There's just something about you. I can't help shake the feeling you can't help but know him."
Some more chuckles slipped from his lips as he stared down at the peas and the mashed potatoes and the steak. His mouth stretched into a smile that was at odds with itself. Yeah, he couldn't help but know Sora.
The fork spun around, twirling as a hole was drilled into the butter-soaked potatoes.
"He's… alright, you know," he said settling on the words as they came out, "Alive. Well even. Maybe… a bit too well to be honest. Though, I guess that's expected after all. He's… Sora. Sora is Sora… is Sora."
He could feel, eyes still fixated on the meal rather than her, the weight being lifted right from her shoulders. Roxas felt content for that moment. He… believed he did the right thing and eased some of the pain that was festering in her heart.
"He came back once, you know, and I was… so happy."
His head shook as a strong gust of air blitzed through his nostrils. Another one of those funny things, humorous because of that dark bitter core of truth centered within.
"Yeah, I know. I was there."
"Huh? You were? I don't particularly recall seeing you there. Funny, I know I would've remembered you."
Roxas was on the brink of scolding himself for the stupid slip but stopped upon the direction she had taken the conversation. His attention was forced upon her as his eyes widened.
"Yo-you would've?"
She nodded.
"Of course. There's just something about you, Roxas. You remind me of…"
"Sora. Yeah. I get that a lot."
"That's… a good thing, isn't it? I mean, I don't want to seem like such a mom but… I can't help but be proud of him."
"You should. He's doing a lot of good. He's… really something special."
"Again, Roxas, you sound… what's wrong?"
"Nothing." There he went again. Blundering it all up. His problems and his issues were causing concern in someone who needn't be bothered with his tangled mess of a life.
"Really? You know, I'm sort of tooting my own horn here but I know I'm a damn good cook. You did see my husband right? Where do you think that belly came from, huh? And, yet, here you are… playing, literally just playing, with it instead of stuffing it in your face like you should!"
Roxas exploded as the front legs of his seat shot up. He clutched his gut just letting pure, unadulterated, un-self-pitying laughter spring forth from his lips.
"W-what? My joke wasn't that funny, you know," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she blushed, witnessing the boy lose himself in the force of his chuckles.
"No, no, no. It wasn't that. I mean, the joke was alright. A solid… 6/10… but it's just… Sora… would never do that. Not once in his life."
"Wh-what? Tell me."
The way she shot forward from the counter and almost got right in his face… it startled him. But, he came to realize it should've been expected. In a way, he was informing her, though indirectly, of Sora. He was telling her little tidbits about him. How could she not smile, nod her head, and beckon this droplet of knowledge from him by the way her eyes refused to blink as they scoured his face for the truth.
"You… cursed. Heh. He… no. For him… hag is about as far as he'd go," Roxas said as he hung his head looking down at his hands. He couldn't take it. The way she had looked at him. He was Sora's mom. If he, in some way, was still linked to Sora…
He honestly didn't want to go down that road. No. Not now. Not ever. He was going to shed those constant reminders of Sora. Bring them all down to one.
She smiled as she pulled back some.
"I know. Sora was always just so… unwilling to really tear into anybody."
"Maybe with words, yeah, but he can really… beat the crap out of you."
Roxas would know. Even giving it his all, Sora beat him. Maybe he should've been smarter, remember Keyblades did that, but… he gave it his all and it wasn't enough. Sora was the stronger one.
The better one.
"You don't know how many times I had to scold him for sending Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie home with the bruises they had. Kids and their play-fighting. Oof, it just worries you. Just like… how they come home after a year and leave only two weeks later… without a word."
Roxas looked back to the meal. The steam was fading as was the cheerful atmosphere that had begun to buildup.
"Roxas."
"Y-yeah?" He still didn't look at her.
"Can you… bring him back, please?"
It finally came. The moment he had been dreading ever since he had dropped that he knew Sora. He almost considered himself clear until the shoe finally plummeted down and crashed into the ground.
The boy could not deny, at her request alone, he almost wanted to say yes. It felt like this raging, ravenous desire to just set this right. This woman, this mother, didn't deserve this. Sora was out there, right now, fighting abominations all so that he could set things right.
Did he know… all the things he was breaking in the process? It wasn't his fault. No. Sora… was without faults besides his naivety, his own weakness. He was doing the right thing. Roxas could never say otherwise even if being able to might help him in the process. Help him come to terms with himself.
No. This was just an unfortunate, unavoidable consequence that no one had control over. Except, in those moment, him.
Protect my son. Make sure he comes home. That's what she had asked of him and, truthfully, he should put down his own personal quest, his own journey, and take her up on it.
It was the right thing to do. The good thing to do. The Sora thing to do.
And even if it was the Sora thing to do, it didn't bother him much in this instance.
Because she didn't deserve to suffer just because he couldn't handle the fact that he had given up something he didn't understand. Something he had tossed aside without fully knowing just what it was he shed.
"I-I'm sorry." They came out so pointedly, so hollow, because Roxas knew he was doing the wrong thing her. He was… being selfish.
After all, he had a Keyblade and not only did Abigail deserve to see her son safe and sound back home, but they needed him. They brought him back and they needed him to help them with the final fight. The last one.
And here he was, not only avoiding that fight, running from it, but denying a mother her earnest, desperate plead.
He was, truly, garbage in this moment.
Truly inferior. And he sank down because of it as his whole posture was wrecked and decimated by that supreme truth.
"You know… I'm sorry."
Roxas' throat fluxed as a soft gasp passed his mouth and fall into the air that had suddenly shifted.
"Roxas… why are you here?"
He looked up at her like a man trying to fight back against the redemption bestowed upon him from a higher power but found that fading as it gave way to confusion.
"Wh-what?"
"I never asked that. I've… been so preoccupied with my son… that I've forgotten about you. I'm sorry. Truly. Roxas… why are you here? Please… tell me."
Why was he here? Oh, he knew but there wasn't some profound reason he could take pride in. Nothing he could admit out loud without being ashamed in his own words. But, he couldn't bring himself to lie. Her eyes told him, forced him to accept, she was indeed interested in why Roxas came here, the birth and home of his somebody.
It was simple. Stupid and dumb, yes, but simple. So, even if there was shame laced in every word, he was able to get it out without much trouble,
"I- I need to understand him. Found out why he is who he is. Found out why it's him that…"
He stopped there. Any further and she'd found out just how hollow and ridiculous his quest was. Roxas already felt like trash enough already. He couldn't handle it getting worse by having that truth turn her against him.
"Sora? Silly… what's to understand about him? He's Sora. Just a person."
Oh how Roxas wished that were the case and he smiled as he dreamed of it being so and accepted the reality that it wasn't.
"Not to me. Not to a lot of people. A whole mess of people."
"You compare yourself to him."
His eyebrows dug down while his eyes narrowed.
Her she was… figuring out the truth for herself.
"Roxas…" His name was all she could say at the moment but Roxas' figured out what was left unspoken. It was like Axel. She couldn't help but be baffled as to why he did this to himself. And she couldn't even begin to comprehend all the complexities, the full story left blank, behind it either.
The Nobody had no choice but to ponder now how would she react if she did know. That, he, Roxas, was, in a way, her son, Sora. But, at the same time, not. Because he had chosen to, to fight for, becoming his own, unique person with his own, individual, distinct heart.
Would she view him as a son?
And if she did… would she just be like everyone else?
Sora, Sora, Sora, Sora.
Leaving no room in there for even just a touch of Roxas.
Course, Roxas shoved that whole mess of a box aside and locked it away shortly after considering it. No, he couldn't stray down there. He wouldn't. Shed all those comparisons, those connections, but one.
"My son… he's… something- You…"
She couldn't find the words and he couldn't blame her. She ended it all with a sigh. And they just sat there as the meal she had worked so hard to prepare went cold, not a bite taken of it.
A clock chimed in the background, indicating a new hour had begun. Birds twittered outside and the faint sound of the ocean stretching across the sand before retreating back all filled in the void that had been created. All those sounds though couldn't even begin to fill it.
"Roxas."
He made a grunt as his response just as an indicator he was, well, still there and hearing her.
"I wish you luck."
Shocked again. His wide eyes shot up to find her smiling as she looked at the roof above her heads.
"Yeah. I can't ask someone such as you to worry about him. You have your own problems and dragons to face down. But, Roxas…"
She turned towards him, looking down at him as her grin grew smaller in nature but larger in feeling.
"If you vanquish those… my son… could you…"
"I will," he said, the two words rocketing out before he his brain could even think to say them. And, he put all he had into them. It was a bona fide, honest, crossed promise.
As an afterthought, for good measure to reassure her,
"And, mam… Sora… he's already got a lot of people looking out for him. Before I, if able, get to him… he'll be fine. He's got a lot of people looking out for him. And, knowing him, he's only adding even more to the list as we speak."
Another silence entered the stage but its nature was of such a different sort that neither of them wanted to leave it and the warm feeling it swelled in their hearts. But, of course, it had to end. Time… moved on.
"That's good. I- I can't wait. He's… heh… so behind in school."
"Yeah, Sora… his summer vacation… just about never ends."
Abigail giggled as she turned to look at him. Though, her attention was soon diverted elsewhere as the sight of Roxas' meal came into view.
"Oh. Dear. I'll go… reheat this." She reached out to pick it up but was stopped as Roxas clasped her hand between his own. That box he had shoved and locked up… came back into view as a static jolt zapped and filled his hands with a warm, caring sensation.
"No. It's fine. I've… overstayed my welcome. I have to get going. The sooner… I beat them after all… the sooner I can help bring him back."
She nodded.
"Right. Yes, of course." She withdrew her hand as Roxas let it slip out. Only one reminder. Only one.
Roxas rose up from the chair and take off the jacket he had hung on the back. His arms looped through its sockets and it rested neatly back in its rightful place. He nodded once at her and gave a final smile before turning towards the front door.
"Hey."
His hand had reached the knob but was stilled as he turned back to look at her.
"Make sure you come back, you here. Even without him. I still… hm."
Her head shook.
"No. I just like you, Roxas. You're a good kid, you know. Now… I'll be worrying about you as well."
Last final smile. Yeah right.
Here was Roxas, grinning again.
"Heh. There's no need to worry about me," he said, as his thumb thumped against his chest, "I'll be alright."
Abigail's grin grew larger as well and stayed that way even as the door closed and the odd child she had just met, and yet felt strongly connected to, left out on his own adventure.
One that would play out in conjunction with Sora's.
Both would lead them to the end, to the Graveyard.
Where everything would finally come to a close.
Wow. You made it to the end. Congratulations. I suppose I should be really proud of myself. Thank you. Really. It makes me happy knowing my writing didn't drive you away. And, if it did… well… you aren't reading this. So, I'm sorry I can't really apologize for that since you'll never see this. Or maybe you will because you just had to see what I could say after writing such an abomination.
Well, if so… only one thing.
Whoops.
Don't read on if you don't like it, read on if you do.
You know, when I get around to continuing it. And, as we all know, if I ever do. That's always a fear, right?
Peace.
The Dark Turtle
Oh, wait, sorry. By the way, this scene… yeah, it's like… not the actual start of the story. After this, I'll be getting to that. This is just… supposed to hook you as your brains go, "Wow… how did he get here? Man, there's at least some cryptic stuff in here…. I gotta read on to see it all explained…"
So, yeah, you got bamboozled. Sorry.