Roxas/Cloud.
A small story to go along with my latest amv.
Small heads-up; Roxas/Cloud are the same person! To understand a bit more, please watch my amv too which is on my youtube channel 'heyitsparadii'.
Anyways, onwards.
She lay in my hands, losing life quickly. Fragments of her cloak, fragments of her life, started flying away into the early afternoon sky. My best friend, flying in tiny, beautiful pieces, above Twilight Town...
'Am I…the one who did this to you?'
'No…It was my choice…to go away now. Roxas…'
'Xion…?'
'Good-bye, Roxas. See you again. I'm glad…I got to meet you.' She reached up to touch my face and I fought to hold back tears. 'Never forget, that's the truth.' Her hand slipped and fell from my cheek.
'No! Xion…Who else will I have ice cream with?'
Her body began to glow brighter, and pieces of her life floated above my head, she was dead in my arms, and I couldn't save her. I couldn't save my best friend from dying. A single thalassa shell lay where Xion had been not two seconds ago, with it came a single tear, running aimlessly down my cheek, where her hand had left a small warm patch. I cried alone outside the train station of Twilight Town, cradling the shell, remembering her. Never forgetting her. I wouldn't ever forget Xion.
'Roxas!' Axel came running from towards town. 'Where's Xion?'
'She…she di-' I choked up and cried once more. Axel saw the shell in my hand, and me cradling it gently. He immediately came to my side and put his arm around me.
'It's not your fault, Roxas.' He knew I felt guilty, he knew I couldn't be helped.
'It is my fault! I could've saved her from this! I could've saved her! I could've, I should of. But I didn't! I didn't have the guts to try. I didn't save my best friend. She lay in my arms, as she died. And I didn't do anything! I just sat there, holding her. STUPID. STUPID. STUPID.'
'Roxas! She didn't die because of you.'
'Go ahead and ask her, oh wait, you can't! Cause I'm a failure. A big fat failure. I could've saved her from floating away in little fragments of lost being but I didn't. I should've willed her to stay with me. I…couldn't save her. I wouldn't save her…' I looked up at Axel. 'I wouldn't. I could've, but I wouldn't.'
10 Years Later
'Hey Cloud!' I looked back; Marlene was running up to me. She looked intent to jump into my arms, so I spread them wide and caught her in mid-air.
'Hey there Mar, that was a great jump. You're getting just like Yuffie.'
She giggled and smiled.
'Cloud, where are you guys going?' She had been asking everyone, and they had all given her the same answer.
'We're just going for a little road trip to see some old friends. We'll be back before you know it.' I smiled at her.
'That's what everyone's saying. I want you to tell me the truth.'
'That is the truth Marlene.' She kicked at me and wrestled her way to the ground. She crossed her arms and looked up at me. I knelt down to her height.
'You know, maybe I was wrong, you're reminding me an awful lot of Tifa now.'
'Cloud!'
'Fine, fine. Do you remember how we used to tell you and Denzel those stories?'
'About SOLDIER?'
'Yeah. Those ones, well, they weren't stories. They were real, everyone of us were a part of SOLDIER, and we still have unfinished business. So, we're just going out to talk to a few people. Like I said, we'll be back before you know it.'
'Oh, okay.' She smiled again and ran off. I grabbed my bag off the bed and headed downstairs. Tifa and Yuffie were waiting. I went into the garage and set up my bike, theirs were already sitting outside in the sun. Engines running to warm them up. They hadn't used their bikes in a while. I turned the key, and the engine purred like a dream. Checking every compartment, it was all in order. We geared up, and headed out to get everyone else.
Several Days Later
Swords clashing, yelling, screaming, bloodshed. All surrounding me, in a terrifying chaos of war. We had arrived just in time. I battled fiercely, as did everyone else.
In a final attempt, we brought the enemy to their knees, begging for mercy.
'Cloud!' Tifa yelled from nearby. 'It's Aerith!'
I ran towards her voice.
'Tifa! Aerith!'
'Over here!' I ran faster, as I came closer, I saw the mess that lay ahead, Aerith lay in Tifa's arms.
'Aerith!' I ran to her and fell in a heap by her side. I held her tightly. I looked up into the sky.
'Sephiroth came out of no where.' Tifa looked terrified, she was holding her legs to her chest.
'Why? Why does it always happen to me?' Tifa looked at me comfortingly.
'Cloud, it's not your fault. It could've happened to anyone.'
'BUT IT HAPPENED TO ME! It always does!'
'What do you mean always?'
'All of my friends, die in my arms. I hate it, I never do anything to help them. I watch them die in my arms, helpless. I have the chance to save them, but I never take it. I never take that step in the right direction.'
'Cloud…it'll be okay.'
I closed my eyes and cherished Aerith's warmth. I reached down and touched her face carefully.
'I'm sorry, Aerith and Xion…I'm sorry.'
Tifa put her arm around me as I cried over my friend's death. Blood covered my hands, some of it my own, most of it Aerith's.
3 Months Later
Nowadays I'm all alone, I keep away from everyone else, and afraid of what the outcome would be. I call in, but I don't keep in contact like I used too. What am I, why am I, who am I?
Being alone, made me think about things from different points of view, but I still can't bring myself to forgiving everything I didn't do. I can't forgive myself, for not even trying.
I decided, that even though I can't forgive myself, I can at least try, so I'm returning to Tifa, Marlene and Denzel now.
'It'll be okay…'
I smiled.
'Yeah, I'm not alone.' Xion and Aerith smiled at me. 'Thanks…for everything.'
And so, Cloud/Roxas learnt to live with his mistakes, his flaws and differences. I wish that everyone would be able to do the same.
