Promise

I'm testing my skills at a KH fanfic.

It's not my first, but it is my first fanfic that I'm going to stick to for a while.

There's no pairings... But I'm keeping Sora and Roxas as main characters.

... but yes, I do support SoraxRoxas. :3

I own nothing but this story... Kingdom Hearts is not, and never will belong to me or any of you other desperate fans out there... But think of the wonders of owning the game franchise... Just think about it... T h i n k.

Now that you're done thinking, read please. :3

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A gentle rain fell along the city streets, and the white lightning lit up the darkened sky. The thirteenth house down Twilight Avenue, the smallest sandwiched between two larger appartment homes, was silent. On occasional stormy days, the house would be filled with excitement and laughter from the two boys that lived there. But not this time.

"... Come on, it's just one dose." a voice broke the unnerving quietness. A pair of apprehensive sapphire eyes met with their identical match, and then followed back down to the small plastic cup in front of him. The boy holding the cup stared down at the raspberry colored liquid, swishing it around the cup a few times acting as though he had no idea what to do with it. The blond in front of him shrugged. "Come on, Sora... You gotta take it sometime." Sora glanced up at his other, Roxas, and glared.

"I will, I will...!" he muttered, looking back down. He brought the cup closer to his face, sniffing the substance inside. He pulled back, seeming rather disgusted. "It smells terrible..."

"It's supposed to. Now drink up. Or I might just have to pour it down your throat for you." Roxas blurted, looking at the clock on the wall. He returned his attention to Sora, still holding the tiny cup. He gave him an exasperated look. "Listen..."

"What is it?"

"... It'll make you feel better."

"Says you." Sora set the cup down on the table beside the bed, crossing his arms.

"Sora." the brunet looks toward his blond counterpart, raising a brow. Roxas then takes the cup, and forces it near Sora's lips. Sora pulls away hastily, almost falling off the bed. Roxas smiles. "I'm sure it tastes better than it seems, Sor... So just try it?" he then moves closer, holding the cup over Sora's face. "... I just might accidentally spill it into your eyes."

"Fine! Fine, I'll take it..." Sora sits back up slowly, watching as the medicine pulls itself away from his face. He takes the cup back from Roxas' hands, and he whirls it around once more. Bringing the cup back up to his lips, the bitter syrup seeps down into his throat, since he would not dare think about letting that taste sit in his mouth. His eyes shoot open, his pupils appear to grow only smaller and smaller. Rolling his eyes, Roxas pulls a small piece of bread from a paper bag beside him, and shoves it in Sora's mouth.

"That should make the taste more discrete," Roxas states, putting the medicine bottle away. After chewing the piece for a few seconds, Sora swallows the rest, and starts a coughing fit. Knowing Sora better than that, Roxas gives him a light slap on the back, and sits next to him on the bed. "It would be easier to tolerate if you didn't do that..."

"You shoved bread down my throat."

"Come on! You wouldn't let me shove it down your throat."

"So you were trying to!"

"Heh heh..." The short argument didn't seem to last long, as the sun began to peek out from the clouds. Sora smiles.

"Hey, can we go out?" as excited as the brunet seemed to be, he could feel the tiredness setting down through his entire body. Roxas looks him over, and ruffles his hair.

"Why don't you sleep for a while first? That stuff is probably going to make you awfully drowsy."

"But I'm fine!" Sora then leapt from the bed, onto his feet standing in front of Roxas. "See?" his grin was rather dorky, but it only added to his overly optimistic character. A wave of dizziness came over him as he stood, but he shook it off, knowing it was only from getting up too fast. Roxas laughed quietly, and stood beside Sora.

"I still think you should sleep... But I guess we can go out for a little bit." Sora's face seemed to light up at the blond's words, and he hugged him happily. "You're welcome." Roxas returned the hug, watching as Sora went through his closet to find something to put on. He smiled, and looked out the window. "It's been... I dunno... three days?" Roxas thinks aloud, knowing Sora was too busy with whatever he was doing...

-flashback-

In the back of a large room filled with all sorts of machinery, Roxas lay silent on a giant table spread, his eyes were open but he seems to be asleep. In the front of the room, Sora stands beside Riku and Naminé looking at a large digital projection before them. Naminé's eyes narrow, as she types a code, unlocking a different screen. She smiles. "This is it... But..." she turns to Riku, his eyes then looking down on Sora.

"Roxas... He can't ever have a heart of his own. He was born a nobody. Having half a heart for him is like having a full heart. If we gave him a full heart, it would only change him into wherever that heart came from first." Riku explained to Sora, the brunet shifting his gaze to the floor beneath him.

"So... Roxas can never become whole?" he questioned the two, looking at the monitor with the data displayed. The other two exchanged glances, Naminé being the first to step forward with a reply for Sora.

"Having half a heart is enough to act as a whole heart for him... But depending on which heart he receives could change the Roxas we know forever." Silence followed her statement, Riku about to say something, until Sora interrupted.

"I'll give him the other half of my heart!" Riku and Naminé stared at Sora, a determined look written all over the younger boys' face. "He only needs half, right? Half to become whole... I'll give him half of my own heart."

"But Sora--" Sora stopped, looking toward the blonde. "You were born as a whole. If you surrender half of your heart... I..." she paused briefly, before continuing. "... I'm not sure what will happen to you." Riku suddenly became rather concerned, then turned to see Sora. He was shocked to see that his best friend was smiling.

"Come on... Half a heart is better than no heart, right?" His smile formed into a wide grin, and he stretched his arms, his hands latching in the back of his head. "And besides... Roxas will be whole again. You can finish restoring the memories of him into Twilight Town, and he can continue back from where he left off. Pence, Hayner and Olette... they'll be thrilled! He can finally return home... To his normal life." Sora muttered the last part, looking back at Roxas. "He'll be able to feel again... and best of all, he won't be stuck living in my head anymore." Sora laughed at the last bit, turning himself all the way around to face the sleeping blond. Inspite of his joyous behavior, he was rather nervous. '... what will happen to me...?' His thoughts came to a halt, feeling a strong grip on his shoulder.

"Half a heart is still a heart." Riku smiled, causing Sora to lose sight of his earlier worries. "Even if something happens to you... Anything at all... We'll work it out together." Sora hadn't seen Riku this positive since they first returned from the realm of darkness.

"... Right." Sora's smile returned once again.

"Then it's settled." Naminé clicked on the new window that popped up, several graphs and measuring devices replacing the data filled space. She smiled at Sora. "Give it a few hours... Your body needs some preparation." Sora shot her a questionable glance.

"Preparation? What kind of preparation?" he asked, befuddled.

"Well... Your heart needs to be at a vulnerable state so we can halve it." Naminé spoke, as she typed in some information about Sora, looking as the data tables changed and altered.

"Vulnerable?" Sora relaxed himself, his back against the wall. "How are you going to do that?"

"Darkness." Riku answered. Hesitantly, Naminé nodded her head, continuing to fill out some information. This made Sora all the more nervous.

"I'm going to have to unlock my heart again, aren't I?" Sora wasn't that oblivious, he knew what was coming. But to his surpise, Riku shook his head.

"Sora... You remember what happened when you turned into a heartless? How did it feel?" the silver haired teen asked, eyeing his wary friend.

Sora thought a moment. "It sorta felt like I was falling... But I wasn't hitting the ground. Everything was cold, and I couldn't see anything... I thought I was going to disappear."

"But what about before you plunged the keyblade into your chest? When it was inches away from your heart?"

"... Well... I couldn't really feel anything." Sora looked up at Riku.

"That's it. What we need to do...," Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn keyblade, holding it in front of Sora. "... we need find a source of darkness... and bring it close to your heart, without it taking complete control over you." A cold shiver ran down Sora's spine. He remembers what happened to Riku when darkness took him over, and the fracture that was put in place of their friendship.

"... H-how are we going to do that?" He wasn't aware of the shakiness in his tone, trying to show as much strength as possible.

"The darkness... It will always live in my heart." Riku raised a fist to his chest, feeling his heart beat. "I'll admit, I don't have complete control over it... But... I want to do this for you, Sora... You saved me from the darkness... I want to return this favor for you..." his eyes shifted to the table. "... and Roxas."

"Riku..." Sora closed his eyes, listening to the sound of his own heart. A new surge of energy found its way through, and a new determination resurfaced in place of fear. "I'm ready."

"... Are you sure?" Naminé whispered over to them, everything was in place for the process. Sora nodded, Riku shortly after.

'... a heart... a heart, of my very own...' Roxas thought, his eyes now focused on the three. He wasn't in the state of mind to speak or move, but he was truly awake and thinking on his own. 'Sora... I'm a nobody... destined to become a part of you... so you could be whole again... why give that up?' he tried his best to form his silent thoughts into words, but nothing came out. "why..." a breathless whisper escaped his lips, and he fell back into slumber.

-end flashback-

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Not too lengthy, eh...

Sorry if the tenses are messed up... I have a weird habit of changing tenses. x x I'll try to fix them if there are any really noticable ones...

I was strongly considering making this into a song fic... But I'll see...

Reviews are appreciated... But certainly not forced.

--KiM