Seashells and Sea Salt- A Roxas/Xion fic
It had only been a few days, but it felt like forever since he had last laughed with Axel up on the Station tower. Though he was a Nobody and possessed no heart to feel with, Roxas couldn't help but notice an emptiness within him, like the deserted streets of Twilight Town below.
"I'll be back soon. Got it memorized?" Axel asked him, before heading off to Castle Oblivion, doomed for termination along with the rest of the team.
A bead of melting ice cream rolled down the popsicle stick he held, like a tear against the frozen blue cream.
Since Axel left, he had found it impossible to eat anything, let alone ice cream. He figured it had something to do with the lump in his throat, the one that prevented him from swallowing.
He didn't know why he had even bought one, never mind two ice creams from the kindly shopkeeper in the plaza below. He supposed it was the faint hope that Axel would someday join him up here, but that was impossible. Once a Nobody was destroyed, there was nothing left, right?
The soft sound of padding footsteps echoed behind him. Axel?
He looked around wildly, adrenaline rushing inside him.
Number XIV sulked near the wall, her expression unreadable due to the hood pulled over her face. Roxas sighed, shoulders hunching as he turned back around.
"Oh. Hello," he mumbled sullenly. She didn't reply. He wasn't surprised. In her days at the castle, she hadn't said a single word.
He looked back at her. She was pressed against the wall, almost apprehensively.
"Sit down?" he asked, gesturing beside him. Slowly, she walked over to where he sat, sinking down to her knees.
There was a tense silence. Neither looked at the other. She began to fiddle with her fingernails, picking at them far too quickly.
"Might as well RTC," Roxas muttered, pushing himself to his feet. He walked to where Number XIV had come up a few moments ago.
"R-Roxas?" He paused. Looking around, he saw that she looked back at him, at least, he thought she was. It was hard to tell beneath that hood of hers.
"What did you say?" he stammered, shocked. He was surprised that she learned his name so quickly. Many of the other members of the Organization had forgotten, or never bothered to use his name.
"Roxas. That's your name, right?"
Her voice was much different from the other members, especially from Larxene's, whose voice had always sounded as if it were made of sharp glass. Number XIV's voice, however, was quiet, maybe…shy?
He nodded sharply in response, not sure how to reply with words.
She raised her hand up to her hood, but hesitated, as though not sure she wanted to reveal herself. Only second-guessing for a moment, she pushed it back to reveal her face.
Ebony bangs slightly obscured her eyes, which were bluer than Saix's hair. Her face was rounded and youthful, with pinkish lips that trembled slightly.
"Xion," she blurted, biting her lips as she realized how fast she had uttered it. "My name's Xion."
"Xion," he repeated, nodding. "What are you doing up here?"
She shrugged.
"I saw you up here and decided to visit. You've been more quiet than usual."
"You've been more talkative than usual, nothing to worry over," he retorted, crossing his arms.
"True, but I noticed that you changed when Axel left for C.O."
The lump in Roxas' throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard.
"I guess," he replied, his voice half regular volume. She looked down.
"I'm sorry to mention it. I figured you might not want to talk about it," she sighed, turning back to look at the quiet city.
"No, it's ok." Roxas hung his legs over the edge of wall she was sitting on, settling near where she sat.
"The sun's so pretty when it sets," she remarked. "It looks like a seashell I collected."
She pulled out a conch shell from her pocket that was dappled with dull red flecks of colour.
"I pick up one for every mission I go on," she told him, cradling it in her hands. "This one looks almost as red as the sun, see?"
She held it up next to the sinking orb of light, making grains of sand stuck upon it glitter like diamonds.
"Bet you don't know why the sun sets red," Roxas said with a sense of pride that he knew. "You see, light is made up of different colours, and red travels the furthest, so that's what we see."
She nudged him with her elbow.
"Like I asked, Mr. Know-it-all," she laughed. Roxas found himself to be laughing as well, though nothing was very funny. The sound of laughter echoed up from the streets below them, which they thought were deserted.
They quieted as three children ran through the alleys below them.
"Come on, Pence!" one of them called to the slowest one.
"I would be there if you hadn't made me run all those races this morning. I'm pooped!" the one called Pence replied, breathing heavy.
"That's 'cause you're just slow."
"Am not!"
They all laughed, running off together.
"Who were they?" Xion asked him, watching them run away.
"I think they're friends," Roxas replied, shrugging. Xion tilted her head to the side.
"Friends?"
"Axel says friends are people that can laugh about stupid things while eating ice cream."
They looked at the ice cream in Roxas' hands and then back up to each other's eyes.
It struck Roxas how pretty Xion was.
"Do you want one? I was saving it for Axel, but I don't think he's going to show."
She smiled, and took one timidly.
"It's sea salt flavour," he informed her as she took a bite. She giggled as she swallowed it.
"It's salty, but sweet!"
He grinned, taking a bite of his own. There was a silence as they ate their ice cream, but this one was far from tense. This silence was comforting.
"Roxas?"
"Yes, Xion?"
Her cheeks blushed pink as she glanced into his eyes.
"Do you think that we could be… friends?"
He looked into her blue eyes and smiled.
"I think so."
She smiled back.
The sun was setting behind the train tracks and she looked out at the sky.
"I think I'd better RTC," she decided, getting up. "See you around, Roxas."
"See ya."
As he watched her go, he noticed the lump had gone from his throat.
Looking down at his popsicle stick, he noticed the word WINNER etched on it. Appropriate, as he felt as though he had beaten the largest Heartless in the world, though he wasn't quite sure why.
Laying it on the ledge he sat upon, he got up. It was about time he RTC'd anyways.
Left behind, the seashell rolled along the ledge to the abandoned stick and lay against it.
Though empty, the seashell seemed to be just a bit brighter than before, the same as the people who had, moments ago, shared its pretty sight.