A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews! Whenever I saw that I had a new one it would give me a new burst of energy for writing! But yes, sadly, Riku had to die…It wouldn't be much of a story if he hadn't! Introducing new characters in this chapter, which took a bit of thinking because I had to think of good jobs for all of the adults…

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March 15, 1999

Roxas woke up with a start as something dropped onto his chest, thrashing blindly until he realized that it was only Sora. "Mn…S'ra?"

"H-Hey, Roxas! Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

Hearing the tremble in his big brother's voice, Roxas frowned and tried to wake his groggy mind up, "Is something wrong?"

"Um…maybe…" Sora smiled shakily, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Roxas, I think the orphanage is haunted."

"What?"

Sora waited for Roxas to sit up, scooting so that he was sitting side by side the smaller boy. After he had pulled the bed sheets up around both of their waists, Sora spoke again, his voice still quiet so as not to disturb the other boys who shared their room. "I heard footsteps out in the hall. Then the doorknob rattled and there was even a shadow under the door!"

Roxas shook his head, sighing as he ran a hand through his messy blond spikes. "I knew you shouldn't have read those scary books…" He glanced over and saw Sora twisting the sheets worriedly in his hands, his near-identical blue eyes wide. Sighing, Roxas reached over and pulled the sheets out of Sora's hands then tugged them down. "Fine. Get in. But you're going to have to explain when they see you out of your bed in the morning."

Sora nodded agreeably, grinning as he snuggled down next to the other small body. "Thanks!"

"Mm-hmm…"

The next morning Roxas was woken up to the sensation of something gently prodding his shoulder. Reaching up to rub his eyes, he rolled over, grunting as his face hit a mess of soft spikes. That's right, Sora slept in his bed last night. Opening an eye, Roxas glared sleepily at whoever dared to wake him up. It was one of the workers, Aerith. Roxas's glare softened when he identified the kind-hearted woman. She was smiling down at them, her soft voice a comforting first sound to hear in the morning, "Good morning sleepy-head. I see you and Sora had a sleepover."

The teasing tone was unmistakable but Roxas still frowned defensively, muttering, "He thought he heard a ghost in the hallway."

"Oh, it must have been one of the late-night staff," Aerith's smile turned apologetic, "I will have to remind them to be a little more quiet when walking through the halls." She blinked then put a hand to her lips, "But I almost forgot when I came here! We have to wake Sora up, a couple has come in looking to adopt someone his age."

Roxas felt his stomach drop, his throat suddenly tight. Seeing his sick expression, Aerith frowned sympathetically, leaning down to rub his shoulder. "I'm sorry Roxas but it is standard procedure. But don't worry, the other children have already been introduced. By the time Sora gets there they will probably have already chosen someone else."

"Ya, maybe." Roxas's voice sounded dead even to him but he still sat up and nudged Sora's shoulder. Sora murmured softly, swatting the hand away as he pulled his pillow closer to his face. Seeing the resistance, Roxas scowled and shook Sora harder, punching his shoulder for good measure as Sora groaned and sat up.

Seeing the boy's eyes blink open sleepily, Aerith walked over to his side of the bed, "Good morning Sora! It's time to get up and out of bed! There's a potential family in the lobby and you need to make a good impression!"

Seeing that his brother was still only half-awake, Roxas shook his head. "I'll bring him out in a few minutes, Aerith. He might even look presentable."

Aerith straightened up, her pink skirt whispering around her legs as she nodded, "Thank you Roxas. I would appreciate it. Come outside soon, okay?"

Nodding, Roxas watched as she walked out of the room before turning back to Sora, rolling his eyes when he saw that his brother had fallen back asleep.

When they made it outside into the lobby, Sora had changed out of his pajamas, looking like some attempt had been made to tame his hair. Roxas hung back at the doorway to the lobby as he watched Sora walk toward two men. The men looked young. One of them looked surprisingly like Roxas with his spiky blond hair and blue eyes, though the man's eyes were more of an electric green-blue. The other man had brown hair that nearly touched his shoulders, his smoky grey eyes making him look a little less approachable but friendly nonetheless. Both of them looked rather stoic; Roxas wasn't sure if they would be able to make Sora happy.

Roxas watched as they leaned down to talk to Sora, his older brother as bouncy and energetic as ever. Roxas wanted to tell him to stop being so friendly. He was going to get himself adopted if he wasn't careful, and then they would be split up.

Roxas held his breath as Sora laughed, the two men looking at each other before the blond crouched down. This was it, they were going to take his big brother away. The men and Sora were speaking quietly now, Roxas couldn't hear what they were saying, but he was surprised when three sets of eyes turned toward the doorway he was hiding behind. He let out a muffled squeak as Sora waved. "Roxas, come over here!"

Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Roxas shuffled into the room, wishing he had paid more attention to his own appearance as he latched onto Sora's arm. Grinning, Sora wrapped his arm around Roxas's shoulder, "Roxas, this is Leon and Cloud!" Lowering his voice he spoke in what he thought was a whisper, "They asked if I would like to be adopted but I told them I wouldn't go without you!"

Roxas frowned, glancing up at the two men. The blond, the one named Cloud, held out his hand, "Hey Roxas."

Staring at the hand for a moment, Roxas reluctantly took it, muttering a quick "Hello," before latching back onto Sora's arm.

Cloud smiled a little, taking in the boys' appearances. "I can definitely tell you two are brothers…" He stood up, glancing over at Leon, his voice hopeful. "What do you think?"

Uncrossing his arms, Leon smiled a bit, "Well, we were only planning on one, but it would be wrong to split up brothers." Crouching down, he looked Roxas straight in the eyes. "As of now, we only have an apartment. It would be small, and the two of you would have to share a room but…" He paused then his smile grew softer, "But we would love it if you wanted to be part of our family."

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Present Day

May 4, 2007

"Sora!"

The brown-haired teen stopped in his tracks, turning around to smile at the older man who had yelled out his name, "Yes?"

"Don't think you can get out of helping us carry any boxes in. Here, take this one, it's marked for the kitchen."

Sighing, Sora trudged over to the moving van, unable to help the whine that escaped him. "But Leon! I want to go see the house!"

"You can still see the house while you're carrying something. Multitask Sora." Leon said as he placed a medium-sized cardboard box into the younger's arms. As he turned back to the packed moving-van, Leon ran a hand through his hair, relaxing a bit as he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

"Relax Leon, the house isn't going anywhere."

Smiling a bit, Leon leaned back against his husband's body, "I know." He smirked, "I still can't believe we managed to get it for such a great deal. I still think it must be rotting off of its foundations for the owner to sell it so cheap."

Cloud chuckled, "Well you did say you wanted a house you would be able to restore. I guess you got what you wished for."

"Hmph, I guess I did."

"But the architecture is wonderful at least." Cloud nodded to the house. It was the oldest building in the neighborhood, in fact, the residential area they were in had apparently grown up around it. Once an undoubtedly grand but cozy estate house, the structure was now a little worse for wear. The paint was peeling off of the outside walls and some of the shutters needed to be replaced. From what Cloud and Leon had been able to tell on the initial walk-through, the inside of the house was in no better condition. Apparently the elderly woman who had lived there before them had let the place go. It was still a lovely house, but it was definitely in need of some renovations.

"So this is the place then?" Leon and Cloud looked over as their younger adopted son climbed out of the back seat of their car. He was dressed in his usual punk clothes, a black and white checkered theme prominent on his jacket and bracelet. Two years younger than Sora, his eyes were still narrowed with an expression of irritation his brother had yet to master.

Leon motioned over to the house with a flick of his head, used to the fourteen-year-old's attitude by now. "What do you think, Roxas? Do you like it?"

"Well, it's completely run down, the nearest skate park is an hour away, and my friends are all on the other side of the city." He paused then smirked, "But, all in all it's okay. Better than the apartment anyway."

Leon nodded, knowing that was Roxas's way of saying that he liked it. "I'm glad you think so. Why don't you head on in the house? I'm sure Sora's already picking out what room he wants."

That got Roxas moving. Slamming the car door, he raced up the driveway and into the house. Leon was happy to see Roxas so excited, but then again, they were moving from a two bedroom apartment into an actual house. It would be hard for the teen not to be excited. For the first time Roxas would finally be able to have his own room.

"It's nice to see them both so happy."

Leon nodded, smiling as he felt Cloud's arm wrap around him. Enjoying the contact for a moment, he closed his eyes for a bit then reluctantly pulled away, "We should probably help move things into the house."

"Probably." Cloud walked over to the back of the moving van and heaved a large box onto his shoulder.

"Do you have that okay?" Leon caught Cloud's incredulous look and smirked, "Right. Stupid question. I'll see you inside."

When Leon got in, he set his box down in the hallway, quickly scanning the house as he stepped aside to let Cloud outside for another run. It was dusty and smelled like molding wallpaper, but it was beautiful all the same. The wooden floors were a deep mahogany, the paneling that covered the bottom half of the wall matching the floors. Above the wooden paneling was a dark wallpaper, some of the edges peeling away to reveal off-white plaster behind it. Hearing the sound of feet thumping upstairs, Leon glanced up to see Sora thundering down the stairs, the teen nearly tripping on the last step as he hopped over to where Leon was standing.

"This house is awesome!" The cheerful brown-haired boy said, grinning widely as he peeked around Leon to look at the former parlor. "It's huge! And all old and stuff! I mean, it needs work but we finally get our own rooms!"

Roxas appeared on the second story landing, a scowl on his face, "Hey, Leon, where's the second bathroom up here?"

"There's no master bath, Roxas, their's only one bathroom upstairs."

"Seriously?" Roxas's frown deepened incredulously, "But that thing's tiny."

Cloud pushed his way into the front door, his arms laden down with two more boxes. Having caught the last of Roxas's complaining, he spoke up for Leon, "It's an old house. Back in the day you would be lucky if you even had indoor plumbing."

Roxas let out an irritated breath, spinning back around toward what Leon assumed was his new room. "Well I sure feel lucky…call me down for dinner."

"He's certainly settling in well," Cloud muttered, setting his boxes down hap-hazardly in the hall, stretching his back as he straightened back up.

Leon nodded, "I think we'll be lucky if we see him more than an hour from now on." His eyes happened to graze over his wristwatch then widened, a quiet curse escaping him as he did a double take, "Shit. I'm going to be late for work. Cloud, do you know where the boxes with our clothes are?"

"Somewhere in the truck, but I packed your uniform into the back seat of the car. Figured you might need it." He smiled as Leon pecked his cheek thankfully then ran out toward the car, the brown-haired man rushing into the house a moment later to change in the nearest room with a door. If there was one thing that mattered to Leon, it was getting to work on time. Cloud supposed that punctuality was a good trait for a police officer to have, along with all of Leon's other characteristics that suited him perfectly for the job.

Sora frowned as the door closed with a soft thud, "Aw, Leon has to go to work today? But who's going to unpack everything?"

"That would be you, me, and our favorite little punk. Speaking of whom, why don't you go see if you can drag Roxas out of his room?"

Sora paused then smirked, the expression alerting Cloud to the fact that the teen had a rather devious plan in mind. The blond shrugged it off though, pretending he hadn't seen anything as Leon came out of one of the side rooms, straightening his navy tie. Cloud smiled lightly as Leon walked over to him, tilting his head to the side, "Well Sergeant, when do think you're going to be getting back?"

Leon sighed, "As soon as I can. Are you going to be okay here in the new house?"

"Relax. We probably won't even do much unpacking. We'll " Cloud chuckled and reached out to straighten Leon's badge as Leon sighed. Glancing up at the other's face, Cloud raised a blond eyebrow. "What?"

"I just feel a little guilty going to work when you took a day off."

"The hospital can handle one less nurse, and as for my class I can always get the information from the website. However, there are only a few competent Sergeants out there, and you're one of them." He rolled his eyes as Leon's face remained guilty and punched the slightly taller man on the shoulder, "Get out of here, you're going to be late."

"Hm? Oh, right. I'll call you if I'm going to be gone past ten."

Cloud nodded, kissing Leon's cheek, "Okay. I love you. Get out."

"Whatever…"

Cloud laughed quietly at the younger man's reply, closing the door once Leon had gotten into the car. He crossed his arms as he turned his attention back to the hallway which was already flooded with stacks of boxes. Luckily they didn't have too much more to pull from the moving van; though it really was amazing how much stuff they had managed to accumulate in their apartment over the years. At least the move had given them a good chance to organize everything; what with Leon's unpredictable schedule and Cloud's late night classes as he studied for his doctorate, they had never had the energy to do anything about the clutter in their house before.

He looked up as Sora came back down the stairs, a frown touching his lips as the teen covered his mouth to smother a cough. "Are you getting sick Sora?"

"Um, I didn't think so…" Sora smiled sheepishly after he coughed again, "But, maybe? It just started a few minutes ago."

"It's probably just the dust being kicked up that's irritating your lungs but we'll keep an eye on it to be safe. Where's your brother?"

"Putting up his posters. He'll be down in a minute." Sora grinned, "He promised to help unpack after I threatened to sing along to Disney soundtracks!"

Smiling, Cloud shook his head, "You are truly a cruel negotiator. Now, we still have a few more boxes to bring out from the moving van, which we should get back to the truck yard before six or else they'll charge us for an extra day."

"But Cloud, what if I really am sick? Then working would be bad for me right?" Sora gave Cloud his best sympathy face but Cloud only motioned toward the door. Sighing, Sora's expression fell in to a pout but he shuffled over to the door, muffling a cough as his brown spikes passed under Cloud's nose. Following after his adopted son, Cloud glanced back at the stairs before he went outside, "Roxas, hurry up!"

"Ya, ya, I'm coming!"

Cloud nodded, turning back to see Sora running to the back of the van. It was a good feeling, being in your own home. The gravel crunched under his feet as he walked down the driveway, the late spring afternoon spreading around the scent of the flowers already planted on the property. Cloud stopped though as he felt a slight prickling on the back of his neck, as if someone was watching him. Turning around, the saw the curtains shift in the one of the second story windows, floating back into place before Roxas burst out the front door a moment later, the young teen grumbling as he pulled on a black hoodie. "You certainly made good time getting down here," Cloud said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Ya, I guess, except for the last minute I spent trying to get my shoes on in the hallway."

"How was the view from your room?"

"So-so. It's all trees, which I guess is kinda cool."

Cloud frowned, tilting his head to the side, "Whose bedroom looks out front?"

"Oh, that's Sora's. He got the room with the window seat."

"Oh." Running a hand through his spiky hair, Cloud looked back up at the window then sighed. If Roxas hadn't moved the curtain that meant there was probably a draft seeping in from a crack in the window frame. Ah the joys of owning a home.