Shadows
"And what's that supposed to mean," Roxas snapped.
"Exactly what I said. Twilight Town is an immobile world where they station members who get in the way."
"Heh, I bet that's why you're here! Barking at everyone all the time."
"Not at all. I'm here on a long term assignment. You on the other hand..." He turned his head away. "You must of stepped out of line."
"Ugh, you never change Saïx. Well don't think you can go bossing me around since you're not on duty anymore!"
"We'll see about that." He abruptly crumpled up his cigarette, then tossed it within the shadow cast from the building. Strangely enough, the cigarette butt bounced off of the shadow and tumbled back towards Saïx feet. "I knew it. They're here."
"Wait what? Heartless?!"
"Precisely."
As the two prepared for battle, Xion and the other employees were oblivious to the monsters lurking outside the building and went through business as usual. Xion leaned on the back counter by the drive-thru window, a clunky headset with prehistoric technology around her neck and a cup of strawberry-chocolate ice cream in her hand.
"Four hours and 15 minutes until I can leave," Xion said to herself.
Tifa approached Xion's workstation with a box of magic. She loaded the soft serve machine with blizzard magic, then turned to Xion, a mischievous smile across her face. "So when did you meet Roxas?"
"...15 minutes ago..."
"Really? Sure learned a lot about him in such a short amount of time."
Shrugging her shoulders, she took a big spoonful of ice cream to avoid any further conversation. Tifa, knowing her co-worker all too well, crossed her arms and stayed put across from her. "So why did I see you two out by the—"
*beep
*beep
"I got it!" Xion spit out, she pushed the receiver button on the headset. "Hello, welcome to Sunset Parlor, what can I get for you?" She greeted.
"Asuiuf! Cjowic!"
"Mm hm."
"ASDFDNRO! AHDHOA!"
"Ok, anything else?"
"Wsdfgihhc."
"Great! I'll have your total up at the window, thanks!"
Tifa gawked at Xion, bewildered. "You seriously understood what that guy said?"
"Nope."
"Huh, you've officially lost it."
Before she could open the drive thru window up, the glass shattered as a heartless spiraled through the jagged pieces and collided into one of the ice cream machines. While vanilla ice cream spilled out all over the floor, Tifa reached into her apron pockets and pulled out a pair of brown, leather gloves. "Don't worry," Tifa said, she grabbed onto Xion and pounded her fist into heartless as it was getting back up on its feet, the resulting impact creating a deep crater within the tiled floor.
Xion's eyes widened with shock. She'd never seen such a raw display of strength, and she certainly never expected to come from someone like Tifa. "I'll be right back." Was the only thing she said to Xion, no other words or explanation, then she punched through the glass drive thru window and jumped outside.
"Leave it to Tifa to show off like that." A voice from behind her said.
Without warning, a young black-haired girl, appeared out of thin air, emitting gray clouds of smoke on her arrival.
"Y-Yuffie, what's going on?! And why do I feel like I'm out of the loop."
"That's probably because you are. There's heartless attacking the store, while Zack is looking for the heartless repellent, I'm gonna help fend them off. I'd stay back if I were you."
"But aren't you gonna run away?!"
"Uh are you serious? I'm like the best ninja in my clan, no way I'm letting Tifa take all the credit!" She disappeared in the same clouds of smoke that brought her here and Xion was once again alone, standing in a puddle of vanilla ice cream.
Despite similar appearances, Yuffie and Xion couldn't be more different from each other. Yuffie was loud, outgoing, never afraid to speak her mind, and had an inflated ego, which came as a surprise considering her humble ninja backgrounds. Meanwhile Xion was anything but that, anything, but her.
Tonight, however, Xion was determined to become whatever she had to be to prove her worth. So Xion grabbed the nearest ice cream scoop and leapt out of the drive thru window, just like Tifa, although unlike Tifa, she hit her head on the panel and tumbled down onto the asphalt. Clumsily, Xion raised to her feet and saw the full battle playing out right before her eyes.
Roxas, her boss, and her co-workers weren't just fighting, but putting full on performances to a production she'd never be apart of.
Saïx in an act of aggression and energy she didn't even think he had the emotional range to produce was swinging a giant claymore the size of his own body, thrashing the heartless that stood in his way. Roxas bounced around the driveway, using magic against the heartless in a manner she thought was illegal.
At the other end, Tifa smashed her way through the shadows, dominating the creatures with overpowering strength while Yuffie was throwing an arsenal of ninja weapons and using mystic arts to show off more so than to fight.
And then there was her; Xion. The girl who stood there and watched like the crowds of Twilight Town locals who clustered around the ice cream parlour. It was exhilarating just to be there in a way that made her blood pump and her heart race and yet isolating in the same way she always felt. In the background, in the crowd, watching passively into a world she could only dream of.
Emitting a sharp, metallic screech on the ground, the ice cream scoop fell out of her hand and Xion began her walk of shame back inside the ice cream parlor. Before she could reach her destination, however, she was swept off the ground and into Roxas' arms.
"R-Roxas! You scared me, what're you doing?!" She yelled.
"Just thought you looked pretty awkward standing around like that."
"Wh-what! I was just getting ready to do something!"
"Right, right, before or after that heartless was about to bite your head off, or did you even notice?"
"Wait...are you serious?!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Just hold on tight, k?"
Xion clutched onto his sweatshirt and Roxas ran upside the brick wall. Besides breaking just about every physics law school droned into her head, it was still probably the least remarkable thing Roxas did all day. He set Xion down on the roof of the parlor and plopped down on the ledge, his legs dangling off the side of the building.
She sat down next to him, holding her legs tight to her chest. "Ok, I kind of knew Yuffie and Saïx were a little weird, but Tifa seemed so normal to me. Of course she has super strength or whatever."
"That's her name...Tifa...you think she saw me out there?"
"Yeah, her and the rest of Twilight Town. Ugh, I can't believe my co-workers knew about the heartless way before I did and didn't even bother to tell me! Why am I always the last to know about these things."
"Maybe 'cause it's better that way. You're a normal girl who got to live a normal life, if you knew about heartless, then nothing would ever be the same again. Now it's too late...because of me," Roxas said quietly.
"Are you kidding me? Today is literally the best day of my life, well behind the day I found my cat, and now that I know about all of this, I don't feel trapped in this world anymore. Maybe this sounds a little crazy, but I don't ever want things to be the same again." She turned to Roxas, her eyes locking onto his. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad I met you."
Roxas quickly pulled his hood over his head to hide his blushing face. "Sh-Shut up! You're so embarrassing!" He barked out, flustered.
Surprised at his reaction, all Xion did was smile to herself and a comfortable silence grew between them. She stared at the back of his head, wanting to say something, anything to him, but couldn't force her thoughts out of her head. 'You're modest,' She would think. 'No, you just have super low self esteem.' She would argue with herself.
The only thing she did say was, "—Oh hey, Roxas, Roxas, look!" And together, the two peered out from the rooftop to the street below where her other co-worker, Zack Fair, was running towards the heartless with the so-called 'heartless repellent'; a fire extinguisher with a black coat of paint and the red heartless emblem on it.
Zack inserted a small, bright orb into the compartment located on the base of the repellent and the nozzle poured out a powerful white light, bathing the heartless (and his co-workers) in an intense light that left nothing of the heartless, not even the remains of their existence.
Slinging the repellent over his shoulder, Zack flashed a cheeky smile, then bumped his chest at his co-workers. "Sorry I took so long, I had to find new holy orbs, but the hero always arrives late, doesn't he?"
"Hero?! You mean I single handedly held the monsters off while protecting everyone else! If anyone's a hero, it's me!" Yuffie argued.
"Right-right, good job Yuffie. You defeating a grand total of 3 heartless sure did save the day." Tifa sarcastically remarked.
"The only hero is the money we're about to make from all of this." Saïx interjected. "Do you not see this crowd of potential customers." He approached the newscast with a stack of coupon filers he always carried on his person. An upselling strategy he tried and failed to impose on his own employees since, in his own words, the prospect of revenue was always unexpected.
Following the battle, Sunset Parlor was as busy as a Friday night rush hour and since it was only a Thursday evening, they were severely understaffed. Just barely able to keep up with the demands coming from the influx of Twilight Town citizens who both wanted refreshing ice cream and were intrigued by the otherworldly, supernatural events that played out in the driveway of a simple ice cream shop.
The commotion only ever died down when the store went into closing time and Xion was allowed on her legally assigned break. Even then, there were still people camped outside of the store, eager for the opening tomorrow morning. Xion, exhausted, collapsed in the booth where Roxas was busy browsing the menu.
Roxas looked up from the menu. "Hey Xion."
"Hey."
"You know, it's pretty weird how people flock over to this type of stuff, fighting heartless is just another day for me."
"Those same people also have office jobs and drive their kids to soccer practice, they're not exactly your brand of demon slayer."
"Heh, you're totally right. So what do you recommend," Roxas slid the menu over in her direction. "I was thinking about trying strawberry ice cream, but what I really want is this one ice cream flavor I had a super long time ago. It was salty and sweet at the same time, I kind of forgot the name though."
"Oh—I know what you're talking about, it's sea-salt ice cream, isn't it? It's a town favorite. Come on, I'll get us some, my treat." Xion stood up from the counter, but he didn't as much as stir, annoying Xion. "Aren't you coming?"
"Can't you go by yourself?"
"Yeah I can, but it's easier if I don't have to carry two ice creams. Just come with me, I don't see what the big problem is."
"Well, ahem, I think that...er...do you think that uh..." His face was getting red, turning Xion's annoyance into intrigue. "...Tifa looks different, doesn't she?"
Xion took a moment to turn around, Tifa was still working front counter and still had the headset on. There was nothing radically different about her appearance, except that she gained a few scratch marks on her cheek and she looked noticeably more tired than usual. Xion looked back at Roxas, who was sweating now.
"Nope. Same Tifa. Wait, wait..." She smiled devilishly at Roxas. "I get it, you like her, don't you?"
"Wh-What?! That's so stupid. I don't even know what the word means!"
"Then why did you respond to me like that if you don't know what it means, genius?"
"Ok! I'll follow you!" He sprung straight up from the booth only to trip on his own feet and slam down hard on the tiled floor.
"Roxas, are you—"
"I'm fine!" Roxas snapped as he got right back up on his feet as if it were nothing. Ignoring the laughs and looks of concern from the other people in the store, he went over to the front and pressed his own munny on the counter. "Me and my friend would like two sea-salt ice creams please!" He loudly declared.
"Uh, sure, but your nose is kind of, you know, gushing out blood. Let me help." Tifa reached behind the counter and gave Roxas a handful of napkins. "I'll be back with that ice cream."
"Wow. That was humiliating," Xion said.
Roxas stood there, plugging up his bloody nose with a clump of napkins and considering death as one would in that situation. "Think the heartless can come back so they can bite my head off." He muttered.
"Calm down, so you embarrassed yourself in front of the girl you like. Weren't you literally just fighting off demons, I think that's a bit more scary than this."
"Yeah and that's easy...but did you see that look she gave me and the sound of concern in her voice..." He felt himself get excited when talking about her, the type of blood pressure rising, clammy hands excitement he'd only get when fighting an extra tough heartless. Tifa was a beautiful woman after all, with long, brown hair that fell all the way down her backside, a slim, curvy figure, and a nice rack that made the Sunset Parlor a popular spot for teenage boys like him.
"Yeah, she sounded something like that, but I think you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself. Customer-employee relations aren't really the best foundation to determine if someone likes you or not, trust me."
When he saw Tifa returned, Roxas furiously tidied himself up, fixing his windswept hair, straightening his stupid cat sweatshirt.
Tifa smiled at him. "Roxas, right? You were pretty awesome out there, I had no idea you could wield the keyblade." She tilted her head upwards, broadened her smile, and gave Roxas direct eye contact, her employee mode revving into full gear. "Here's your ice cream by the way, and here's a punch card, every fifth visit you get a $5 dollars off your purchase so make sure to come back often, ok~"
'Thank you.' Roxas wanted to say, but it came out more like some incomprehensible mumble and he quickly retreated into a booth.
Tifa chuckled to herself. "Hey Xion, I think your friend might have a change of heart about working for this place." She handed Xion a piece of paper with little bits of ice cream smudged on the corners. "I think Saïx would love to have him on the team, or at least, the Saïx equivalent of 'love'."
"We'll see about that" Xion made her way to Roxas, who was quietly eating his ice cream bar, then she just couldn't contain herself and burst out in laughter.
"What-What's so funny?" Roxas asked defensively. "Is there ice cream on my face or something?"
"No, no, it's just..." She calmed herself down. "I never would've thought Mr. Demon slayer over here with all the fancy acrobatics would get so nervous over a girl!"
Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "We all have our weaknesses, here's mine. Great in the field, not so great with girls."
"I could've told you that." She sat down. "So, what do you think about the ice cream?"
"This is it...the ice cream I had so long ago. Thanks."
"You're the one who bought it."
"And you're the one who reminded me."
Xion bit into her own ice cream, it tasted sweeter than usual now that she could share the experience with someone else. "Roxas, tomorrow I have to go to school and under no circumstances do I want you attending."
Roxas was taken back by Xion's sudden dead seriousness. "Why? What's so wrong with me going to school, not that I know what it is, but still."
"Everything's wrong with it and you'll hate it, trust me. Just stay at the apartment, Smudge practically takes care of himself and he'll let you know when he needs to eat. If you get bored, I have some video games and a TV, I'll tell you the wi-fi password too. You should really check out Dead Beat Town, it's like my favorite show ever!"
"Uh huh..." Roxas was only passively listening to Xion, the idea of school clouding his thoughts. "What do you do at school?" He abruptly asked.
"You know, boring stuff, like homework, tests, projects..." She trailed off. "We need to go home! I forgot I have a project due tomorrow!"
"Right behind you!"
When the two returned to Xion's apartment, Xion got to work on her all-world history project. In the meantime, Roxas switched between playing a few sessions of Xion's vast collection of video games, watching Xion tinker away at her project and playing with her cat until eventually falling asleep on the floor. All the while, Xion worked tediously on her assignment until its completion at the sound of the bird's calls, Twilight Town's version of the crack of dawn.
"Great," She said, sitting back in the chair. "And I still have 10 minutes to actually sleep. Note to self, don't procrastinate." Her head dropped on the kitchen table and she drifted off into a few moments of rest.
'Xion...you forgot who you once were.'
'Not like it can do me any good now, unless I used to be the daughter of a really rich and powerful family, then maybe I can finally leave this life behind.'
'And there's your problem right there.'
'I don't recall asking you, of course I get an annoying voice in my dream.'
'Wow, way to treat your conscience like a nuisance.'
'Good. Maybe I can get a better one!'
Xion woke up to the savory smell of eggs and bacon sizzling in hot grease, mingling with the sweetness of light, fluffy pancakes cooking in the pan. She raised her head to see Roxas preparing breakfast in a pastel pink apron. She rubbed her eyes, then wiped the drool off her cheek. "Is this even real?"
"I went shopping a few hours ago, heh you didn't even notice 'cause you were so focused on your project. I just figured you didn't want to eat ramen for breakfast again." He slid the bacon, eggs and pancakes onto a paper plate then drizzled the pancakes with a healthy serving of syrup. He slid the plate over to Xion while he took his share and sat right across from her at the table.
Dreamily, Xion gazed at the hot, steamy meal. She hadn't recalled the last time she had a real breakfast, let alone a home cooked one. Tears welled up her eyes, then fell down her sleep deprived face. "Th-thank you," She murmured. "I-I...I've never had this before, not like this."
Roxas gave Xion a quizzical look. "Well don't cry all over it, you have to tell me if it tastes good or not! I kind of only learned how to cook second-hand."
Without a moment's hesitation, she chowed down, eating every last morsel. When she finished, she gazed at Roxas with a wide smile on her face. "That was sooooo good! You're a lot better than you give yourself credit for." She stood up. "I'm gonna go get ready for school, make sure Smudge doesn't try to destroy my school project."
"Mm hm." His eyes settled on Xion's project, she built a small world within a cardboard box. A golden, tropical beach took up most of the space with a cluster of houses off in the corner. 'This place looks familiar, is it supposed to be Twilight Town, no their beach doesn't have palm trees. It has to be...'
He turned over the box and saw the words 'DESTINY ISLANDS' in fancy bubble letters, doused with yellow glitter plastered on the front. "Yeah, that's it."
"What do you think?" Xion asked, walking back into the kitchen as she brushed her teeth. "I've only seen pictures, but I bet the real place must be beautiful."
"It is, but you put in way too many palm trees, there's only like a couple here and this tree is supposed to be lopsided because that's where the paopu fruit grows oh and—"
"I get it, I get it. Thanks for the geography lesson, I hear enough of that at school already. Just remember—"
"Yeah, yeah 'under no circumstances do I want you attending'." Roxas mocked. "I got it memorized."
"Good to hear it." She slung her backpack on her shoulders. "I have to catch the tram unfortunately, but maybe next check I can finally get another bike. See ya later, Roxas!"
Xion left the apartment complex, then walked to the tram station where she boarded the infamously slow vehicle. Most students avoided the tram like the plague, so she shared her ride with a bunch of old people and a few of the "weird" kids. Nearly an hour later with five minutes left to spare, Xion arrived at school and ran to her homeroom class.
Today, homeroom was livelier than usual, briefly peaking Xion's curiously until she quickly realized the source of gossip of course had to be about the heartless fight last night. Students were showing each other videos on their phones, recounting what they saw that night or what they were doing when it happened (usually nothing). Even Marluxia seemed vaguely interested, although that was the same facial expression he always wore.
Xion quietly took her seat, opened her notes, and pretended like she wasn't there. Not five minutes later, someone behind her bumped her shoulder, she turned around to see Olette excitedly grinning and waving her phone at her. Olette was another school friend, typical nice, bubbly girl who always found time to talk to Xion. "Did you hear about what happened last night at the Sunset Parlor?" She asked.
Knowing where she was going with this, Xion shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. What happened?"
"Oh come on, you don't know? Don't you work there?"
"I wasn't working last night. I was at home working on my history project, you wouldn't believe how long it took me!" 'Good thing I'm a great liar.'
"Really? Then I gotta show you the video, I was finishing on my history project too when Hayner suddenly sent me this; look," A sloppy recording from someone way too excited to be there started playing, the footage jumped around between Roxas, her boss and co-workers fighting heartless with Xion's head in the background. There was a bunch of people screaming and yelling and pointing, general chaos, though she couldn't blame them. She was internally screaming and figuratively wetting her pants when they started fighting the monsters, it was like being an extra in one of those superhero summer blockbusters.
"It was on the news too." She pulled out a separate video of a news reporter holding a microphone to Saïx with Yuffie and Zack fighting for attention beside him.
["Mr. Saïx, sir, we are amazed at your fighting capabilities. Who knew an ice cream store manager had such power!"]
["I am quite powerful, possibly the most powerful General Manager in the district."]
"Wow, that is so cool, wish I could've been there," Xion said.
"Yeah, your place is gonna get really busy from now on."
"Great..."
"Oh-hey, but that guy though, the blonde one with the big key. Isn't he cute? He looks like our age too~"
"He is a little attractive when you squint your eyes, but I'd never go for him."
"Have you seen him around? It almost sounds like you two have already met before."
"What? No-no, I've never seen him before, ever, except in that video. That's the first time I've ever seen him."
"Riiiiight."
*ring-ring
"That sounds like the bell, better get going. Later Olette!"
"Bye Xion..."
Xion went from class to class, avoiding everyone's gaze and enduring the same tired conversation. It's not that she didn't want to speak up and show off to her classmates about the superhuman boy she met yesterday, but at the same time, she was never comfortable with having the spotlight on her. Just the idea of being one of the most talked about person in school gave her a sick feeling in her stomach, a feeling she was getting right now when she entered into Ms. Larxene's class and she realized she forgot her project at home.
'Crap, crap, crap!' She rummaged in her backpack and found nothing but notebook and folders. 'Well there's still hope if a heartless comes attacking our school, then maybe Ms. Larxene will get her head bitten off.'
While Xion was having another miniature breakdown, Larxene was bored out of her mind, lounging in her chair and texting on her phone. Like the other teachers, her school uniform consisted of mostly black, a black button up shirt, black kitty heels, and a single white scarf around her neck. She had a reputation among students of her absolutely ruthless, downright sadistic personality which she took great pride in upholding.
Because of the fear she struck into the hearts of students and even a few staff members, she ironically was the best teacher in the entire school, possibly the entire district. Each student came in on time, did their work diligently and studied for tests like their life depended on it.
When the class bell rang, it was Larxene's cue to start teaching, she turned on her computer and prowled to the front of the class. "What're you all doing looking at me like that for?!" She snapped. "Get your projects out right now."
Xion broke out into a cold sweat, her face turning as pale as a ghost. She was sure today would be her premature death, but like some call from the heavens above, or perhaps, from the depths of hell below, the door swung open and Roxas walked in with a plastic shopping bag in his hand.
Roxas took out Xion's school project and set in on her desk, then sat down right next to her. The students chattered away, giddy from the arrival of Roxas, or as they called him; the kid from the video who did all the fight-y stuff with his big ass key.
Larxene approached Roxas. "Nice of you to show up. Of course it's my luck I'd have a brat like you in my class."
"Yeah well not like I asked for it." He shot back. "Gonna shoot lightning bolts at me?"
"I'm considering it after school ends."
"Looking forward to it."
Larxene rolled her eyes, then returned to her desk to search for today's lesson on her computer. With her distracted, Xion faced Roxas, whispering the words 'thank you' to him. Nodding, Roxas leaned in close to her. "Sorry I totally disobeyed your orders, but I thought you'd need your project and when I brought it to school, the headmaster forced me to attend because I told him I didn't actually go to any school. This school thing isn't so bad though, wish I didn't already know half my teachers and that this uniform wasn't so tight, but it's pretty nice how everyone keeps on talking to me and wanting to be my friend."
"Gee, I wonder why."
"And, and, get this, a lot really cute girls think I'm cool!"
"Right Mr. popular, just don't let this whole thing go to your head."
"—Since you two seem to know so, so much about this class, that you don't feel the need to listen, then tell me the name of the Sultan in Agrabah," Larxene said sharply.
Roxas and Xion exchanged nervous glances. Xion gave Roxas a I-thought-you-knew-about-this-stuff look and Roxas returned it with an I'm-not-a-genius look. They both collectively sighed while Larxene rolled her eyes.
"Roxas, I don't expect someone dense like you to know, but Xion, that was on your test literally last unit dum-dum. Obviously that means I didn't teach the subject well enough, is that correct?"
"No-no, of course not Ms. Larxene!"
"So why don't you all prove me wrong and take out a sheet of paper. We're taking a pop quiz over Agrabah!"
The class groaned and shot daggers in Roxas and Xion's direction, Xion slumped in her seat, her entire face flushing a bright red. Larxene smirked, grabbing a copy of last unit's test off her desk.
'Thank god this is my last hour.' Xion thought.
After school ended, Xion walked down the afternoon streets, holding her failed pop quiz in one hand and aggressively eating a soft bread roll in the other. Roxas, who was keeping his distance, ran up to her side with an apologetic look on his face. "Hey, I'd love to sulk with you and everything, but some of the new friends I made invited me to the skate park. You're welcome to join, otherwise I'll catch you later!"
"Some friend you are!" She crumpled up her pop quiz and threw the ball of paper at his head as he was walking away which he simply shrugged off. Defeated, Xion retrieved the fallen pop quiz and threw it away in a proper trash can.
Finally returning to her apartment after a long day, Xion fell on her bed. She intrinsically put on Dead Beat Town to lighten her mood, as she always did whenever she was having a bad day and finished her homework while passively watching a few episodes.
Halfway through episode 3 of season 1, Xion turned off the TV, not feeling the radical change in her mood she was hoping for. Actually she felt worse, like she was one of the deadbeat nobodies on the TV show, although the show was a jukebox musical about the story of two star crossed lovers in rival gangs and the title was merely a play on words. She at least felt like one of the background characters who just kind of stood around to give the illusion of a populated town.
"Roxas is still out with his friends, probably using magic with his other friends," Xion said to Smudge who was sleeping on the end of her bed. "I mean, I'd have a lot of friends too, if I wasn't so scared about..." She shook her head, then walked a few steps to reach the kitchen.
She searched the cabinet for her cat's favorite fish and chips flavored cat food and dumped it over the stale cat kibble Smudge refused to eat to make it more enticing. "I think I'll just go out for a walk to clear my head, be back in an hour."