NiffStral: Greetings, all! Welcome to chapter one of our fanfic!
Outkast Angel: Yes! Welcome!
NiffStral: Sorry the author's note seemed so long compared to the actual fic for the prologue. We got kinda carried away...
Outkast Angel: 'twas fun
NiffStral: But this actual chapter is quite a bit longer, so it should make up for that.
Outkast Angel: Sora does lotsa angsting in this one. Angst is so much fun!
NiffStral: Yes. Fun. Sure. Are you /positive/ you don't need psyciatric help?
Outkast Angel: ...my last shrink told me there was nothing wrong and pushed me out the door and locked it... So yeah. I'm good.
NiffStral: I'm sure they did. I'm sure anyone would. Anyway, after this the next chapter won't come out for a while, so you only get this to settle over. Have fun with that.
Outkast Angel: Whoever figures out what's weird with the Kairi/Sora/Roxas convo gets a cookie!
NiffStral: ...I know. Can I have the cookie?
Outkast Angel:...No.
NiffStral: XP Anehwho, time for some disclaimin'.
Outkast Angel: I can't say it again. It's too painful. You go.
NiffStral: Fine. Psh. Sadly, the world of Kingdom Hearts and anything relating to it does not belong to us. Despite our large collection of cookies. Ella the ghost, however, does. Yay Ella!
Outkast Angel: oh yeah! I forgot about her...
NiffStral: You would. As for the warnings, same as last chapter. And I'm so sorry, Tidus! I made you so mean! -glomps Tidus-
Outkast Angel: Well, someone's gotta be an asshole.
NiffStral: I s'pose. On with the fic!
-CHAPTER ONE-
"Sora, mom's home! She's been home for half an hour, which, by the way, is when I started this. Wake up already!" Roxas yelled out, angered by his slow-to-wake brother. Said brother merely rolled over and grumbled, slowly moving his pillow over his head.
"Nyarguhfoon," The brunet mumbled, gracing his brother with the sound of his voice, as un-wordy as it was. Roxas sighed, wishing, not for the first time, that he had corporeal hands to use to slap his brother.
Grinning, Roxas started to float away. "Okay, I guess I'll just have to freak her out again. I wonder how much she would like the dinner table on the roof. What d'you think, Sora?"
Sora, hearing this, opened his eyes wide from their spot under the pillow, screamed a muffled "No!", and tried to get out of bed to stop his wayward brother.
'Tried' being the key word.
As he pushed himself up from his bed, his legs tangled in the sheets now bunched up around his legs and he fell off the bed, landing with his cheek pressed up against the floor, hands around his head, with his legs still trapped in the blankets on top of the mattress. As he grumbled, Roxas burst into laughter.
"Ha! Oh god, that's great. I need to do that more often to wake you up," He said, pretending to wipe tears of mirth from his face. The boy on the ground glared up at his brother, slowly pushing himself up as he removed his legs from their blanket prison.
"Gee, some brother you are. You're supposed to look after me, not laugh at my misfortune. What positive influences I have in my life, really." He said angrily, still glaring at the ghost. Roxas rolled his eyes.
"Come on, don't be all sarcastic. It doesn't suit you. I'm sorry?" Roxas tried, blinking innocently at his brother. Sora, being the forgiving person that he was, tried to keep glaring, but dropped it and sighed, smiling up at the other boy.
"Okay, apology accepted. Now, what did you say earlier? Mom's back?"
"Yeah, and since she hasn't left yet," a scowl made its way onto his brother's face as he spoke, "I think she wants to actually talk this time."
Sora frowned at his brother as he stretched.
"C'mon Roxas, don't be like that," he said. "You know she doesn't mean it."
"Whatever," Roxas mumbled, dropping the subject. "You hungry? No, don't answer that, I know what you're gonna say. Eat breakfast anyway, then go talk to mom. She's in her room."
Sora grinned as he bounded out of his room.
"Can you make me breakfast again?" He asked as they entered the kitchen.
Roxas threw him an amused glance.
"You really want to risk it?" He asked, his eyes traveling to the stairs, thinking of their mother.
"No," Sora sighed as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. "But I really wanted an omelet."
Roxas grinned.
"I'll make you an omelet tomorrow," he promised.
They were silent for a few minutes as Sora ate his cereal and Roxas got lost in thoughts of Neverwas. He snapped out of it when Sora called his name.
"Yeah?"
"When did you change?" Sora frowned, indicating to Roxas' new outfit.
"Last night in Neverwas," Roxas shrugged. "The old clothes were getting too small."
Sora nodded in understanding before scrutinizing his brother's new clothes.
"Why do you always just wear a T-shirt and jeans, Rox?" Sora asked. "You could wear anything and nobody would tease you. Except me. And the other ghosts on the Islands, but you get the point."
"What, you want me to dress up in drag?" Roxas snorted, his eyes alight with laughter. "How about the next time I need new clothes I let you pick them out?"
Sora voiced his agreement, finding the arrangement acceptable. He finished his cereal and dumped his bowl into the sink before turning and grinning at his brother.
"So… How's Neverwas?" Sora asked.
Roxas frowned. "As much as I don't like this, Sora, you're going to have to talk to mom sooner or later. You should just get it over with."
Sora's shoulders slumped as he leaned against the counter.
"It's Friday," he complained. "And we get a three day weekend! And the semester just ended! Why'd she have to come today?"
"'Cause she's a wicked she-devil who likes making your life crap," Roxas said without pausing to think. "Weren't you just defending her?"
"She always ruins my good mood when she comes," Sora scowled. "And that was before I remembered we had today off."
Sora continued to scowl when his brother didn't answer. But when Roxas burst into laughter, his scowl turned into a pout.
"What?" He moaned.
"You looked so weird like that, all angry," Roxas grinned cheekily. "You're always so bouncy and happy."
Sora wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that his brother was teasing him. He couldn't have that happening without getting some sort of revenge. So he crossed his arms, stuck out his tongue, and all was righted in the world.
Roxas rolled his eyes. "C'mon, let's get this over with."
Sora let his arms drop and peeked sheepishly at his brother through his bangs.
"You're gonna be there, right? You won't leave?" He asked softly.
Roxas stared at him as though he'd declared his undying love of vegetables.
"Of course I am," he said.
Sora accepted this answer and his brother tossed him an encouraging grin as he headed for the stairs. He paused outside of their mother's closed door, his fist poised to knock. Roxas nodded at him, and he bit his lip and knocked softly.
"Come in, Sora," his mother called from inside the room.
Sora shot a helpless look at his brother before he took a deep breath and opened the door.
"You dyed your hair," Sora blurted out, before he had a chance to think.
It was true, though. His mother's previously blonde locks were now a deep auburn that Sora didn't think suited her at all. His mother raised her eyebrows-also auburn, Sora realized somewhere in the back of his mind.
"Sora, it's nice to see you again," She said.
"Bitch," Roxas murmured, referring to the forced-polite tone in which she spoke to his brother.
Holding back a glare towards his brother, seeing as that would worry his mother, and he cared about what she thought of him, he gave her a fake smile.
"It's nice to see you again too, mom. How was the trip?" Sora asked, ever the example of being polite, whereas his brother was muttering profanities her in direction, which Sora was doing his best to ignore.
The woman gave her son a very shaky smile.
"It was fine, thank you for asking." She said, gaze drifting around her room, no doubt checking to see if Sora had changed it in any way, which he had not, though he did fix everything from Roxas' last bout of anger that resulted shortly after her leaving. Sora frowned at this, but did not comment. He did not want to get on her bad side without him or Roxas having done anything wrong so soon after her return.
"Um..." He began, somewhat awkwardly. "You... Aren't you a bit early? Did you have some news, or something?" Sora asked quietly, trying to not let the conversation get bad this early in. Roxas snorted.
"Sora, quit being such a pansy, give her that anger that she deserves from you! That bitch left you alone, as far as she knew, for three freaking months! Don't take that so light!" The ghost yelled out, shaking his fist at Sora, who was almost visibly struggling in his efforts not to turn around and yell at his brother. Luckily for the brunet, their mother could still not hear her older son, and spoke.
"Yes, I did. Concerning you, actually, and your future." She said, and Roxas, despite his claims to punch her face in and other such things like that, stopped in his ranting and looked at her with intrigue. On his face, Sora had an almost identical expression.
Before he had a change to inquire on this, she turned to her purse, sticking a hand in and riffling around in it for a few moments, before pulling out what seemed to be a pamphlet. She handed it to Sora, who blinked and reached out to grab it.
Looking down at the cover, he blinked again.
"You're sending me to boarding school!?" Sora exclaimed.
"Lower your voice," his mother snapped. "It's a very good school, Sora. And it's near Hollow Bastion. You'll be able to visit the city on the weekends. You've always wanted to go there."
Sora stared at her, dumbstruck.
"When have I ever said anything about wanting to visit Hollow Bastion?" Sora demanded, forgetting that he was supposed to be polite.
"Boarding school!?" Roxas roared. "You're shipping us off to BOARDING SCHOOL?! You bitch! How could you-"
Sora tuned out his brother's ranting as his mother spoke.
"Don't take that tone with me, Sora," She said harshly. "You will enjoy it at Radiant Garden. It is a bit strict, but your education is very important. Radiant Garden is one of the best schools around."
"But- and- wha- Boarding school?!" Sora managed to articulate his thoughts rather well, given the circumstances, in his opinion. "I've never even left the Island!"
"That's enough." His mother was rubbing her temples as she stood up. "You're giving me a headache. Your flight leaves tomorrow at ten. Your ticket is on the living room table. There will be someone from the school at the airport to pick you up. They will give you your schedule and explain the rules when you get there. Go pack. Don't miss your flight."
With that she stood up and began to walk out of the room.
"Where the hell do you think you're going!?" Roxas roared at her retreating back. He turned to his brother. "Sora. Brother. Friend. Let me push her down the stairs."
Sora ignored his brother's request, stunned.
"Where are you going?" He asked, hurt dripping from his voice.
His mother glanced over her shoulder at him.
"I have to leave," She said, waving the questioned away with a manicured hand. "Important business trip to Wonderland."
And with that she was gone. Sora stayed rooted to the spot as he heard her car start up outside. Roxas stared at him, worry replacing his anger. Sora looked at him with tear-filled eyes.
"She's just… leaving," Sora said softly. "She didn't even-"
"Oh no," Roxas said, moving closer to his brother. "Please don't cry, Sora. Please."
"'m not crying," Sora muttered, wiping the tears from his face. "I just-she's just, shipping us off so that she doesn't have to worry about getting in trouble with social services."
Roxas frowned at how bitter his brother sounded. He tossed an angry glare in the direction their mother had driven off in, desperately wishing he'd at least thrown something at her.
"It's the middle of the school year!" Sora exclaimed weakly, sitting on the ground. "The semester just ended! I think I even got an A in English-well, that's mostly thanks to you, but-"
"It won't be so bad," Roxas said, sitting down besides his brother.
Sora looked at him as though he'd grown another head.
"Don't look at me like that," Roxas grinned. "I'm serious. Think of it as a way to start over. No one knows you there. No one thinks you're crazy, or that you're a witch," He paused to snicker at the comment. "You can go and pretend to be normal, and make friends. Maybe even get a boyfriend or girlfriend."
"You really think so?" Sora said hopefully.
"'Course I do. And you know the best thing about dating and having a ghost for a brother?" Roxas grinned when Sora shook his head. "You don't have to worry about them cheating on you, 'cause if they even look at someone else they're gonna be nailed to the ceiling."
Sora laughed. "You can't nail anyone to the ceiling."
"Yes I can! But since you don't like blood, I promise I'll just get their clothes."
Sora grinned and was about to reply when the phone rang from downstairs. Roxas and Sora stared at each other before yelling. "KAIRI!"
Sora bounded out of the room and down the stairs, while Roxas smirked and sunk through the floor. The blonde answered the phone as Sora made a face at him. Roxas stuck his tongue out.
"Hey Kairi," He said, grinning to himself as Sora glared at him from across the room.
"…Roxas?" She sounded unsure.
"Yeah."
"How'd you know it was me?" She asked lightly.
"You're the only one who ever calls," Roxas said, rolling his eyes as he watched Sora trip over a chair.
Kairi's laughter sounded nervous. Roxas was slightly amused.
"Nervous?" He asked.
"Well… It's just that… well… You're kind of…"
"Dead?" Roxas suggested.
"Umm.. Yeah," she said. "It would probably be different if I was able to see you."
"…We're on the phone, Kai."
"You know what I mean. I meant if I was a Seer," She said. "Well… anyway…"
"You wanna talk to Sora?"
"…Yeah."
"YO SORA!" Roxas yelled. "Pick up the phone!"
Sora ran over to his brother and banged his hands on the table. Still grinning, Roxas dropped the phone, and right as if became touchable for humans again, Sora snached it up. Glaring at his brother, as he put the phone to his ear his face switched into a wide grin. Roxas sighed, amazed that the brunet could have such a personality.
"Hey, Kairi!" He said, holding the phone tightly as he nearly bounced in excitement.
"Hey, Sora!" She said in response, most likely grinning as well at the boy's exuberance. Roxas coughed, staring at Sora with a raised eyebrow, and Sora turned to the ghost.
"Go away, Roxas." He said, in a way that would have been rude if it was not Sora who was talking.
"Psh, like I want to listen to you guys talk for hours on end," Roxas rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Neverwas. Call me if you need me Sora."
"'Kay," Sora agreed brightly. "Bye Roxas!"
"You girls have fun!" Roxas said before hanging up.
Sora let out a noise of protest and Kairi laughed.
"No matter how much I talk to him, I don't think I'll ever get used to it," Kairi sighed before brightening. "How are you? And don't just tell me 'fine.' You know how much I hate that. How have things been?"
Sora had planned to tell Kairi about the new stories he had heard from the ghosts around the Islands. He'd planned to tell her about his grades, and how people hadn't changed, and still treated him as though he was insane or invisible. Whatever he had planned on telling her, it wasn't about his mom throwing him into boarding school. Which was why he was so shocked when the words came tumbling out of his mouth.
"My mom's sending me to boarding school and being on the Islands sucks, but at least I know everyone, and all the ghosts here like me, and what if no one likes me at the school? Roxas says that I'll be able to make friends there, but I've never been good at talking to people, and this is boarding school! Where you have to live with all the people you hate and not just deal with them nine hours a day!" He took a breath, feeling a bit hysterical. "And Roxas says that I can pretend to be normal, but he always comes to my classes and makes sure that I pay attention and explains stuff to me when the teachers don't make sense and everyone knows I'm a freak so they don't really mind when they think I'm talking to myself in the back of the class but if I have to-"
"Sora! Sora! Slow down!" Kairi said, sounding worried. "Breathe. There. That's good. Feel better?"
"A little," Sora said, breathing deeply while lying down on the couch, determinedly not looking at the plane ticket that sat on the table taunting him.
"So, boarding school, huh?" Kairi asked. "That should be fun."
"Fun?" Sora spluttered. "Fun?"
"Don't be like that, Sora," Kairi sighed. "A lot of different kinds of people go to boarding school. People you didn't grow up with."
"Yeah, but what about-"
Sora was cut off by the sound of someone yelling. He frowned as he heard Kairi put her hand over the receiver.
"Hey Sora, I have to go," Kairi sighed. "It was nice talking to you. And don't worry so much, okay? Roxas sounds like he has the right idea. You should listen to him."
"Alright," Sora said hesitantly. "Call my cell next time. I'll be at the school by Sunday."
"Okay," Kairi agreed. "Stay happy Sora."
"Bye, Kai," Sora said and hung up.
Sighing, Sora thought about calling for Roxas, but decided against it. He didn't want Roxas to get mad at him, calling him from Neverwas just because he was bored and didn't want to be alone. Instead, he threw on his shoes and left the house, locking the door behind him. He only had a day to say goodbye to everyone, and Roxas wasn't too fond of the ghosts on the Island, anyway.
He grinned at random people who were mulling around, pretending that he didn't notice when they started whispering or gave him dirty looks when he made a beeline towards the deserted park. He was used to it by now, but normally Roxas was there to distract him.
"Sora!" A light, feathery voice called out.
"Hey Ella," Sora grinned as he sat on a swing.
Ella was one of the few ghosts that Roxas could stand on the Island.
"Where's your darling brother? Not still mad at me, is he?" Ella smiled, referring to a previous conversation.
"No, he's not mad anymore. But I think you might have taken it a little but too far with the 'prince charming' part," Sora said. "He's in Neverwas right now, probably pranking someone."
"It's not like him to let you wander around on your own," Ella frowned slightly as she spoke.
"Hey! I can take care of myself!" Sora huffed indignantly.
Ella was amused.
"Of course you can, dear," she said. "What I meant was that I rarely see you out on your own. Roxas is always keeping you company."
"Oh, well, he has things to do, I guess."
Ella stared at him for a moment before smirking. Sora shuddered. Ella was not supposed to smirk.
"He doesn't know where you are, does he?" Ella asked in a low voice, her eyes glowing. Sora blushed.
"Shut up," He mumbled, embarrassed. "I just didn't feel like calling him from Neverwas just 'cause I was bored. He's probably busy."
"What's wrong, Sora?" Ella sighed as she 'sat' on the swing next to his. Sora didn't bother asking how she knew something was wrong. It wasn't hard for people to read him.
"I'm being sent to boarding school," Sora said sulkily.
"That's wonderful!" Ella exclaimed happily.
"It's...wonderful?" Sora asked blankly.
"Of course! When you get out of here you'll meet other Seers! They're naturally attracted to each other, you know."
"But I-"
Sora bit his lip as he suddenly noticed three rather large boys only a short distance away. And they were heading towards him. Sora figured he had about twenty seconds before they reached him. After that they'd taunt him for maybe two minutes before beating him into a pulp.
Ella frowned as she noticed what Sora was staring at.
"You'd better start running, dear," She told Sora solemnly. "I'll go get your brother, shall I?"
Sora quickly stood, nodding, and bolted. He heard a startled shout from one of the boys, and hoped that they would give it up as a lost cause and go bully someone who wasn't him. That didn't happen, of course, and Sora soon heard the sound of heavy footsteps running after him.
Sora was rather fast, having had dealt with this kind of behavior for as long as he could remember. It had become almost like a tradition, actually. Sora's peers would see him, mock him, and eventually beat him up. It was just how things were, no matter what Roxas did to convince them that Sora had a rather protective guardian angel following him around, willing to rip off limbs at a moments notice (Sora did his best to never let it get that far. There had been one time with the throwing of the butter knife, though, but she'd moved away and no one ever spoke of that). So yes, Sora was a little speed demon. He could outrun anyone on the Island besides Roxas, who didn't count because he didn't actually run.
However, Sora was also rather clumsy, and was not really surprised when he managed to trip over a pair of red Converse that happened to be lying in the middle of the sidewalk. Before he had a chance to realize that his palms were stinging and his nose was only a few centimeters from the ground, Sora was pulled up by his shirt collar and was punched in the stomach.
No insults? Sora thought as the fist connected again. That's new.
He heard laughter and realized that two of the three had decided to watch instead of joining in. That was also new.
And then the large, angry young man who seemed to have his heart set on breaking one of Sora's ribs was suddenly thrown backwards into his two laughing friends. The three of them fell to the ground in a heap and Sora grinned at his brother who was glaring down at them in all his translucent glory.
"Get going," Roxas growled at his brother.
"Don't hurt them, please?" Sora bit his bottom lip as Roxas leveled a Look at him.
"I wont hurt them much," He said, turning his attention back to the three teenagers, who'd managed to
untangle their limbs from one another's and were muttering various profanities.
Sora, knowing that was about the best he was going to get out of Roxas, turned and ran.
-PAGE BREAK-
Roxas wasn't really concentrating as he rained hell (and a rather large rock) upon the shins of the idiots who tried to hurt his brother. He even did as Sora requested and let them limp away without any permanent damage.
He drew a breath that he didn't need and sighed softly as he began the short trek home, his thoughts straying to memories of his and Sora's younger years. Sora mostly tried to forget them, but Roxas didn't. He even remembered the first time Sora ever asked about something ghostly, though he doubted his brother did.
They'd been about five or six, and Sora had asked why he could touch things that weren't alive but not things that were. Roxas, not knowing the answer, had tossed a paper ball at his head and told him to shut up. After visiting Neverwas and plaguing Demyx with his questions, he yanked Sora's covers-and Sora himself- out of the bed and had grinned at him.
"Demy said that ghosts don't really ever touch anything in the real world," he'd told his sleepy brother. "We just make things do what we want them to with our ghost power stuff."
"Like magic?" Sora had yawned.
"Yup," Roxas had grinned at his brother. "Then Demy said that you can't really make anything alive do what they don't want to unless you possess them. Then he said 'ow' 'cause Zexion hit him on the head and then they kicked me out of the room."
"Why?" Sora had blinked curiously at him.
"I think they had a fight," Roxas had said gleefully. "And Zexion won, 'cause next time I saw Demy he was walking funny."
The last statement had inevitably led to a discussion about how ghosts walk in Neverwas instead of float, an argument about video games, and two pouting twins. Roxas had then snatched an ice cream bar from the store and Sora had forgiven him.
"Are they alright?" Sora's worried voice cut through Roxas' thoughts and the blonde blinked, realizing that he was in the living room of their house.
"They'll live," He said icily. "You should have called for me when you saw them."
"I thought I could outrun them," Sora was staring at his shoes and refused to look at him. "And I thought you'd be busy in Neverwas."
"I was just pranking Demy again," Roxas shrugged. "Nothing big. At least we won't have to worry about this after this weekend."
"Oh, yeah," Sora said dully. "Ella said something about Seers attracting each other."
"...You think there's going to be Seers at the school?" Roxas said slowly, a malicious grin forcing its way onto his face. Sora sighed.
"I dunno. I doubt it, though. I mean, if Ella's right, then wouldn't there be some more here? We're probably really rare... I doubt I'd get so lucky as to meet any at some boarding school." The brunet said a bit regretfully. Roxas frowned as crossed his arms.
"Yeah, you're probably right. But still, it'd be cool meeting others who could see me."
Shrugging, Sora jumped off the chair he had sat down on, and began to head for the door. Curious, Roxas followed through the wood as Sora locked it behind him.
"Think I'll go to the beach, see if I can say goodbye to some friends." Sora said while they walked and floated down the street in response to Roxas's unasked question. The ghost nodded, gazing up at the slowly setting sun.
"I'm sure Ella's told some people by now. And I doubt there can be many people down there, seeing as it's January and only idiots and dead people would head down to the beach at this time." Roxas replied, now hovering on his back with his arms crossed behind his head, floating alongside Sora, who glared at the 'idiot' comment.
A few minutes later found the brothers walking on the cool sand, smiling at the dark blue ocean in the distance. It was a very peaceful place, and Sora was glad to see that there was no sign of life.
"Sora, Roxas!" A high voice called out as a yellow blur zoomed towards the pair from a few feet away.
Before the two could even turn around, Sora involuntarily shivered as he got the familiar feeling of a ghostly presence rushing through his body. He blinked as he saw the yellow blur zoom away from them and into the nearby lifeguard stand before it stopped and spun around mid-air, zooming back towards them. The two rolled their eyes as another voice came from the place the blur had come from.
"Selphie, wait up!" A lower voice called out, floating more slow towards the pair. Sora smiled brightly as he recognized the two ghosts.
"Tidus! And Selphie!" He said, the latter part yelled behind his shoulder to the ghost who was slowly making her way towards the three. Roxas laughed at the disgruntled look on her face as she mimed slapping him.
"Shut up, Roxas. And Sora, it's so good to see you! I haven't seen you in forever! I mean, forever as in yesterday, but still! And Ella told us about the boarding school thing and you can't leave 'cause I'm gonna miss you so much but it's still good that you're getting out 'cause people here are jackasses and-"
"Whoa, Selph, slow down!" Tidus said, holding out his hands. Sora was nodding and smiling shakily during the girl's speech, while Roxas rolled his eyes yet again.
As Tidus calmed down, two more ghosts came up, floating casually towards the now four. Sora grinned at the two newcomers, waving an arm.
"Wakka, Lulu! Hey, guys! Great to see you!" He called out as the two came. The tanned ghost along with his girlfriend, also ghost, smiled at the boy, who was jumping up and down in excitement at all his friends.
"Hey, Sora! Great to see ya! How ya been?" Wakka asked, smiling at the exuberant boy. Sora had always marveled on the fact that even in his translucent state, he somehow managed to bring his tan to the afterlife with him. What was more funny was that Lulu, his girlfriend, was the most pale ghost Sora had ever seen. He often wondered how the two got together while they were still alive, but had never gotten the guts to ask.
"Awesome!" Sora replied instinctively, but with the question he was suddenly reminded of the reason for his depression that had been with him for the majority of the day. Sighing, he plopped down into the sand, burying his fingers under the soft texture. He laughed a little as the five ghosts all 'sat' in a circle around him.
"What is this, an intervention?" He asked jokingly, and he heard four sighs coming from around him.
"Sora... We heard about the boarding school thing. We know you're upset about it, but-"
"But what!?" Sora cut off Tidus, glaring at the ghost angrily with sparks of tears in his eyes. "I won't see any of you for half a year! I'll be treated the same way as here, they'll hate me, and I won't have any of you to help me through it." He cried out, sniffling as he ducked his head, letting his spikes cover his eyes.
"Sora, it's won't be that bad. Come on, cheer up! Roxas'll be there, and he can make things fun for you." Selphie said, trying to look on the bright side. She, along with the other ghosts were not exactly huge Roxas fans for whatever reason, but they cared for Sora, and knew that Roxas could make things easier for him.
"I guess..." He mumbled, playing with the sand idly.
"Sora, you have to accept this new change in your life, no matter what comes of it. And I have a feeling that good things will come from this change. Young people like you shouldn't have this much sorrow in they're life." A new voice said, coming from behind them. Turning around, Sora smiled, sniffling as he waved Ella over. Everyone smiled at the friendly woman except Lulu, who never smiled at anyone but Wakka and Sora on rare occasions.
"Sorry I'm late for Sora's intervention-" Sora glared, "-but I had to see Yuna off. She made it on." Ella said, smiling gently. Everyone else widened their eyes for a moment before grinning.
"That's wonderful! She had such a troubled past, it seemed like. I'm glad she found her solace." Selphie said, clapping her hands together. The others nodded in agreement, but Sora and Roxas frowned in confusion.
"Wait, Yuna... moved on? But, how? I was just talking to her yesterday! I mean, she did seem a little off when she left, but still..." Sora pondered, now wondering about this. He looked up to see Tidus shrug.
"Eh, who cares. She made it, that's more than any of us can say. I'd give anything to leave this stink-hole." The blond sighed, crossing his arms. Sora frowned.
"Hey, I know people can be mean, but Earth's not that bad. I mean, I'm fine. And I've got Roxas to back me up." Sora grinned at his brother, who grinned back, giving him a thumbs up.
Tidus scoffed. "Please, you'd be better off without that freak." He said, glaring at Roxas, who was now fuming at the ears. Sora was sure that if he was still alive, his face would be red with anger.
"What did you say, asshole?" Roxas called out, uncrossing his legs and floating up a few feet. Tidus responded by floating up even farther.
"Oh, just that someone like Sora would be in a helluva lot better situation if he didn't have to put up with your immature, whiny actions all day, and be your babysitter for when you go nuts!" He yelled out, and the two kept rising. Sora stood up, staring with worry at his brother. He knew the short-tempered boy was at his limit.
"Alright, that's it! Let's take this to Neverwas and I'll make you join Yuna against your will!" Roxas shouted, and Sora knew it was time for him to intervene.
"Hey! Stop it, you two! Cut it out!" Sora called up, waving his arms. "Guys, please don't fight! Come on, just come back here! You don't need to go away!"
Roxas and Tidus, still growling angrily at each other and flexing their translucent muscles, slowly began to lower themselves to the ground, and promptly turned their backs on each other, huffing indignantly.
Ella sighed, putting a hand to her head. "I'm getting too old to deal with stuff like this. She said to herself, and the others nodded in agreement.
"No kidding." Lulu drawled, rolling her eyes at the two. Selphie was glaring at Tidus, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"Tidus, why are you so stupid? I mean, honestly, you can show at least SOME tact in your afterlife. Sheesh. I can't believe I put up with you..." The girl in yellow called out to Tidus, who hmphed.
"Sora, I'm gonna chill with Demyx and Zexion for a little while, okay? I'll be back in a couple hours." Roxas said softly to Sora, and before the human could call out, his twin vanished. Sora dropped his arms, sighing.
He looked up a few seconds later to see Ella smiling sadly at him. "I'm sorry things had to turn out this way, Sora. I truly hope you have a wonderful time at boarding school. And things aren't always as bad as they seem, just try to make them better. You brightened up all our afterlives, Sora, I'm sure you can do the same for people you meet there. The woman said, before turning and floating off, the others following her, waving their goodbyes to Sora, who sadly waved back.
Once they were all gone from sight, Sora sighed and walked towards the ocean a little more. He gazed out at the orange sunset in the distance, and sat down in the sand just before the tide, stretching his legs out and letting the soles of his shoes get wet from the tide's water.
He didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't deal well with change. The Island was all he knew. How was he going to deal with being away from here? He had a pattern, dammit! He had a life (the fact that said life revolved around dead people didn't make any difference), sad though it may be.
Letting out a loud sigh, Sora bit his lip. What if the rest of the world was just like the Islands? That would be worse than having everything be different. What if everyone thought he was crazy? What if they hated him? Wasn't he better off here, dreaming about it, than out there, having his hopes shot down, one by one by one?
Suddenly he missed Yuna. They hadn't really been close, exactly, but she was one of the only ghosts he knew who liked his brother, even if he didn't like her at all. He felt a pain in his chest, remembering that they hadn't said goodbye before she'd moved on. That hurt a little. What was so important that she couldn't have said goodbye? Surely whatever happened beyond the afterlife wasn't that great.
"Please, you'd be better off without that freak."
Sora recalled Tidus' words with a frown. He was wrong, of course. If Sora didn't have Roxas with him, he'd just wither away and die. He'd never get out of bed in the morning, or he'd starve to death because Roxas wouldn't be there to tell him to eat, or he'd be beaten to death by Seifer, or he'd die of loneliness. Roxas was always taking care of him. If anything, Roxas was the one who was better off without Sora.
There was that pain again. Right where his heart was. What if Roxas really was better off without him? What if Sora was the only thing keeping his brother chained to the land of the living and the dead, and the after-afterlife really was important and great? What if he was just holding his brother back?
He blinked, feeling tears well up in his eyes. There was a tightness in his throat as he turned away from the ocean and plodded away from the beach. He'd ask Roxas about it when his brother got back, but he could already imagine the answer. 'Sora, you idiot. If I wanted to leave I would.' Or something along those lines. And Sora would stay quiet for a few moments before Roxas would smirk and lean in close to him and say something insane, like 'do you think oranges are flammable? Let's go find out!' That would make Sora burst out into a surprised laugh, and they'd go off to see if oranges are flammable or not, and everything would be okay.
Deciding not to ask after all, Sora wasn't really surprised to find a small smile on his face. He realized he was almost home as he blinked himself out of his thoughts and stared at the houses around him. Nothing had changed in the short time he'd been away, except for the fact that every house on the street had been TP'd, everyone's lawn furniture had been thrown about, the plastic lawn gnomes were in some rather compromising positions, and his brother was surveying the scene with a proud smile glued to his face.
"...What's that gnome doing?" Sora asked, staring with wide eyes. Roxas's grin grew larger.
"I saw it in a magazine Selphie was looking at," Roxas said, turning to his brother. "We should probably get home before-"
"OI! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY LAWN!"
Sora and Roxas burst into laughter as they took off down the street, ignoring the calls of "fiend! get back here and clean up this mess!" from behind them. Sora locked the front door behind him and collapsed into a pile of laughing limbs as he tried to catch his breath.
There was silence for a few moments after the laughter had died down, before Sora spoke.
"Hey Roxas?"
"Yeah?"
"...Do you think oranges are flammable?"
"...I don't know. Let's go find out!"