Author's Note: Okay motivation took a day to bite me in the ass here. I have to resume school in about two weeks. What a joy. And I won't be updating for a few days because my Orientation is Wednesday and my friend's birthday is that same day.
On a more upbeat note, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! I loved hearing your thoughts and reading your reviews c:
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney. Plot belongs to me.
Aerith had placed Roxas on her bed. He was attempting to mess around with the switch that controls the bed's movement. A quiet squeak would spill from his lips every time there was movement beneath him. Aerith sat quietly in her chair, watching the boy. His curiosity exceeded that of even a normal child's. He didn't seem to know what things were. It all amounted to suspicion. Maybe Axel hadn't put things together or asked the right questions.
"So, Roxas…" she began, watching as Roxas's head perked up. He looked at her with his cerulean eyes, curiosity peaked. "Where do you come from?"
"My house," he giggled.
"Where's your house?" Aerith asked, prodding deeper. This kid was obviously only going to be able to answer extremely specific questions. Anything too general would either confuse him or result in the answers Aerith wasn't looking for.
"Saïx never told me. But my house looks like this place. Axel said that hospitals like this aren't homes though. My home looked like this," Roxas mumbled, bowing his head.
"Well, maybe your house was a mansion that was structured similarly to this building and you just didn't know it. What are your parents like?" Aerith was worried by the boy's answer. Living in a hospital sounded extremely alarming. Roxas's arms were clear reminders that he had spent a great deal of time in the hospital. Aerith noted that Roxas seemed uncomfortable talking about where he lived, so she decided to stray from that topic.
"Parents?" the blond asked. His head was tilted like it had been many times that day. It indicated that he didn't understand.
"Yes… your mom and dad. Everyone has parents," Aerith said, worried that the boy would say he didn't know what those were again.
"Well, I don't have any parents. So you're wrong," Roxas said, sad that he didn't have parents like everyone else. Meanwhile, Aerith was trying to make sense of everything that Roxas was saying. Thinking your house is a hospital is one thing, but not having parents is another.
"Foster parents? Maybe you can remember yours if you think back really far." She knew that she was crossing, or nearing, the line of how far Roxas was willing to answer. His shoulders were slumping with every word she said, as though he was ashamed for answering the questions the way she was. The truth is, he was ashamed. First, Axel told him that his house wasn't a house. Then Aerith told him that he should have these… parents that everyone else has, but he doesn't.
"I don't have parents! I don't live in a normal house! I can't even remember farther back than a week! Leave me alone Axel's mom!" Roxas finally shouted, causing Aerith to jump. She felt mad at herself for pressing so deep into his personal life. She mentally scolded herself, watching as Roxas buried himself under the blankets of her bed. Then his words began to sink in. Roxas couldn't remember further back than a week. It was confusing at first, but then Aerith began to piece things together. It was very possible that Roxas had severe amnesia. Amnesia can be caused by trauma to the brain, which can be caused by accidents, which would explain the bandages on his arms. He was most likely spending a week in the hospital, a week being as far back as he can remember. That still didn't explain why he wouldn't have parents. Surely they would come to see their son the first moment they had in the hospital. They could've died in the accident, explaining why Roxas was with Saïx. Aerith would've done a victory dance for figuring out everything that was confusing her, but now was definitely not the appropriate time. She would share her thoughts with Axel when he got off of work.
"I'm sorry I asked you too many questions, Roxas," Aerith apologized. Roxas lay with his back turned to her under the blankets. His little blond spikes were peeking out near the pillows, getting tangled whenever his head would move slightly. When Roxas made no move to accept Aerith's apology, she strode over to the side of the bed his face was peering over. She still held the little yellow stress ball in her hands. "Smile," Aerith stated gently, placing the ball in front of Roxas.
Roxas lifted the blanket, slowly pulling it down. His simple thought process caused him to instantly fall for Aerith's words. His signature smile spread quickly across his face. He grabbed the smiling object in his hands, squeezing it gently.
"Would you like some food? We can walk down to the café and get some sweets, you seem to be the type of person to like them," Aerith whispered, careful and aware of Roxas's fragile emotions.
"I don't know what I like," the blond boy said. Aerith nodded. He was most likely fed through a tube on his long stay in the hospital a week or so back. Eating normal food is an experience that the boy most likely won't remember. Of course Aerith was still going on her guess though.
Down in the café, Roxas was stuffing himself full of donuts and candy. Aerith sat back, mesmerized by the boy's bottomless pit of a stomach. She had finished her bagel a half an hour ago, now only sipping coffee. The consequences of feeding Roxas so much sugar would make themselves evident later. The stress ball that the boy never seemed to forget was covered in a sticky chocolate substance. Somewhere along the time span, Roxas had shoved a chocolate donut at the thing, attempting to feed it. A few passing patients hadn't even looked despite the boy's strange behavior. They were probably used to it.
Aerith glanced at the clock, realizing that it was also Axel's mid-day break, when his class was eating lunch. She could call him now and tell him what her conclusion on Roxas was.
"Roxas, I'm going to go call Axel really quick, kay?" Aerith asked the boy. He paused his chewing, nodding after a minute of thought. The boy wasted no time diving back into the sweets laid out before him.
Meanwhile, Aerith was standing at the wall that was near them. It had a phone on it, just like most of the walls in the hospital did. She dialed in Axel's cellphone number, pressing the phone to her ear. Axel was quick to pick up because the ringer was only halfway through the second ring before his muffled 'hello?' sounded.
"You know who it is, sweetie. Don't talk with your mouth full by the way," Aerith scolded, nagging her son about his manners.
A loud swallow could be heard and then a large inhale. "Sorry Ma. So, how's Roxas doing?" Axel asked, knowing he'd have to return and pick up the boy in a little less than four hours.
"He's fine. Just stuffing himself fat. Anyways, I think I figured out why he's like this."
"Really? I mean Saïx seemed pretty secretive about it. Wouldn't want my genius mom to get hurt because of lame old Saïx."
"Oh shut up. I'm in a hospital where there is security and a nearby police station. I'm perfectly safe. Besides, you and me both know that Saïx is a good man and wouldn't hurt the people that he cares about. You are his best friend."
"Whatever," Axel scoffed.
"Don't be like that," Aerith quickly told him, continuing with what she was planning to say from the start, "and it's time you listened to what I have to say. What if Roxas has amnesia? It would explain almost everything. He told me today that he doesn't even have parents, not ones that he can remember at least, and that he can only remember a week into his past. Think about it. It would explain the bandages, it would explain why he was staying with Saïx, it would explain why he thinks that the hospital is his home," she gushed urgently. Axel was pondering what she had said.
"Wait, how did you get all this information out of him? He seems pretty… simple minded. Ya know, unable to understand more general questions and statements," Axel prodded.
"I was asking him specific things, ya know, wondering where he came from. He got really upset when I was talking to him about his home and parents, simply because he doesn't have parents that he can remember and doesn't have a normal house. I'm worried about him. He must feel pretty abnormal because of all this. Maybe he even feels ashamed because of it. I would try not to upset him further," she explained. Aerith glanced back at Roxas, noticing that the ball was rolling around on the table as his eyes followed it. Aerith thought nothing of it and turned back to face the wall.
"Saïx said not to upset him. I don't know why for sure. If your hunch is true, maybe upsetting him unlocks bad memories. Just a guess. I don't exactly know how amnesia works because I am a math teacher, not biology. I have to go Ma, lunch break is over. I'll be around to pick him up in a few hours, so keep him happy until then." Axel said his goodbyes after that, suddenly hanging up. Aerith sighed, pressing the phone back to the wall and turning on her heel.
Roxas was staring at something. He was turned around completely in his chair, now on his knees with hands resting on the back of the object. Aerith raised an eyebrow, curious with his behavior.
"Roxas, what are you looking at?"
"There was a person!" Roxas shouted happily, getting up and running towards the hallway leading out of the café. His stress ball rolled near the edge of the table momentarily before stopping just in time for Aerith to snatch it. She hurried after Roxas, having difficulty keeping the blond in her line of sight. He escaped into an elevator, Aerith catching up just in time. Roxas was staring at the buttons on the elevators wall near the door. It went from floor one to floor seven.
"Roxas…?" Aerith asked gently. Roxas began trailing his fingers lightly over the numbers. His usual smile slowly tugged into a frown. Aerith could tell something was wrong, but she didn't know exactly what it could be. Roxas stopped on seven, his face starting to turn red.
"I hate this number!" Roxas cried, jabbing his finger at the button. All the lights flickered when his hand made contact with the button, eventually flickering themselves out after a few seconds. Aerith was shocked at Roxas's outburst. A noise of pain escaped Roxas as he quickly retracted his finger and held it close to his hand. "I wanna squeeze the smiling thing! It's smiles will make me happy again!" the blonde boy shrieked. Aerith refused to let him have the ball. He jabbed his finger into the button extremely hard, probably causing a large bruise. It would only pain Roxas to squeeze his stress ball.
"We're lucky we're in a hospital," Aerith mumbled. She silently pressed the emergency exit button, waiting.
"Do you want to talk about what happened today?" Axel asked Roxas, who was somehow all smiles again. His finger had been placed in a splint because he managed to hit his finger hard enough to break the tendon. Axel was sure he would have to call Saïx about the issue, but that could wait.
"I don't remember," the blond pouted, rolling his stress ball beneath his finger. It was a mystery that Roxas could forget nearly breaking his finger.
"When we get home, I'm making us sandwiches for dinner," the red head stated, noting the silence when Roxas didn't respond. He glanced over only to find Roxas fast asleep against the window. Emerald eyes rolled as Axel pulled onto his street. He noticed that leaves were beginning to pile up in his front yard due to the approaching season known as autumn. Roxas hadn't come with much autumn wear, so Axel would have to take the boy shopping for cardigans, cargo pants & jeans, a hat, some gloves, and a pair of boots. "Yo, Roxas, wake up," Axel whispered rather loudly, shaking Roxas's shoulder lightly.
"Hnng?" said blond mumbled, slowly moving so he was sitting up. Roxas rubbed his eyes, forgetting about his splint and nearly shoving it off his finger by accident. Axel reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling it away from his face gently. Roxas looked at him with curious blue eyes, smiling and turning quickly to unbuckle himself.
"Sandwiches!" Roxas shouted, fleeing from the car and towards the house. Roxas didn't make it very far, for he slammed into the locked door. He seemed completely unfazed, shouting at the door instead of crying out in pain. Axel was sure that a week with Roxas would ensure broken things all around his home. Roxas was just that accident prone. He hurt himself so much that Axel was beginning to consider duct taping pillows around the boy's frail body.
"I have to unlock the door before you can go through it, Roxas," Axel said as-a-matter-a-factly.
"Oh~" Roxas chirped, watching intently when Axel produced a key from his pocket and shoved it in the hole on the door's knob.
Axel pushed the door open and Roxas ran in. He jumped onto the couch and buried himself under the red comforter placed upon it. Axel raised his eyebrow, moving into the kitchen. The island was the only thing separating the living room and the kitchen, so Axel still had a very clear view of Roxas. Roxas had tilted his head back so it was upside down, staring at Axel.
"Sandwiches please," Roxas pleaded.
"Of course, your highness," Axel mumbled, concentrating on finding the correct ingredients. He had grabbed some blueberry jam, peanut butter, and white bread. It was unclear whether Roxas would like the sandwich. From what Aerith had said, Roxas was a big fan of sugar.
"Sandwiches are done," Axel said after a few minutes of sloppy preparing. Roxas sat up, diving onto the island. Axel screeched, nearly dropping the sandwiches in the process. "Don't scare me like that, kay?" Roxas nodded, making grabby hands for the sandwich. Axel handed it over to him. Roxas instantly took a large bite, moaning in satisfaction at the flavor. Axel was proud of himself. He had done pretty good so far at taking care of Roxas.
Ohh~ Do you think Aerith's assumption is right? or is she horribly wrong...
ANYWAYS, I cannot describe how much subtle foreshadowing I threw into this chapter. I seriously still cannot thank all the reviewers enough ;^; You guys are all precious babies okay don't stop being precious [sorry, I haven't exactly switched off my Tumblr language yet just kind of expect it because it isn't going away anytime soon.]
