Реинкарнация
To Innocent Uke Or NOT: He's close indeed, Xehanort being alive will be explained this chapter (same thing goes to Flightfoot).
To Flightfoot: Twilight Town not changing comes from the fact that most of it is a historical place (for reasons not important to the plot). It happens in real life too. If I'm not mistaken there're places all around America that haven't changed since the revolution times.
To chrisal: Don't worry, language is not a barrier for me! (Lau on the other hand…) Roxas wanted to show him the house because he needed to be sure whether Xion's essence was leaking or not. I'll torture Sora a bit this chapter, but all for the sake of him realizing everything!
Title is Russian. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.
07: Confession
Sora couldn't help but feel like something was off. The next day, when he talked to Pence about the mansion, he had mentioned an old legend about a lonely spirit of a girl who stared through the windows, waiting for someone. He had few seconds to think about it though, as Ansem practically shoved him and Roxas into the bus, while their new friends waved and told them to keep in touch.
He made no secret to his friends about how the day before had been hell. Seeing Roxas… like that had only been troublesome when talking to him. He stuttered like a schoolgirl and practically dragged him away with some lame excuse whenever he felt anyone was too close to the blond. By the end of that day, he had decided to cut the crap and stop, just in time for that Xehanort guy to appear. It had been frightening, that old man only meant trouble. So much he actually had felt relieved when Roxas had vowed to protect him.
Speaking of which, the blond had been awfully quiet since that encounter, only speaking when asked something. Even with such a short time around Roxas, he could tell it meant he had some troubling thoughts. He reached out and touched his hand slightly, giving him some comfort. The other looked up and smiled gratefully, but still didn't talk.
When the bus finally reached the bridge connecting Destiny Islands to the continent, Roxas looked like he had finally got everything somewhat settled, as he looked up in determination.
"I'll see you later…" Sora said softly when they arrived at the bus station. He didn't want to make Roxas mad, but far from that, he just nodded and kissed him on the cheek as a goodbye. Sora blushed, his face so red it resembled an apple. The sequence of actions told him that maybe, just maybe, he did like him…
Roxas practically ran home, his mind couldn't get over what he had seen the day before. Xehanort shouldn't even be alive; he was around his twenties during the keyblade war, and even though the man he had seen in Twilight Town was old, he doubted he was anywhere near 120 years old. He opened the door to be met with a smiling Naminé. The only person who could be able to explain that man's presence.
"How was your trip, Roxas?" Her eyes were puffy, she had been crying. Roxas looked at her, worried, but she just shrugged. "It's nothing important. Believe me… What is bothering you?" she said when she noticed the thoughtful expression on the blond.
"In my trip… I saw Xehanort… I think." He watched as Naminé's face showed worry and fear. She seemed to be thinking all the possibilities for this mysterious encounter with a man she had supposed dead.
Naminé bit her lip in thought. Had that man, the real mastermind behind the misuse of the Keyblade and the manipulation of the Heartless to bring Kingdom Hearts to the physical world, really escaped his own death?
"Please explain everything, Roxas." She begged, afraid. Even if it was just a mistake, Xehanort was way too dangerous to ignore. And, to tell the truth, eluding death may not be beyond him.
Roxas told in detail everything that happened in the old mansion. Every word and movement that man made. Naminé just sighed.
"Xehanort… it's not really him. He died in the Keyblade War, and that's it. This guy is an awakened reincarnation, who has decided to continue his past life's experiments on the nature of the heart."
"But why did he tell me all those things, then?"
"You have not changed Roxas. Those words were the original Xehanort's last thoughts of you. Master Xehanort, while still dangerous, is nothing but a shaken old man with some insight into the past."
"He won't hurt Sora. Xion died, but I'll protect Sora, no matter what." He said, convinced.
"He's not a threat, Roxas, but be careful, those who dive too deeply into their past selves… may never be the same ever again." She muttered darkly.
It was dark. Sora didn't remember how he got there, but he hated it. He tried moving around a bit, only to find his feet bound. His hands were free, however, so he tried feeling around. He finally felt something akin to a face, female, with very soft features.
"Hey! You awake?" he said in a hushed voice. The girl made no move whatsoever. "What happened? Stay awake! Jasmine!" Was that the girl's name? He had heard it before, just couldn't put his finger on where.
"She has already lost her heart." A voice said behind him, he turned around, but the one who said it was cloaked in shadows "Once I inform the superior of our new location, you'll be next." The voice was male, but he couldn't quite place a face on it.
Before thinking about what to do, a door opened. The light that came out blinded everyone present, including the maroon haired man with a scythe, who he guessed was the one who talked. The newcomer had two key shaped weapons, and lunged at his captor.
While his eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness he distinguished blond spikes and blue eyes. His heart swelled with happiness when he recognized the boy.
"Roxas!" The blond continued ti fight, but the older man had a clear advantage. He knew the territory, and was using everything withing the storage to hinder him. His body moved on its own, only knowing he had to help him. "Fire!" He said with his hand up in the air, surprised when a fireball actually appeared and hit the maroon haired man, knocking him down.
"Are you okay?" Roxas said when he turned around. His eyes widened, filled with hurt and anger.
Sora had felt an immense pain after throwing the fireball, but he just smiled.
"I knew using magic would let him know where I am… but Marluxia would have killed you otherwise…" he turned around to see a pair of golden eyes looking smug, as above his head, he saw his heart going away from his body. It soon joined with something he had deemed as a shadow before. It was one of those key-weapons, with a red handle and the teeth in the form of a black heart. It was quite simple, at least compared to Roxas' own weapons, but he still felt sheer terror at it. "Roxas… I'm… sorry… I…" he could no longer talk, his eyelids feeling too heavy.
"No! Xion!"
"…That's… not my name… Roxas!" Sora opened his eyes and found his brother's hand about to touch his shoulder. His worried eyes turned uncaring when he noticed he was awake, and distanced himself from his bedside.
"Nightmare?" He asked, getting Griever from the desk. Sora nodded. "What was it about this time?"
"I… don't remember." He only knew it had to do with Roxas, but the rest was just a blurry mess. "Going on a date? This early in the morning?" he asked when he saw Squall putting his necklace and styling his hair a bit. The elder shrugged.
"She still has to say yes." Sora could hear the nervousness behind that cool façade.
"I like Rinoa, you know? I'd definitely want her as my sister-in-law, so don't screw it." He joked around, eager to take the attention away from his nightmare. His brother just gave a cold stare back.
"Whatever, squirt." He smirked.
"Hey! I'm still growing, jackass!" Sora smiled. After a few more insults no one took seriously, he took a shower and got ready to school. As usual, he had to take his breakfast while walking, and continued thinking about the day before. The most rational part of his mind kept telling him Roxas had just been distracted and probably didn't mean anything by kissing him. The rest of his mind (which was an overwhelming majority) wanted to believe something else.
First class was… awkward, to say the least, all the time he stared at Roxas, not even knowing whether Ansem showed up or not. The only good thing was that, while he was caught a couple of times by the blond, he also caught him looking at him. He'd have to talk to him, the sooner, the better.
Axel appeared after class and latched himself to Roxas, and Sora noticed for the first time that while he flirted with the blond, he was looking at him, as if trying to guess his reaction.
"Don't leave me alone with those two again!" the redhead bawled overdramatically "One is loud as hell, and the other plans to either kill me or flirt with me, I honestly can't tell!" He continued bitching about Demyx and Larxene, who apparently had tortured him while on Radiant Garden.
"Demyx is as loud as you, Axel. You're the perfect duo." Roxas pointed out, chuckling. "And Larxene shouldn't be so bad…"
"Don't be so naïve! She's a witch! Try to work with her in a science project and you'll see… That hamster will never be the same!" He sighed and looked at the brunet, then smiled slightly. "Roxas, have you noticed you don't have your math notebook?" The blond looked at his empty hands, cursed and excused himself, running away.
"…What is it?" Sora said, uncomfortable with Axel's stare.
"You finally decided, right?" he said with an enigmatic smile. "Do it soon, he should be getting impatient."
"I don't know what you're talking about…" he said, blushing.
"Uh-huh, sure you don't." He said sarcastically. "Do your best."
"Sora, is something wrong?" Roxas asked as they walked home. "You've been spacing off a lot."
"Not at all… Say Roxas, does Naminé expect you home right now?" He said, feeling awkward. Roxas put his hand on his chin, thinking.
"She's not used to me being late, but she'll understand." He smiled and without further ado took Sora's hand and gave 180º turn. "Where do you want to go?" He said with a shy grin that made him too adorable for Sora to resist.
"To the beach…" He muttered, embarrassed. The blond nodded and began to drag him towards Destiny Beach. What was he doing? He wasn't sure, but being alone with Roxas was the only thing in his mind. What will he do? What will he say? He didn't know, so he would just go with the flow.
The beach was almost empty (understandable, as it was a school day), so they sat near the sea, away from the few people tanning or playing in the water. Sora didn't want to look at him directly, so he settled for watching the waves slowly lick the shore and move away.
"I don't really know what's bothering you," He finally heard Roxas say. "But be sure that as long as you need it, I'll be here for you." The comment was finished with another kiss on his cheek. This was just too much for the brunet; he turned around to look directly at his friend, and in an annoyed fashion went straight to his lips. The feeling was incredible, he felt all the stress just go away. It was not a kiss per see, just his mouth over his friend's, no movement. He finally took notice their position.
"What the hell am I doing?" His eyes widened at his own actions and pulled away, leaving a very confused blond breathing heavily. "Sorry." He muttered, his face bright red.
"D-Don't worry." He said with a nervous chuckle. "Why did you…?" Roxas blushed, unable to complete his question
"I… well, you see, I… I like you, okay? I don't know exactly when it happened but I do!" Sora shouted, surprising both Roxas and himself. He wasn't really sure until he said it out loud, but everything now made so much more sense. Sora looked down, embarrassed, unwilling to see Roxas' response. Now he had all the right to be nervous, in just a matter of three days, his mindset had changed from 'just a friend' to 'in love with him'. More than that, knowing he was in love wasn't enough, he wanted to be loved back, and frankly, he wasn't quite sure of Roxas' feelings.
He finally looked up, gulping hard… only to see Roxas looking at him with a sad smile. Sora had expected anything: surprise, disgust, maybe even happiness, but definitely not that. He felt Roxas' hand caress his face, and couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion… the signal he was getting was… mixed, probably. His face said no, but his hand said yes, was he just dumb?
After a long silence, Roxas said in a sad, but firm voice:
"I'm sorry."
And that's it kiddies! (Cliffhanger after cliffhanger, you must hate me) Anyways, sorry for the delay and the shortness, I hit Author's Block and haven't completely get over it, sorry.
Next chapter, a bit more of insight on Roxas' mind and (gasp!) his past revealed? I don't know when it'll be up; it all depends on Light getting over her Block. Until next time!
