Forgotten memories began to swirl in Roxas' head, becoming clearer and clearer like a photograph. Picture after picture, soon turning into a video. Events that had long since been forgotten, suddenly rushed back to him. After the whole video had played, to Roxas' horror, it repeated. Not just once, but over and over again. Never stopping. Again. Again. Moments of obscenities that should not be played before Roxas. He stood there and watched as it all passed before him. His mind getting closer and closer to the brink of eruption. Screams and laughter mixed into each other. Roxas felt his legs give out as he held his hands to his ears. He shut his eyes and for once wished he could go back to that familiar darkness. Finally, everything had built up. Picture upon picture stacked higher and higher, till Roxas let it all go.
He screamed.
As he screamed, he felt the images start to slowly fall away, relief started to set in once all became dark once more. But, the relief was short lived as he felt the pictures soar back through his mind. He slowly felt the tears slide down his face as he watched everything play, once again building up. Just when he was about to reach his peak once again, he felt it.
A hand laid itself on his shoulder, the warmth radiating off of it. The strength and comfort seeped through the strong grip. Roxas knew exactly who it was. All the memories were blocking the way towards this hand. A wall of photos met Roxas head on. The hand soon became accompanied by a voice. Roxas quickly stood up and ran through the photos, looking for one in particular. Just when he thought he was near the end, a giant picture rose from the ground beneath. Roxas stood panting as he watched the video for the hundredth time.
Roxas watched as his mother lay on the ground. He quickly ran to her only to be stopped when a man came into view. The man was standing over his mother with a gun pointed at her head. He slowly turned his head to face the young Roxas, and smiled.
"Roxas, my boy. Who might this lady be, hmm?" The man asked sarcastically. His voice sounded like fingers being ran down a chalkboard.
"M-My mother," Roxas answered, his arms and legs shaking. Roxas watched as the man tutted and turned back to his mother. Before Roxas could do anything, the gunshot rang through the air. Roxas watched with tears in his eyes as the man slowly brought the gun to face Roxas.
"Not anymore. Roxas, I would like you to keep a promise for me, okay? And in return, I won't kill you," the man said as he walked over to Roxas and set his hand on the boy's waist. Roxas flinched away but was caught when he felt the gun's barrel press into his scalp. He could do nothing but nod his head in agreement.
"Good. Now promise me you will love no one," the man said. Roxas' eyes went wide and he quickly shook his head back and forth, not able to find his voice.
"Ah, ah, ah! You don't really have a choice. You see, you father hurt me a couple years ago and I merely wish to do the same. His son will have no one to love," at the end of his lines, the man let out a sinister hearty laugh. He quickly grabbed hold of Roxas' chin and made him look into his eyes. His other hand slowly snaking up the boy's shirt, "Now promise me."
Roxas could do nothing but close his eyes as tears continued to fall. He soon felt the man's hands all over him, touching him in places they shouldn't. Soon Roxas could feel nothing but pain. Once it was all over, Roxas was left to lay there on the ground.
"The name's Sephiroth, make sure everyone knows that," Sephiroth said as he left the warehouse. Roxas looked around and found his mother's purse lying a few feet away. He crawled over and retrieved the phone. He quickly dialed the preschool-taught number and told the lady who answered to hurry before his mother died.
Roxas heard the voice over and over again. He had refused to obey this promise. Axel didn't love him, he loved Axel. But now that Axel was getting closer, of course he would make Sephiroth's promise come true. Although, Axel did protect him. He has done nothing but that. Why? Maybe, maybe since Axel is strong—way stronger than him— maybe he would be safe from Sephiroth's grasp? Could it be possible? Roxas didn't have time to think about all of this at the moment. The memory kept playing and playing. Each time from a different angle. The voice getting louder and louder. Once again, Roxas could see nothing but the giant picture and the hand on his shoulder. Roxas racked his head trying to think past the horrible memories to find out who the hand belonged to. Finally something clicked and another door was opened. Images of darkness came swirling through. Every single picture was black. Absolutely nothing but the dark color, yet there were hundreds upon hundreds. What sort of memories could these be? Finally, a lone picture came through the door. This one with color. As the picture started to float towards Roxas, he caught sight of the one color he missed the most.
Red.
The red hair of a person. The only person Roxas knew that could possibly protect him from Sephiroth.
Axel.
At the thought of the name. The giant video that had been playing, cracked. Roxas looked at it and realized that someone was saying his name. Just on the other side of the picture. Roxas took a step, and then broke out into a run. As he was about to reach the picture of Axel ,everything once again turned dark.
"Shhh. Roxas, it's okay. We're here," Cloud's voice came from the darkness. Roxas screams pierced the air. As he soon began to calm down, Cloud's voice came to him and eased his throat. He soon fell back to sleep as he felt Cloud rub his shoulder for comfort.
Leon, Axel, and Sora all stood watching Cloud lay Roxas back down to sleep. Axel sighed and looked to his beloved, whom was now sleeping peacefully once again, then to the door. He slowly walked outside and leaned against the hallway wall. He slowly lowered himself to the floor and laid his head on his knees, just as he had seen Roxas doing that very same day.
Axel looked up when he heard the door click closed. Three silhouettes came out quietly. Two continued down the hallway to get some more sleep—being the middle of the night—and the last figure sat himself next to the Axel. Sora looked at Axel and the two both sighed. They sat in wait for the next hour to arrive and the screams to ransack the house. Tonight would be a long night.
When the early morning sun finally began to shine, Roxas finally fell into a calm deep sleep. Axel sighed in relief as he listened to the blonde's steady breaths. Axel smiled and brought a chair next to the boy and sat in it. Cloud and Leon had left earlier for work. Sora and Axel had obviously decided to skip school and watch Roxas. Axel felt his eyes start to close as he soon succumbed to sleep—laying his head on his beloved's lap.
Sora watched as the two boys fell asleep and closed the door as quietly as possible. He slowly walked downstairs and saw they were out of milk. He grabbed his cell phone off the kitchen counter and walked to the red door. Sora stopped in his tracks when he saw a figure loitering in front of the crimson apparatus. Could it be Sephiroth? Was he here to take Roxas? All these things ran through Sora's mind as he slowly, and as silently as possible, approached up to the door and looked through the peephole.
He breathed a low sigh of relief and yanked the door open. Riku stood surprised with his hand poised for knocking as Sora jumped on the unsuspecting teen. Riku caught the brunette in his arms and steadied himself from the impact. Sora buried his head in the crook of Riku's neck and squeezed his arms around his waist. The two stood there hugging till Riku noticed the door was still wide open. He nudged Sora— who lifted his head and looked at the door as well. Sora grabbed Riku's hand and led him to the kitchen. The whole way there, Sora refused to look anywhere but the floor. Riku was about to question the behavior when Sora suddenly stopped and faced him. He slowly lifted his head till his and Riku's eyes met. Sora saw something in Riku's eyes that he had only just discovered inside himself moments ago. With everything that was going on, Sora had been avoiding Riku with expertise. But, when Sora was scared and Riku showed up at the door, Sora knew. It may be a little belated but he hoped it would accepted as he said the words that ran through his mind.
"I-I think I love you Riku."
Riku's eyes widened as the brunette angled his tentative lips to match the slightly higher ones. Sora planted the chaste kiss on Riku's lips. Riku could only stand in surprise and wonder what made the brunette come to this decision. Sora had seen the love in Riku's eyes and realized how much Riku truly cared about him.
Sora pulled away and searched Riku's green eyes for any signs of rejection. Riku slowly smiled, leaned down, and kissed the brunette once more.
"I love you too," he whispered against the slightly chapped lips.
"Uh… does this mean I get some cookies?"
The two boys turned to see the well known Cheshire grin belonging to an annoying red head.
"Cookies?" Sora asked as Riku mentally faceplamed, but kept his arms on the brunette's back and pulled him flush against him—how they got there, no one knew.
"Yeah. Since you two seem to be baking something up in here, I want cookies! Oh, and no added ingredients. Please stick to the recipe," Sora squeaked in embarrassment as his cheeks began to flush a bright pink. Axel swiftly dodged a spoon aimed for his face and left the two lovebirds alone to go check on Roxas.
He slowly climbed the stairs and felt something… odd. He got to the top of the stairs and felt something ominous pulling him towards the sleeping blonds' room. He looked and saw that Roxas' door was closed. Axel immediately broke into a run. He had been sure to keep the door propped open to hear the blond scream if he woke up. Axel threw open the door and searched the room in fear. He went straight for the bed and saw no sign of his precious golden haired boy anywhere. The window was left wide open with a ladder conveniently left leaning against the window. It was as if Sephiroth was teasing him. Axel clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes. He drew back his fist and smashed it into the wall. It went straight though. Axel brought his fist out and headed downstairs.
"He's gone."
Riku and Sora had decided to make breakfast while Axel was upstairs. Riku was in the middle of cracking an egg when Axel came thundering into the kitchen. Riku and Sora shared a look at Axel's disheveled appearance. His eyes were wide with worry and he was leaning against the entryway to the kitchen, panting.
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked slowly.
"Roxas! He's gone! He took him right out from under us!" Axel said as he ran a visibly shaking hand through his hair. Sora's eyes went wide as he pulled his phone out from his pocket and dialed a number. Riku watched in confusion as they all waited in silence for someone to answer the phone. When the dial tone ended Sora handed the phone to Axel knowing he was the one who knew the most about the situation.
"Sora, what do you need?" Cloud's voice came from the cellular device.
"He took Roxas! Dammit, I knew shouldn't have gone downstairs. How did he—" Axel frantically battered himself.
"Axel!" Cloud's voice yelled loud enough for the still confused Riku to hear across the room. "Chill. I just told Leon and he's on his way over to pick you guys up. I'm on my way now. Don't worry. We'll find him."
"I sure hope so. I don't think I could survive without him," Axel sighed, closed the phone, and handed it back to Sora. Sora grabbed Riku and headed upstairs to look at the crime scene while Axel decided the best place to be would be pacing in front of the door, awaiting Leon and Cloud's arrival.
I AM SOO SORRY! *bows head asking for forgiveness* please forgive me! You will love me cause i finished the next chapter! which might i add is THE LAST CHAPTER! but dont worry! i have 2 sequels planned! well wait... next chapter isnt last chapter now that i think about ARG! well 3 chapters left!
Now for my excuse as to why this chapter is a month late! First i fired my beta kiri-tan. Then I 'hired' 2 new betas! Then my one beta (you know her as the ani-monster) kinda stopped all production. So i just fired her and now i am left with my soulmate Daxern! I LOVE YOU DAXERN!
PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews bring SM town and JOHNNYS to America! nah just kidding!
The next chapter is DONE.
The second I get 10 reviews, the chapter will be posted! ^0^
