"What are we going to do," Axel asked later that night while we go into bed that night.
"It was only one time so what are the odds of one of his gang members seeing it," and right about that time there was a tap on my window which made all of us jump. I looked over to see Reno's face. I unlatched the window and opened it as Axel and Demyx climbed up on my bed.
"You know, putting on a show is not my version of lying low," he said.
"Tell me it's only you that knows we're here," I said.
"Nope, sorry kid," he told us.
"So, Sephiroth sent you after us," Axel asked.
"Come on," Reno told us.
"No," Axel said.
"What do you mean," Reno asked.
"If we go then we could get ourselves killed," Demyx piped up.
"Okay look. Sephiroth wouldn't kill you four, hey, where is the fourth," Reno asked looking around the room.
"He got his own room upstairs," Demyx told him.
"Oh, well, you three go get him after I explain this to you. Look, Sephiroth doesn't just kill someone directly, don't ask me why, be he doesn't. He just makes them wish they were dead. He takes away the things that that person cherishes most and most of the time it is their family. Like Cloud and you guys," Reno explained.
"So, we have to go along with it," I said.
"I promise I won't let anything happen to you guys," he told us.
"Okay," Axel said and Reno nodded. Axel shut the window and we went upstairs and got Marly.
-x-x-x-
It was hard to navigate through the town at night. We went through a whole in a wall and we walked through some woods to this old mansion. We then went inside to this plain white room where we met up with this guy who looked a lot like Kadaj and wore the same clothes too, only he had a lot shorter hair. Then we saw someone else, someone who was all too familiar.
"Zexion," we all asked.
"What are you guys doing here," he asked looking at each of us.
"We could ask you the same thing," Axel said.
"Well, these guys grabbed me on day after school and they somehow knew that I was your cousin and well, that's pretty much it," Zexion explained.
"Sephiroth said he wanted this done by midnight and it's already ten thirty," the guy told Reno.
"Calm down, we'll be done by then," Reno shot back.
"I don't want to be the one who gets blamed because you and this little band of kiddies couldn't do the job right," the guy said and I saw Axel step forward a little but Marly grabbed the collar of his shirt.
"Well don't cry about it, Loz," Reno said in a mocking tone.
"I'm not crying, just go and get the job done already," Loz told him shoving Zexion forward a little. With that, Reno, my brothers, my cousin, and I walked out of the room.
"I saw no point in that," Marly told him.
"It's called checking in, if I wouldn't have in thirty more minutes, then Loz would have sent the entire sector looking for me," he explained as we walked out of the mansion and then back into the city.
"Okay, this is what you four have to do. You need to get into the garage, once in the man who runs it keeps a stash on under an old car that is to the left of the shop. Go in and grab it," Reno instructed.
"One problem," Demyx said.
"And what would that be," Reno asked.
"I don't know my left from my right," he said.
"Oh, come on," Axel said pulling the back of his shirt. We walked up to the side of the garage and looked at it for a second.
"Roxas, if we could get you up to that window, would you be able to do the rest," Marly asked pointing to the small open window.
"Sure," I said.
"But there's the problem of how we're going to do that," Axel said.
"You two lift me up and I'll lift him," Marly explained.
"I don't know about that," Demyx said.
"Oh come on, you guys put the beds together, it should be no problem after that," Marly said and Demyx and Axel looked at each other before they nodded and then they both hooked their hands together which Marly stepped on and then he pulled me up and I climbed to where I was stand on his shoulders.
"Hurry up already," Demyx said in a strained voice. I then climbed in the window and landed in the dark room without a sound.
"Man, we're actually…," I started to say to myself before there was a loud crash outside, never mind that last statement.
"What was that," some one yelled as I saw a light come on under a door. I ran and ducked under something before the door flew open. "Who's there," the same voice yelled and I shrunk back a little against the wall until I felt my back hit against something, the guns. I grabbed them and crawled out from under the car but was careful to stay in the shadows. The guy went back to the door and hit a button by it that opened the garage door. He walked over and took one last look outside then he started to mumble something as he walked back to the door to his house and before the door slammed shut he hit the button and the door started to close. I made a mad dash for the door and then I felt my ankle twist and I rolled under the door and right into Reno's feet.
"Nice job kid," he told me.
"Thanks," I said with a small laugh as I tried to catch my breath.
"Come on, we better get you guys home," Reno told us.
"Hold on, just a second," I told him as I kept trying to catch my breath.
"What's the problem," Reno asked.
"Roxas has breathing problems, every since he got smoke inhalation from the fire," Axel told him.
"That and I think I sprained my ankle," I told them grabbing my ankle.
"It's swollen, it might very well be a sprained ankle," Zexion said after looking at it.
"Here, I'll carry you," Marly said and Axel and Demyx helped me climb onto Marly's back.
"Hey Reno," Axel asked as we were walking back.
"Yeah,"
"You know how you said that Sephiroth took away what the person cherished the most," Axel asked.
"Yeah,"
"Well, what was he going to take away from you," there was a silence for a little while.
"You know how mom and dad felt about us," Reno said.
"Yeah, they didn't care about us. Mom didn't even fight the people who came and got me, she just shoved me at them and told them to got ahead and take me," Axel said in a sad voice.
"Well, that was the thing, I thought that since I never really cared about my parents then he couldn't take them away and there for I was immune to anything he did. Then, he found out about you, he said that even if I didn't like my parents, there was still you, and he was right. So I ended up confessing to a crime that I didn't commit. When that happened I thought that the only good thing that could come of it would be that the police would come to our house and see how our parents were and send you to better ones, away from Sephiroth. Then, nine years later, you showed back up," Reno explained and right about that time we walked up to our house.
"I think I've got it now," I told Marly and I slid off and limped up to the door. Demyx and Marly went in and I turned back around to see Axel, he had stopped half way between me and Reno. Suddenly, he turned and ran and hugged Reno. Okay, those of you who don't really know Axel the way I do, I just tell you, Axel isn't a big on the whole hugging thing. He then let go and walked up beside me and helped me limp the rest of the way into the house.
4 years later.
Every night we did something like that. We stole something and then we came back home. The more we did it, the better we got, but it started to make me mad that we were doing it in the first place. Marly was right, he did go to Destiny college and we only got to see him at night and holidays but mom took it pretty hard because one of her kids had gone off to college. We became really good friends with Hayner and his crew and I even beat Setzer at a sport they have in Twilight Town called Struggle. I thought that this was going to be the normal routine of my life, but then nothing in my life can remain constant. It all came undone the day that my mom said we were going to have a family meeting.
"As you boys know, my father owns a teen bar on Destiny Islands call the Paopu," she asked.
"Yeah," Axel said.
"Well, my dad is retiring and he asked me to take over the bar," she told us.
"So we're moving to Destiny Islands," I said.
"I'm sorry, I know you guys adjusted really well here but we really need the money," mom said. This is what led me to my current situation of sitting in the back of the van as we pulled into our new house.
"Mom isn't this house smaller than our last," Axel asked from the seat in front of me.
"Yes, it was all I could find at the last minute," she said.
"But mom, I just got my own room since Marluxia moved out," Axel complained.
"Yes, but we will just have to make due," mom told us.
-x-x-x-
I'll skip the whole unpacking thing because the movers couldn't get over the bridge that day we ended up having to sleep in sleeping bags which wasn't really the best thing in the world but we still did. That night I had the dream of the fire. I don't know why and I didn't know how since it had been nine years since then it and I hadn't had a dream about it since. Still, I woke in a cold sweat.
"Roxas, you okay," Axel asked from across the room.
"Fine, what time is it," I asked wiping my eyes and trying to get my heart and breathing rate back to normal. Right about then the buzzer of the alarm clock went off making me jump.
"Nice timing," Axel told me laughing a little.
"Not funny Axel," I told him scrambling to my feet.
"You had the dream about the fire, didn't you," he said.
"Did not," I shot back.
"Roxas, you're my brother, you have been since you were five. I know what's normal for you and what isn't and screaming in your sleep is not normal," Axel told me in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Let's just focus on waking Demyx up," I told him hitting Demyx with a pillow. All he did was groan and roll over.
"I have an idea," Axel said walking over and getting the bottle of water he always keeps by his bed in case he needs a drink. I started to roll up my sleeping bag as Axel went to the bathroom, poured out the warm water that was in the bottle and turned on the water, waited until it was ice cold, and started filling the bottle with the ice cold water. He came out of the bathroom, walked over to Demyx's bed and poured it all over him. Demyx screamed and jumped about a foot in the air and knocking the bottle to where the remaining liquid splashed on Axel's face. I laughed from my spot far away from my brothers when they both looked aver at me with a glare. Then both of them jumped at me but I moved out of the way and they both slammed on the ground. I then ran across the hall and into the bathroom where I took my shower and after that I went back into our room headed to the closet. I pulled out a black t-shirt and some jeans and got dressed. Then I went down stairs to the kitchen. Mom was already in there fixing her coffee.
"Morning Roxas," she told me as I walked in.
"Morning," I replied gabbing a bowl off the counter and fixed myself some cereal and I stood by the counter and ate it. About that time Axel came in the room, his long hair that was supposed to be spiky but he apparently hadn't put the hair gel in yet.
"Who used all my hair gel," he asked.
"Hi people," I nearly choked when I saw Demyx. He looked like a porcupine. His normal Mohawk/mullet was spiked in every direction…well I can't really describe how bad it was.
"YOU USED ALL MY HAIR GEL FOR THAT," Axel screamed.
"Axel, don't scream at your brother, there's another bottle of gel in my bathroom closet, Demyx go to the other bathroom and wash that out of your head," mom told them and they both nodded and headed off to do what mom had told them to.
"I'll go get my backpack," I mumbled after deciding I didn't want anymore cereal. I walked into our room and grabbed the black mesh backpack that was by the window. Yeah, I never got a new one. Then I saw someone come out of the house next door. It was a girl. She had pale blonde hair and that was all I could see from where I was, though she was soon joined by another girl had auburn purplish hair. They were wearing the exact same thing, a white, short sleeved, collared shirt with a blue plaid skirt. I guessed it was the uniform at their school or something. All I could say was at least this time we got to start at the beginning of the school year, but it wasn't likely we were going to stay here, right? I shook my head as I threw my backpack over my shoulder and walked downstairs.
"Well, we better go before we get in trouble with the teachers again," Axel said putting his cereal bowl in the sink as I walked in the room. Mom had probably already left for the bar.
"Since when have you cared," Demyx asked as we walked out the door and he shut the door.
"Just come on," Axel said and we headed down the sidewalk to the new school.
-x-x-x-
A/N: Okay, I know this was a weird chapter, but hold me with on this. Review if you liked.
