a/n: about damn time, eh? Musical Muffin gets huge thanks for beta-ing this a while ago. i didn't really like this chapter, especially because i had no idea what to do after it, so i didn't post it. Now (as of yesterday) i know what's going to happen next, so i feel free to put up this chappie. If I'm lucky, i'll be able to get the next chapter to muffin-chan today or tomorrow, and the update will follow.
otherwise, it's christmas time which means I'm very busy since i work retail. updates to all stories will be slow at best. sorry folks, money (rent, livelihood) is important!
Ch. 10 Birth By Sleep
Roxas stirred, waking up slowly. He still felt odd, but better than before. Rested. He rubbed his feet together underneath the silky soft bed sheet. Huh, he thought, my ankle's better. He then sat up immediately. Silky soft bed sheet?
He looked around him. The air seemed to move as his head jerked. He brought up his hand to inspect the air. It wasn't air at all. It was water: he could feel it drag against his arm back as he raised it. He looked at his arm. His fingers were webbed. His eyes grew large with shock. I'm underwater? He asked himself, and then pulled off the sheet to look a blue scales covering his bottom half, from right below his navel to his feet, which now had fins.
"AAAHHH!" he screamed, terrified of this nightmare.
Axel, Sora, and Riku heard the blood-curdling shriek from the dining room, where they were eating breakfast. Axel immediately sprang up and swam to his room, afraid something was wrong with the small blond who was so obviously frightened. Sora chuckled only slightly, and then escorted Riku, his face creased with worry for his young friend, to Roxas and Axel's room.
"I'm sure he's fine, just startled," Sora said soothingly, linking elbows with his silver-haired friend.
"What's wrong?" The red-head swung open the door and looked at the shaking blond aquatic creature, huddling himself on Axel's bed.
"I... I... You?" the blond shook harder. "Why can't I wake up from this dream?" He brought up balled fists to wipe away tears which immediately dissolved into the surrounding water anyway.
Axel swam cautiously towards the quivering small…thing. "Shh," he cooed as he sat on the edge of the bed, near Roxas, "It's alright. You're going to be fine. Sora found you and Riku badly injured, so he healed you the only way he knew how. You'll revert back to a human after six or so tide cycles." He reached out a hand to the trembling blonde, patting him on the head as he had seen Riku do. It seemed to be a small comfort to the petite one. Axel smiled.
"Roxas," Sora spoke inquisitively, seeking permission from both the blond and the redhead before entering. Axel nodded. Roxas looked up as Sora became visible and swam toward the bed, Riku in tow. Roxas, seeing Sora alone at first, started another large wail. His shaking got worse. Axel was increasingly disturbed at how upset the small creature was.
Sora pulled Riku towards the bed, and once close enough, Riku grabbed hold of it and awkwardly brought himself to his young friend. "Roxas," he called the blond gently. "It's okay, I'm here too. You aren't alone."
Roxas, in a swift forced motion, looked up, saw Riku's warm blue-green eyes filled with compassion and understanding, and then latched onto the silverette with both arms, crying into his shoulder. "Roxas, I know it's scary, but we'll be alright. We'll be human again in about six weeks. And Axel and Sora are nice and are letting us stay here." Riku patted his crewmate on the back fondly.
"This is so strange," Roxas took a deep breath and separated himself from the prince. "This is weird," he began again, "I can't smell anything, and I'm crying but I'm already wet." Roxas took a stammering breath, trying hard to calm himself.
"I know it's a lot to take in, to adjust to, but I really had no choice. You might have died," Sora explained, feeling sorry that he caused anyone pain.
"You probably would have died," Riku echoed morosely.
Roxas had stopped crying. He took in the room: Riku's similar form to himself, Sora and his now wild looking hair that stood up in the water as opposed to it hanging damply by his ears as it did when he first met the young merman. He looked over to Axel, who was sitting off to the side, objectively taking in Roxas in a similar way to how he himself was inspecting the others.
"I'm sorry I flipped out." He looked down at his webbed hands in his scaled lap. He looked at Sora, "Thank you for healing me." He glanced at Axel, "And thank you both for letting me stay." Axel swam out of the room without saying anything. Roxas frowned, worried if the redhead objected to him staying, and if this Axel didn't like him.
"No problem. It's great to have guests!" Sora chimed.
Axel returned a moment later with a large bowl of anemone crisps and seaweed. He set it down in the middle of the bed, between Riku, Sora, and Roxas. "It's food," he explained simply, and took a crisp and popped it into his mouth. Sora and Riku followed suit. Roxas timidly reached and grabbed a piece of seaweed, put the strange blackish thing in his mouth and chewed. I wonder what I did to make him not like me, Roxas mused as he swallowed the bitter vegetable politely.
A/N: Please review, and tell me what you like and don't like, so i can give you more of good stuff and less of bad stuff.