So I have a few notes before you read this chapter that I'll try to keep short:

First off, a lot of the content of this chapter is the result of the massive amount of inspiration I received after reading "It Was Always You," a work-in-progress story by a fellow writer and friend of mine A Lonely Dreamer. I highly recommend this story to all of you, especially if you'd like a different spin on the Sora/Roxas pairing.

Secondly, another result of reading "It Was Always You" was my shameful realization that I haven't put a brand disclaimer anywhere in my story thus far. I'd like to go ahead and apologize for that as well as state that I do not own any of the legal rights to any of the brands, borrowed characters, artists' names, artists' works, and the like that I've put in this chapter, put in all previous chapters, and will put in all future chapters.

Thirdly, bear with me on this chapter because it's about double the length or more of most of the chapters I've posted thus far. I promise it'll be worth the read, though, especially with how it ends.

Speaking of the end of this chapter, to help deal with the insanely larger amount of content in this one compared to the amounts in previous ones, I've created a little innovation I call the "chapter epilogue." All it really is is a continuation of the events in this chapter that, considering how it's mainly character development and not plot development, is not necessary for you to read to know what's going on in future chapters (but I really like it, so I hope you do read it anyways).

Whew, now that all that's over, please enjoy Chapter 10.

CW: homophobic slurs

Z~Z~Z

Dreamer Boy

Z~Z~Z

Chapter 10

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." –Edgar Allan Poe

Z~Z~Z

Before leaving the McDonald's, Roxas called Xion in the parking lot asking to meet her at the Wall Market. He had thought about the kiss that happened previously and eventually came to a decision that he owed her an opportunity to smooth things out, not to mention they really needed to do so if he was ever going to have any kind of successful relationship with Sora. Fortunately, Xion agreed to meet him (though her voice was noticeably shaky) at the Market to work out the mess they were in and hopefully hang out afterwards.

However, despite the surely somber meeting to come, nothing could possibly abate Roxas's excitement about his new job and all the new chances he would have to be even closer to Sora. Roxas's smile increasingly widened as he imagined working next to the beautiful brunet for hours on end, sharing laughter and deep conversations as they prepared order after order. By the time he pulled into the Wall Market's parking lot, he was practically dancing in his seat from excitement; luckily, the bus station Xion arrived at far enough away to give Roxas plenty of time to regain his composure. They greeted each other shily, Xion looking incredibly guilty as she arrived at the driver's side of the blonde's truck.

"I'm so incredibly sorry," Xion said with her head held down in shame.

"Honestly, it's okay," Roxas replied. "You don't have to beat yourself up about what happened earlier today."

"I do, though. I totally invaded your personal space without considering how you would feel about it at all. It was completely wrong of me."

"But it's not totally your fault. I've come to understand that it was probably just a rush of hormones that led you into it. Not to mention, you clearly showed some amount of restraint and consideration because you weren't grinding up on me or anything, and you obviously know it was wrong now anyway and are clearly remorseful about it. I've already forgiven you for all of it because I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Xion brightened up a bit, hugging the blonde with a hint of smile returning to her face. "I'll take your word for it. Thanks for being so understanding"

The pair left the parking lot and walked along the cobblestone pathways that wove in and out of the Market, the foot-and-a-half distance between them signifying the small but still prevalent amount of guilt each felt. As they kept walking, though, they gradually came closer to each other, and each teen walked with a casual gait that marked the newfound understanding and strengthened friendship they had reached. They passed by all kinds of quirky little stores as they walked and casually conversed, only stopping in an earthy-looking store that sold art supplies and a store decorated to look like the building was falling apart that exclusively sold band T-shirts from all kinds of musicians. Their conversation floated between all sorts of topics as they walked before it eventually settled on relationships for the longest time with each teen talking about the various relationships they'd been in, Roxas in particular trying not to reveal his lack of experience in the field due to his sexuality.

"So you've really only had one girlfriend?" Xion asked after a particularly long silence from Roxas.

"Yeah, but she's my best friend now, so it's all good."

"That is too strange. I would figure you'd have had several girlfriends by now, and the one relationship you have had ended on really good terms. I wonder…"

"Hey, Roxas!" a familiar voice shouted from behind them.

"Speak of the devil," Roxas muttered to himself, though he was thankful for the interruption.

Before he knew it, Olette had come up from behind him and tackled him to the ground, nearly taking a passerby with them and causing a number of others to stare.

"Sorry, I only meant to lightly hit you," Olette began smugly," but I figured you deserved the whole nine yards, football pun intended."

"I can't argue that I didn't deserve it, but did you have to do it in the middle of a crowd?"

"Just means a larger audience to witness my retribution," Olette retorted. She looked around as they both got up and finally noticed Xion, who looked torn between embarrassment and amusement. "Oh, hey, Xion!" she greeted.

"Hi, Olette," Xion replied, accidentally letting out a small snicker. "What brings you here? I thought Aerith usually did your hair today."

"I'm seeing her tomorrow instead. I came to buy a gift for...uh, well…for a friend…or something."

"Sounds like it's almost Hay-Hay's birthday-day," Roxas teased.

"So what if it is?" Olette snapped as she punched the blonde in the arm. "I have other friends who have birthdays."

"Well, if it's for me, you're almost a week late."

"Oh, your birthday was last week?" Xion asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's actually when I got my truck."

"Well, if Olette really hasn't done anything for it yet, we should all go eat somewhere."

Both Olette's and Roxas's stomachs growled at the mention of food, causing all three to laugh as they ventured off in search of sustenance.

Z~Z~Z

The trio had walked around the inner circles of the Market where most of the restaurants were located three times before finally settling on a Greek place to eat at, this being due to Xion's severe peanut allergy, Roxas's slight indigestion after being around so much fast food earlier, and Olette's previous horrible experience at an Italian restaurant the other two were interested in ("I swear to God, that sausage was manmeat," she complained). As they walked in the somewhat small eatery, Roxas couldn't help but appreciate the open air feel of the restaurant with the ceiling and the walls painted to look like a hilly seaside landscape, almost like they were on the Mediterranean Sea itself. This open, liberating atmosphere lulled the chattering trio into an eased relaxation as they sat down and placed their orders.

"How did you ever find this place, Olette?" Xion asked after taking a sip of water.

"I just one day…umm…randomly found this play after…umm…walking the dog," Olette nervously answered. Roxas understood that this was code for stalking Hayner, failing to restrain a snicker as he drank his water and spilling it all over his lap. Fortunately, Olette considered Roxas's wet clothes enough payback to not have to furiously attack his shins with her considerably pointy shoes.

"Wish I was as spontaneous as you," Xion remarked.

"What do you mean? Don't you have a guy you like?"

"Well, umm…" At this point, both Xion and Roxas were both scratching the backs of their heads with facial expressions that practically screamed embarrassment, but luckily for Roxas, Olette could only see Xion's face having elected to sit across from the black-haired girl and next to the blonde.

"Five points for me!" Olette declared. "What's his name? What grade is he in? What's his personality like? C'mon, gimme the details!"

"Umm, I'd rather not talk about it right now," Xion shyly responded with flared cheeks.

"Fine, but I'll more than likely corner you in Aerith's salon one day, just so you know."

The trio laughed and lightly conversed a bit longer before the smell of their food alerted them of its arrival. However, despite how the intoxicating Mediterranean food was perfectly complementing the breezy Mediterranean atmosphere, Roxas became aware that something didn't feel right. The two girls seemed completely oblivious to whatever was causing him to feel this way, but the hair standing up on the back of his neck, the sinking feeling in his stomach, and his jittering legs all confirmed for him that he wasn't just imagining things. Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me? Roxas silently thought. He looked around to try and find the source of this of this ominous feeling until he froze after seeing a flash of silver diagonally across the restaurant.

Sure enough, Roxas's accurate intuition for all things that would attempt to fuck up his life was confirmed accurate once again as he saw Riku sitting across from a tall, foreboding man with long silvery-white hair, clearly trying to be as far away from Roxas as was physically possible in the tiny restaurant while simultaneously staring daggers at him. Roxas didn't know who between the two of them had walked in first, causing him to worry if Riku was stalking him or not; unfortunately, this worry was short-lived as it was replaced by sheer terror that ran throughout his body when the silver-haired man turned around in his seat to see where Riku's glare was fixated. Roxas didn't know what it was about the man that had instantly petrified him, but as the man was sizing up Roxas for some unknown reason with an unsettling smile on his face, Roxas noticed the colour of the man's eyes: a startlingly light blue that both complemented and contrasted the man's dark business outfit and menacing aura. It was a light blue that would probably remind most of a baby boy's clothes, but all Roxas could see in them was ice from the coldest circle of Inferno.

After about 15 seconds of this strange stare down, Olette became aware that Roxas wasn't even attempting to defend himself against any of her "straight-up ill disses" and finally took notice of the nonverbal goings-on with a worried expression forming on her face. Xion, upon the realization she was talking to herself, looked up as well, but in contrast to her two companions, she smiled and waved at both silver-haired men, apparently completely oblivious to any and all bad vibes between the two parties. The man took this as an opportunity to approach the table and coaxed the reluctant Riku into accompanying him.

"Good to see you again, Xion," the man said with a deep, cool voice as soul-piercing as the look in his eyes.

"Good to see you, too, Mr. Harada," Xion replied.

Harada? Isn't that Riku's last name? Roxas wondered to himself

Almost as if the silver-haired man had read his mind, he said to Roxas, "I don't believe we've met, but you look a lot like Cid and Cloud Strife, so I'll hazard a guess that you're the youngest Strife son, Roxas." He gracefully extended his hand and continued, "My name is Sephiroth Harada, Riku's father and president and CEO of Harada Enterprises. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Roxas slowly shook the man's hand. "Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Harada."

Sephiroth laughed lightly, which amazingly didn't do anything to diminish the don't-fuck-with-me aura that positively radiated from the man. "Please, there's no need for formalities. Just call me Sephiroth."

"Yes sir, Mr. Sephiroth," Roxas nervously replied.

Sephiroth lightly laughed again (Roxas wondered if anything could shake this guy's stern exterior) and turned his attention to Olette. "You must be the famous Olette Tanaka. Your mother talks about you all the time when I visit her tea house."

"Oh, yeah, hehe. She's really proud of me, I guess," Olette replied as nervously as Roxas had.

Sephiroth continued to lightly chat with both Olette and Xion giving Riku enough time and freedom from his father to stare more daggers at Roxas while mouthing the word "faggot." Roxas had to bite his lip to keep from verbally expressing both his depression and fear from the time Riku had beaten him up in the grocery store parking lot and a newfound bloodlust/rage emotion that Roxas had never felt for any reason before, but his facial expression conveyed enough of all of these emotions to amuse Riku and cause him to grow a wicked, soulless grin.

"I may not be able to get at you now," Riku whispered just loud enough for only Roxas to hear, "and I may not be able to fight against your big, bad, older brother, but from what I understand, you intend on entering the Struggle tournament Saturday for the obvious reason of spreading your faggotry to my best friend. Just so you know, I'm gonna be in that tournament, too, and I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure I keep you away from him, in and out of the arena. Don't try anything, queer, or I'll make you regret it."

Roxas chose not to say anything back, instead responding by solidifying his numerous emotions into a single piercing glare that to his pleasant surprise made Riku's grin falter for a fraction of a second. Fortunately for Roxas, neither one's hatred was allowed to escalate any further as Sephiroth was motioning for his son to come along while finishing his short conversation with Xion.

"And I'll have to remember to come by your house with Riku some time to see your sculptures," he added walking towards the door. "I've heard you're an exceptional sculptor especially for one so young, and I may just have to purchase one to decorate my office here on the mainland." He shook Roxas's hand once again and made a bowing gesture towards the two girls. "May the three of you have a pleasant day." "And by the way, Roxas," he added with an even more intense coolness than before over his shoulder in the restaurant's doorway, "I look forward to watching you at the Struggle tournament Saturday. I hear you've inherited a fair amount of your older brother's skill." He had turned around just enough to make the small smile he now had visible to Roxas alone, who suddenly had even more terrified chills running throughout his entire body. Sephiroth waved behind him once again while Riku just scowled at Roxas as the father and son duo left the restaurant with all the grace of divine assassins.

"What the hell did you ever do to piss Riku off, Roxas?" Xion wondered aloud.

"It's a long story. Don't worry about it."

Z~Z~Z

After all three friends had finished their meals, Xion said goodbye to the Twilight Town duo and made for home before the sun set, leaving Roxas and Olette to hit up their favourite spot in the town's massive Sei-An Park nestled perfectly in the center of the town's uniquely antique yet urban sprawl. The park itself took up about nine blocks of urban space, sporting an athletic corner with every kind of court/field/arena/etc. that you could think of with rental equipment to go with each one, a miniature forest area where the trees were so close together that it spawned quite a number of private romantic evenings as well as scary stories of what all lurked beyond the darkness of its interior, a cobblestone walking trail that circled through or around every main attraction the park offered, four ponds themed with different flora relating to the four seasons, and a grand amphitheater at the heart of the park reserved for concerts, holiday festivities, and other special events.

Roxas and Olette made their way to the autumn-themed pond where one could find a certain tall rock, the top of which offered just the right view between the outlying buildings to see the sun set on a clear day over all of Twilight Town's numerous neon signs lighting up as well as the only stretch of beach that came near the Town's center. Ever since he and Olette had accidentally stumbled upon this view while playing at the pond in their adolescence, that particular rock had been one of Roxas's most favourite places in the world and had occupied many an evening picnic between the two childhood friends. The only view Roxas could think of that stood up to the astounding beauty of this combination of urban and natural scenery was the sunset he had seen when his dream figure had gotten away from him the other night. The sunset that now blazed gloriously as he simultaneously viewed it and the town's nighttime atmosphere coming to life just somehow couldn't measure up to the enormous one in his dream world, especially considering how the dream one offered a full view of the deep blue ocean reflecting it.

"You okay, Roxas?" Olette asked after a long silence from the blonde.

"Yeah, just feeling nostalgic, I guess."

"Did Riku really rattle your cage earlier?"

"Yeah, kinda, but that's not what's on my mind right now."

"Then what is?"

"You remember the dark figure from my dreams, right?"

Olette took a second before she finally answered. "Oh, yeah! The mystery guy (or girl, but we all know it's a guy) who's constantly teasing you with hints to his identity on the beach?"

"Yeah. A few dreams ago, he showed up in one where the beach actually had a sunset to it instead of just a blank, nondescript sky, and it's still been there when I've dreamed again since then. I've been thinking about how that sunset is somehow more beautiful to me than this one or any other one we've seen here since we knew of this place, and it's making me upset how it's more or less putting down every evening we've spent here."

"You shouldn't worry about that. As we grow up and eventually move away from each other, we're both bound to find things that are more beautiful and precious to us than Sei-An sunsets; as long as we always treasure our incredibly cheesy friendship, there isn't anything wrong with that to me. I must say this dream sunset you mentioned is very interesting, though. It leads me to believe that my hypothesis was correct: whoever this dream guy is, he really is your dream guy."

"What do you mean?"

Olette sat up as she answered him. "I mean this spot has been your favourite location on the face of the planet since you moved to Twilight Town purely because of how beautiful the sunsets are here, just as I hopefully have been your best friend this entire time (and don't you dare joke around and claim someone else was, you asshat). If this mysterious person who's been occupying your dreams practically since the beginning of time is now sharing even more beautiful sunsets with you than the ones we've shared since childhood, I believe it means you and whoever he is are meant to be even closer than we are. Like, Gomez and Morticia level of closeness."

"So what you're saying is that my dreams are hinting at my life inevitably turning into a spooky 60s sitcom?" Roxas jokingly asked.

Olette laughed. "Maybe so. I can't really be sure though; I never finished getting my degree from fortune-telling school."

The two laughed in unison for quite a bit before settling back into their relaxed positions atop the rock. A quarter of the sun had now fallen beyond the horizon, allowing all of the town's lights and signs that hadn't already done so to light up, each light now gleaming brightly to catch potential customers' full attention as the sun's pink and orange rays danced in, out, and around them. A gentle breeze that smelled of sea salt, asphalt, and some divine concoction from a nearby bakery gently breathed over the pair's faces and through their hair for a bit before Roxas spoke up again.

"Olette, do you honestly think I'd ever have a chance with Sora or anyone for that matter? I mean, long-term and not just a three-month fling or whatever."

The brunette sighed lightly before responding. "I'm sure there's someone out there for you, Roxie." (Roxas cringed, this being the second time today he had been called that, making Olette smile victoriously a little bit before she continued.) "The main thing you gotta understand is that constantly looking for love will only leave you heartbroken. I personally think you have to let that kind of relationship appear and take form on its own while meantime going with the flow of your life. As for Sora, the boy's nice, cute as a button, and honestly a bit out of your league, but maybe what he needs if he actually is into guys at all is someone he wouldn't expect to fall in love with to come along. Accidentally falling in love could be just the thing that both of you need."

"How the hell do you always know what to say?"

"Why the hell do you think I do? You know what I'm like whenever Hayner's within earshot of me."

The duo laughed again before Olette added, "What do you think about my chances with him, by the way?"

"There isn't a chance in he—" Roxas laughingly began before he once again had to nimbly dodge Olette's pointy ass shoes. Each teen started laughing harder than before and continued to do so until the sun was almost completely hidden behind the visible stretch of midnight blue ocean and deep purple sky when the friends parted ways for their respective homes.

Z~Z~Z

After the intensely weird up-and-down day he had, Roxas was immensely relieved to see his porch lights finally come into view, and yet once again, the blonde got an ominous feeling as he the closer he got to it. By the time he was two houses away, he realized that there was an extra car, specifically an unfamiliar light green hybrid, in the driveway for some reason. Deciding to believe it was one of his dad's mechanic friends here to smoke and talk about sports, he put it out of his mind as he pulled in. However, his theory was proven wrong as he walked up the porch with his backpack over one shoulder to find Cid sitting and smoking alone in his favourite chair.

"Wondered where you've been," Cid gruffed in the porch light while the chair creaked. "Didja go out and celebrate your new job with some friends or somethin'?"

"Actually, yeah," Roxas replied. "Sorry I was out so late."

"Don' worry about it as long as you don' have homework due tomorrow you need to finish, though I imagine that's not the case considerin' that brain of yours usually gets it done with what free time you have at school and all. I kinda figured you'd been out because the youngin' Cloud's girlfriend brought with her mentioned his twin sister got home pretty late and that the two of you were friends."

So is that Aerith's car? Roxas pondered. Not to mention, Aerith brought someone with her to our house? Who in the hell would Cloud be okay wi—wait a minute, did he say twin sister?

Sure enough, as Roxas entered his house returning his mother's greeting while she washed dishes, Cloud and Aerith were committing the rare act of being somewhere other than the older Strife's room as they sat on the living room couch watching some crime drama next to the dreamy top candidate to be Roxas's favourite brunet in history. Every now and then, said brunet would stare past Aerith and directly at Cloud with sheer admiration practically oozing out of his eyes. Roxas had to take a moment to collect himself in the hallway outside the living room after his suspicions were confirmed, hoping to God no one had noticed him and that he had time to make sure he wasn't dreaming and subsequently that he wasn't wide-mouthed or drooling out of shock. How can Sora totally disorient me like this every time I see him? Satisfied he was presentable, he finally entered the living room with a confident "Hey, guys" and sat down in the open loveseat.

"Hey, Roxie," Cloud said with a smirk, causing Roxas's confidence to falter briefly and his mouth to mutter something PG-13 under his breath.

"Where've you been?" Sora asked with his trademark breathtaking smile.

"With Xion and Olette at the Wall Market," he answered, now trying to regain the confident tone in his voice he had summoned in spite of Cloud's smug demeanor. "Didn't Xion tell you about it?"

"She did, but she got back around 7," Aerith answered.

"And it's 8:30 now," Sora added with a sly expression beginning to cross his face. "Have a secret girlfriend you're not telling us about?"

Roxas and Cloud both started laughing at the idea of the younger Strife having a girlfriend, though Roxas's laughter quickly changed to an annoyed look pointed at his older brother.

"No, it's nothing like that," Roxas explained. "Olette and I just went to Sei-An Park to watch the sunset. Platonically."

"I've heard there's a few places there where you get a wonderful view of the sunset past Twilight Town's beautiful buildings," Aerith remarked. "However, somebody," she added while playfully punching Cloud in the arm, "won't take me to see one. Sounds like Olette's lucky to have a friend like you."

"Hey now, I'm just trying to not let you down or anything," Cloud said in his defense without looking away from the screen. "Destiny Islands' sunsets are far better than the ones at Sei-An."

"I can confirm that," Sora chimed in. "I saw one at Sei-An with Kairi when we tried dating, and although they are pretty, they don't compare at all to the ones at the Islands."

"Interesting," Roxas concluded. Then, the blonde suddenly remembered something Sora said earlier. "Hey, you said you had history homework to do. What brings you to my house?"

"Aerith informed me when I got home that your older brother was pretty good at history when he was in high school on top of being a Struggle star," Sora explained, chancing another admiring stare at Cloud who still hadn't looked away from the screen. "So I came over here to get his help on it, and before I knew it, I had finished it. I've been just hanging out for the past half hour or so because I figured we could hang out together or something when you got back."

Roxas, expecting to feel embarrassed that a beautiful boy wanted to hang out with him, actually visibly lit up with confidence, joy, and a little surprise that his cheeks weren't already ablaze. These emotions abated slightly when he suddenly realized something else. "But at this rate, won't you miss the last train back?"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that might happen," Sora answered. "Aerith had already planned on staying over here, so I got permission from my parents to do the same. I figured we'd just ride to school together tomorrow, I'd go with you to your orientation, and we could hang out afterwards because I don't work tomorrow. That is, if you're cool with it. I mean, I brought a toothbrush, an extra set of clothes, and all that stuff so I wouldn't need to borrow…"

At this point, Roxas stopped paying attention to Sora, for he had lost any and all emotional control that he had developed before the brunet started speaking. He was so surprised and taken aback by the enormous opportunity that arbitrarily just fell into his lap that his cheeks didn't even change colour. As a matter of fact, for the duration of Sora's story, anyone who looked over at the blonde (like Cloud, whose mind was clearly running a mile a minute making mental notes of all the blackmailing material his younger brother was practically throwing at him at this point) could easily have guessed that Roxas was simply frozen in time, his body stiff as a board as his mind tried and tried to take it all in. It took Sora saying his name a few times to bring his mind back to reality and his body somewhat back to life.

"Huh?" Roxas said with a vacant expression.

"I asked if that would be okay with you," Sora responded. "I already have permission from your parents as well, and they said I could take the air mattress into your room and sleep on it."

"Oh, yeah, that'd be awesome," the blonde finally managed to answer.

"Cool, I'm gonna go get my stuff from Aerith's car. Care to show me where your bedroom is?"

"Yeah, I can do that."

And as Roxas followed the beautiful boy out to his sister's car, his body increasingly caught up with where his mind was after agreeing to his crush staying the night with him. Sweat collected on the blonde's brow, his breathing got heavier, his face had for all he knew skipped red and went straight to purple or some other ungodly colour, and his pace gradually slowed to the point that Sora jokingly called for him to hurry up from outside while he was still in the kitchen, fifteen feet and two rooms from the front door. He hurried through the kitchen and the garage outside through the garage's side door and caught up to Sora whose grin was so bright Roxas was astounded it wasn't lighting the stone path from the garage to the front porch.

"Sorry if I startled you with all this," the brunet said sheepishly as he pulled out his backpack. "It all kinda made sense all at once to just come over here and hang out. Not to mention, I couldn't pass up a chance to meet Cloud. Every time he comes to our place, Aerith immediately hides him in her room."

So they really are perfect for each other. "It's fine, really," Roxas said, taking Sora's backpack so he could get a smaller bag. "I was just kinda caught off guard. We've only really known each other for three or four days, so I didn't expect you to want to hang out at my place, much less spend the night."

"Yeah, sorry about that. The thing is…well,…I'm not supposed to mention it, but Xion has an enormous crush on you, and where we're twins and all, I feel like it's my responsibility to make sure any guy she's into is alright. Not that you seem like a jerk or anything; I just wanted to get to know you more for that reason and because you seem like you'd be a cool friend to have."

Roxas laughed a bit before an equally bright grin appeared on his face. "Thanks, but just so you know, I already knew about her crush on me."

Sora looked puzzled as he shut the car door. "What do you mean?"

Roxas then recounted the kiss that happened earlier that day as well as the conversation the two had before Olette showed up at the Wall Market as the two boys walked back into the house. Sora's general body language changed from expressing confusion to amusement and then to annoyance before it finally settled on some emotion between amusement and annoyance.

"I actually saw her 10 minutes after you left McD's," Sora explained, apparently noticing how Roxas was studying his body language. "Her face was all kinds of red from embarrassment about something she wouldn't tell me about, so I've wondered about what it was all afternoon. It's hilarious to me that it was just her kissing you that she wanted to hide the whole time, but it also kinda unnerves me she wouldn't tell me about it. Like, she's told me literally EVERYTHING about her crush on you up to now. I guess you're just special or something."

"Haha, yeah, Cloud tells me I'm 'special' all the time. I just kinda feel bad for not liking her back, you know?"

Sora nonverbally expressed his sympathy with some emotion on his face that contrasted the sympathy. Maybe it's hope?

The two boys arrived at the blonde's bedroom when Roxas suddenly remembered that Sora's name was still spelled out in phosphorescent stars on his ceiling. He somewhat abruptly asked the brunet to wait outside while he "tidied up." About three minutes later, Roxas reappeared with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry, there was lot of trash and clothes I forgot to pick up yesterday," he admitted as Sora entered his room with an amused look on his face. The brunet could only mumble his forgiveness though as he was apparently awestruck by Roxas's room. His eyes routinely fixated on everything from the elaborate train set/alarm clock Cid built him to the hand-painted geometric patterns that adorned the wall all around the huge window next to the bed, finally fixating for the longest time on the wall that was entirely covered in drawings he and Namine had done in Gepetto's art class, save for the space where the bedroom door was.

"These are amazing," Sora commented while studying a lightly coloured sketch of a futuristic looking machine.

"Thanks," Roxas softly muttered while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Your whole room is amazing. Mine's predictably just sportsy and about Struggle, but yours is really artsy and different and fascinating."

Both boys removed their shoes (both pairs of which were interestingly enough the same kind of Vans) before Sora got out the air mattress and blew it up under Roxas's direction as the blonde himself turned on his fairly large flat screen and his PS3 for the two of them to watch Netflix.

"What are you up for?" Roxas asked his crush, who had already cutely splayed himself over half of the queen-sized, Monet print bedspread like an exhausted puppy.

"I dunno," the brunet muffled through the pillow he was face-down in. "Play something with a happy ending. I've had a good day and don't want it to end on a sad note."

"You got it, captain."

Roxas perused his favourites list on Netflix for a few minutes before finally putting on Pretty Woman and got settled on the unoccupied half of his bed while he felt a light nudging on his foot from Sora adjusting his legs.

"I hope you like Julia Roberts," Roxas said, laughing lightly while the opening to the movie played, yet he received no response. He looked to his right to discover the brunet was already fast asleep, and it was the most impossibly adorable site Roxas had ever seen. Sora was faced towards the blonde and had one leg over and one leg under the covers, the ankle of the leg that was over the covers being the source of the nudging he felt earlier, all the while maintaining a light snore as his hair still defied gravity even with half of it pressed against the sheets. Easily the best part of the whole picture was Sora clutching his pillow with one arm as if it was a stuffed animal instead of laying his head on it. Roxas didn't know whether to cry or take a picture because he would never see something as perfect and divine as this boy that was lying in his bed. Unfortunately, his compassionate desire to give the boy a chance to have more bedspace, brush his teeth, and change clothes outweighed his personal desire to not tarnish the heavenly portrait before him.

"Wake up, Sora," Roxas whispered as he gently nudged Sora's shoulder.

"Wuzzat?" Sora mumbled groggily, furthering the puppy image by raising his head slightly with a drowsy look on his face.

"You fell asleep in your clothes and everything."

"Oh, thanks."

"No problem."

Sora rose from the bed, still looking divine even though he was half-asleep, and went to the upstairs bathroom. Roxas longed to watch the sleeping angel even more as he pulled the bedspread over himself, taking extra caution to not mar the creases in the other half of it marking where Sora had graced his bed. Roxas tried to imagine the brunet in his previous, statuesque position as he closed his eyes and began to doze off, but the blonde was lightly jostled back awake by the motion of the bed as someone else was getting into it. Roxas opened his eyes back to see the faintly lit silhouette of a shirtless Sora (OHGODOHGODOHGODOHGOD), apparently still half-asleep, fully ignoring the air mattress and getting into the bed as he lifted the bedspread to put his legs underneath it. Roxas was sure his heart couldn't beat any harder, yet Sora almost immediately proved that wrong by turning over in his quickly regained sleep and replacing the pillow he was cuddling with Roxas's torso. In the far future, Roxas would describe his reaction to this as an "ecstatic sigh that led into the best sleep he ever had," but what actually happened is he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn't stop himself from repeatedly muttering "oh fuck, oh fuck" to himself until he more or less passed out from sheer pleasure as Pretty Woman continued playing…

"I'm gonna treat you so nice, you're never gonna let me go."

Z~Z~Z

Chapter Epilogue

Z~Z~Z

You again.

The figure stood there, almost like it was challenging Roxas to something, in front of the magnificent sunset once again. As if by magic, the sun hadn't sunk any lower or really even shifted position at all since the previous dream, the wondrous array of hues of pink, yellow, blue, purple, and orange still dominating the sky and reflecting beautifully off the deep blue ocean.

You wrote something in the sand last time. "Starts with an" and then something else I accidentally erased. What was it?

"That's something you'll have to find out for yourself."

What?

Roxas looked around for the source of the voice until he finally realized that it could only have come from the figure itself.

Wait a minute, did you just speak?

The figure didn't reply or even motion as a reply.

Maybe I just imagined it. Then again, now that I think about it, this technically is my imagination.

"Just because it's your imagination doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Again, Roxas looked around for the source of the voice to no avail.

You definitely spoke that time, asshole. I don't know if you're shy or what, but it's really starting to annoy me.

The figure surprisingly rose its hand to where its forehead would be as if expressing its own annoyance. It turned around and started to walk in the direction of the ocean, still clutching its forehead in apparent annoyance.

Wait, please don't go! I'm sorry, I swear! You can speak whenever you want to, if you ever want to! I just want to know more about you!

The figure stopped, put its hand, down, turned its head slightly, and then continued walking into the ocean until it had fully disappeared. Roxas was so caught up in pleading for it to stay that he didn't notice the message in the sand reappear until several seconds after the figure had disappeared.

"Starts with an S?" What is that supposed to mean?

And then, as if the figure or whoever was the source of the voice was right next to Roxas's ear, he heard in a low whisper, "I would've thought you'd have figured it out by now, dreamer boy."

Z~Z~Z

And there you have it. Please let me know what you think of this particular chapter in the reviews because as much as I like it, I questioned myself a lot throughout writing it. Especially let me know what you think about the chapter epilogue and how I handled the content of it because I deliberated for hours on end as to whether or not I should include it. As always, thank you for reading and for any and all support and criticism you give me.

P.S. Expect another Sora P.O.V. chapter soon. I think I've just about figured out all the issues I had in writing the first one.