"So, your sister visited you yesterday?" Joshua asks Sora at breakfast.
Sora nods, in the middle of chewing a mouthful of pancake. Aqua giggles at Sora and Sora quickly swallows, his face a little pink.
"Do you have anyone who visits you, Aqua?" Joshua asks.
Aqua shakes her head, "I don't belong to this world."
"Who does?" Joshua shrugs, "Anyway, Sora, your sister looked very nice."
"She is, can't say I really remember anything about her besides when I saw her here a few weeks ago.." Sora replies, sighing.
"That's got to be rough." Joshua says, leaning back slightly.
"What about you?" Aqua asks, "Do you have any family to visit you?"
"Nope." Joshua laughs, "No one likes me."
"That's a good thing?" Sora tilts his head, which made Joshua laugh more.
"It is when you're me." he shrugs, sighing, smiling to himself as he stares out a nearby window.
"I don't get it." Sora whines.
Joshua looks at him, "Just think of it this way, I have no friends, don't think I have any family, I'm not even sure who put me in here, so no one will come to visit. I don't mind this though, I've always been alone."
He looks away again and Sora looks at him sadly, "That's not true."
Joshua raises an eyebrow in his direction, "Come again?"
"You have friends," Sora states, "Me and Aqua are your friends."
Joshua smiles, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks, Sora."
Sora smiles, "No problem."
You do know he doesn't really believe you, right?
Ugh, can't you just leave or something? You're so negative..
Nope. You're stuck with me, so deal.
Come on, Roxas, can't you cut me some slack?
Not in a million years.
Wow.. That's a long time.
Ugh, we're all doomed.
So you keep saying..
Because I'm right.
No you're-
"Sora? Sora." Aqua continues to shake Sora and he shakes his head and stares at her, "Uh.. Yes?"
"You spaced out again," she looks worried, "You okay?"
I"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I just keep lapsing out is all.." Sora sighs, Thanks a lot, Roxas..
I'm here all week.
Funny.
I know, right?
Sora rolls his eyes and groans.
Aqua frowns, "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I just have a headache." Sora replies.
Nice cover-up.
Just go away!
Kind of can't. Idiot.
Take that back!
Make me.
How?
Wow, you really are an idiot.
Hey, stop saying that!
Make me?
Ugh! You're impossible!
And you're an idiot. Are we done?
"Sora, you dd it again." Aqua shakes him again and he blinks, looking at her, instead of past her.
"Woops?" he grins sheepishly and she sighs, smiling softly back.
Sora looks around and frowns, seeing he and Aqua are the only ones still in the room, besides Sophie, waiting to take them back to their room. Sora looks at Aqua, "How long?"
"Breakfast ended about ten minutes ago." she replies gently, "Hey, it wasn't as long as at Group. That's good, right?"
"Right.." he slumps back in his chair, Why is this so hard?
Because it isn't real.
What?
You really don't know?
Don't know what?
It's simple, Sora, this place, it's all-
"Sora, come on, not again." Aqua shakes him again.
Sora blinks and groans, "What?"
"You lapsed again." Aqua sighs, releasing his shoulder.
"How long that time?" Sora closes his eyes.
"Only two minutes, but still." Aqua stands, "Come on, we should get back to our room."
"Yeah, yeah.." Sora gets up and stretches.
"Sora, can you wait a minute?" Fang asks, standing beside Sophie now.
Sora nods uneasily and stands in front of Fang as Sophie leads Aqua away.
Sora swallows, "Uh.. Yeah..?"
"Sora, Dr. James tells me you hear a voice?" she asks.
Sora nods slowly, "Yeah, why..?"
"We think this voice is causing your lapses, and that can become dangerous, per say, you were walking across the road and that voice speaks to you and you lapse, you could get hurt badly." she replies.
He looks confused, "But I'm stuck here, I'm safe.." Kind of..
"I have agreed for Dr. James to give you a medication that will make the voice disappear." she says.
Sora gasps, "You can't do that! He's a part of me!"
"He doesn't exist, Sora." she replies.
Sora backs away from her, "You won't make him disappear, I won't let you!"
"Sora, calm down." she steps towards him and he darts for the door as quickly as he can.
Fang runs after him and grabs his arm, "Sora, calm down, stop running!"
"I can't let you make him disappear!" Sora yells, trying to pull away from her, but she quickly has both of his arms pinned behind his back, forcing him to his knees on the floor, "Sora, don't make this harder than it has to be."
"Let me go.." Sora says, tears swelling in his eyes.
"Sora, just calm down, this will be good for you." she tries to calm him.
"But what about Roxas?!" he cries, literally crying, "Don't make him disappear!"
"Roxas doesn't exist, Sora, it's just a condition, he isn't there, it's all in your head." she replies.
"No!" he cries, "No, that's not true!"
Noctis comes down the hall and sighs upon seeing them, "I guess he didn't take the news well."
"Not at all." Fang replies with a sigh, "He's convinced this 'Roxas' is real."
"As he is about everything." Noctis sighs and crouches down on one knee in front of Sora.
He frowns, "No use trying to give you the pill, you'd just spit it out. I'll be right back."
he gets up and leaves, heading back to his office, then he returns minutes later with a syringe and crouches down back beside Sora and stabs the needle into Sora's arm, causing him to yelp softly, then he groans and his eyes get heavy.
"There," Noctis takes the syringe out and stands, "that should stop the lapses and the voice, but it'll make him very out of it for a few days, I advise he stay in his room for that time period. Three days should do it."
Noctis leaves and Fang pulls Sora up and takes him back to his room then lays him in his bed and she leaves. After Sophie locks the door, Aqua gets up and goes over to Sora.
"Sora? Are you okay?" she asks.
"Tired... Lost... Roxas... Gone... Help..." Sora mumbles and turns on his side, going instantly to sleep.
Aqua sighs and lays on her bed and covers up, staring at the ceiling, and eventually she too went to sleep.