Dear Reader,

This Emo!Sora chapter was brought to you by the letters P.M.S! Thanks for watching, see you next chapter... (ow, my head... what a migraine...)

I don't own what I don't own...

erm... Title inspired by the last line of the Vienna Teng song 'Draught'. It's been stuck in my head all day...

Hugs and kissies to my friends, especially to Everfire... Labu, labu...

Stay safe
Stay healthy
Sincerely,

Starr Bryte

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Aerith found Sora in one of the locker rooms, slumped on a bench with his head clenched between his hands. She huffed softly to herself. She had known something was wrong the moment the fight had begun. As a healer she had an uncanny connection to almost every one of her patients. Some more than others. Sora was open and honest and blunt and cheerful and optomistic and so many other positive words that it made her brain hurt. But since he had melded with his Nobody, she had seen a change. A fierceness and anger and sense of darkness that rose up every now and then. Roxas was the exact opposite of Sora. She had read his file and knew that, although he might not mean it, Sora could fly off the handle and hurt someone because of Roxas. It didn't help that Anti-Sora was still locked away behind Sora's heart and could escape during battle. The two negative forces combined could easily wipe away Sora's sense of positive self. The King had said that, although Sora was strong, he still had vast power that lay untapped and, the light willing, would stay that way. This fight, however, proved that Sora's power was unstable and that Roxas was still split from Sora. The fact that Roxas could tap into Sora's power and take full control for a length of time frightened her. Roxas reminded her, in many ways, of Cloud. Sad and broken and shaking on the edge of sanity. Only more frightening because Roxas knew it and used it to his advantage to dominate people.

Sora tried to flinch away when she placed a hand on his shoulder, but she refused to let go so easily. When he didn't try to move away again she sat down. It was just like Leon during one of his guilt trips, or Cloud after being taunted by Sephiroth. She didn't ask, she didn't have to. She didn't move, she didn't speak at all. She simply waited. With Leon or Cloud the wait could take hours, even days. Luckily, with Sora, the wait only lasted a few moments.

"It happened so fast..." He murmured, "I almost didn't realize it until it was too late... One moment I'm trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to convince him without getting pounded AND have him take my seriously... The next I felt Roxas... He was so mad." He laughed and it was such an oddly negative sound that Aerith fought a flinch, "At first I was happy when he began to feel emotions of his own... I mean, he deserves to live after all he's been through... But most of the time now, he's either pissed off, frustrated, annoyed or irritated. And Sephiroth REALLY pissed him off... In a way, I think he reminded Roxas of Riku... Like 'How dare he, with so much, just throw it all away?!'..." From where she sat Aerith could see Sora's lips trembling. For someone as bright and happy as Sora, Roxas' dark and cynical views would've been a terrible burden for him to carry.

Well...She thought wryly, He IS Sora's opposite...

"Whether or not you got your point across... Sephiroth listened." She reassured him.

"Is he alright?" Sora asked hesitantly. Aerith smiled.

"He's got a concussion and a red welt in the middle of his forehead the size of my first, but he'll live..." She answered. Sora nodded jerkily, the muscles under her hand were tense and knotted.

"Do you want to head back to the castle?" She asked softly, "The others will probably stay for awhile, but you don't have to. I'm sure Riku and Kairi will want to hear all about the match..." Sora shook his head stiffly.

"I want to..." He murmured, before barking a harsh laugh, "Gods how I want to..! But Roxas HATES Riku... He tries to hide it... But that fact that he's inside my head garauntees that I'll eventurally know everything he's thinking or feeling. I HATE IT!" He burst out, clenching his fists, "I thought that allowing Roxas to live inside me would be great! He could stay himself and I could be whole again... But all I was dong was just leading him into another prison. He should be free to live his own life! He should be free! He should feel what he wants to feel without worrying what anybody else thinks! He should express his emotions. But he can't. Not the way he wants too." He smiled shakily up at Aerith through his bangs and she was startled at the beauty of his eyes. Was it a sin to think that someone's eyes could be so beautiful while filled with so much pain? Was this what villians lived for, just to see something so achingly, addictively pretty? She mentally smacked herself. She hated the fact that Sora was in pain. After all that he had done and sacrificed, he deserved every scrap of happiness that he could get his hands on.

"It's not his fault that one of the people he hates most is one of the people I adore..." Sora smiled and stared at his hands, "Does it make me a bad person when I say I'll be glad when he's finally gone..?"