eh this feels too dialogue heavy but i tend to ramble a lot when setting up plot.. at hopefully whatever i do next wont be as inner monolougey?

* is sora talking

/ is roxas

He could feel it coming, that strange growing heaviness in his chest that started to appear from time to time after he woke up from that pod. Sora hadn't had this feeling for a while, not since he and Riku had finally gone home. Being held captive by the gang of Xehanorts must have done more than that strange coma.

/Sora, you really aughta drain this off soon. You're twitchier than Stitch on a caffeine high./

*No, I'm fine.. Just a little longer..* The brunette replied to the voice in his head. Roxas had met him while he was asleep. Tried to push what was left of his being and memories into Sora fully. He wouldn't have it. Ever since they'd properly met, the former Nobody stayed present in the back of his head, talking to Sora, making snide commentary on his practice duels with Riku (he was still not happy with the older teen..) sometimes he managed to make Sora do or say something he hadn't meant to and laugh at his own pranks.

Sure Sora was close to Riku, always had been, but this felt different. He always thought Riku and him were connected in a special way though unsure how. That is until finally meeting up with them at The Castle That Never Was, he thought he'd be overjoyed to see Kairi again, but he broke down crying at Riku's feet insteead. He'd seen enough Princesses chasing their Princes to put it together..

With Roxas though, it was weird. Like they were long lost brothers that only just reunited, but still knew the other in and out. His twin of heart as Sora teased to the blonde one day.

Roxas deserved to be his own person. Yes, he was part OF Sora, but not Sora himself. And Sora was glad to let his Meow wow to pounce and lick the blonde to death till he relented to tell him as much, leaving him intact.

Currently though, he was becoming a bit of a nag..

/Just tell them! You're gonna hurt yourself if you keep this up!/

*I'm fine Rox! Next free day I'll go do it but I don't want to worry them right now. Riku finally got over his own emo feelings about inner darkness, what'll he do if he sees me?*

It wasn't like he was outright dangerous when it happened. Oddly as long as there wasn't anything directly attacking him he seemed pretty docile from what Roxas told him. Sora's own memories of the transformations were often fuzzy and vague, more feelings than real solid thoughts. Of course that didn't predict how the others would react to his appearance without anyone to tell them that..

They weren't even sure if Donald or Goofy ever saw him like that. The Toons would both disappear like with most of his other forms.. Only Roxas seemed to know about it, having had to poke him in the right direction from time to time when the Shadow got distracted. Sora hadn't even known he was there yet, but he remembered Roxas' voice saying things like 'No don't eat that!' Apparently, Sora's common sense was even less present in a Heartless mindset.

/….Fine.. But I'm holding you to it. I will take over if I have to./

Sora smiles to himself softly. *Whatever you say bro.*

He didn't make it to the next day off. Everyone had been sent to bed when it hit, a cold chill fell over Sora, seeping into his skin, his lungs caught, choking on air and it felt like a ghostly hand was clenched painfully around his heart.

Sora stumbled to the floor of his room in the tower, one hand holding him up the other clutching at his chest. /Sora? Sora! What's wrong?!/

"Hurts.." Heaving in breaths the Keyblader was just barely able to get his feet back under him and stable, but fell again when over taken by a painful spasm. Roxas had seen enough. They needed to leave for somewhere safe, and now. Sora couldn't resist the slightest bit when the Nobody pulled at his strings, jerkily summoning Sora to his feet and toppling them through a dark portal.

Sora was flung face first into a bed of sand. Wherever Roxas took them gave him the sense of familiar and safe, but he couldn't gather enough sense to be sure where it was though. His breathless voice muffled squeaks of pain as something choked him from the inside. The setting sunlight turned the cold on his skin to a light burn. Sora couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't summon his energy to activate Limit form like he usually did when this happened.

Sora could barely hear Roxas yelling. The Nobody's presence felt so faint and far away. This wasn't normal, it felt different this time, it hurt too much, it felt WRONG.

The dying rays of sunlight finally disappeared from the sky and Sora screamed.

~~wavy transition effects with harps~~ (hey I'm a 90's kid :P)

"And suddenly poof here I am.." Roxas trails off digging into his pilfered sandwich, maybe they should start stashing non-perishable snacks out on the island. Two days! He was starving!

When they arrived at the tower there was of course a bombardment of questions, near suffocation from an unusually emotional pyrokinetic, and finally a dark glare from Riku when all the noise started to unsettle the Shadow sleeping in his personal Dream Eater's arms. The older teen had refused to release his grip yet.

Now they were all gathered around Yen Sid's study, sitting in various spots on the floor while Roxas explained to the wizard and gang the best he could.

"Ok but why does he have a cloak?" Riku asked.

The blond shrugs, "I woke up in it." He held his arms out to the sides, drawing attention to the rest of his attire in matching black. Including the gloves in his pockets. Axel had too actually so why not? "It was too hot out there to wear it during the day but he was happy to snatch it. I think it was 'cause of the sun. Light doesn't hurt him to the extent it would a real Heartless, but it does still sting and irritates his instincts."

"So it's safe to take it off?" He wanted to get a better look at this 'Heartless' form. Kairi snorted softly and hid her smile at the teal eyed glare she got in return.

"Actually yeah, there's something else I'm curious about.." Roxas scoots over just enough help remove the coat, which ended up being draped over his own shoulders out of habit, then moving back to his spot by Axel.

Sora's skin and hair were ink black as Anti always is, but his crown shaped necklace stood out as silver as ever almost glowing in contrast. His clothes had hints of midnight blue, red and silver highlighted here and there, and the back of his hoodie had a hybrid design of an elegant heart (the logo one) and an incomplete Heartless emblem in silver and red. A tiny pair of lightly twitching wings emerged out of his shoulders, like miniature versions of the ones a Darkside has.

"Usually he's completely black all over, at least from what I know. The wings are new too. And I'm not exactly sure how I got this back either.." Roxas drifts off in thought, fingering his chain with the X shaped pendant. Axel did a double take, blinking, He had been stretched laying on his back comfortably, but for an instant he thought his eye caught a flash of color on the blondes back. But nothing was there.

Riku absently started tracing a finger around Sora's crown one. It felt cold at first, matching the darkness that clung to the boy's skin. The more Riku fidgeted with it, the silver began turning pleasantly warm. He then jerked his hand back in surprise when the warmth started to thrum with a pulse. But when he returned his touch to the pendant it was back to cold.

Yen Sid closed his eyes in thought, fingers stroking the long grey beard for a while. "Perhaps we were too quick to believe Sora's time as a Heartless, even briefly, had no adverse effects lingering behind. With as many trials as his heart has been through, it could have resulted in this form being conjured to shell it from falling completely into the darkness again."

Roxas frowns thoughtfully setting down his empty plate. "Makes sense.. It'd always pop up more often when he'd been upset, even without a lot of Heartless around. He never attacks people either, I mean unless they go after him first, but never for their hearts. Heck, the most dangerous thing about Anti is his curiosity, always wandering around like a puppy investigating whatever he caught eye of. Got attacked by a nest of squirrels once."

Riku huffed a laugh. Sora's heart was one of the mysteries of the universe, it seemed like a magnet to good and evil alike. Every new world he visited, anyone he met became an instant friend to add to his ever growing circle. On the other hand many less friendly ones sought to use him too, whether as a magical locksmith, heart collector or just straight up possessing him…

Thinking on that note though, Sora has also somehow managed to collect lost hearts and shelter them. Kari for one, had slipped in without his notice. And the king's letter that worded this odd power, drug up a scrap of memory of Sora feeling sad for someone he'd never met. Riku had scrambled for something to say, giving him the most reassuring, grown up-like advice his 7-year-old self could possibly come up with.

Even a heart as strong as the brunets, with how many times its been attacked or stripped clean, Riku wouldn't be surprised for there to be a small crack or two. But his was more damage than he thought possible…

The room stilled when Sora whined. Eyes snapping over to Riku, who was sitting on the floor while the Not-Heartless shifted in his lap. Yellow eyes blinked open, glossy at first with sleep, then sharpening into awareness at the sight of Riku hovering over him. His first reaction was an odd squealing cry, blasting Riku with a pulse of darkness and scrambling away to the shadow under the nearby desk. What colors he did have fading into the shade as he sunk into it despite the tight space, leaving only the watchful glowing eyes visible.

The silverette groans softly as Kairi helps him up from the wall he got knocked into, Roxas laughing merrily. Axel glanced between the Islanders with amusement. "You two have an argument or something?"

Roxas was still giggling, leaning on Axel until he could breathe again. "You could say that. If chasing Sora off with a magic sword of light and scaring the shit outta him counts."

Kari frowns, slapping Riku upside the back of his head. "OW! I didn't know ok?!"

She glared at him for a few more seconds, then huffs turning back to the yellow orbs observing them all. The desk only rose of the floor a few inches, Anti had more Heartless powers than that Dark blast.. "So what do we do?"

"Get him to come out..?" Roxas shrugs.

"After that genius…" Riku snapped back, getting a glare in return.

"I'm afraid this is one matter that is beyond my knowledge. But there may be others who might be of some help. You did mention there being others that had been restored when you awakened, did you not Lea?" Yin Sid turned to the pyro, along with everyone else.

Axel sat thoughtful for a few seconds before what could be called fear slid across his face. Eyes wide in defensive anger. "Wait, you mean- NO! No no! I don't want him anywhere near these two! No!"

Roxas knew that face, knew who was being talked about without even asking. He groans softly dropping his head into his hands. It wasn't like the guy was the most popular of the team….

Design of Sora's emblem art (ugh why wont ff let me post links?! just go to Deviant art and look for my name, same as this one)

Next time we go to visit old enemi- er friends! (i kind of like demyx though should i throw him in? where did he go during 3d? :( )

Ok so I'm going to throw a small theory in here real quick. I know Axel's real age is a mystery and people tend to make a big deal about the age gap between him and the rest of the gang. But recently I thought, is there really that big of one? In BBS Ven/Lea/Isa was around 15 ish, and Sora/Riku might have been 6/7. But there still was a few years between then and the fall of Radiant Garden. Time enough for Lea, Isa and Ienzo to hit the growth spurts into what we see them as in the Org. but what if being Nobodies made them stop aging? Most the members that were already adults haven't changed much between BBS and 3D. For all we know once they were people again Axel could only be 19-20 compared to the gangs 17-18's. both Aqua and Ven haven't changed a day as far as we know either.