A Promise is a Promise

Willas: Hello, hello! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Sorry it was so short, I lost the outline I had written out so I was winging it from memory…and butchered it. T-T Oh well, I found the outline so things should go on as planned, hopefully. As before, read, enjoy and review! Even if you don't enjoy it, tell me what you didn't like, or what could be done better. Anyways, I leave you to your reading, loyal…uh, readers.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any Kingdom Hearts characters or places, if I did… hehehe, let's just say the game wouldn't be rated 'E'. The characters and places belong to the rich, rich people of Square Enix, Disney, and any other company associated with KH. I'm making no money off of this so don't sue!

Warnings: Yaoiness, spoilers, and slight OOC possibly.

Key:

"blah" words

/blah/ flashback

"blah" thinking

/blah/ thinking during flashback

Chapter Two: Lost in a Dream, or is it a Nightmare? Part One

OOOOOO

'Wha-?" Roxas woke with a start, bolting upright in his bed. The cold sweat coming off of him pasted his white sleep shirt to his skin. The remnants of his dreams were already fading, but a face stood out among the images. A boy who appeared to be about his age with spiky brown hair, and blue eyes that matched his own. Roxas closed his eyes and focused on that face for a moment. It was so familiar yet he knew he had never seen the kid before. Opening his eyes he whispered, "Is, is that, Sora?" Thinking about the hooded man's baffling words yesterday, Roxas shook his head and climbed out of bed. Stretching and yawning as he glanced at his clock, he dressed and washed up quickly and grabbed a bite to eat before heading towards the Usual Spot.

Roxas smiled and returned greetings as he walked down the hill from Station Heights. It was strange to believe that only a few days ago people were accusing him of thievery, until he had 'caught' the thief. The stolen items had been photos, all of which had him in them, leading everyone to assume he was the culprit. Even stranger still was the real thief. It wasn't human, of that Roxas was sure, but he had been the only one to see it up close so no one would believe him if he told them. The figure was cloaked in white, and had moved with an unnerving gait that had put him on edge. When he had tried to attack it with a Struggle bat, the weapon seemed to pass right through it. Realizing the bat was useless against the creature, Roxas was about to turn tail and run, when his bat suddenly morphed in his hand. In place of the blue, foam club was a large silver key adorned with a small key-chain. He only had a brief moment to marvel at the phenomenon when the creature attacked again. This time when he struck at it, he made contact, and was able to defeat the being and recover the stolen photos. He gazed at the new weapon in his hand until it suddenly disappeared. A keyblade he later learned it was called, "just like the one Sora had…"

Shaking his head again, he pushed back the curtain veiling the Usual Spot. "That's strange," he thought as he entered. No one was there, which was unusual seeing as he and his friends met there everyday. Turning to leave, his eye was caught by a scrap of paper sitting on the furnace where Hayner was apt to lounge. Picking up the note he read, "Meet at the station. Today's the day we hit the beach--and don't sweat about the munny! -- Hayner"

Folding the message and tucking it in his pocket, Roxas stepped out into the street. Heading towards the Tram Common, he ran into Pence and Olette.

"Hey Roxas!" Olette said, waving. Pence was unable to mimic the action due to the fact his hands were laden down with bags. Roxas raised and eyebrow at him and Olette giggled.

Pence huffed, "She wanted to do some shopping in the Tram Common: Market Street,and now she'd making me carry it!" He tried to glare at his girlfriend, but she disarmed him with that cute smile she always used to push him over. Sighing in defeat, he glanced at Roxas with a look of helplessness. The other two laughed, when Olette suddenly got a gleam in her eye.

"Hey Roxas, wanna come with us?" she asked sweetly. The blond boy just smirked; he knew from experience that she was trying to wrangle him into carrying stuff as well. Dodging the clever trap, he declined the offer, despite the hopeful look on Pence's face.

"No thanks, I think I'll just wander around for a bit," he said nonchalantly. In all reality, he was hoping to run into Hayner so they could talk. Sighing, Olette pouted a moment over her failed plan. Shrugging, she brightened and smiled at Roxas.

"Oh well, had to try. We'll see you later though, okay?" As she and Pence turned to leave, she said over her shoulder, "By the way, I think Hayner just went to the Back Alley." She smiled knowingly when Roxas faintly blushed.

"That transparent, huh?" he murmured just loud enough for her to hear. She just smiled and went on her way to continue her shopping, or in Pence's mind, torture. Roxas stared after them a moment, wonder if he and Hayner could be like that someday, loyal to each other and happy together. Sighing dreamily, he turned his attention to finding the quickest route to the Back Alley to better his chances at running into Hayner. Unfortunately, it involved going through the Sandlot; Seifer's gang's territory. Seifer's gang: the town's self-proclaimed Disciplinary Committee, and bitter rivals of Hayner and his gang. Even though he was "the sworn enemy", as Hayner kindly put it, Roxas had to admit that Seifer was rather attractive. Okay, so he thought Seifer was hot, but it wasn't like he could tell anyone else that, and besides, he was in love with Hayner. Often under the pretense of sizing him up for a fight, Roxas would secretly admire the other boy's body, which he casually flaunted with his outfit. A cutoff zip-up shirt left most of his midriff bare, exposing his finely toned abs, a sleeveless trench coat showed off the muscles in his arms, and a pair of baggy pants that sat low on low on his hips, displaying his trim waist. Sometimes Roxas questioned Seifer's sexuality, especially when he considered the words Seifer said only days before, but he knew the other boy would deny it vehemently.

Hoping that Seifer would be too preoccupied to harass him, Roxas took a breath and started across the Sandlot. The distance to the Back Alley never seemed farther away than it did at that moment. He kept his pace steady, not too fast so it looked as if he were running away, but not too slow so as to give Seifer more time to torment him. Averting his gaze from the foursome standing in the corner, Roxas stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking. He wouldn't have mined if he was confronting just Seifer, in fact, he wanted to get him back for the other day, but he couldn't handle all four of them by himself. "Alright, Roxas, you're already halfway there," he told himself, hoping his luck would continue in this fashion as the group seemed not to notice him.

OOOOOO

Seifer smirked at the sight of Rai and Vivi reenacting the fight between he and Roxas that had ended in Seifer's victory. But unbeknownst to them, Seifer had only won through what others would consider cheating. He was sure Roxas would call him out on it, but he proved Seifer wrong, and had let everyone assume he'd won the match fair and square. He told himself he didn't technically cheat, it was common to taunt each other during a round of Struggle, but he had known his words would catch Roxas off guard.

/Seifer never took his eyes off Roxas as they circled each other like dogs in a cage. Both boys were slightly panting, focusing their energy on trying to beat the other, blocking out the sounds of their friends cheering them on. Roxas struck out first, ducking low near Seifer's feet and striking upwards with the bat trying to catch him off guard. Seifer dodged, spun around and blocked another attack aimed at his chest. Roxas turned his wrist and parried the block while stepping forward and landing a hit while Seifer was left open. Grunting from the impact, Seifer twisted around and leapt away before he dashed forward, suddenly taking the offensive. Roxas smoothly retreated as Seifer delivered blow after blow. Seifer hit hard and fast, not leaving Roxas any room to strike back, forcing him to focus on his defense. Finally seeing a pause in Seifer's attack, Roxas leapt forward, closing the distance quickly so Seifer had no choice but to halt his barrage to block the blow. They came to a standstill, glaring at each other over their locked weapons. Roxas was the first to break the lock, growling as he leapt away, Seifer following suit. They stared down at each other, panting heavily now, both with their bats held at the ready. Roxas narrowed his eyes a bit as he frowned, tightening his grip on his weapon. Seifer's lips curled into a smirk at his action, which only irked Roxas even more.

"What's so funny?" Roxas spat as he scowled darkly at his opponent. Seifer just chuckled, which only served to rile up the other even more. Seeing that Roxas was about to retaliate, Seifer suddenly lunged toward him, feigning a blow to the legs, which Roxas crouched to parry. At the last second, Seifer rose up catching Roxas off guard.

Hoping to get a rise out of the other, he ducked his head to Roxas's ear, where he murmured just loud enough for him to hear, "You look kinda cute when you're determined." Expecting Roxas to get pissed and charge at him, Seifer was surprised when the other just froze and stood staring at him. "Oh, nice one Seifer," he chided himself, "Come on Roxas, don't just stand there! Damn it, sorry, but I can't have them asking questions." Realizing his mistake, Seifer tried to cover up Roxas's stumble. He "parried" Roxas's lax weapon and delivered a blow to his stomach that knocked the wind out of him. Roxas collapsed, in shock from both the blow and Seifer's words./

"Hmmm, I still don't get why he reacted like that…" Seifer was distracted from his musings by a movement in the corner of his eye. He glance over and was surprised to see Roxas all by himself, adverting his gaze intentionally, he could tell, walking across the Sandlot. Not really wanting to cause the other more trouble, he hoped none of his friends spotted him as he closed his eyes and pretended not to see him. Unfortunately for Seifer, Vivi happened to turn towards Roxas, and, always seeming to vie for Seifer's attention, pointed him out excitedly.

"Look Seifer! Roxas is all by himself! I wonder why?" Rai and Fuu both looked as well. Rai just smirked.

"Who cares, y'know? What're you gonna do him?" he asked, looking back at his leader. Not one of many words, Fuu just stared listlessly at the scene before her, as usual, saying in a monotone voice, "Instant annihilation." Raising his eyebrow at Fuu's choice of words, he mentally sighed as he resigned himself to humiliating Roxas even more.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" he yelled to the other blond. Relieved when Roxas ignored him, he hoped the other boy would just continue walking no matter what. "Hey! Chicken wuss!" Seifer mentally kicked himself and the target of the insult when Roxas stopped dead in his tracks. He watched with a cool gaze as Roxas slowly turned to face him.

OOOOOO

Roxas ignored the first of Seifer's taunts, though at that moment he longed to throw a punch at his scarred, but handsome face. When the second taunt came, however, Roxas couldn't help himself. He stopped, turned towards Seifer, and glared fiercely. Seifer was the first to move, stalking towards Roxas with an equally dark look on his face. "What's the matter, chicken wuss? Cat got your tongue?" His friends snickered at this. He watched amusedly as Roxas narrowed his eyes menacingly. "Or did you come back for a second whooping?" he smirked. Roxas reacted to that last part.

"That was a fluke! I was…distracted. And anyways, have you already forgotten our rematch yesterday? Who whooped who?" Roxas should have known better than to egg Seifer on, but he never backed down from a challenge.

Seifer scowled at the reminder of his humiliating loss, but said nothing seeing as Rai and Fuu decided to do that for him. "He wasn't feeling well, y'know? You just caught him at a bad time, y'know?" Rai said in Seifer's defense.

"Lucky," was all that Fuu said in her usual monotonous voice. Though all Roxas wanted to do at that moment was find Hayner, he decided humiliating Seifer in front of his posse would be worth the wait. Plus, it would serve as good practice before the Struggle Tournament tomorrow.

"Well then," Roxas said as he whipped out his Struggle bat, let's see if Seifer is feeling up to par today, shall we?" he goaded with a smirk. Never one to back down from a challenge either, Seifer took his Struggle stance; legs apart, arm straight out, pointing his bat at his opponent.

OOOOOO

Hayner sighed when he found the Usual Spot empty, but was glad to see the note he left for Roxas was absent. "Well, at least I know the lazy bum's gotten outta bed now," he thought amusedly. "Maybe he'll run into Pence and Olette and they'll tell him I came here." Idly picking up the darts both he and Roxas had chipped into buy, he stood at the other side of room, throwing them with deadly aim at the board, hitting the bull's eye every time. He managed to pass a half-hour in this fashion, but when Roxas still failed to show up, the brown-eyed boy started to get frustrated.

"Where the hell is he? He should have come back by now if he ran into Pence and Olette. It's almost time to leave for the beach." He sighed, running a hand through his sandy blonde spikes. Leaving the darts impaled in the target, he left the Usual Spot and headed towards the Tram Common, taking the long way through Station Heights. "I guess I'd better go see if the happy couple saw him anywhere," he thought absently. Sometimes he envied his two friends, how they had a loving relationship. Hayner wanted the same for him and Roxas, but he was unsure of how the other blond felt. Shaking away his thoughts, he ran off in search of Pence and Olette, knowing full well the girl could shop for hours on end. Hoping to run into Roxas on the way, he made a beeline for the Tram Common, unaware of the current situation facing his crush and his rival.

OOOOOO

Just as Roxas was about to launch an attack, the sound of something moving swiftly behind him caught his attention. Ignoring Seifer, he turned around and gasped; there were more of those creatures like the one who had stolen the photos. Like before, the figures were all white and stamped with a unique brand like an upside-down heart with a cross affixed to the point. They floated towards the teens, or more precisely, Roxas, as the others finally took notice of the intruders.

"What are they?" Roxas asked no one in particular. He heard Seifer step up beside him.

"Outsiders, that's what," he said gruffly, adopting an authoritative stance as he addressed the swiftly approaching swarm of creatures. Roxas realized with a jolt that their current weapons were useless against these things. Suddenly he noticed something peculiar about Seifer and his gang; they were completely motionless, frozen in time.

"What the heck-" His thoughts were cut off as the white clothed figures steadily approached him. "Uh-oh…"

OOOOOO

Willas: Well that's it for chapter two! Hope you all enjoyed it! Hehehe, sorry, I have a thing for cliffhangers, as you will see. And I apologize ahead of time for any confusion that ensues. In my outline there are couples and pairings coming out the yin-yang! I wrote it during school hours when nothing makes sense, and in my mind I guess this did. Oh well, I'll try not to confuse you too much, and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon! In the meantime, review!

Thanks to my readers:

Bert the Nomad: That is thought provoking lol! Thanks for the review! Sorry for making you have to research the characters of this game, hehehe…but hooray for Wikipedia, eh? Glad you liked it! P.S. I'll see you when school starts…OMGosh! Less than a month of vacation left! T-T lol you get a pocky stick!

DarkPhoenix1987: Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! you get a pocky stick!

eureka7gal: Thank you for the review! Here's the second chapter you asked for, I hope it met the potential your friend said it had! you get a pocky stick!

Inumaru12: Thanks for the review! Hope this update was soon enough for you! –Roxas: I doubt it… -Me: Yeah, it probably wasn't… you get a pocky stick!

LadyKeyblade: Thanks for the review! Hehehe, this story is gonna get as graphic as will allow it! I might post an NC-17 version on AFF, but that'll come later. you get a pocky stick

NARUfreak : Ah! Here! Here's the update! Don't hurt me! Lol, sorry it took so long to update, but I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for the review! As for the cute part, well…something bad…eh, you'll see in the next chapter. –Hayner: gulps What? 'Something bad?' What are you talking about! looks panicked -Me: Uh…hehehe you get a pocky stick!

Thekla: Thank you for the review! Yay! Someone is impressed with my writing skills! bounces around happily Thank you for the complement! I hope the wait wasn't too, too long for you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! you get a pocky stick!

For those of you who don't know, pocky is a delicious Japanese cookie stick dipped in chocolate or other various flavors like strawberry, melon, etc.