Sometimes, at night, Sora tries to talk to me. It doesn't go very well, because he's bad at listening, but I like that he tries.
"Roxas? Are you there?" He always begins that way, as if maybe I'd be somewhere else. He's on his back porch, looking up at the stars.
"I'm here." He looks to the side, as though I were standing next to him. That's fine if it helps him, though since I see what he sees it's a little weird.
"I guess we're leaving again, huh?" he says.
"Yeah." A letter came from Mickey today. "That sucks, huh?" He doesn't hear me. Just another random thought that can't reach the surface of his mind.
"Kairi's so excited," he says, "she says she can't wait to help us fight."
"Yeah, I know. I was there, too, remember?"
"Riku and I are gonna have to protect her, at first. But she learns fast." He studies the stars. "It's always so weird to look up and realize that's where I was all that time. And tomorrow I'm going back."
"Damn it, DiZ was right. You are too nice for your own good." I hate agreeing with that bastard, but it's true. "This is your home, Sora. You really like it here. You're allowed to be sad about leaving."
Maybe Sora heard a little bit of that, because he frowns, and says, "It'll be an adventure. Maybe I'll see Donald and Goofy again."
"You're allowed to be angry. Even scared, if you want." I can't resist the joke: "I promise I won't tell anyone."
No answer. He didn't hear at all. Maybe he didn't want to.
"Aargh. Forget you, then. I really like it here. First Twilight Town, now this. Everything good I have gets taken away." Forgetting, I try to bang a fist on the porch railing. Sora's hand twitches, and he looks at it.
"I don't know if you can really hear me," he says. "I don't know if you'll ever be able to really help me again, like you did with my Drives." I wonder when he finally put that together. "But I can feel you, sometimes." He doesn't say any more, but we share a heart. I know I confuse him, disturb him, keep him from ever feeling lonely.
"I think I will," I say. "Help you again, I mean. I feel like I've still got stuff to do, you know? Like my fight isn't done."
I don't know where that thought came from. Maybe it came from our heart, because Sora says, "Yeah. Good."
But damn I don't want to fight anymore. I want to stay here. It's strange, watching Sora's life like this, but in my heart it's my life. I don't miss Pence and Hayner and Olette so much, when Sora and Riku and Kairi are hanging out and goofing around in a place that feels like summer forever.
For the second time, my tears run down Sora's cheeks, as he looks up at the waiting stars.