Author's Note: Still kinda... Fleshing out this place - but now they're getting to meet some of the people around them. Demyx, I love you! And Namine, too, of course! This is the next life, and no one remembers anything. Except... Maybe her. Hang in there, Namine! Even if everyone thinks you're crazy!

Also, Roxas and Sora's bedroom windows are kinda important - just in that they're gonna be mentioned a lot.

Well, here goes.

Wind Chime

Within a week they were nearly completely settled. The house was on a small lot, but had an upstairs that made it large enough for three, and that was good enough. Roxas was yet to see a house with less than two stories, or a house with a back yard anyway, and didn't care that their house was no different. He cared very little for being an individual, and cared very little for fitting in. It was all the same to him.

The first story's rooms had been converted, by an enthusiastic Hikari, into a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and her own bedroom. The upstairs split into only two rooms. The one on the left was Sora's, the one on the right, Roxas'.

His room, Roxas decided, staring from the expanse of floor to the boxes on his bed, was a very nice room. There were large, matching windows in the brothers' bedrooms, on the wall opposite the doors, and between them a bit of roof that they had discovered could be safely sat on. From through the windows and over the roof, the beach was clearly visible over the tops of the slanting houses.

The first day was the most fun, Sora thought. He had run about the nearly-empty house, opening doors and cupboards and curtains, occasionally stopping to answer Hikari's questions like "This couch, here, or against that wall?" or to help Roxas with a particularly heavy box. The blond almost complained that Sora wasn't helping bring stuff in, but decided against it.

Roxas was quite fond of the entire first week, minus the first day. It had involved far too much effort - moving this and that, rearranging this and that, unpacking this and that. Repacking this and that because Sora decided last-minute that he wanted it all upstairs. (Roxas was particularly annoyed with that one.)

After that, however, it had been all sitting on the roof, eating ice cream with Sora and staring at the beach. The breeze was cool, but the air was warm. The sun was bright, and the sky was the bluest Roxas had ever seen in his life. Sora told stories of his dreams, and Roxas listened with interest.

Sora dreamed of other worlds and amazing adventures. Roxas absorbed the words of traveling, and bitterly thought of his own dreams.

Roxas dreamt of waiting.

---

"Let's go exploring!" Sora said decisively on the eighth day, grabbing Roxas' wrist before his younger brother could protest. "We've just been cooped up in this house since we got here!"

Hikari made an amused noise from the couch, watching Roxas struggle out of the grip. "It's already seven." She informed the brunette. Who pouted in response; Roxas' one weakness. More because it was annoying than because it drew his sympathy, though.

"We can still explore, though." Roxas suggested helpfully. "I mean, as long as we don't go too far it should be fine." Hikari gave a nod of approval, and Roxas smiled at Sora. Who, in response, grabbed the blond's wrist again, an dragged him out the door.

Hikari just laughed and went to the kitchen to make dinner for when they came home.

The sun was setting. The sky was still bright, and the sun still lit the streets, but blue was very quickly fading into orange and pink. Vague purples and yellows were in there somewhere, but Roxas was more interested in the trees. They had a lovely black silhouette with the sun behind them, he thought.

Unfortunately, by the time Sora's enthusiasm had worn off, Roxas couldn't tell where they were anymore. He was also somewhat afraid his wrist had bruised. He rubbed at it with his other hand, but didn't mention it. He opted for pointing out a music-shop instead, which he was forcefully dragged into seconds later. In retrospect, it had not been any less painful, and he decided to keep observations and wrists to himself.

To enforce this new don't-tell-Sora-anything-rule, Roxas distanced himself from the brunette as soon as they were inside. Sora had admitted to being somewhat interested in taking up the guitar days earlier, but Roxas had very little interest in music. The shop was organized quite nicely, however, and was easy to move about and appreciate the appearance of the instruments in. Roxas was partial to violins, for no particular reason. Or so he heard himself say.

"Do you like violins?" A girl asked.

Without looking away from the displays, Roxas had replied; "I suppose so."

He blinked, and turned to see who had spoken. In front of him, stood a girl around his age. She tucked a strand of light blond hair behind her ear, though it fell forward moments later, and smiled at him serenely. The shop, with only a few dimmed lights around it, appeared to be lit mainly by sunlight through the large windows. In the darkening room, the girl seemed mystically light. She had pale skin, light hair, and wore white clothes.

"Me too. I started taking lessons four years ago." She said, and after a brief silence, nodded politely, and wandered off.

Roxas stared after her curiously, but made no effort to follow. Instead, he sought out Sora, who was deep in conversation with the man behind the counter. Roxas didn't understand it, having no grasp of terms used by musicians, and chose to stand next to his brother awkwardly. Which really wasn't very fun, but Sora took the hint eventually, and nodded good-bye before following Roxas out of the store.

"His name is Demyx," Sora said. "He plays a sitar - I'd never heard of one. Had you? Oh, and he said that his friend could teach me to play the guitar." Sora gave Roxas no chance to reply to his questions, and added; "But I can't afford the classes. Or the guitar, actually."

Roxas wondered why the guitar was an after thought, but didn't say anything. Roxas idly wondered why half of the things he noticed went unsaid or mentioned, but quickly remembered his tragically bruised wrist.

In the brothers' attempt to make it home before it got too dark, they discovered quite a few more places. A park, though it was farther from their house than the music shop, their school - which they avoided, knowing that they would be attending and tired of it within two weeks, - and finally, a small convenience store by their house. It was closing when they passed, so they continued to their home.

After reciting the adventure to Hikari over dinner - subtle begging for money on Sora's part included - the brunette sighed.

"I kind of want to see Disneyland." He admitted. Roxas would rather go to the beach. For once, he almost shared this thought, but what came out instead was;

"We'll go on my birthday. Just the two of us."

And he wondered whether he meant the amusement park or the beach.