Seven Snogs Chapter 5: Sunset, a kingdom hearts fanfic

WOO-HOO! Finally, a new theme. And the first draft of this one was handwritten, no doubt. x.X Yay for boredom!

This one is actually -gasp- pretty serious, but I hope you guys still like it. Even though it doesn't seem like it, this one is also AU, so keep that in mind. Come to think of it, it could be another take on the 'nobodies-are-doomed-to-darkness' thing. Hrm. o.O But interpret it however you'd like. That's what fanfiction is for, am I right? xD And it's got some language in it, and a tiny hint at a would-be smut scene, but I don't have the guts to do one, so nyeah. xP

Once again, thank you everybody for all of the awesome reviews you've been leaving! You guys rockage my sockage! Only two more themes after this...-le sob-

On with the story!

Theme: Sunset
Rating: T-ish

Everybody in Twilight Town loved the sunset. It was understandable, given that the tiny place existed in the realm of those moments of that great ball of fire disappearing into the horizon. It was almost required of citizens to sit and watch it every evening—not that they minded, since they all loved every one.

Not Roxas. He utterly loathed and detested them.

If any of his friends knew this, they'd without a doubt bop him unconscious with a Struggle club. Heck, even that hard-head Hayner didn't mind going to the best place to watch the light retreat—perfectly named Sunset Terrace—and watch at the sky's performance. Pence sometimes brought his camera on the really colorful nights and Olette would always gaze dreamily, giggling about how 'romantic' it was.

Roxas knew better. Sunsets were far from 'romantic'; they were downright horrible, but he would never want to bust the brunette's bubble. He'd let her happily dream while she could.

The four friends had made their way to the Terrace one evening, laughing about how Seifer had gotten clobbered by meek little Vivi at a practice Struggle match a little big ago. No doubt the muscular blond and his possé were sitting somewhere to watch the sunset, giving the silent treatment to the little black mage. Well, at least Fuu would. Rai was most likely babbling about the match with Seifer off to the side, rolling his eyes at every 'ya know?'

"Hey Roxas, ya know that new place that opened? That club—Kingdom Hearts. It's supposed to be really cool. Wanna go with me sometime?

"Roxaaaas. Earth to Roxas."

Said blond blinked and shook his head. He quickly realized Hayner had asked him something—though what, he had no clue.

"Uhh..."

"Bonehead," Hayner grinned. "I asked if you brought the munny for the ice cream. Clearly we need to fill you up with it if you space out on us again."

"Y-yeah," Roxas replied, giving his friend a half-smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Olette's handmade munny pouch, which no doubt held just enough for four sea-salt ice creams—the Twilight Town specialty and the quartet's favorite. "Right here."

"Alright, who wants to do the honor of buying them?" Pence asked. Everyone looked at each other and quickly cried, "Not it!"—with the exception of Pence.

The dark-haired boy's shoulders slumped and he sighed good-naturedly. "Fine, fine. Roxas, hand over the munny." The blond tossed the pouch to him. "Back in a flash."

"Hurry!" Olette urged. "We should all be together for the sunset!"

"A new club? Well, yeah, I guess so. How 'bout I tell the rest of the gang and we all go this Friday or something. It'll be together as a group thing."

"Er, well, that's not really what I meant..."

"Uh, okay. What, you told me about it for no reason?"

"No, um...I was wondering if it could be you and me. Just the two of us."

"Roxas, take your ice cream."

The blond started a bit at Pence's voice, but managed a slight smile and a "thanks" before taking the blue frozen treat. Well, if he had to sit at Sunset Terrace and watch the sky, at least he had ice cream.

The four friends sat around in silence for a moment, only the sound of slurping ice cream filling the air. Finally, Olette stopped and giggled, still staring at the sky.

Hayner raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Well," the petite brunette began, taking another lick of her melting ice cream. "I was just thinking that practically everyone in town watches the sunset."

"So?" Hayner shrugged.

"But has anybody ever seen the sunrise?" she continued, glancing around at her friends. The three boys stopped slurping ice cream and glanced at each other, shaking their heads in defeat. Olette smiled. "Thought not."

"What, have you?" Pence asked through a mouth full of blue goop.

"Not recently."

"So why bring it up all of the sudden?"

She looked straight up into the sky, letting her ice cream dangle in one hand. "Just thinking, I guess. I wonder if the sunrise is as pretty as the sunset."

"I wouldn't know," Hayner laughed.

"..."

"Roxas? Did you hear me?"

"...Yeah."

"Sooo how 'bout it?"

"What brought this on? Why me?"

"I've been thinking too much lately, and it's all your fault"

"Whaaat?"

"Kidding. I just...I don't know, I feel like I'm something instead of nothing around you. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah...I do."

"So will you go with me?"

"Am I going to regret this?"

"Stop teasing me, Shorty. If I have anything to say about it, you'll never regret this."

"...Hey! I'm not short!"

"I'm amazed at Vivi," Hayner said. "He was unbelievable! And Seifer calls i us lame? HA! I'd beat him in a hundred Struggles if I could!" He waved his nearly-finished ice cream stick as though it was a club.

"Puh-leeze," Pence laughed. "Roxas would kick your butt before you could even i get to Seifer!" He gave his spiky-haired friend a nudge. "You i do have Struggle bragging rights for the year."

"Yeah," Roxas finally said, cheering up a bit. He gave Hayner a friendly punch on the arm. "If you can't beat me, there's no way you could take Seifer down."

Hayner grinned. "You just got lucky."

"I've been lucky. Remember all the matches we've done since the tournament?"

"Fine, fine! I give! Roxas is the greatest Struggler ever. Happy now?"

Blue eyes rolled. "Sure, sure."

"Boys," Olette warned.

"Whaaat?" Roxas and Hayner complained in unison, attempting to sound innocent. They glanced at each other for a moment and all four friends suddenly fell into laughter. There was really nothing horribly amusing about the conversation, but laughter would keep them together for that much longer.

Roxas hated being alone.

"Alright, I'll give. That was actually pretty fun."

"Told you. I'm always right."

"What?"

"I'm always right. Got it memorized?"

"I heard you the first time, stupid."

"Well, you sounded like you didn't. You coming in or what?"

"This late? Isn't someone home?"

"Nah. My roommate went totally AWOL and I haven't heard for him in a week or so, that dumb son of a bitch."

"...Nice."

"Yeah, he's a jackass. So, you coming? I'd really rather not being alone, to be honest."

"Heh. Yeah, I'll come in."

"Oh, look." Olette pointed directly above her. "The sky's really pretty. The clouds look like they're gold."

"Aw, I didn't bring my camera," Pence complained, eyes scanning the vast colors above them. "Oh, well. Maybe it'll be like this tomorrow."

"Doubt it," Hayner interjected. "The sunset's never the same. Maybe that's why we watch it all the time."

"What do you mean?" Olette asked.

Roxas wanted to jump in and answer—tell them all that the sunset was like life; seemingly endless, yet going by far too quickly. It was constantly changing, little by little, every moment passing without notice until you realized that you missed something worth seeing. However, he knew better than to interrupt Hayner while he was babbling, and he certainly could when he wanted to.

To the blond's surprise, though, Hayner's answer was relatively simple: "It's like a light show, only you never know what it's going to perform. Best kind of entertainment, if you ask me." He paused, then grinned. "Short of Seifer getting totally owned by Vivi, that is."

Olette and Pence rolled their eyes. "Hayner, we were there. We know." Pence gave an exasperated sigh.

Hayner continued to laugh. "I can't help it! Seifer's face was priceless." He clapped a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "You should beat him again tomorrow. Maybe then he'll quit acting like he owns the town."

"Maybe," Roxas shrugged. "But he is the head of the disciplinary committee. He's used to being the boss."

"Yeah, the boss of his possé," Hayner grumbled.

"Turn this way. No, a little more to the left."

"This is stupid. Can I take off this damn blindfold already?"

"Not until I say so."

"You're being incredibly bossy today."

"Shut it. It's the thirteenth—our anniversary."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Means I get to boss you around all day, Shorty."

"Shut up! And it's our anniversary, not just yours. Are we there yet?"

"You're really impatient, you know that?"

"Well, can you blame me! Just tell me where the hell we are and I'll think twice about running away from you."

"Like you could."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Heh, heh...fine. There you go."

"...The beach?"

"I thought we could watch the sunset together. You know an 'aww' kinda thing. Go ahead; tell me how adorable I am."

"You suck."

"No, I blow."

"...You're just asking for me to toss you over a cliff, aren't you?"

Silence gradually fell over the friends as they sat back and watched the sun retreat. The ice creams were long gone, leaving a salty-sweet taste on Roxas' lips.

He began to wonder why he still came out here. Sure, it was always fun hanging out with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but the sunset was becoming painful. Like Hayner had said, it was as though the sky was performing a different light show every night—but it was always ended the same: dark, bleak, and frightening.

Roxas wasn't easily scared. While people usually joked that he didn't have a fearful bone in his body, this was a lie. He wasn't just good at hiding fear; he easily covered up just about every emotion he felt. Emotions weren't something to waste without reason, or maybe he had used them all without realizing it. That would definitely explain the numb, foggy haze he usually found himself in.

Or maybe he was just still hiding.

He couldn't remember when they'd stopped talking. He didn't know if this was bad or good—words weren't important, but sometimes they were needed.

Apparently this wasn't the case.

Even so, it was exciting; every time they held hands, lay back in each other's embrace. It was especially thrilling when their eyes met, if only for a split second—at times, the emerald orbs he found himself drowning in would become too much and he would just want to give all of himself away.

His thoughts were interrupted by humming. Loud humming, although it was a vaguely familiar tune.

"What's that?" Roxas asked, realizing that it was coming from Olette.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"That song. Or whatever you were just humming."

She smiled. "I'm not quite sure, but it's been in my head all day. Maybe it's from a song or something, but it's still awfully pretty, don't you think?" The tune again escaped her throat and filled the air, somehow sending Roxas's heart pounding and breaking in the same instant.

"Y-yeah," he finally agreed.

It started and ended too quickly for his taste. He grabbed the other's hand and gave him a cocky grin. "I may be younger than you, but you don't have to treat me like a kid."

An equally evil grin was his reply. "Is that your way of saying 'Let's make out until the windows are steamy and people start to wonder what we're doing in the middle of a parking lot'?"

A laugh. "Interpret it however you want, flamer."

"Or maybe 'Kiss me you fool! Your incredible good looks are driving me insane! I can't live another moment without feeling your lips on mine!' "

"You don't need to look good to drive me insane."

"Thanks...hey, wait!"

Their faces quickly grew inhumanly closer. When it happened, it didn't know, but he decided to take the plunge. "Shut up," he said, finally keeping the other quiet with the exception of their lips meeting with loud, wet noises again and again. A moan escaped into the confines of the car, though he wasn't exactly sure of whose it was.

Music to his ears.

They were all still talking, but Roxas wasn't following the words. The sun had already set, leaving them shroud in an in-between world of light and dark. Twilight. The town, given its name, was usually set in this kind of light, but it was always the worst after a sunset. Roxas's stomach clenched painfully.

Or was that his heart?

Their slicked bodies stuck together, covered in a film of sweat. They were each surprised to find lean, muscular frames hidden under all of the clothing—not that he was thinking about it. This, like practically everything else in his life, had just...happened.

He didn't regret it, though. He never would. It was worth it just to see the other in his most vulnerable state as he was now—panting to keep up with their racing hearts, their naked bodies close together with their legs entwined, them being so close in the most perfect way possible.

He hated to admit to sounding cliché, but it was everything he thought it would be, even though his lover had fallen asleep about three seconds later, loud snores echoing in the room.

"Hey..."

Sunset. It wasn't a real time of day, but it might as well have been.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette looked up at Roxas at the same time, wondering what he wanted. They were all getting ready to go home, maybe goof off and play video games before going to bed. Roxas usually followed the same ritual, but now he remained sitting stock-still, his hands clenching into fists.

"Do you guys remember..."

"This town's stuck in the sunset."

"Twilight."

"Whatever. But...I can't stay here."

"...when I first moved here?" The other three nodded. "Did I ever..."

"What? Why?"

"I just can't."

"Give me a reason!"

"...I can't exist in a place like this."

"What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"..."

"Answer me, damnit!"

"I'm not needed here."

"Huh?"

"...introduce you to Axel?"

"Axel! What the hell are you talking about?"

"You have another life now, Shorty."

"Huh?"

"You don't need me."

"What?" Roxas was appalled for a moment, but an overwhelming emotion—something he couldn't quite put a name to--passed through him and he clutched his chest in agony. He never wanted to admit it, but...

"Axel, I need you! I do need you, you stupid, flaming, son of a bitch!"

"You're in better hands now."

"Who?" Hayner asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Axel? Who's that?"

"Axel!" Roxas cried, a little more desperate this time. His nails were stinging into the skin of his palms, and he willed his friends to remember—even just to recognize the name. Anything.

Pence was scratching his head. "No...I don't think you've ever even mentioned a guy like that. Did you get the ultimate brain freeze or something?"

"You told me last week that nothing like that ever existed!" Hayner exclaimed, mock-punching Pence. "Who's the bonehead now?"

"Hayner!"

Olette was still glancing worriedly at Roxas, but quickly drew her attention to the other boys. Even the slightest thing could provoke Hayner on an hour-long rant. She had learned early in their friendship to stop him as soon as possible.

Roxas, however, was staring into the darkness with a look of disbelief. His heart, which had been pounding profusely moments earlier, had now slowed so much it was as though it wasn't even there.

As though it didn't exist.

"Better hands? What are you talking about?"

"You'll know. I gotta go."

"Don't!"

"I just want you to know something..."

Roxas looked up at his best friends. Olette was trying to shut an aggravated Hayner up while Pence was holding his arms up in a teasing surrender, probably trying to piss Hayner off even more. He unclenched his fists, ready to walk right past them and head for home when Hayner suddenly held out his hand.

"C'mon Roxas!" he laughed. "Us against them!"

"What?" Olette cried. "I don't want any part in this!"

"Too late." Hayner grinned and turned to Roxas. "Whaddya say?"

The blond paused, staring out into the dark abyss of the sky, willing a part of his heart to beat again. "All right," he finally agreed, standing up and giving his best friend a high-five with Pence and Olette grumbling in the background.

"What?"

"You make me feel..."

He knew now.

The part of himself that didn't exist was very well somewhere, unseen by the human eye. It was caught in neither light nor dark, but somewhere in between.

-- It was sunset as Axel disappeared into the nearly-night sky. Maybe he had always been meant for the dark—and knew it.

Maybe he just didn't want Roxas to get lost in something so lonely and endless.

Maybe Axel had known this and couldn't stop himself from falling for a spiky haired, bad-ass kid who ate too much ice cream.

Maybe he pushed Roxas away at the very last second, wanting the kid to hate him so there would be a reason to stay away from the darkness.

At any rate, Axel wanted him to have a choice.

Sunsets made him unsure. Tempted him towards the darkness he knew Axel didn't want him in.

Any other time, though, he was alright.

"Hey, you new around here?"

"Yeah. My name's Roxas."

"Hey. I'm Hayner, and this is Pence and Olette." The lanky, yet tough boy gestured to another guy with a mop of dark hair and a petite girl with
dazzling green eyes. "We need a fourth person for this Struggle match. You in?" "

Sure."

Light came in all different ways. Friendship was the one that kept him on track, since with those guys, there was never a dull moment.

Still, the little part of his heart that didn't beat was for him.

Some bits of light could never go out.

"You make me feel...

...like I have a heart."

----

D'aww. Everybody give Axel hugs. -glomps him-

By the way, the music Olette was humming was Roxas' them from KHII, aka, the background music that plays when he's looking up at Sora's pod and says the summer vacation line. I love that scene...-swoons- But yeah, it came on the CD I was playing, and I thought it fit. :D

Oh yes, Happy late AkuRoku day, which was the 13th! August 13th...8-13...ahahaha. -sweatdrops-

Errr, yes. Brownies for everybody! And even more if you leave a review because you guys are all so awesomely awesome ;D