So it's been a while but then we discovered something: We forgot this chapter was written a while ago! Whoops! But hey look at this, the story is back on the tracks and ready to roll! Hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 5

Roxas still couldn't believe what he was staring at. This boy… or whatever he was seeing, was a complete copy of him. Down to the number… with the exception of that tail. Roxas opened his mouth to say something, to try and ask what he was seeing, but the salty water filled his mouth.

He had forgotten he was even underwater! He broke back up to the surface and started to cough, trying to make sure that he didn't swallow any of the water. He kept it up until he felt like he could breath normally. Now that he was floating about the water though he had a bit more time to think without the fear of running out of air.

"What was that? Was I really seeing myself but with a tail? I couldn't just be imagining it…"

With a deep breath he plunged under water again only to see that there was nothing there. He turned his head in every direction, up, and down, but could not find the boy with the tail anywhere. He quickly brought his head back up above the water and decided to walk back to shore.

A look of confusion spread on his face as he looked out toward the ocean again. "Did I just imagine that? Maybe I'm just too tired from the training…"

He stood there for a few more seconds until he heard a familiar voice.

"Heya, Roxas!" Sora's unmistakable cheery voice yelled.

Turning around Roxas faced the shore and saw Sora smiling and waving to him. "You already started without us? No fair!"

"It's swimming!" Roxas shouted back as he started to swim closer. "There isn't any fair way to swim or not swim when waiting."

Vanitas then walked closer to Roxas, raising an eyebrow. "And you just went in with all your clothes on? Didn't even take off your shirt?"

Roxas looked down and completely forgot that he had just ran into the water with all of his clothes on. "Whoops… guess I got too distracted to realize."

"Distracted? With what?" Sora asked.

"I thought I had seen something out there… and went to check… but I think my eyes were just playing tricks on me."

"Playing tricks on you? Like what could you see out there?" Sora asked curiously.

Roxas thought about telling them for a moment. They were his brothers, so he was sure they would listen. Then again, because they were his brothers, he also figured they might make fun of him as well.

"I, uh… don't really know. Like I said, just thought I saw something. Don't know what it was…"

"Well, whatever. Doesn't matter anyways," Vanitas started. "Did you see Namine?"

Roxas's aloof status suddenly disappeared when his brother spoke up to him. "Oh, yeah I did. Told her what you wanted me to. She said the same thing back, and that she's planning to call you later."

"Thanks for that. Now, let's stop waiting around and hop in already!" Vanitas yelled as he ran and bolted into the water, taking off his regular shirt in the process.

"We brought your swim trunks," Sora explained. "They're in the bag, though if you are already wet why change right?" Sora laughed a bit before going to chase after Vanitas.

Roxas sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." But Sora had already gone, so there was nobody there to hear him.

He kept pondering the encounter he had just had though, not being able to get it off of his mind. As much as he wanted to pretend that he didn't see it, that he was imagining things… he knew deep down it was real. It felt real. It was hard for him to explain, but it's like he could feel something from the other boy, but he had no idea what it all meant. He stared endlessly and emotionlessly out towards the ocean, looking straight through everything.

"Hey zombie!" Vanitas yelled out.

Roxas snapped from his trance at the call. "Wait, huh, what?"

"You gonna come in, or just stand there like an idiot? You were here before us anyways."

"Yeah, come on Roxas! We wanted you to join us," Sora chimed in.

"Fine fine, just give me a minute! I'm coming!" Roxas yelled out, a slight annoyance in his voice, mainly towards Vanitas.

He hated being called a zombie, even though he knew that he looked like one when he got lost deep in thought. Which, that admittedly happened a lot. Either way he wasn't going to sit around and waste the rest of the day just thinking. He was going to have fun and that was just what he planned to do.

Since he was already soaked in his clothes, he really saw no need to change. Though he did take off his shirt just to make the weight a little less than before. Once that was out of the way he ran back into the water, chasing after his brothers.

They played around, swimming after one another and splashing each other. Time slipped away and eventually Vanitas headed back onto the shore to check the time. Though when he got to where they left their stuff he turned around, now holding his phone in his hand. "Namine wants to call. I'm going to talk to her right now okay?"

"Really, Vani?" Sora sighed over dramatically.

"What?" he asked. "She's my girlfriend. I talk to her whenever I can."

"Oh it's fine Sora. Let Vani go and tell her how much he loves her," Roxas teased.

"Heh, whatever. I'm heading back towards the house. See ya there," Vanitas said towards the two as he turned his back to head home.

Sora sighed. "I don't understand him sometimes."

"But you're his twin, aren't you supposed to understand him better than anyone?" Roxas asked jokingly.

"Yeah but we don't always have the same mindset. I guess I just don't understand love like he does," Sora replied with a shrug.

"I guess so…" Roxas trailed off, not knowing how to fully respond. "Anything you wanna do now then?"

"Hmm, I think I'm going to hit the bathroom really quick. Maybe I might dry off after that. I'll let you know when I'm back."

"Oh all right then. I guess it is getting kinda late huh?" Roxas replied.

Just then he heard something from behind him. When he looked, he saw there were some ripples formed in the water closer to the shoreline than the last time.

Could it be him again? "No, your mind is just playing tricks on you. You're just really tired."

"What was that?" Sora asked, surprised.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"In the water. It's like something came up or something. But I didn't see anything."

"Uh, I don't know. I didn't see anything. Maybe it was a fish or something?" he tried to divert his brother away from it, as it was making the prospect of what he thought all the more real.

"This close to the shore though? That would be kinda odd."

Sora was right. And Roxas knew that as well. Fish didn't come that close. That was a lame excuse, but it was the only one he had. It's not like Sora suspected anything anyways, so it should be fine.

"Well then, I really wouldn't know then…" Roxas trailed off.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them. Almost like nothing had happened at all, Sora's demeanor changed.

"Well, anyways, I gotta go real quick. I'm about to burst," he chuckled as he ran off towards the facility just up towards the inner beach area.

Now that Roxas was alone he started to move towards the area that he had seen the movement in. He kept telling himself that it had to have been nothing. Surely it was nothing because seeing himself but with a tail was far too strange. Then again… he knew of magic, so it wasn't too out of the question.

Coming closer to the area, he wading out slightly until he could feel the ground beneath his feet start to go downhill in a dropoff. He stayed there as he stared, as if that would make something appear out of the water.

But much to his surprise something did break the water's surface and once again he was met face to face with his mirror image.

"Ah!" Roxas shouted before he stumbled back. "So you are real!"

The look-alike stared, his eyes growing wide. "You… you sound like me."

Roxas heard the voice of the boy speak… and it was entirely true. Though maybe this look-alike sounded a bit more gentle with his tone. Or maybe he spoke softly because he was shocked. Either way, there was no doubting that there were similarities between the two, and they both stared at each other intently with wonder.

Roxas began to reach his hand out towards the boy, almost as a way to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. Even though he could see him, he wanted to 'feel' if it were real.

The boy replicated Roxas's motions, extending his hand toward the other. The same thoughts must have been running through his mind as they both tried to figure out each other and what this meant.

Their left hands met, pressing firmly against one another… and that was when they saw it. The wristband on each other's hands. So similar yet there were differences. Roxas's had always been black with white checkers, but this boy… his wristband was white with black checkers.

"You have one too!" they exclaimed in unison, their voices blending almost perfectly.

Was a bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but we are getting some progress to building things. Hope that you all are enjoying how it's going so far, and leave some feedback if you want!