I'm not really sure how long I'd been in the program but it felt like days and I am exhausted. It seemed that even if I could feel exhaustion and pain the program didn't make the man that was 'teaching' me. He seemed to be beating me up more than anything. My whole body ached because of the countless times I'd been hit with that stupid wooden sword. I'd hit him too but he didn't really react to it. Only paused like he just froze the same amount of time someone would in recoil. Maybe that's what Roxas meant when he said it wasn't as high tech?

" How you holding up Sora?" Roxas' voice floated into the room again. He actually hadn't said much during this whole time; wonder what he's been up to out there by himself.

" Tired." I panted tiredly, eyeing my 'teacher' wearily in case he decided to surprise attack me again.

" Want a break? You've been in there about two hours."

" Only two hours!?" It felt like days!

I heard him laughing before he answered, " Yeah time seems to go by a lot slower in there. It's supposed to. In truth what you've done is equal to about four days of training."

I'll admit that's pretty neat and explains how people can get so powerful so quickly. If I spent weeks with this kind of stuff I'd be pretty badass too. " A break sounds good." The room dissolved, returning to its original grid like look and the door slid open. All the soreness in my body left when the room returned to normal but I was still exhausted. It wasn't quite as bad but I still just wanted to rest and get some water.

When I exited I found Roxas still at the control system, three bottles of water beside him, one of which was almost empty. I didn't pay any mind to what he was doing and just grabbed one of the bottles, drinking most of it in one go. " So what have you been doing?" I asked after I caught my breath again.

" Getting back in shape." I guess being in a coma would have a bad effect on your body. Although apparently not as much as you would logically assume, but what do I know anymore?

" Maybe you should be the one training there." I teased.

" I could take you any day." He laughed and I stuck my tongue out at him. He moved away and went over to the punching bags. I watched him for a few minutes, impressed by the force with which he hit the innocent bag of sand, before turning my attention to the control panel beside where I sat on the floor. I know I should probably leave it alone since I don't know how to work it, but how hard could it be? I'm not too bad with computers so surely I could understand how to at least browse through it.

After looking over all the buttons I tapped the one labeled 'location.' There seemed to be a pretty decent selection of places for someone to train. There was one with a river and waterfall, the dojo, and boxing rink, a snowy plain, and even one that seemed like a ninja training field or something. There was an underwater training arena and one with just a bunch of roof tops. Did they train people to go roof hopping like ninjas too? Thinking back to that weird obstacle course one, probably. That one really did seem like it would be where ninjas trained.

One in particular caught my attention even though there was nothing in it. It was labeled 'The Room' and was just that; an empty room with nothing in it. The walls and floor seemed to be made of concrete and were bare of anything. There was a file under it that was titled 'Description,' just like the others had had, so I clicked on it, hoping it would tell me what was up with the weird location choice. Why would anyone want to pick that and what would they do in there?

A short paragraph popped up on the screen over the picture of the empty cellar like room.

Location: The Room

Purpose: Tolerance

Description: Trainees are to undergo training to increase pain tolerance and ability to remain calm in imprisonment. Also used for punishment. Required for all members above Dusk level.

Worst: Salazar Winchester

Best: Ro-

" What are you doing?" Roxas' voice made me jump, my nerves already rattled after reading what this was for. I didn't get to finish reading the entire entry to see who had the best time, instead I stared at my friend in shock. He looked at my (no doubt startled) expression before looking at the screen, his eyes widening in surprise. " Why are you looking through this?"

" I just wanted to see all the places it had…" My voice was quiet. He growled in annoyance before hitting a button on the keyboard causing the screen to go blank. " What is that one for Roxas?" Surely they didn't do what that said. They wouldn't torture people and lock them in there would they?

" You read the description didn't you? It's exactly as it says." He glared at the program, his fist clenched at his side. He looked like he wanted to hit something.

Wait. It said it was required for everyone above Dusk level. Did that mean… " Roxas did you have to…?" I couldn't even finish my sentence.

" Yeah, I had to go in there." His words were clipped and sharp, clearly signaling he didn't want to talk about it.

" They tortured you and locked you up in there?" The very thought of my best friend having to go through that tore at me.

" Just drop it, Sora." He growled.

" No! Tell me the truth. Did you have to go in there? Did they torture you? Why would you let them do that to you!?"

" I said drop it!" His eyes flashed and for a moment I was sure he was going to hit me. He looked so angry, furious actually, but behind it was something else. Behind it was fear. I must have shown something on my face, probably that I was afraid, terrified maybe, because he just seemed to deflate. His shoulders slumped and he turned away, his fist releasing and hanging limply by his side.

" Just talk to me Roxas. Please…" I laid my hand on his arm, trying to coax him into talking.

He remained quiet for a few moments, then began talking, his voice sounding strained. " I actually had the record. They liked to keep track of those that could withstand it the most and least. I don't even remember how long I was stuck in that room alone in the dark. Most people cracked after a few hours either from the pain or from going mad. I didn't; I wouldn't let them get to me and so I waited. The pain programs did their worst every now and then before throwing me back into the dark. It was Hell but finally, after what felt like years, I was let out. Axel told me later that I'd only been in there for two days." His voice stayed low and he still didn't look at me, his body was rigid and tense.

Two days? If two hours was four days in there then it must have been months. " Roxas…" I didn't know what to say. He sat roughly on the ground, his back hitting the wall hard. It didn't even seem like he noticed, his eyes told me that he was far away from right here at the moment. " What else happened?" I tried to sound as calm as I could as I sat down in front of him. He seemed so vulnerable and I just don't know what to do.

He closed his eyes and shock his head, unwilling to answer. " It doesn't matter anymore. I did what I had to and it's in the past. What matters now is ending this. Are you ready to go back in there or not?"

" Oh course I'm not ready! I find out you were tortured, trapped in that stupid program for days and you expect me to be ok? To go right back to training?" I know I shouldn't be so angry with him but I'm not used to this. He always told me everything. There wasn't a secret we didn't share with each other, nothing we didn't tell the other about. Now he just keeps brushing everything aside and I just can't handle it. Not when everything he had to go through was my fault.

" Yes, I do, because it's what needs to be done. I don't want to talk about what happened, I want to end it all." He set his gaze back on me, his stubborn expression deflating my anger. I wasn't going to get anything out of him and it wasn't my place to pester him about it.

" You're so different now, Roxas." I muttered, turning and walking to the door of the virtual room, waiting for it to open. When it didn't, I turned to see him looking at me, his expression having changed. He seemed hurt and afraid like his worst nightmare was standing in front of him. " Roxas?" he closed his eyes and turned his head towards the floor and I watched as he seemed to shut himself away. I could literally see that he was closing himself off to me, his best friend. And that's when it all clicked.

Roxas didn't want to tell me anything because he didn't want me to think of him differently.

When he first started hanging out with Axel and his friends more often I had noticed he acted a little different. He always seemed tired for the first few weeks and was kinda banged up at times too but he still acted like Roxas. The first time he acted different was when we got into that big fight, which we still haven't really talked about now that I think about it but I'm not really in a rush to. It's not like I don't understand anymore; I get why it happened and that it wasn't true. Though there was something I needed to tell him.

" Roxas?" I spoke up, moving back towards him. He didn't act like he heard me even though I know he did. " I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I don't think of you any different because of all of this, I promise. You just act a little different and I'm not used to it. You went through all of this for me and I said all those horrible things to you before. I'm really sorry." I whispered. I'd apologized before but he probably didn't hear me; he was in a coma after all.

" Don't worry about it." He just shook his head, still not looking at me.

" No I shouldn't have said those things. I-"

" I deserved it Sora." I don't think I've ever heard his voice so low and empty before. That's definitely not a good sign…

" No you didn't!" I grabbed his arm and made him face me. I wished I hadn't. His blue eyes were haunted, lost and his face held no emotion. Why would he think he deserved that? He was trying to protect me and my family. He didn't, doesn't, deserve any of this. " You tried to get me away from you, right? To protect me from them? To protect my family?" He remained silent and from Roxas, that meant I was spot on with what I said. " I should have realized something was up but I was too mad. I was jealous, even, that you were hanging out with Axel and them more than me. I was afraid I was losing you as my friend and I just made everything worse…"

" You don't understand, Sora, I had to do something. The only reason they were after you and your family… was because of me. What you said was right Sora; all I do is ruin people's lives." He pulled his arm out of my grasp and turned away again.

" What do you mean?" Did I really want to know the answer? What am thinking; of course I did! This is Roxas, my best friend. He wouldn't do anything to purposely put me in danger like that. And even if he had he did everything he could to make it right.

" I've been friends with Axel for years and tried to talk him out of joining the Organization when he first got tied up in all this mess. He didn't listen, obviously, but I stayed friends with him even when Cloud told me not to. A few months ago he told me that the boss was interested in me both because of all the fights I got in and because I was your friend. When I first heard I refused, but then Axel told me that they were going to kill you and your family if I didn't cooperate." I watched as his face contorted into one of rage and hatred. " Xemnas was going to kill both your parents, forcing your dad to hand over all his research and money, then kill both you and Cloud in front of me. Unless I joined and helped him."

" Why did he want you so badly?"

" It was for your dad's research. He was just going to take your father and force him to give up his research at first. But then he heard Axel talking about me and you. According to Axel, that's when he changed his plan. I was to get the information by whatever means I had to or he would torture and kill you and your family until he got what he was looking for. I was told that if I failed everyone would die and I would have to watch so that you could know of my failure. As you all were killed, you'd know it was my fault. That I had failed to protect you all."

" How could anyone do that…?" I was horrified by the thought of someone doing that to anyone. And disgusted with this man for threatening my friend like that, for forcing him to join them by such drastic means.

" He knows how to break people, Sora. If that happened, I'd be broken. I don't think I would even have it in me to feel hatred after that. I know I wouldn't. He showed it all to me, showed me with this stupid machine!" He shouted, slamming his fist to the floor. " Just walked in there and played it all out, right in front of me, narrating it all like some sick story! I should have killed him in that room!" He kept hitting the floor, tears beginning to fall out of his eyes, blood smearing the floor as his knuckles split open. Roxas, the strongest person I have ever known, looked so lost and broken in this moment, so fragile and vulnerable that I felt my heart break just a bit more for him.

I didn't know what else to do so I did what my mom always did when I was upset; I hugged him. He remained limp in my arms as he cried on my shoulder and we stayed like that for I don't know how long. I just know that he needed this, he had kept so much locked away for so long and it had finally gotten too much. Guilt flooded through me at the thought; this was my fault. If only I hadn't pushed him so much to talk to me, I should've just given him time. Maybe then he wouldn't seem so fragile, so close to the edge.

As we sat I thought about that night several months ago, right before he starting hanging out with all the other members and not just Axel. That night that had left me at such a loss now made so much sense.

It was pitch black outside, but that was expected considering it was almost midnight. I didn't care though, even if I did have school again in the morning. I sat back on the couch, completely absorbed in the movie playing on the screen. It was some old horror movie I stumbled across and, although it did have some pretty scary parts, was mostly just funny due to the characters' own stupidity. I almost jumped out of his skin, however, when my phone went off, the ringtone tearing loudly through the silence of the suspenseful scene on the screen.

Looking at the screen I saw it was Roxas and answered quickly. " Geez, Roxas, you almost gave me a heart attack!"I laughed, finding it comical and happy to hear from him since he had randomly disappeared that afternoon right after school.

" C-Can you let me in?" His voice was shaky and he seemed like he was out of breath.

" Uh, sure…" I walked to the front door, ending the call, and opened it to reveal a very disheveled looking Roxas. He looked like he had just ran a marathon or been mugged, maybe both. " Are you ok?" Worry washed through me at how horrible he looked.

Relief was clear on his face, why I didn't know, but he didn't answer my question. Instead, he grabbed me in a rough hug, something very unlike him. " Good, you're ok." He breathed, his voice still shaky as he tightened his hold. I could feel his limbs trembling and it frightened me to see him in such a state. He hadn't look this shaken up since his parents died.

" Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" I asked, trying to look at his face but only able to see the back of his spiky blonde head. He just shook his head and let go, smiling at me.

" Mind if I stay for a bit? I already kind of told Cloud I'd be spending the night." He laughed sheepishly as his smile turned to a grin. I wasn't quite fooled though, I could tell something was really bugging him.

" Sure, not like you haven't randomly appeared in the middle of the night before." I shrugged with a laugh. He'd tell me when he was ready is what I figured.

But he never did. We watched the movie and played some games before going to sleep. We went to school and didn't really see each other the rest of the day. Or the rest of the week for that matter and that's when I began to worry. " When you just showed up that night… You were making sure it wasn't real…" I whispered, not really needing the confirming nod he gave me. " I'm so sorry Roxas." He just shook his head, not saying anything but moving further away from me; at least he seemed to have calmed down.

" Thanks, Sora."

" For what?"

" You know what." He glared half heartedly at me for emphasis.

I grinned at him, " What are best friends for?"

He just shook his head, allowing his body to rest against the wall, eyes staring unseeingly into the room. Where ever his thoughts had taken him was definitely far away from here. I was worried about him. He had always been the stronger one of us, that was something he had shown time and time again. Something he had proven again by doing all of this. But looking at him now and thinking about what just happened, I can finally see how much of a toll that strength was taking on him.

He had been through Hell and was unable to escape it as long as this continued. As long as Xemnas was still out there. He's always put everyone else above himself; me, Cloud, Axel, even Riku and Kairi despite the fact that they weren't really that close. He was always there to help us, make us feel better, save us. But no one was there to save him and I can tell that he's trying so hard. Trying to save himself, to make it seem like he doesn't need any help.

But that empty stare, the blood smeared floor, the fragile state he was trying to hide from the world, told a different story. Roxas needed help. Needed someone to be there for him. Someone to bring him out of this nightmare and back to reality. This time, it wasn't me or Cloud or Axel that needed saving, it was the one that had always been the saving grace.

And I promise, Roxas, that this time I'll save you.