Chapter 11- Day 4: The Calm before the Storm
The room that the two young teens shared quickly changed from the dark oppression of the night to the golden rays of the sun. As the light quickly gained entrance and shined on them causing Roxas to stir and eventually wake up only to be surprised at the what he saw.
In front of him, the light shines down on his friend making her pale skin illuminate much like an angel sent down from the heavens. He smiled sadly, this is the side that wanted to be here forever. No more worries with the organization, no more worries about the amount of hearts needed to be collected and no more worries about living to see the next day. Just lying in this bed with only the sound of breathing. Sadly, this didn't last as his thoughts drifted towards the mission of the day and everything that will change because of it.
The smile that has been unknowingly growing on his face as he observed his friend's sleeping form, has disappeared entirely. The smile quickly turning into a grimace.
"I'm sorry Xion, I truly am. These days with you have been the best me and Axel had once we merged back with our somebody's. I just wish that we had more time." He whispered as his friend didn't stir from her slumber. His grimace turning into a sad smile, he kissed her forehead and got up from the bed.
Intending to make breakfast for the two before their trip to the beach to set everything up, he missed something important that occurred. On her dresser, a beautiful multi-colored necklace in a shape of a star shined brightly as the dawn of a new day shined upon it.
Brightening up with every second, the petals of the star changed. One petal became crimson and yellow similar to the comfortable warmth of a campfire. Another became blue with purple line much like the evening as the sun sets over the ocean. The third petal became diamond clear, with hints of yellow being seen. The last two though were special in their own way. The next petal became sea green blue, much like the ice cream they all shared. The final one had white with a blue star in the middle. All of these petals were held together by a tiny emblem with a XIV.
On the back the inscription says this "Even in the darkest of shadows, even in far-off sunny shores, we will be back and we always have your back."
Stirring awake from my slumber, I felt as if something was missing. As if I lost something really important and didn't remember what it was.
Looking around my bedroom my thoughts were jumbled as I tried to recall the events of last night. "Why don't I remember when I went to bed? Much less why don't I remember what's going on?" I thought as I tried to reassemble the puzzle pieces.
However, before I could do that, the smell of crisp bacon wafts through the door. Smelling the air, the delicious scent of it caused me to realize one important thing, I was really hungry. My stomach thundered in agreement. So quickly getting up from my head, I head downstairs to see who's cooking.
Entering the kitchen, I was surprised to see Roxas there already in the middle of flipping an omelet with a tray of bacon to the side of him. As quietly as I could be, I tried to sneak past him in order to start munching on the bacon. With slow and steady steps I moved closer and closer to my goal, as I reached the point where I could reach the bacon without difficulty. Only for disaster to strike at the moment.
Already aware that I woke up Roxas waited patiently for when I reached the bacon before striking. With a speed that was similar to mine yesterday, he grabbed the bacon tray and moved farther away from me.
"Ah ah ah, what do you think you're doing Xion? Don't you know it's rude to start eating without the other joining in as well? He asked playfully making sure to see if I would proceed with any sudden movements towards my goal.
"But, Roxas! I want my bacon!" I whined pitifully as he proceeded to put the omelet on a serving plate.
"Nope, until we sit together and eat at the same time will you get your bacon." He said moving farther away as I tried to get closer without him noticing.
"But," I tried to protest before he waved me towards a chair. Pouting at his words I sat down on my chair as I waited patiently for him to finish.
"Here you go your majesty," he said as placed an empty in front of me. Already knowing that he has a grin on his face, I barely acknowledged as I slowly reached out to grab my portions. My instincts proved to be false thankfully, as I managed to gather then portions I wanted before waiting for Roxas.
"You're waiting for me? How thoughtful." He said jokingly as he pulled up his chair and loaded up his plate.
As we sat down and start eating the meal prepared by Roxas, I noticed that he seemed back to his old self. Instead of his fun and happy self that usually comes when he hangs around with me or Axel, he seemed downtrodden as if his fears came true. His blue eyes were more stormy as though his mind is caught in a civil war between two sides.
"Hey what's wrong?" I asked as he looked at me his eyes clearing up a bit only making it seem as though they were reflections of a dark sea. " You seem more quiet than usual."
"Just have a lot of things in my mind, don't worry about it." Said Roxas as I observed him some more. I noted that how he seemed to keep his eyes away from looking at me as if the thoughts involved me somehow.
"Roxas, if it involves me in some way, then you can tell me about it," I said as he looks surprised that I found out just by those few moments of observing him. However, to my surprise, he chuckled not the chuckle when friends get together and they do something funny. Instead, this chuckle was full of sadness, as if it was warning me of the dangers that were soon come to past.
"Trust me Xion, it will cause more pain than if you were to know it right then and there," Roxas said, shaking his head as to rid of the nostalgia that quickly immersed him.
We soon fell into silence after that, both of us eating our respective portions so that we could get ready for the ocean today. However, unlike Roxas, I couldn't help but mull over what he said to me the past few moments. What did he mean that it will hurt more if I were to find out about it now rather than later? The different scenarios in my head played into a frightening conclusion that I hope wouldn't come to pass. The idea that dying again doesn't fill me with my confidence for the task at hand.
Quickly loading up the car Roxas came to my house with, we made sure that the cool ice cream treats were packed in a ton of ice before we headed off to the beach.
Driving down the empty roads, we sat in silence as we let the wind blow through the open windows while listening to the music from the radio. I didn't know why at the time, but this silence foreboding and a large weight settled in my stomach. Attempting to ignore it, I looked outside the window hoping to see something different instead of the boring landscape that comprised of concrete and asphalt.
Luckily for me, I did, as I saw a blue creature playing the ukulele with a little girl by his side. "Hey Roxas, can you stop the car for a moment? I want to see who they are." I turned to face him as he looked over to see what I'm viewing.
"Xion, no one is there." He said as I whipped my head around to be sure. Just like Roxas said, no one was there.
"But...how?" I questioned as my thoughts raced in order to come up with an explanation as for the reason for the creature's disappearance. "I saw it right there, trust me, Roxas, I saw a blue creature playing the ukulele."
Shaking his head, Roxas told me that I probably didn't have enough sleep and that I was most likely imagining it. However, staring at Roxas while he said this, I felt that he was trying to convince me more than trying to wave it off. It was like whatever that creature was, he didn't want to talk about it or mention it in front of my presence. Whatever it was, I had to find out, for my sake at least.
Seeing how Xion could tell through my very bad lie, I attempted to steer the conversation away from it and more to mundane things. We talked about some of our likes, or dislikes and a whole multitude of topics in order to make her forget. However, she didn't and it was the next question that brought me up short.
"Roxas, you wouldn't hide anything from me, would you?"