Chapter 182: Special Mission

Sora let out a long groan, half in frustration, half in pain. He appreciated Peter Pan trying to help him fly and all, but he didn't see how shoving him off a cliff exactly helped. Especially since pushing him out of a tree hadn't worked.

"I'm going to give up on flying," Sora grumbled, pushing himself up and spitting the grass and dirt out of his mouth. At least it didn't taste as bad as sand… but it still tasted pretty bad.

"Hey, are you—" a voice began, but then they stopped.

Sora sat up on his knees, rubbing his wrist—it didn't feel right. His eyes went wide when he saw who was speaking, though. It was Roxas. He looked a little tense…

Then again, considering what happened when I last saw him, Sora thought, grimacing.

"I, uhm," he said, getting to his feet. "Sorry about- about… last time I saw you. I wasn't exactly… I was…" he scratched his head. This was more complicated to explain than he thought it would've been. "…possessed by darkness?"

Roxas was still frowning at him, but after a moment, he banished one of his Keyblades and relaxed a little.

"Aw, I guess it's alright," he said. "I mean, I'm okay, aren't I?" His face got very serious. "And even if you were lying, I can still take you if you tried something like that again." He spun his Keyblade around in his hand once, then grinned. "I hope you're not stupid enough to try, because I won't go so easy on you!"

"I- no!" Sora stuttered. "Of- of course I wouldn't… be stupid enough to… try something like that again."

Roxas grinned. "Good."

Sora grimaced, then, realizing something. "…you went easy on me, last time?" he asked, rubbing his back. It still ached at the memory of that fight. Or maybe it just ached from falling…

"For the most part," Roxas laughed. "Here." He dug a hi-potion out of his pocket and handed it to Sora. "Not sure if it'll help with whatever damage I did to you during that battle, but it might help with that… fall." He squinted up at the top of the cliff. "Why did you—"

"Hey Sora! Who's this guy? He a friend of yours or something?" Peter was very suddenly right next to Roxas, poking him and scowling at him, clearly suspicious.

Sora swallowed the rest of the hi-potion as quick as he could so he could answer. "Ah, well—"

Peter's eyes narrowed. "Don't I know you?" he asked.

Roxas just looked at him, blinking a few times. "I don't know you…" he said, slowly.

"You sure look familiar."

Roxas took a step away from Peter, looking a little uncomfortable. "I- I swear I've never met you before," he said.

Peter frowned for another few seconds, and then shrugged. "Okay. Guess it's just my memory being wonky again…" He didn't seem too pleased by that thought, but stopped pressing the matter.

Tinker Bell jingled happily, and flew over, circling around Roxas a few times.

Roxas smiled at her.

"Hey, nice to see you again!" he said.

"You know him?" Peter asked, folding his arms across his chest and looking at Tinker Bell, pouting a little.

She jingled.

"Yeah, she helped me out with, uh, flying," Roxas said.

"You helped him out but you didn't help Sora!?" Peter demanded, glaring at Tinker Bell now.

She turned her nose up, jangling.

"He doesn't look trustworthy at all!" Peter protested. "Not with the black cloak and the—I don't care what he smells like!"

Roxas laughed, Sora chuckled a little, too.

Roxas threw him a look. "They always like this?" he asked.

"They've been like this all day," Sora replied. "I can't vouch for any other days." He shrugged.

"So, uh, what was with the falling, anyway?" Roxas asked. Peter and Tinker Bell were still arguing behind them.

"Peter Pan shoved me," Sora explained, laughing a little. "He's been trying to help me fly."

Roxas laughed. "Oh boy! You can't figure it out for yourself?"

Sora showed Roxas his attempts to take flight, which, of course, were still unsuccessful.

"She already sprinkle you with the dust?"

Sora nodded.

"Huh. That's all it took for me."

To demonstrate, Roxas took off from the ground, hovering just above it for a few seconds before landing again. Sora frowned at him. Of course Roxas could—

No. No he wasn't going to think like that. It didn't matter that Roxas was better than him. Didn't matter that Roxas was stronger. Didn't matter that Roxas could fly.

"Peter says you need happy thoughts, too," Sora explained.

And I'm getting less and less of those as the day wears on, he thought. It's no wonder I can't fly.

"Huh," Roxas said.

Sora swallowed.

"Uhm. I am- I am really sorry about… the other day…" he said.

Roxas frowned at him, but he looked a little amused. "You already apologized!"

"I know, I just—"

"Hey! No hard feelings, alright?" Roxas flashed a smile at him. "Like I said, I survived, didn't I? That's all that really matters. Besides, in hindsight, it was a lot of fun!"

Sora stared, not sure if- Well, he'd heard Roxas right, but…

"It was?"

"Yeah!" Roxas was grinning. "You were the first real challenge I've had in a while!"

"I- I can't have been!" Sora stuttered. "You fight humongous Heartless all the time!"

"Yeah, but Heartless don't think," Roxas said. He spun his Keyblade around in his hand, once, like a nervous tick. "They're mindless. Do the same things over and over and over again. It's repetitive. Not a challenge at all! But you—" He paused, thought for a second. "You know how I said I went easy on you?"

"Yeah…"

"I lied." Roxas chuckled. "I just wanted to impress you. Heh. But I actually couldn't afford to go easy on you. You were attacking me way too hard!"

"I was?"

"Yeah!" Roxas nodded. "And it was a surprise—I didn't expect a wimp like you to be able to pack such a punch! Not- not that you're a wimp!" he added, quickly. "Sorry. You're just… you always seemed so hesitant when you fought anything. But during that battle…" He trailed off, shaking his head, smiling.

Sora looked at him long and hard, trying to determine what he was thinking. He seemed a little… no. No, that was ridiculous. There was no way Roxas was awed by him!

Sora shrugged. "I guess it was the darkness," he said, grimacing a little. "I, uh, wouldn't have been holding back, with it controlling me…"

"You should hold back less often!" Roxas said.

Sora stared at him. "You think so?"

"Yeah!" Roxas reached over, poked him in the chest. "If you're always scared of what you can do, you'll never be able to get anything done!"

Sora turned away from him. He reached up, running his fingers over his cheek—over his scar—a little absentmindedly. "I'm not scared of what I can do," he muttered. "I'm scared of the damage it'll cause."

"Well-" Roxas began.

"I could've killed you!"

"But you didn't."

"Yeah, and I consider it lucky that I—"

"Sora," Roxas interrupted. "How… much of this battle do you remember?"

"Well-" Sora let out a breath, scratching the back of his neck, now. "Bits and pieces. Not a lot…"

"Ah." Roxas smiled. "You could've killed me twice, you know? During that battle."

"Wha—"

"Twice, you caught me, with my guard down," Roxas continued. "Twice, I was wide open and you could've dealt a finishing blow. But you hesitated. Both times."

Sora lowered his head. "I…"

"I don't think you'd seriously hurt anything—or anyone—on accident, Sora!" Roxas said, laughing a little. "You'd have to be really trying. You'd have to really want to."

"But the darkness—" Sora paused, rethinking that. "But it was controlling me… and I didn't…"

"See?" Roxas grinned. "You—agh…" He glared at something over Sora's shoulder. In one swift motion, he tossed his Keyblade up, caught it around the middle, twirled it once between his fingers before chucking it at whatever he was glaring at.

The distinct sound of a Heartless dying followed.

"Hnn… pity it was just a Shadow," Roxas sighed, clearly dissatisfied. He caught his Keyblade, but he was still holding it around the middle, twirling it in his fingers, lazily.

"Where'd you learn that?" Sora asked him. He couldn't help but stare. He'd never seen anyone wield a Keyblade like that.

"Hmm?" It took Roxas a second to realize what he was asking. "Oh! From Axel."

"Who—"

"Hey, if we're gonna keep talking, do you think we can do it while walking?" Roxas interrupted, seeming a little impatient all of a sudden.

"Oh!" Sora was a little surprised at the request, but didn't see a problem with it. "Yeah, sure! Lemme just—" He pointed over at Peter and Tinker Bell, who were still arguing. He should tell Peter that he was gonna… go. And say thanks for the flying lessons, even though they'd been unsuccessful.

He didn't get a chance. A dark corridor opened all of a sudden, and a man with flaming red hair stepped out.

"Roxas! You done with your-" He paused, glancing around once. "You done here?"

"Uh, yeah!" Roxas nodded. He looked a little startled, but didn't seem too bothered. "Yeah I'm—"

"Then we gotta go! I'll fill you in on the way."

He formed another dark corridor, and he and Roxas were gone.

Sora stared for a moment, before sighing. That was… abrupt. And now that he thought about it, he should've asked Roxas about forming a dark corridor for him. Dark corridors certainly weren't his favorite way of travel, but it'd get him off this world. Away from Maleficent.

Too late now…