Chapter 196: Day Off

Dinner last night had been… eventful, to say the least. Joseph had spent most of it flicking breadcrumbs at Toby, who eventually started flicking things back. 29 had attempted to get them both to stop, but all he succeeded in doing was making sure Joseph didn't flick food at anyone besides Toby. Meanwhile, Yuffie'd tried to steal a roll from Riku, but hadn't managed. She'd been very upset about that.

The rest of dinner was just a jumble of conversation that Namine couldn't remember. She wasn't sure if memories typically faded like this over time, or if it was just because she'd been… preoccupied.

"What is the point, then? That you're going to kill me, too?"

"Oh, no, not yet. Killing you would be too merciful."

She shuddered, shaking the image from her mind. She looked down at her picture, half expecting to see a figure huddled in a corner between darkness stained walls, like she'd drawn yesterday, but, no. It was still the dragon she'd started a few hours ago.

"Namine?"

She looked up. Aerith was standing in front of her.

"Can I sit next to you?" Aerith asked.

"Uh- yeah!" Namine said, nodding. "Sure."

Aerith sat down, clasping her hands together in her lap.

"And… can I… ask you something?"

Namine laughed.

"Shoot."

"Well…" Aerith let out a long breath. "This is going to sound a little weird. But. You can't, uh… predict the future, can you?"

"I- Not. No." Namine said. She kept her eyes fixed on her sketchbook, her grip on it and her pencil tightening. "Not really. Vague notions and occasional pictures but that's it. Nothing more."

"That sure sounds like predicting the future to me," Aerith said, a small laugh in her voice.

"It's not like I do it often, though," Namine retorted, narrowing her eyes. "It's probably just a coincidence when it does happen. Seeing the future is ridiculous, anyway, isn't it?"

Aerith chuckled, softly. "I know a couple of people who are capable of it. It's really not that strange of an ability."

Namine sighed. She set her pencil down before she could break it or ruin the drawing. "Why are you asking?" She tried not to sound too sharp, but she had a feeling she didn't succeed.

"You just… said something yesterday," Aerith explained. "Made me curious."

"Well, I can't see the future," Namine said, firmly. Whatever she'd drawn yesterday, whatever the voices were that played back in her head—it couldn't be the future. It couldn't be. There was no way something so terrible, so horrifying, could be his future.

"Namine…" Aerith started.

"I can't!" Namine repeated, louder this time. "All this is just nightmares and- and it's not like I haven't drawn nightmares before! It wasn't real. It won't happen."

Aerith looked at her, sadly. "You should always trust your hunches," she said.

"It was just one picture—"

"Even the bad ones."

Namine paused. Aerith sighed.

"It's not a hunch," Namine mumbled, kneading her forehead. "I'm just… scared."

"Of what…?"

"Of—"

But she couldn't say it. Couldn't admit it. The only thing that scared her more than the nightmare was the fact that it was Riku, in that nightmare, who frightened her the most. It wasn't a pleasant feeling—it made her stomach twist in knots, and if she thought about it too much, she'd feel like she might puke.

"Well…" Aerith said, slowly. "If it ever comes up again… promise me you'll tell me about it?"

Her voice was gentle. Worried.

"I…"

"Please."

Namine took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I promise."

"Thank you."

Aerith got up and returned to the kitchen.

xxx

"Olympus again?" Kairi mused, shielding her eyes from the sun.

Tifa just shrugged and looked very pointedly in not-Kairi's-direction. Kairi frowned at her.

"Tifa…" she said, slowly.

"I, uh," Tifa cleared her throat. "May be trying to… 'accidentally' run into Cloud?"

Kairi laughed and rolled her eyes. "You really don't have to…"

"You want to see Sora, don't you?"

"Well, yeah!" Kairi laughed. "But they promised to meet up with us. And I don't really mind waiting." After all, she had some things she wanted to sort out, too. "Besides! We've only got, what, a couple more days, right?"

"Four," Tifa replied, then frowned. "Or maybe it's three…"

"I can wait," Kairi said.

Sure, she was certain she and Sora both were being silly by avoiding each other, but the way their meeting loomed over her still tied her stomach in knots, just a little bit. She was nervous, and probably for no reason—Cloud would have mentioned if something was wrong with Sora—but. She was still nervous.

"You really think Cloud's here?" she asked, looking over at Tifa.

"He might be," Tifa replied. "He's here often enough." She shrugged, then threw a look at Kairi. "I thought you said you didn't need to see Sora right away."

"That doesn't mean I'm going to protest if he is here!"

Tifa chuckled. "Well, they're probably in the arena, if anywhere. Let's go check it out"

"Right."

Kairi nodded, and they headed for the doors of the arena. Before they could enter, a boy walked out, squeezing past them without saying anything. Kairi paused. Was that…? It couldn't have been… But there was no mistaking that hair.

Kairi nudged Tifa. "You, uh, sure we're in the right… universe?" she asked.

Tifa laughed. "Pretty sure! I don't think accidental-universe-travel can happen more than once. Why?"

Kairi pointed over at the boy. Roxas. At least it looked like Roxas.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "Is that… are you sure that's even the same boy?"

"How can it not be?"

"Well… the other Roxas we met was a Nobody…" Tifa explained, slowly. "And last I checked—"

"—Sora never became a Heartless in this universe," Kairi finished, grimacing. "Oh. But that looks just like Roxas! Maybe we could ask him…"

"That'd be weird! And rude. And." Tifa shook her head. "Besides, we were gonna check the arena for Cloud and Sora, weren't—"

"Sora?" a voice piped up. Both Tifa and Kairi jumped. It was Roxas who had spoken.

"Uh- yeah," Kairi stuttered after a moment. "You know him?"

"Yeah! Ran into him recently—though he wasn't in the arena." Roxas shrugged, then frowned, staring very intently at Kairi. "Do I… know you?" he asked, after a moment.

Kairi quickly shook her head, gulping a little. What if he'd overheard them discussing the other universe? Would he have believed them? Just been severely weirded out? And could she even tell him about another universe?

"Uh. No," she stammered. "Not exactly. I mean—"

"What'd you say your name was?" Roxas interrupted.

"Kairi," she replied automatically.

"Oh." Roxas broke into a grin. "Alright. I definitely don't know a Kairi. Your face just looked a little familiar, that's all. Threw me off."

"Oh!"

"What'd you say about Sora?" Tifa asked. "Though we should probably move away from the arena doors before you take the time to answer that."

They moved off to the side, though Roxas started his explanation as he did so.

"Yeah, I ran into Sora in Neverland a couple days ago," he said. "Not that we talked for very long, but—"

"Was there anyone else with him?" Tifa asked.

"Just one of the locals."

"Tall? Blond?"

"Nope." Roxas laughed. "Why? Looking for a boyfriend?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "He's just my friend."

Roxas raised his hands in defeat, though he was still grinning.

"Oh, hey," Kairi said. "What's your name, anyway?"

It'd probably best if she had him tell them his name before they accidently called him by it. That way they'd avoid confusion.

"Roxas." He looked between the two of them. "You? Well, you told me your name, but you." He pointed at Tifa.

"Tifa."

"Cool."

Roxas didn't seem too impressed, though.

"How was Sora?" Kairi asked. "When you saw him? Was he okay?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah! He was, ah, he was fine. He seemed fine."

Kairi frowned. That was a… strange answer. She opened her mouth to question him further, but didn't get the chance.

"Oh, Roxas," Tifa said, smiling a little. "You don't happen to know any light attacks, do you?"

Roxas's face lit up immediately. "Light attacks? Yeah, I think I know a few. Why?"

"Any chance you can give Kairi some pointers?"

Roxas grinned. "Sure thing! I've got time! Well—" He grimaced. "Nah. I've killed plenty of extra Heartless lately. Enough I deserve a day off, even! They shouldn't complain too much."

Tifa raised her eyebrows. "They?"

"Or- my employers," Roxas said. "I get paid to kill Heartless, and get paid based on how many I kill."

"Heartless drop munny…"

"Why should I complain if I can get paid extra for it? Certainly makes a living." There was a half-grin on Roxas's face. Obviously he was pretty proud of himself—Sora got that half-grin, too, when he was proud.

"Fair point," Tifa said.

"Have you ever gotten a day off?" Kairi found herself asking. There was something about Roxas that put her a little at ease. Even if he wasn't Sora's Nobody in this universe, the connection between them was still there, even if it was faint.

Roxas burst out laughing, then shook his head. "Nah! They wouldn't give me one, even if I have worked overtime to make up for it. Trust me, I've tried before! Y'know, working overtime… to… get a day off…" He blinked a few times, his face going blank.

Kairi tilted her head at him.

He blinked again and shook his head, as if to clear it. "They- they didn't give me one then," he continued, quickly. "They wouldn't give me one now."

"That doesn't seem fair!" Kairi protested.

Roxas shrugged. "Well, Nothing's Fair. Anyway," he broke into a grin again. "Light attacks?"