Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Notes: Underlined talk is Nobody talk – if you remember in the beginning of KH2 they talk to Roxas – but it's weird, and I never was sure if it was telepathy or something more so... yeah. I have a theory for the story on what it is, but it's not terribly important.
Chapter Seventeen
Gummi space had been a bit different this time. It was like the path could sense who had opened it, and drew part of itself from the energy makeup of that person. It wasn't dark – but everything seemed grayer. As if it wasn't dark, but some of it's light had been taken away – or just never existed. However, there were also less Heartless. The ones that did appear were stronger than usual, and Sora wondered between battles if the difference of the path made it harder for the normal Heartless to reach them.
The other two were sleeping, and Sora wasn't going to wake them. Instead he watched the gray landscapes go by and realized it wasn't as if they were missing light, but as if the sun wasn't quite up yet – it was gray, like dawn. The colors were there, but the light wasn't enough to see them clearly. He wondered what Kairi's would have looked like – probably so bright that it was hard to see. Here there were darker shadows than usual, but the landscape was the same as if it were any other gummi path.
He sat back in his chair and set it on autopilot, content to watch the landscape pass by and let the ship handle itself. It would only last a minute or so – then another large Heartless would break through. Until then he would admire what Riku had done.
He had been pleasantly surprised to recognize one of the worlds when they approached it. It was red and pink mostly, but he could make out another side to it, and lots of green on the red that reminded him of the forest there. He had liked being there before – though it was strange, and frustrating, and they would have to be cautious at first. Anything could happen in Wonderland. The first keyhole had been there. Well, the first one he had sealed. And, more importantly for Kairi, Alice was there.
When the other two crowded closer when he continued to stare he explained, "This is Wonderland. Alice's world. It's a little strange, but not any more dangerous than any other world once you get used to it. And... Before we go down, remember one thing."
They looked at him at his ominous tone and he resisted a grin at the worried looks. "Directions mean nothing."
"Huh?" Kairi asked, but he ignored her, putting in the transport beam's coordinates. He pushed both of them forward, ignoring Riku trying to dig his feet in as the circle began to glow. One last push and a quick slide forward, and they were all jumbled on the transport beam together. And instant later, green surrounded them, and a table and chairs was in front and to the left.
He recognized it as the tea party room – and once again the two who had parties here were out. He was grateful – Alice had told him about them once when he had been in Hollow Bastion, right after sealing their world. He also knew it was unlikely Alice would be in this half of the world – apparently there was a more normal part that she came from. He had seen it from the gummi ship, but this seemed to be where more activity would be... However strange the place was.
"What is this place? Who lives here?" Riku asked, eyeing the curiously shaped house and door, and the table sitting out with so many empty chairs – some of them that would look more at home in living room.
'And a Princess of Heart came from here – one of the stranger ones I bet. Discounting Kairi,' Roxas teased and Sora resisted a grin. The other two wouldn't get it. But Roxas had been in slightly better spirits lately. Perhaps it was the spars with Riku that did it – everyone liked to get out and get some exercise. And he won most of the time, which did make him smug, but Sora could take his being smug more than Riku's overbearing version when he had won.
"Here? Or the whole world? No one lives here; this is just where the Mad Hatter's tea party is. The whole world... Well, lots of people. A little differently shaped than most, but they're people. You'll see them later, maybe. Let's go into the forest. The bizarre room should be seen right side up first." He knew they didn't understand yet – but they would. It was only a matter of time.
Of course, they didn't get to see much of the forest. Almost immediately Heartless attacked them. Sora had Ultima out before the wyverns could attack. He hadn't seen this kind in awhile, and he could jump higher now, slash faster – but they had improved as well and his confidence was given as beating when three of them twirled down from the sky and smashed him into the trees. He winced at the claws scraping through the cloth and digging into his skin for the few moments that he was stunned.
He kicked and punched, and finally got the three to back up enough to get Ultima between him and them, and swung it at them. That gave him space to fall the ground. His torso burned, and he knew he must have been bleeding. But he jumped back into the fight; seeing that Riku had cleared enough space around him to glance at him, worry changing to relief. Sora grinned at him briefly before continuing to attack. The Wyverns had been joined by other Heartless now, and he winced as he sat the fire surrounding Kairi and the large red Heartless responsible.
There were a few of them and he launched himself at them. The others left were less dangerous in his opinion, and he unleashed a flurry of blows on them. He saw the red ball of fire beneath him too late and suddenly was flying upward. Too fast to catch and he tried to recover, and was halfway through it when his head slammed into the branch above him. 'Sora!'
"Sora!" Kairi echoed Roxas's shout, but he couldn't respond. Black filled his vision and he struggled against it. He felt something grab him as he fell, claws dig into his flesh, and when he managed to blink the black away from his eyes, there were trees around him, a pond below him, and a Wyvern's head poised to dig into him. In a flash of panic he threw Ultima over his shoulder, dislodging it. And as Ultima was still spinning through the air he slashed with Oblivion at a smaller blue Heartless, throwing the Blizzard spell away from him and responding with Firaga.
Ultima came back to his hand and he attacked with both Keyblades. For some reasons he could sense amusement from Roxas, but he was too focused on destroying the Heartless to pursue it. Oblivion and Ultima whirled through the Heartless, decimating their ranks. When a Wyvern approached from behind he slipped Oblivion behind him to block as he lashed out with Ultima in another direction. He was in mid swing when he realized he had two Keyblades in his hand, he wasn't in a form, and they weren't fading.
He grinned in victory, and raised Ultima toward the sky. Thundaga rained down around him and he jumped into it, striking first with Oblivion, and Ultima sweeping up from underneath. Suddenly they weren't even touching him, and exhilaration ran through his veins. 'Fun, isn't it?'
There was a tone in Roxas's voice he rarely heard. Pleasure, and excitement. He could see why – with both Keyblades it was like he could really live up to what he wanted to do. Even when the Heartless did strike him, he struck back ten times as hard. Their hearts rose into the sky as he danced between them, rolling under them, gliding among them, and generally just destroying everyone he touched. He was still getting injured – but he hardly noticed, and he laughed in time with Roxas as he whirled in a circle, Keyblades outstretched, and killed every Heartless that had been near him.
He stopped and found they were all gone to his disappointment. He searched for his friends and found them watching him with bemused expressions on their faces. There was a strange expression besides that. It wasn't envy, as Sora would have thought – more like a strange worry. "Hey guys!"
"How long have you been able to do that?" Kairi asked, and she did sound a little annoyed. Sora felt his good mood fade a little but didn't let it get him too down – they had just all gone through a battle.
He shrugged. "It happened a couple of times before, but Oblivion always faded before that happened. Now it stays. See?"
He held up Oblivion, and jerked back, almost falling as a pink and purple striped cat appeared on top of the blame. "Cheshire cat!"
"Is it an enemy?" Riku asked, swiftly drawing closer. Sora shook his head, but the Cheshire cat was already ready to answer.
"Not an enemy, not a friend. Not an ally, not a hindrance. Help? Perhaps. I see things you do not, can you see them if I tell you? The enemies are not always what you think – not all are enemies, not all friends looking out for your health, not all enemies wish you dead. The greatest crime might be your choice." The cat looked directly at Sora from it's widely smiling face. "Two in one, three can be four, or is it three can be five? Is the water what you seek? One of you would, if only he knew."
"What?" Kairi asked, staring at the cat that was balanced precariously on top of Oblivion – on one paw no less. Sora didn't understand it any better than he usually did.
"Light, Darkness, Balance – but where is the balance? What is the answer? Is the wrong choice always so wrong? My stripes are not black and white, you see. What is a question, but sometimes an answer. You, my dear, are a who – but also a what, and a power they would fear if only they could see." That had Sora's annoyance flaring. The last statement was obviously directed at Kairi. He didn't know what the cat was referring to.
'He speaks in riddles – but there's hint there. Clues. We should at least try. And the water – does he mean this water?' Roxas was curious, and he wanted to solve it. This was new, and he could see why Wonderland was so fascinating.
'We aren't trying it,' Sora said firmly, and let Oblivion fade. The Cheshire Cat stayed in the air of course, and Sora grinned at Kairi's openly shocked face. Riku's face was surprised a moment before he hid it behind suspicion.
"What is this – Sora, watch out!" Riku's cry had Sora turning away from the cat just in time to see a Dusk's long arm shooting out and slapping him through the air – and into the pond.
There was a curious sensation around them as the water touched them and Sora squeezed his eyes shut. Roxas saw darkness – and then opened his eyes just as Sora did.
It took them a moment as they stared at each other to realize it was real. Sora reached forward a hand, expecting it was just a trick and his hand would slide right through. Instead he felt hair, and the skin of his Nobody's face. Roxas leaned into the touch, making sure it was real, and then picked at his clothes. They were his normal clothes. Sora's were as well, and Sora hadn't gone Anti Form or something. So Roxas swam closer poking his Somebody in the side, and grinning at the offended reaction – which he could still feel.
Their heads jerked to the side at the same time. It was Roxas that felt it – but Sora felt it through him. There, swimming toward them was a large Nobody, looking a little kike a shark, and a little like a bulky ship. It had the teeth of a shark, and the fin, but it was almost square, and bulky. They expected it to move slowly – they were wrong.
'Shit!' Roxas cursed mentally, and felt Sora agree. Sora brought out Ultima, and Oblivion. He blinked, surprised he still could. And as if to check, Roxas called Bond of Flame, and then Fenrir. They both paused, considering this new situation. Both had two Keyblades – or the same Keyblade split four ways. They had no idea how Keyblades worked. But Riku's was a different type, and Kairi's even more different - but theirs were different keychains on the same Keyblade. That was what it felt like.
The Nobody had swum by them, twice as large at least as the overly large shark Sora remembered fighting in Atlantica. Both barely swam out of the way, using the rarely used ability to swim faster to duck around – and go after it, Keyblades at their sides as they propelled their bodies towards it. It moved fast, but turned slowly, and had just turned around to face them as they put on an extra burst of speed to strike ahead of them.
"Is this what you want?" A mocking voice asked. Roxas didn't need to ask if Sora heard it. Sora definitely heard it, and his eyes narrowed. The two struck in unison at the Nobody, but the voice wasn't coming from it. "This existence? As one? Or as two? Which is preferred? We can make it happen you know. We can make your every desire come true. Don't you want this, Roxas? You could see your Other everyday, face to face. Touch him. Talk to him."
Roxas's lip curled and he struck harder, venting his frustration on the Nobody in front of him. Part of him did want it – he did want to be able to touch Sora. He wanted to race him, to fight him, to do things he dared not even think for fear his Other would hear. He wanted it all – but it wasn't possible. This was just a strange Wonderland thing, and it would fade – and who knew what the side effects were.
"No? What about you, Sora? Don't you want your Nobody to have fun? To have his own life? You want him to be happy don't you? Happiness he can't have inside you. An existence. Not perfect, but what existence is? We can do that for you. Just do one favor for us. Won't you?"
The voice spoke in their shared heart, snaking and tugging at the darkness there. Furiously, both boys shouted mentally, 'NO!'
They struck as one, Thundaga racing through the water and into the creature. They themselves were momentarily stunned from being so close to it – fortunately it dispersed, but water was still a conductor and Sora reached for Roxas as the other's consciousness began to fade – and his almost did as well. Almost as if it wanted to join Roxas, and almost nothing having to do with Thundaga. He was more used to the shock.
Still, he struggled even as his eyes went black to get back to the surface. They had already been down here a couple of minutes – and powerful as they were, they couldn't breathe underwater. He had spent his time on an island, testing that ability – Roxas had not, and Sora didn't know if it was one of those things that applied to them both.
The surface had never seemed so far, or his legs so slow as he dragged Roxas closer. He began to think he wasn't actually going up when a hand caught his and he caught a glimpse of shocked aqua eyes before Roxas was shifted from his grasp and Riku pushed him toward the surface.
He surfaced with a gasp of air and struggled to shore. He could hear the other two talking to him, asking him questions, but it all sounded like babble as he caught his bearings and coughed up the liquid in his lungs. The first thing he did was crawl over to Roxas and sit there, shivering and feeling that there was still too much water in him – and he realized that feeling wasn't in him.
He didn't have the breath for full CPR, but it seemed Roxas didn't need it. Sora had only pushed down a few times before his Nobody awoke, and Sora backed off at the sudden flare of emotions and physical awareness. Roxas coughed up the water in his lungs and then stared weakly at Sora. 'You alright?'
"Y-yeah. Cold. You?" Sora unintentionally made the switch from mind to physical, and Riku and Kairi stopped trying to ask him questions. Hopefully out of surprise, but Sora was too busy carefully studying his Nobody to react.
"Cold. Wet. We'll catch hypothermia if we don't do something. The gummi ship?" Roxas carefully tried to sit up, his limbs shaking. Sora wanted to help, but he wasn't much better. A fight and then almost drowning led to a bit of weakness. Surprisingly, Kairi kneeled down and helped the boy to sit up. Roxas smiled wearily. It was okay if it was Kairi – he would have been angry if it were Riku.
"Don't know the effects leaving Wonderland will have on... this. Or if we can repeat it," Sora said, inwardly trying his best to convey how curious he was about this and did want it to continue for a little longer. Roxas grinned.
Riku kneeled down, catching their attention, and Sora barely kept himself from just leaning over onto him. Riku looked serious, and despite how warm he had to be, Sora could handle it by himself. Roxas's grin turned into a smirk and Sora flushed even before Roxas spoke his thoughts out loud. "Body heat does a lot for keeping someone from getting hypothermia."
"Does Cure work on hypothermia?" Kairi asked curiously. Sora and Roxas blinked at each other. Roxas raised an eyebrow at the brunet, who rolled his eyes.
"Probably not. I think it works mostly just on injuries, not on sickness." He shrugged, and realized abstractedly he hadn't been healed from his earlier fights. Thankfully he was already wet so nobody could tell.
"Maybe nobody can tell but your Nobody can," Roxas pointed out scathingly. "Curaga. Now."
"I think I used up all my magic on the last Thundaga," Sora explained sheepishly.
Roxas paused and frowned. "You did – but it shouldn't have. You should have more energy than that."
"You have magic too. Maybe it split between us," Sora suggested reasonably. Roxas frowned – and then lifted a hand. Green light swirled around his palm before it split into the air and twisted around all four of them. Sora grinned at the familiar feeling. Now he was just cold. And wet. But his wounds were mostly healed.
"You two are still connected. You can talk to each other mentally still?" Riku questioned, his eyes darting between them. They both nodded tiredly. The older boy blinked and then said, "Kairi, go back to the gummi ship and get them extra clothes. I'm going to find a place for us to rest. Not too far – we'll stay in the forest."
"Alright," She said softly. Sora was faintly surprised Riku was letting her go alone. They had just cleared out many Heartless, and Kairi was much stronger now, but Riku tended to worry – unless he was worrying more over them. He watched Kairi leave and then struggled to his feet. It was harder than he thought. He should have been this cold either – sure, it was probably around fall here by the air temperature, but he was definitely too cold.
"Idiot. We just almost drowned, and we're exhausted in almost every way. I wasn't joking about hypothermia," Roxas muttered. The blonde struggled up as well – and didn't quite make it as far. Sora couldn't seem to move fast enough to catch him, but tried anyway – and started to fall himself.
Then an arm circled each of them and Sora leaned into Riku's taller form. Roxas didn't quite do the same, but was willing to accept the steady arm around him. "Separating couldn't have been easy either. For all you know you could be getting sick because of that – or the water itself."
"Or because of the Nobody we fought and those voices speaking to us," Roxas muttered. There had been two – sort of. They had spoken as one, and he had only realized now that it had been two voices, not one strange one. "Or a combination."
"You fought something under water? That explains it. I didn't think either of you were weak enough to just drown out of surprise," Riku said, smirking. Roxas wanted to wipe it off with his fist as he was half dragged forward. Sora wanted to kiss him and hit him. The hitting quickly won out as Riku added, "Of course, considering this is you two, it wasn't totally out the question that you just stared at each other as you sank. You sure you aren't making up the Nobody?"
Neither of them even needed to look at the other. With the quickest movements they could muster, they kicked Riku's legs out from under him and managed to disentangle themselves from him. They ended up having to lean on each other, but the sight of Riku sprawled in the dirt – probably more out of shock they still had that much energy – made it all worth it. Sora swung a companionable arm around Roxas. "You know, if you think you can manage to walk through the big grass things, I know a nice hideaway."
"Grass things? You need a new vocabulary," Roxas muttered, but agreed mentally anyway. It was easier just to let Sora see his emotions than actually talk. Sora grinned and pulled Roxas closer. Roxas didn't mind and both of them ignored the sputtering boy behind them as they went into silence – at least, they weren't saying anything where Riku could hear. Sora guided them into the large, almost impassable blades of grass. When he had first come through he hadn't been able to pass them, they had been like a wall. They still seemed like a wall, but he didn't believe it this time. Wonderland lied, much of the time.
And it was only a short walk through the yellow and red grass, as tall as trees, before they were in a small clearing. Roxas asked, 'Here?'
'Here,' Sora agreed and they both collapsed in the middle of it. Roxas could see little yellow flowers nearby, almost begging him to hit them with Thundaga. Too bad his magic was gone for now.
"Hey," they heard Riku growl. "You can't do that. Your clothes are wet."
Roxas couldn't resist it, and neither could Sora, really. Sora grinned and Roxas smirked. "Are you saying you want to see us naked?"
They watched him stare at them and congratulated each other mentally. Riku took a breath and answered, "Only one of you."
Roxas's smirk didn't fade. "I wouldn't mind that either."
Sora's eyes widened, nervously looking at Riku, who was staring at Roxas sharply. Sora struggled to sit up, trying to undress. His vision almost blacked out and Roxas hissed, 'Let Riku do it. He still sucks at getting you undressed, but it's better than you passing out.'
'But you...' Sora trailed off, but stared as Roxas shrugged. His brow furrowed and out loud he said, "You're as tired than me. If Riku helps me get my clothes off, he has to help you."
"No way!" Both exclaimed. Sora couldn't do anything but glare, but it was enough. The blond stared at his Other's boyfriend and Riku stared right back.
Once Kairi had come back, both of them had been dressed in some of Sora's pajamas – it had been all that was on hand. Their outfits were hung up to dry and as Riku and Kairi discussed them in low voices the two curled up next to each other, just wanting a bit of body heat – and found themselves falling asleep.
Sora awoke to find had and Roxas were tangled together quite firmly – and there was another body behind him, a possessive arm around his waist giving away the owner's identity. He shifted, and felt Roxas waking up in response. He waited, and when Roxas was fully awake, his eyes darted to the hand holding Sora's waste, and he glared. But at Sora's unvoiced urgings he rolled away and Sora carefully climbed out of Riku's hold. Roxas blinked when Riku didn't awaken, and Sora was surprised as well.
Carefully they got dressed, afraid to wake Kairi up as well. Roxas avoided looking at Kairi. Probably this had been done by the Nobodies – or at least partly caused. But it was Wonderland, and Sora's thoughts showed how crazy the world was – so what if it could happen to Kairi and Naminé as well?
'What if Naminé doesn't want it to?' Sora asked him, and Roxas stared. He hadn't thought of that before – but it made sense. Naminé liked being a part of Kairi, and they still didn't know what side effects there were. It wouldn't be fair of Naminé and Kairi to risk it like they had. Sora chuckled. 'We didn't choose it. Those Nobodies did.'
Roxas waved off the technicality as they finished dressing. Carefully the two snuck over to a mushroom and they jumped up, wincing at each extra sound they made until they were high on top of the lily pads that grew from the sides of the trees at some points. Only there did Sora laugh out loud and they began to run through the treetops, jumping and flipping from branch to branch. Roxas, without Tarzan's previous training found it a bit difficult at times, more used to tightly controlled movements, but he picked it up from Sora's memories quickly enough.
When they ran into Heartless they stopped. Sora sighed, but it was what they had been waiting for. To test their strength – and Sora wanted to test something else. He focused as Roxas jumped into the fray. He focused, looking for the power – but it wasn't there. He couldn't transform into any Forms. He wasn't really surprised, and he bounded forward, straight into empty space toward the Heartless.
They were quickly taken care of and Sora ended up in midair – and he glided to the platform Roxas had landed on. Roxas narrowed his eyes. "How, if you can't transform?"
"Well, I can use the abilities even without the clothes on – they're mine now. I learned to do it and I don't need extra energy to do them anymore." Sora grinned and flipped into the air, hovering there, just above the platform. "You should try it."
Roxas did, jumping, aerial dodging – and then falling back to the platform. "I don't have it."
He didn't mean to sound so sulky – but it was unfair. He had used some of Sora's abilities before when they switched – but not gliding. So apparently he didn't get to have it. He could feel Sora considering that – and then his wrist was grabbed and he was dragged to the edge of the platform. He dug his feet in too late, and suddenly he was in the air, held only by the wrist. Instinctively he clutched at Sora, grabbing on until he was almost completely wrapped around his Other. "Don't you dare drop me."
Sora chuckled. "Maybe once you see how it is, you'll be able to do it."
"I don't think so," Roxas growled back.
As it turned out, Sora couldn't teach glide, and Roxas didn't want to learn it. Sora had the faintest suspicion that Roxas actually was scared of gliding, for much the same reason Riku and Kairi were scared when he jumped out of windows. He was afraid he would just stop in the middle of the air, and fall. Sora decided to let the issue go after over an hour and they did something else – they raced through the forest.
It was only later when they lay panting on a rock that it occurred to Sora that Riku was going to be pissed when he found them. Mostly he thought this because of the balls of dark aura he could see shooting off in the distance and Riku's shriek of, "SORA!"
"I vote we go higher," Roxas suggested.
Sora shook his head, his brow furrowing as he saw the dark aura stop coming. Worried, he sat up. 'No, I didn't mean to be gone this long anyway.'
He waited for another sphere of darkness to slip up through the trees – but none came. As he was slipping off of the rock the bracelet flashed, and he winced as his head spun and his mind connected with an angry snap to another. He could see a fuzzy image of Riku, and he recognized the sensation vaguely from after he had defeated Sephiroth. He sensed Roxas's anger as the Nobody realized what was going on and the blond struggling to see the same as he saw – but Sora was the one wearing the bracelet. This time it didn't belong to both of them.
'Where have you been? Why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving? Kairi and I have been looking everywhere!' Sora wondered if Riku realized that the anger actually traveled through the link he had set up and was actually a little painful. He shook it off and tried to form a reply that actually made sense.
'We didn't mean to be gone so long,' he started lamely, and felt Riku's anger flash. Hurriedly he continued, 'We got distracted! I'm sorry Riku, we should have told you we were going – but we sort of just wanted some time to figure this out. You would have wanted to come with us and watch us. We're fine, tell Kairi I'm sorry for worrying her.'
'Of course I would have wanted to come! We don't know what side effects this has yet, Sora! ... Just stay put.' The link broke abruptly and he blinked, finding himself staring into another pair of blue eyes very like his own – though flashing with more rage than his own usually did.
"I'm going to kill him when he gets here. What if we had been in trouble? What if we had been in the middle of a battle? That idiot!" Roxas was seething as he helped Sora sit up and the brunet laid a hand on his shoulder and leaned close, drawing Roxas closer into what was halfway an embrace.
"But we weren't – hey, maybe eventually we'll be able to find each other using the bracelets without falling unconscious." He hoped so at least – it really could be dangerous. Last time had been better – he had been more aware of his surroundings. But Riku had been more focused on finding him, and less angry last time.
Roxas leaned against his other, selfishly enjoying the touch he might never get to feel from Sora again. There was a brunet spike just between their heads and he hesitantly leaned the sides of their heads together, carefully feeling Sora's emotions. He was instantly relieved when Sora stayed calm and unoffended. The blond sighed and wished they could be like this all the time. But he could feel Sora's growing sadness and desire to change it and focused on being content – this was something he wouldn't get to do again, he might as well enjoy it.
Sora licked his lips, and then ran his free hand through Roxas's hair, grinning as the Nobody responded by leaning into the touch. "The Organization wasn't a very touchy group, were they?"
"We rarely touched each other. It was... very personal. We were for the most part holding ourselves together because of a strong will. Touching awakened sensations that as Nobodies we shouldn't have felt anyway. Even the friendly ones we turned away from. After all, we couldn't feel, so we couldn't be friends, right?" Roxas's tone was very flat, and Sora shuddered at the emptiness of his words and the sudden despair in his emotions.
He continued running a hand through the blond strands, trying to calm him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... Wait, what about you and Axel then?"
Roxas snorted and let out a bitter laugh. "Me and Axel. Demyx in general. And all of us with our desires for hearts. No, they didn't feel as intensely, not like you do, or I do now. But there was something there – they remembered, and there were echoes. They did have hearts somewhere, all of them. Just not with them. The Heartless. Sometimes... No. Nevermind."
Sora stopped, and didn't intrude on his thoughts – but he couldn't help feeling the want in his Nobody. "Sometimes you wish you knew how to recombine them?"
"Or even just find them. Some of them, the first six... they brought it on themselves." Roxas's eyes were dark, and the conversation was becoming much too serious for Sora's taste. But he remembered reading both sets of the Ansem reports and he opened his mind, showing the memory to Roxas as he chewed over the implications.
"You know they really brought it to all of you, right? That is was their fault? I mean, there could have – probably were – Heartless before that, but they started making new ones and... they unleashed them on the world." He watched it set in, and realized he had never thought of it that way before either. But now he wondered why the other Nobodies had worked with them at all. Maybe at that point they didn't blame them for what their Others had done.
"There wasn't any choice. If we weren't working with them, we were against them." There was something Roxas wasn't saying. Sora caught a hint of it, an image of Axel – and then other Nobodies that struck him as strangely familiar. A blonde woman with blue eyes, a silver haired young man – and most of all there was a pink-haired man that looked benign. Yet, despite that, he sent shivers down Sora's back. He left the images alone, knowing there was a year missing of his life, and that something had happened before that. Naminé was involved. He trusted her, so he let it be and let the topic die.
Roxas leaned into the touch and was relieved Sora hadn't pushed. He smiled and relaxed. He could get used to this – it was too bad it had probably been done for some purpose of their enemy. Sora caught that and unwilling to break the silence between them, said mentally, 'Maybe someday we'll figure out how to do it ourselves.'
'I don't think it's a good idea. It's probably a bad idea. If one of us is killed like this, when we're so much more connected than we were while you slept... Both of us would probably die, Sora.' Roxas was sure of that. Out of everything that was a mystery, that wasn't it. 'Our magic is weakened – not even halved, but weakened. Our strength seems to have remained the same, which is a bonus – but strength isn't everything. And who knows if it'll even stay the same – we might pull for too much power and weaken us both. We fall unconscious at the same time, we probably get sick at the same time – being two instead of one is a weakness, Sora. As much as we wish otherwise...'
"But you like it out here. You like this. And I do too. I don't see why we can't!" Sora's voice was rising angrily, and Roxas tried to stay calm as Sora's eyes sparked angrily. But he wasn't succeeding.
"Of course I do. But I don't want you to die Sora." He could feel Sora's rebellion despite his words and glared silently, trying to urge the boy to be sensible for once.
"I don't want you to die either. But there has to be a way to make this happen. You'll see. I'll find a way." Sora switched mood from anger to determination in an instant – there was still anger there, but Roxas was more worried about the determination. It was the more dangerous of the two.
"Even if there was a way, it might have a new side effect. You do remember Anti Form, right?" he questioned sarcastically.
Sora's lip jutted out stubbornly and he drew away slightly. "Of course I do! But I want you to be happy, Roxas!"
"Not everyone can be happy, Sora! Stop being such a child!" he snapped, and too late realized that getting annoyed with his Other wouldn't get him anywhere. He corrected himself a moment later as he was thrown back and was staring at the sky. It would get him punched in the face.
"I know everyone can't be happy. But don't you deserve to be?" The question hung into the air, and Roxas actually paused, pushing down the instant response of "Nobodies don't deserve anything" and watched Sora quietly – and sadly.
"You want too much, Sora. You're too selfless. Are you happy, Sora? I know, your home is gone, and you have an enemy out there, but you're with Riku, and traveling with both your best friends – are you happy?" He smiled at Sora's blank look. One second they were fighting, the next he was asking serious questions Sora didn't know how to answer. It wasn't really a surprise – their arguments weren't always the most linear, considering they could see the reasons beneath the words.
Sora avoided his eyes and he could feel the guilt – guilt because he was happy like this. "You're not answering," Sora muttered.
"Whether I deserve to be happy or not... I don't know. But you are – and I'm happy for you." He let that sink in, his eyes watching Sora's face as the other boy thought that through carefully. For once he was thinking it totally through, and Roxas relaxed, because he could feel Sora relenting. They would go back to the way they were – eventually.
"Sora!" It was a sharp, loud call and Roxas narrowed his eyes, not even bothering to turn his head toward where Kairi and Riku were approaching. He had known they were coming but he still rebelled against the thought that he was giving up time with Sora – this was different than when he was sharing Sora's body. The brunet laid a hand on his shoulder and Roxas snorted and turned away, glaring into the distance.
Sora grimaced and kept his hand on his Nobody's shoulder a moment longer before letting it fall and turning to face Riku and Kairi, one looking worried and the other still angry. "What the hell were you two thinking?"
"We were thinking we would actually have some fun without a chaperone around," Roxas said, his voice cold as ice. Riku stopped short and Sora winced. This wouldn't go over well. But instead of Riku snapping back, he saw him look over both of them, something strangely like suspicion in his eyes.
"A chaperone, huh?" Riku muttered, and Sora didn't understand the suspicion at first – but Roxas did, and it only took another moment for Sora to understand. Roxas had already spun around at that point, his fists clenched. Riku seemed to have realized his mistake and was looking truly apologetic. Roxas didn't much care.
The blond took a step forward and Sora wasn't going to stop him, too hurt and angry by the suspicion. Riku was trying to catch his eye while at the same time keeping an eye on Roxas. Sora did look at him – and Riku flushed and looked away. Roxas snarled, and his clenched fist was halfway toward Riku's face when a slim pale hand touched him and he looked into Naminé's blue eyes.
"Don't. Please. All of them have been upset enough today, Riku's just off balance. Kairi – Kairi says he was very worried this morning. He has a right to be angry, Roxas. You do, too – but please. Let it go this once?" What wouldn't have worked even from Sora worked from Naminé, if only because she always looked so sad when they fought. She and Kairi didn't switch as often and Roxas was pleased to see his fellow Nobody – even if he did wish she could have the same experience he was having now. She probably wouldn't enjoy it as much.
He lowered his eyes and allowed both Naminé and Sora to draw him back and step between him and Riku. He almost protested when Naminé stepped between him and Sora, but Sora shook his head. 'Let her. It'll help.'
Sora was feeling guilty now, and Roxas in turn felt a little annoyed – Sora shouldn't feel guilty. He should still feel hurt. Riku was an asshole. He could admit he had more feelings for Sora than was right considering what they were, and he wasn't even sure how to frame them. He was positive Naminé didn't have them, so it wasn't a Nobody-Somebody thing. But no matter what he felt – Sora loved Riku, and Riku should trust him.
'Don't. Riku does trust me. He was just angry.' Sora was holding Riku's hand, and Roxas looked away. Holding hands wasn't the best term – their palms weren't touching, their fingers were just curled around each other a little. It didn't matter. Roxas kicked a stone in the path as they walked, and stared blankly at the ground.
Sora sighed at the unhappiness Roxas was radiating. But Naminé standing between them caught his eye and she smiled. Somehow, he knew she was telling him it would be all right, and he believed her. Roxas would cheer up – as much as he ever did. Actually, Roxas had been acting so much happier since their journey began he had forgotten when the boy had just been a cheerless voice in his head, resigned to his fate. But once Sora had acknowledged it was Roxas – that had changed. A lot of things changed in his mind on the day of Riku's last birthday.
His eyes slid to the opening he could see, and the clearing beyond. That was where the Queen's rose garden and palace lay. But there was something funny going on. He could hear noises – what sounded like cheering. And a light voice he almost recognized. Naminé gasped and placed a hand on her heart. "Alice is near."
Sora stopped in surprise and Riku asked, "How do you know?"
"Because Kairi's heart can feel them. She isn't as sensitive to it as I, who has been without a heart and notices the changes. But Alice's heart is near. I... I will change back to Kairi. She should be the one to see Alice, not I." Naminé's expression was a fleeting looking of unfathomable pain and Sora wanted to reach out to her, insist that if Kairi didn't mind she had as much right as her Somebody. But the change was already beginning.
He waited as blonde hair changed to red and the clothes switched around. Kairi's expression was contemplative as she glanced up at them. "She could have stayed – but she said it was my place."
"She's right," Roxas said, but even when Sora glanced at him and sent a questioning thought he didn't expand on it, just stared between them, his expression blank. But Sora caught a thought he knew Roxas didn't want him too. 'I had forgotten what we are – and what we are not.'
He would have said something – probably something a little angry and confused because that was what he was feeling – but they were entering the rose garden, and upon sighting them, a deck of cards rushed towards them, fifty-two cards stomping toward them. He called the Keyblade instantly, on guard. He was still surprised when two came instead of one. Like a bit more of a struggle, more concentration, but it happened. A three of spades waved its arms about as it came near, showing it wasn't holding a weapon. "You're the boy with the weird sword – the one who saved Queen Alice. She said you were the Keyblade Master."
"Queen... Alice?" Sora asked, his voice faltering. But he was already being propelled forward, taken forward, and he shook his head when Riku and Roxas made a move to attack. Instead, they reluctantly fell in behind him. Kairi was the only one who looked eager to go and see "Queen" Alice.
Sora had to wonder how that had happened.
End Chapter
Surprises galore this chapter! And sadly, the Roxas and Sora thing won't last much longer – it's bad for their health, really. And we get some answers next chapter about what's going on – and more the next.