Notes: Wow my longest chapter yet. I decided to do it in two parts since it's so long. I'll post the second part up in a couple of days. I already have it written. Thanks again for the reviews. I loved reading them. Also thanks for the comments on the character info. I was worried about getting them right. I'm glad you guys think I did okay.
On chapter 5, I think I made it seem like Cid was the only one with the Gummi Ship. I know Donald and Goofy have their own so I want back and changed some of it so it makes more sense. They have to team up with the FF characters for now though. Sorry if Roxas seems a little naive in this chapter. I just kind of figured he wouldn't know that much about malls.
Chapter 6: Integration
Roxas woke up to the sound of soft cooing in his ear. He slowly opened his eyes which felt heavy and gritty, blinking a few times to clear his vision, Roxas was met with a small white head, a flesh colored beak, and two beady black eyes that were staring into his own. It took him a minute to realize it was a bird and perched right in front of his face. Roxas watched it without moving, for some reason finding himself transfixed by it. The bird was pure white, maybe some type of dove? Suddenly wanting to touch it, he reached out a hand when it shrieked angrily at him, quickly flying away in a flurry of white feathers.
It dawned on Roxas then that there were no birds in The World That Never Was. He panicked for a moment, not knowing where he was, not recognizing any of his surroundings. The sky wasn't the pitch black he was used to but instead the colors of sunset. He wasn't in his still and quiet room at the castle and he could hear a buzzing around him along with a wide variety of other noise he couldn't identify. Roxas felt overwhelmed and an automatic impulse to run from the new sensations, to get out of the open and avoid any danger but then the events from yesterday slowly came back to him. He'd left the organization, fought heartless, fought Riku, and met his other, then spent the night in Twilight Town, on this bench.
Roxas forced himself to relax, pressing himself further into the smooth wood of the bench with a groan. His whole body ached, limbs sore and muscles feeling as if they'd been lit on fire. The numerous scratches that covered his skin were stinging badly and he was so stiff it was hard for him to move. Roxas hadn't felt any of it last night, fighting for his life and with the adrenalin rush, there wasn't time to think about anything. Now it was catching up to him.
Roxas craved a potion but seriously doubted if he could find them in Twilight Town. He pulled himself into a sitting position, hissing through his teeth at the sudden movement. Roxas wasn't new to this, had been in pain several times before, mostly from carrying out missions for Xemnas. He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms and legs, tying to get his blood to flow right again, and forcing himself to push the stinging to the back of his mind.
Roxas let his head fall backwards, letting himself rest for a few minutes before he attempted to move again. The bench wasn't completely right in front of the mall, as he'd first thought but more toward the back doors and slanted so it was just touching the corner of the building, facing away from the parking lot, and thankfully out of the way enough to where Roxas wasn't by any people. The blonde could distantly hear a mixture of chattering voices and the grinding of tires against the pavement.
Roxas felt his eyes grow heavy and fought to keep them open. With all the people up ahead he guessed it was probably around midday. It was basically impossible to tell with Twilight Town and Roxas didn't have a watch. Then again, it was also impossible to tell time in The World That Never Was, time never really being that big of an issue before.
Roxas never slept much, usually only a few hours and whenever he wanted. The fact that he had slept in so late worried him, knowing it was dangerous to remain unaware this long especially in an unfamiliar place but he'd been dead tired.
At least one good thing came out of it. He hadn't dreamed, his sleep was black, hollow, and void, with no Sora to haunt him.
Roxas threw his Organization XIII robe over his shoulder, picking himself up from off the bench when his eyes nearly fell shut again. He winced, standing fully on his feet and half walked, half limped around the building of the mall to the front doors. The parking lot was completely full with cars packed tightly together and even more people were getting off a bus that seemed to go endlessly around Twilight Town.
Roxas counted a wide variety of people, parents dragging screaming children, older couples walking with their arms linked, and younger adults talking animatedly into cell phones. The mall wasn't much to look at, a shade of yellow brown like so many of the other buildings in Twilight Town. If nothing else it was large, about two stories but that hardly made it stand out. Everything in Twilight Town just seemed to blend in with the surroundings.
Roxas walked up to the tall glass doors, taking a sharp breath, grabbing the large black handle, and quickly entered, instantly greeted by a rush of cool air which felt nice compared to how muggy it was outside. The interior of the mall looked completely different, the floor gray and white marble, so polished Roxas could see his reflection in it. There was a water fountain to his right, simple with just a white spray shooting up from the center of a pool of water and accented by blue light.
To his left there was a chocolate shop. The blonde had never tried chocolate before, the organization never keeping the best food around. Roxas breathed in, smelling the sharp yet sweet tang of it, stomach lurching as he realized how hungry he was, not having eaten anything in at least a day. Roxas promised himself as soon as he found clothes he would get something to eat. He never really understood why he became hungry. He didn't have a heartbeat, so what was the point in eating?
Roxas couldn't see much of the second floor but there were numerous escalators leading to it, even a glass elevator. He could hear the ringing of a bell from an arcade not to far off and there was also a vast array of shops, Roxas didn't even want to try to identify.
People brushed around him. He caught a few shooting him odd glances but for the most part, they weren't paying any attention to him. Roxas felt completely lost. This was the first time he'd ever been in a mall, never having a reason or the desire to go inside one before. Most places he'd been to didn't have them anyway but Twilight Town was proving to be different on a lot of things.
Roxas continued to walk further into the mall, looking for any sign of a clothing store, and starting to feel very uneasy in the crowd. The World That Never Was didn't have any traces of life except for heartless and the organization. Roxas was used to being around only twelve people at the most and even then, they were all spread out through a large castle, the Organization XIII members not talking much with each other, liking to keep their distance, Axel being the one exception to the rule.
Roxas found himself jumping when anyone passed within an inch of him, instincts screaming at him to draw the keyblade and he has having a very difficult time stilling them. Roxas was breathing hard and swallowing heavily, trying to get past the anxiety, to orientate himself, wanting to leave as fast as possible, just get his clothes, grab some food, get in, and get out.
Roxas jerked his head to the side as his eyes finally landed on a clothing store, the name lit up in large white letters but Roxas barely glanced at it, not particularly caring. The blonde headed straight toward it, feeling a vague sense of relief. The store was large, Roxas barely being able to see the back of it with a high ceiling, a smooth dark gray floor, and white walls, making it look more like a warehouse. Fortunately, there weren't too many people. There were several racks of pants, shelves of neatly folded shirts that nearly looked to reach the ceiling, racks of shoes, and a sidewall with a display of purses of several different colors. Jewelry was even hanging from metal casing but most of it was, plastic, cheap, and gaudy. The store smelled of leather and a strange mix of window cleaner and dust.
Roxas felt his head spin, having no idea on where to begin, never thinking shopping for clothes would be so complicated, suppressing the urge to sigh in frustration, he headed to the nearest rack of pants. He picked up a pair of blue jeans, holding them up to his waist. They looked about two sizes too big, reading the tag, the dimensions made little sense, Roxas not knowing what the numbers were referring too or even what size he was, putting the jeans back, he started to thumb through the rack again when he heard a cough.
Roxas looked up, seeing a counter a few feet away with an older woman behind it. She had peppered hair that was pulled tightly back and deep lines etched into her face, the sales clerk or so Roxas assumed. The blonde dismissed her and went back to looking through the mass of jeans.
The woman coughed again louder this time. "Hey kid!"
Roxas glanced up at her for the second time. "What?" He asked sharply.
"Something wrong? It looks like you just came off the street."
"There might be a good reason for that."
The woman frowned, tapping the side of the wall with her knuckles. "We've got cameras here, just so you know."
"Good for you" Roxas commented.
Her frown deepened. "I hope you're not intending to take anything"
Roxas shrugged but didn't say anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a row of all white shirts. Still feeling her eyes on him Roxas reached out an arm toward them. His hands were scraped and calloused, fingernails cracked with dried blood and dirt, not being able to remove all of it at the gift shop he and Axel were at last night. Roxas slowly ran his fingers down the white cotton. There was the sound of a chair scrapping against the floor as the woman abruptly stood up, hastily making her way toward him. Roxas let his fingers travel up to the hangers intentionally knocking a few shirts onto the floor, before quickly stepping away and walking to the back of the store. The woman didn't follow him, instead stopping to pick up the shirts, muttering something under her breath that ended in teenagers.
The back of the store wasn't much better. There seemed to be even more rows of clothes and Roxas thought about grabbing something whether it fit or not. He hastily snatched a couple of random shirts and a couple pairs of pants, biting down in annoyance when he once again realized they were much too big for him. Throwing them angrily over his shoulder, just on top of his Organization XIII robe, Roxas stalked forward. He'd make himself deal with them.
Roxas wasn't paying attention and he was too late to see the girl in front of him. She too was obviously distracted, face turned to the side, staring at the clothing instead of watching the path in front of her, quickly walking towards him and to the back of the store. Her head suddenly snapping forward and eyes widening in surprise when she saw him. She tried to stop herself and Roxas also tried to skid to a halt but he was too late. They both collided heavily into each other.
The girl stumbled backwards and Roxas instinctively reached out a hand to steady her, fingers wrapping tightly around her wrist, pulling her forward, stopping her from falling. Roxas didn't know his own strength and instead the girl fell towards him, nearly toppling onto his shoulder but was able to regain her footing at the last second. They were standing very close and Roxas could almost feel her hair brushing against his cheek. Neither one of them moved, being too caught up in trying to figure what just happened. Slowly, Roxas realized what he had done and quickly stepped away.
The girl was breathless and blushing hard. Straightening herself, she glanced up at him. She had large green eyes and auburn colored hair which fell over her shoulders like two thick and twisting ropes, was wearing a pink-orange colored shirt with a white flower design that went up one side and tan shorts that reached just below her knees. She also had a large purple shopping bag balanced on her shoulder and two light blue smaller bags lined up on her opposite wrist. Roxas was surprised she hadn't dropped something.
"I'm sorry!" She nearly shouted. "I wasn't looking where I was going and I can be such a klutz sometimes." She ended her sentence with a giggle but abruptly cut herself off as she took the time to look at him. Her eyes running over his body, over his scared appearance and she bit down on her lip, eyes flickering to the side and then back to him as if she wasn't sure what to do.
"Yeah, whatever" Roxas said as he walked around her. She did seem slightly familiar like maybe once he'd seen her around before but the last thing he wanted was to deal with people, especially some girl who seemed much too nervous to talk to him and he had just happened to run into. The blonde heard a rustling of bags as she hurried to follow him, making Roxas inwardly cringe.
"Hey! Are you alright? You look like you've been in a fight."
"Great" Roxas grounded out as he walked faster.
The girl continued to chase after him. "Are you sure? You really don't look so good."
Roxas spun around to face her, starting to become slightly angry. "I said I'm fine. Stop following me."
"Oh" She didn't look to take the hint, her head tilted to the side as if she were studying him, hair looking even more like ropes as it dangled across her face, her nose scrunched up in concentration before her eyes lit up and she smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen you before. I know I would have remembered you. Are you new to Twilight Town?"
Roxas sighed in frustration, preparing to turn around again, having no problem with ignoring her altogether and simply walking off.
The girl must have sensed this as she quickly spoke up again. "Well, it's just there aren't that many kids here my age in Twilight Town. I really know about all most everyone and I know I would have remembered you. I mean look at your eyes their like electric!"
Roxas remained unimpressed. "I'm leaving now."
"Umm okay" The burnet glanced at the floor, looking a bit disappointed. "Don't feel you have to leave on my account. I'll stop bothering you."
"I'm not"
The girl blinked at him and seemed puzzled for a moment before her cheerful expression returned. "Well in that case I'm Olette. So if we ever run into each other again you'll know who I am. It was really nice to meet you…."
"Roxas"
"Right Roxas" Olette extended a hand her smile growing. "So hope to see you around."
The blonde's arms remained motionless in front of him as he stared down at her proffered hand, not taking it. Olette let her arm fall back to her side. She had that downcast look again but she quickly covered it up with another smile, turned her back to him, and walked to another part of the store.
Roxas exhaled, grateful she wasn't talking to him anymore and continued to walk toward the front of the store when something caught his eye. There was another rack of jeans but these looked smaller. Roxas debated with looking them over and after a minute gave in. He tossed the two pairs of pants he had over his shoulder onto the floor, not caring were they ended up and pulled a pair of jeans down. They were black, laced with several buckles, and had silver zippers going up the knees.
Roxas didn't have any need for something so complicated but he held them against his waist anyway, soon finding he had to place the top just below his chest so the legs didn't drag on the ground, putting them back, he pulled out the next pair but they weren't any better. The blonde's stomach knotted in irritation. So far, his plan of just getting in and getting back out was not going to well. Roxas let his head thud against the clothes rack, feeling the cool metal against his skin as he clenched his eyes shut, completely stressed. He'd been in countless of death defying situations, shopping for clothes shouldn't work him up this badly.
Roxas picked his head up when he heard soft humming. A few rows down from him was Olette, expertly thumbing through a row of shirts before pulling out a purple one covered in orange glitter. She bit her fingernail, shaking her head and placed it back, pulling out the next one with a slight grin. Roxas trailed her with his eyes as she walked up to wall that was strung with purses. Olette lifted the shirt up, looking back and fourth between the two, comparing the colors before she seemed to come to a conclusion and went to get a new shirt entirely.
Roxas watched her for a few more minutes. It was obvious Olette knew what she was doing and Roxas knew he needed help whether he wanted it or not. Olette was better then the few random salespeople that were walking around and there was no way he was going to ask that sales woman up at the front desk for help. He could use the girl, it was easier then getting so frustrated.
Roxas then prepared himself to do one of the hardest things he'd even done in his life, more difficult then even wielding keyblades and fighting armies of heartless. He approached Olette. She hadn't heard him come up, still humming with her back turned, and Roxas knew how to move without making a sound so Olette took no notice when he leaned over to talk to her with his mouth right by her ear. "Olette right?"
The brunet jumped and spun around, clearly startled, staring at him vacantly for a second before recognition showed on her face and she broke into a wide grin. "Oh, hi Roxas!"
Roxas moved further away from her. "Yeah, look I'm kind of new to the whole shopping for clothes thing. Actually I've never done it before so I was wondering if you could…"
Roxas didn't have time to finish before Olette cut him off with a squeal that was so high pitched it made him wince. She was leaning towards him, her hands clasped, eyes shinning, lifting a finger and pointing from him to herself. "You want me to help you shop?" Her voice came out no more then a squeak.
Roxas didn't understand her reaction and wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. Although, he couldn't think of what it was. "Yes" He said slowly. "That's what I-was going to ask."
"Of course I will! I'd love too!" Olette nearly shouted.
Roxas did not share her enthusiasm.
The girl's demeanor quickly changed from excited to determined. She placed her hands on her hips, eyes looking completely serious. "Don't worry Roxas. You couldn't have picked someone better. We'll find the perfect thing for you."
"I don't care what it is" The blonde's voice was hard. "I just want something that fits so I can leave."
Olette didn't appear to have heard him, raising a hand to her chin, lips set in a grim line, as she gazed fixedly at him. "Hmmm…What size are you?"
Roxas knew he should have been prepared for the question but he wasn't and didn't know how to respond. "I'm not…" Roxas started to say but then he quickly trailed off when he realized Olette really wasn't expecting a reply.
The girl was taking a couple of steps backwards, moving her fingers so they formed a square, peering out of them and into Roxas's face then down to his waist. Roxas felt a sudden sinking sensation, having the impression he'd just gotten more then what he bargained for. It was as if Olette was looking out of a picture frame and he was the blank canvas. Olette smiled broadly and let her hands drop. "I think I know!"
Roxas felt a little relief that he didn't have to answer the size inquiry but he didn't have anything else to say to Olette either so he remained stoically silent.
Olette was not fazed by this, wasn't even looking at him anymore, instead, glancing around at her surroundings. Coming to a decision, she turned back to Roxas and shook her head. "First of all Roxas you're in the wrong section." Olette's voice came out as sounding amused. "Nothing's going to fit you here. We need to go…" Olette pointed to somewhere in front of her "That way!"
The next thing Roxas knew, Olette had a firm grip on his wrist and was tugging him to another part of the store. Olette's fingers were soft and warm, something Roxas wasn't used too. His first impulse was to wrench his hand away but he didn't want to make himself stand out anymore then he already did. Roxas didn't like touch, his arm going ridged in her grasp but Olette appeared not to have noticed. This was a common thing with humans Roxas had to remind himself and Olette wasn't doing anything wrong. Gritting his teeth, Roxas continued to let her pull him, reassured in the belief that he never went anywhere he didn't want to.
It only took a few minutes for Olette to take them to the opposite side of the store. Roxas couldn't tell the difference, both sides looking completely identical but judging from Olette's pleased expression, she didn't agree. Olette thankfully, let go of his wrist and started going through the various racks of clothes.
After a second, the burnet had already found something, holding up a navy blue tank top and placing it against Roxas's shoulder. Olette did have good taste. The tank top was much better then anything Roxas had found by himself and it looked to actually fit. Olette intently ran her eyes over it. "I like the way that looks but it's not quite right. Maybe something with a higher neckline"
Roxas was about to snatch the tank top away when Olette turned to place it back on the hanger. "I told you I don't care." Roxas said impatiently. "It's fine."
Olette glanced at him and then back toward the tank top. "Well I guess we could try it on anyway. It wouldn't hurt. Hold your arms out Roxas."
Roxas blinked, not understanding the reason for Olette's request. "Why?"
"Because I need my hands free so I can't carry everything for you"
Roxas still looked perplexed but Olette was waiting for him to follow her directions with an eager expression on her face. The blonde resentfully held his arms out in front of him, Olette at once draping the tank top over them. "We'll hang on to it for a bit."
Olette turned back to the rack of clothes. A minute later, holding up two more shirts, moving them in front of her as if she was weighing them. "What do you like better Roxas? Black or green?"
"I…aaahhh…"
"Hmm.. I can't decide." Olette said hastily cutting him off. "We should try both." The girl then added the two shirts to the growing pile in his arms. "Okay, I think that's all from right here. Time to go to the next one!"
Olette smiled giddily, her fingers latching back onto his wrist and Roxas found once again he was being tugged to a different part of the store.
About an hour later Roxas figured he probably had at least forty articles of clothing hanging over his arms and shoulders. Olette still had yet to carry anything except for the shopping bags she had from earlier. Besides acting as a shopping cart, Roxas hadn't done much, except for remaining still and silent while Olette held clothing against him and gushed about every other thing she saw. He'd even gotten used to her pulling him around, the light touches were still annoying but at least Roxas found he could tolerate them now.
Then as suddenly as Olette entered her shopping frenzy, she came out of it. The burnet turned so she was facing Roxas and he expected her to give him something else to carry but she didn't have anything, just stared at him expectantly. Roxas, not knowing what she wanted, stared back. There was silence between them for a few minutes then Olette sighed, seeming to give up. "Well?" She said.
"Well what?"
"Try them on. I want to see how they look!"
Roxas glanced around him, looking faintly conflicted. "Here?"
Olette frowned slightly, somewhat confused. "Yes, where else would you try it on?"
Roxas shrugged indifferently, setting the mass of clothes he had onto the floor, arms feeling empty and a little shaky now that they were finally freed. Roxas took a hold of his stained white T-shirt, about to pull it off when Olette grabbed one of his hands between her own, stopping the movement. She was looking up at him with an unreadable expression and quickly adverted her eyes, turning her head away. Once again, Roxas could see the pink coloring Olette's cheeks.
"Roxas that wasn't funny!" Olette's voice sounded disapproving but it also contained a hint of a smile. The girl let go of him and pointed to a few feet way. "The dressing room is right there silly."
"Right" The blonde agreed, voice betraying no emotion, Roxas was never one to be self-conscience.
Roxas knelt down to pick up the large bulk of clothes, a bit surprised when Olette bent down to help him, both standing up with an armful of clothes and making their way toward the dressing room. Roxas glanced down at the huge pile and then to Olette. "Try on all of this?"
Olette gave him a vaguely apologetic look. "Well…it's a start."
Roxas stared at her unbelievingly. "A start?" He forced out.
Olette nodded. "You should try on these for now. Then we can find some more."
Roxas didn't have a chance to respond before he and Olette reached the dressing room. Olette grabbed a plastic tag off the counter with a large red number twelve on it and handed it to him. Roxas turned the tag in his hands, not knowing what he was supposed to do with it.
"You hang it outside your door." Olette said off of the blonde's blank expression. "The rule is you can only take ten items in with you." Olette reached over and took about half of Roxas's pile, adding it to her own. "So try those on first and I'll wait out here and hold the rest for you."
"Fine" Roxas said as he stepped inside the dressing room.
"Hey, wait!"
Roxas turned to look back at Olette from over his shoulder. The burnet was beaming at him, showing two rows of pearly white teeth. "Remember to come out when you're done. I want to see how everything looks."
Roxas made an affirmative noise with his throat, found a stall, and quickly closed the door.
Olette was able to find something wrong with every outfit Roxas modeled for her, mostly trivial things, like the sleeves were too big or the color didn't go well with his eyes, and Roxas was starting to get very tired of it. He was back inside the dressing room with clothes scattered all over the place, so far only trying on what Olette had told him. Roxas decided it was time to take matters into his own hands even if it was just clothes shopping. He never cared what he wore before but now the concept of choosing his own clothing was staring to feel more and more appealing.
Roxas glanced around the room taking in the clothes for the first time, eyes landing on a black sleeveless shirt. The bottom edge was a cream color and it had a silver zipper with four large silver points at the end, making it look almost like a necklace. Roxas threw the shirt on and then his attention was drawn to a short sleeved white jacket strewn across the floor which had gray along the bottom of the sleeves, a checkered pattern around the front and tops of the sleeves, and a collar that was a dark inner red. The jacket covered the black shirt nicely. Next Roxas found a pair of black pants with cream-colored leggings that went up to the knees, the color just a little bit darker then the jacket but matched it perfectly. Roxas pulled them on.
He looked down at himself and felt satisfied, somehow knowing he found the right thing, this was him, and almost felt like smiling but repressed it. He also had the desire to show Olette although he couldn't figure out the reason why. Without even glancing in the mirror Roxas left the dressing room, seeing Olette almost instantly, waiting patiently with her arms free. The blonde didn't know were she managed to stash all the clothes from earlier, especially since she kept giving him new ones. Roxas spread his arms out. "What about this?"
The burnet's eyes widened and she made a squeal the mimicked the one from when Roxas first asked her for help. She ran up to him and smiled widely, looking the outfit up and down. "Roxas that looks so good on you! You look amazing. It's perfect!"
"Really?"
"Yes! Don't you think so?"
"I didn't look in the mirror yet."
"Oh" Olette said, appearing a bit surprised. "Well in that case." The girl took his arm and drew him back inside the dressing room so they were both standing in front of the mirror. "Look then. What do you think?"
Roxas stared at his reflection, not used to seeing himself with out his Organization XIII robe. The clothes he was wearing made him seem completely different, almost normal, younger. Roxas lifted a finger and traced his reflection in the glass. "It's me." He whispered. "It's really me."
"Of course it's you." Olette said as she peered over his shoulder. "Who else would it be?"
"I look like a kid" Roxas said, his voice coming out dry.
Olette smiled. "We are kids but I know what you mean. It doesn't make you look like a kid Roxas. It looks really really good."
"No more clothes shopping now. Alright? We're done." Roxas said without turning away from the mirror.
Olette stepped away a little from the blonde's shoulder. "Alright, no more clothes shopping but you still need shoes and accessories!"
Roxas's face paled and he turned his head to meet Olette's eyes. "What?"
"That outfit would look even better with a bracelet and don't give me I'm a boy, I can't wear jewelry because you can. You also need new shoes unless you want to keep wearing those boots. It would be a shame if you did since they don't go with the outfit at all and they look really uncomfortable." Olette managed to say all in one breath.
Despite himself, Roxas smirked. "You don't give up do you?"
"Nope! Now lets get some shoes. Follow me!" Olette half walked and half ran to another part of the store. Roxas slowly followed.
Finding shoes hadn't been too bad and not nearly as time consuming. Roxas picked out a pair of tennis shoes that were dark gray with white bottoms and had a black design at the top that was outlined in white. He found them quickly enough and only needed Olette to help him with the sizes. The burnet was right, they were a lot more comfortable then the heavy leather boots.
Now they were looking at the jewelry Roxas had seen earlier. There was a multitude of it and most of it was flashy, either silver or gold plated or covered with plastic stones but Olette was instantly captivated with it. Roxas picked through it, pushing most of it aside, trying to find something simple. It wasn't long before he spotted a black and white checkered bracelet, looking it over, he found he liked the pattern and the bracelet matched his jacket if nothing else. The blonde held it out in front of him so Olette could see. Roxas would never admit it but it was kind of nice having someone to talk to while he did this. He was nearly starting to get the hang of this whole shopping thing. "How about this?"
Olette turned away from the assortment of rings she was going through. "It matches your jacket. I like it!" The burnet said while unknowingly repeating Roxas's thoughts from earlier. "You're really good at picking things out. Are you sure you've never done this before?"
"Positive."
'If you say so" Olette said dismissively before she went back to the heap of rings, quickly picking up two of them and giving them to Roxas. "Here, and I found these."
Roxas glanced over the rings, one black and the other white. He tried them and the bracelet on.
"It's perfect!" Olette said happily.
Roxas secretly agreed but he was no where near as excited. "Now we're done right?"
"Yep, all we have to do now is pay for it."
Roxas and Olette made their way to the front counter and stood in the small line. Then a shout came from just outside the store. "Hey Olette! I can see you in there! You better not try to hide!"
Both Roxas and Olette looked up, seeing two boys standing at the entrance. The one who had shouted had slicked back blonde and wavy hair, was wearing a black shirt with white designs laced up the front, and a silver necklace that was dangling loosely from his throat. He also had on a gray vest and green camo pants and shoes. The other boy was slightly overweight with wild dark brown hair held back by a red headband, wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt that read 'Dog Street'.
Olette took a couple of steps out of the line and away from Roxas, so she could see the two boys better. "What Hayner?" She shouted back.
"What have you been doing? Pence and I have been waiting at the food court for you for over two hours!"
Olette gasped and lifted the palm of her hand to her mouth. "Ooops, sorry I forgot!"
"Yeah Olette" The brown haired boy echoed. "I know how you get when you're shopping but this is ridiculous."
Someone in the line coughed and shot Olette a reproachful look. The girl gave an apologetic grin and instantly lowered her voice. "Sorry guys! I'm almost done. Come wait for me inside."
"We're not stepping in there." The blonde said dryly.
Olette's eyes glistened with a threatening look. When she spoke there was a challenge to her voice. "Why? You're not afraid to enter a clothing store are you?"
"No we're just smart." The brown haired boy replied easily. "We're not coming in, at least while you're in there."
The blonde turned his head and said something to the other boy that Roxas couldn't hear but it made both of them choke back laughter.
Olette mocked scowled. "Fine, just wait there. I'll be outside in a minute."
Olette turned back to Roxas with a small grin. "Sorry Roxas, ignore them. Lets just pay for this and I'll introduce you."
"I'm leaving after this." Roxas said blandly.
"Awe c'mon it will only take a second. Hayner, Pence, and I were going to get lunch. It'll be a really late lunch now but you can come with us. I bet you have to be hungry after shopping for so long. I know I am."
Roxas thought about it. He was planning on getting food and Olette's offer did sound tempting. If nothing else Olette could show him where the food court was. 'Fine" Roxas said as if he was doing Olette a favor.
"Great!"
Roxas paid for his clothes without incident. He'd gotten quite a bit, his new outfit plus a few other things to change into, and all the essentials like socks. Fortunately, the peppered haired woman from earlier wasn't there. Roxas walked with Olette up to the front of the store so they were standing in front of the two boys.
"Hi guys!" Olette said happily. "I want you to meet Roxas. See I had a good reason for being late. I was helping him shop!"
"You still got carried away Olette" The brown haired boy said smugly.
"Yeah well…" Olette trailed off, not knowing how to reply. Then her face brightened and she touched Roxas lightly on the shoulder. "Roxas these are my best friends." Olette motioned to the brown haired boy and then the blonde. "This is Pence and Hayner."
Pence glanced at Roxas, taking in the various cuts and bruises that lined his skin, looking a bit surprised and vaguely nervous. "Hi Roxas." Pence said slowly as he extended his hand. "Umm are you okay? You look kind of beat up."
'Fine." Roxas said without taking the offered hand.
Pence let his arm drop back to his side, not really seeming to be put off by Roxas's reaction. "Okay that's good I think…"
Hayner had his arms crossed, glaring daggers at Roxas, and turned his head to Olette. "Olette what are you doing with him it looks like you picked him up off a street corner."
"Hayner be nice!" Olette gave Roxas a remorseful look. "He didn't mean it Roxas."
"I don't care." Roxas replied blandly.
"He looks fine" Olette continued. "A lot better then when he first entered now that he has new clothes. Oh! And Roxas is coming to eat with us."
Pence smiled uncomfortably and Hayner looked like he wanted to throw something.
The four of them walked in stony silence toward the food court. "How long have you been in Twilight Town Roxas?" Olette asked, trying desperately to start a conversation. "Is this your first time here? Did you just move here? You never really answered my question from before."
"I just moved here." Roxas replied. "But no I've been in Twilight Town before."
"Really?" Olette asked. She and Pence looked curious and even Hayner seemed mildly interested.
"I've been here a few times and I was born here but I don't really remember that part. It's vague."
"Of course you're not going to remember it." Pence pointed out with a chuckle in his voice.
"Did you leave Twilight Town right after you were born then?" Olette questioned.
"Kind of, Xemnas found me almost instantly afterwards or least he told me he did. That was a little over a year ago."
Pence and Olette were looking at him blankly while Hayner was smirking. "Roxas that doesn't make any sense." Olette said.
"You're about fifteen right?" Pence asked. "Are you even listening to yourself? You just implied you were born a year ago and who's Xemnas?"
"Maybe your boyfriend is on drugs Olette." Hayner commented out of no where.
Olette frowned. "Stop it Hayner. I told you to be nice."
Roxas looked over to Pence, Hayner, and Olette. Pence and Olette were glancing at him with perplexed expressions while Hayner still seemed satisfied about something. Roxas hadn't spoken to many others outside of the organization and he hadn't even been thinking about what he said. Not that he cared what Pence, Hayner, and Olette knew but he needed to be more careful, saying whatever he wanted would only cause unwanted questions and confusion. His new acquaintances wouldn't understand and Xemnas wasn't a safe topic to talk about for anyone involved. "Yeah, I'm fifteen. Just forget it. Never mind."
The four of them lapsed back into silence but it wasn't long afterwards until they came to the food court. Roxas could smell the grease from sizzling meat before he entered it, making his mouth water and his stomach lurch painfully.
Olette looked to have picked up on Roxas's hunger, gasping she lifted both of her hands to her mouth, looking completely horrified. "Oh my gosh! I just thought of something!"
"What?" Pence asked.
"Well it sounds like Roxas doesn't know Twilight Town too much so that means he's probably never tried sea-salt ice cream!"
Roxas looked at Olette skeptically. "What?"
"You've got to try it Roxas." Olette said excitedly. "You don't know what you're missing and it's only in Twilight Town."
Roxas didn't appear convinced. "There's ice cream that tastes like salt?"
Pence rose a hand to his mouth, trying to hold back laughter. "Everyone says that but it's really good. It's hard to describe. You'll see when you try it."
The four of them entered the food court. Roxas could hear the buzzing of conversations but he felt instantly relived when he realized there weren't that many people. The food court was large and everyone was spread out. Roxas spotted a table that was in the back and out of the way. He quickly headed past Pence, Hayner, and Olette, not glancing back or caring if they followed him or not. His uncomfortable feeling of being around so many others hadn't diminished any and he automatically found himself scanning the food court for any possible threats. Not finding anything, Roxas sat down heavily in one of the chairs, kicking his bags of clothes underneath the table.
Pence, Hayner, and Olette soon joined him. Olette put her shopping bags on the floor, next to his and sat beside him. Pence took the chair directly across from him while Hayner sat in the last remaining chair that was also the furthest away. Pence and Olette dug into their pockets, taking out two munny bags.
"It's your turn to order Olette." Pence said off handily.
The girl pouted. "Why me?"
"Because I did it last time."
Olette gave a slight smile "Oh right!"
The girl stood up and Pence handed her some munny. Roxas wondered if he should also give her some but he noticed Hayner hadn't, feeling it would be better to be safe, Roxas took out his munny bag. Olette lifted her hand and shook her head. "Don't worry Roxas. I'm paying. Think of it as my welcome back to Twilight Town present and for going shopping with me"
Roxas put his munny bag back up. "Thanks"
Olette turned to the group. "Sure! So the usual guys?"
Pence and Hayner nodded. Then Olette glanced at Roxas. "Is that okay with you Roxas? Or what would you like? We just all know what each other wants by now so we don't even have to ask anymore."
"It's fine. I don't care what it is"
"Great, I'll be back in a few minutes" Olette said as she turned around and walked off to one of the many fast food restaurants.
With Olette gone, Roxas could almost taste the tension in the air. Hayner was leaning backwards, making the chair balance on its back two legs, his arms folded with a scowl on his face, looking anywhere but at Roxas. Pence on the other hand was staring right at him with wide eyes and his mouth partially open. Roxas glanced away, waiting for Olette to come back. Several minutes later Roxas could still feel Pence's eyes on him, soon finding he had enough and that he couldn't ignore it any longer, Roxas jerked his head around and narrowed his eyes. "What?" He snapped.
Pence blinked, looking a bit taken back. "It's… nothing really. I was just wondering…"
"What?" Roxas asked again.
"How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Survive shopping with Olette?"
Roxas looked blank. That was the last thing he expected. "Huh?"
Pence hugged himself and shuddered. "Whenever I see her go within ten feet of a clothing store I hide. I've got to hand it to you Roxas you're a lot braver then me. Olette's scary when she shops."
It was at that moment when Olette chose to come back, balancing a tray in one hand while holding four sea-salt ice cream bars in the other. Setting everything down on the table, she shot Pence a menacing look and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Am not!"
"You are too!" Pence replied.
Pence turned his head so he was speaking to Roxas. "Get this Roxas. One time I needed to get some new shoes and Olette came with me. We were in the shoes store for two hours and I came out with five pairs of shoes." Pence held his hand up so he was showing five fingers. "Five Roxas. Count them five."
Roxas was at a loss on what to say. Luckily Olette sat back down beside him and saved him from a reply. "Stop trying to corrupt Roxas, Pence. It's not his fault you're afraid of a little shopping."
"Right a little" Pence said dryly, poking at an ice cream bar and quickly moving to another topic. "You bought ice cream before we ate lunch Olette? It's going to melt."
Olette looked somewhat guilty. "I thought this one time we could eat the ice cream first. I really want to know what Roxas thinks of it."
Pence beamed. "Heh right! I'm not complaining" The burnet picked up the rest of the ice cream bars and handed one to Olette, Hayner, and Roxas. Hayner who still had yet to say anything since they sat down, grabbed his ice cream from Pence and a sandwich off the tray, swiftly looking away again and biting into his ice cream defiantly. Pence and Olette didn't seem to be paying any attention to the blonde's behavior, instead they were watching Roxas eagerly.
"Try it Roxas" Olette urged.
Roxas raised the ice cream bar to his mouth, taking a large bit out of it. It didn't taste like salt but there was a sharp tang, mostly it was just overwhelmingly cold and sweet, a lot sweeter then what he was used too. The ice cream felt strange and gritty in his mouth and Roxas soon found he was unable to swallow, throat closing around it, the pale blue of the ice cream gushing out from in between his teeth. Roxas quickly brought his hands up to his face, catching the liquid in his palms before it had a chance to splash onto the table. Pence and Olette were looking at him worriedly while Hayner was snickering from behind the back of his hand.
Roxas stared up at the blonde and at once Hayner's eyes narrowed. Roxas glanced back down to his hands, sticky and glistening with the blue liquid. Looking back at Hayner, Roxas lifted his hands to his lips, proceeding to lick the substance off. Hayner grimaced, hastily adverting his eyes. Roxas finished licking his hands clean to see Olette and Pence staring at him with twin looks of disgust.
There was a stretch of silence before Pence finally broke it. "Man, what you did. That was so gross."
Pence looked like he was waiting for a reply and Olette was still staring at him. Roxas felt the need to say something. "I've never had ice cream before."
"Never?" Pence asked doubtfully
"No"
Pence shot Roxas an incredulous look.
"I like it" Roxas added.
Olette smiled awkwardly. "Maybe you should try licking it Roxas…the ice cream I mean." Olette then demonstrated the action with her own ice cream.
Roxas felt a bit antagonized but his ice cream was beginning to melt and starting to run down his hand again. He lifted it back to his lips and copied Olette. It was still cold, the thick sugary consistency hadn't changed, and it took some getting used to but soon Roxas found he could swallow it easily and he really did like the taste of it.
Pence took the three remaining sandwiches off the tray and the cups of water, handing them out. Roxas unwrapped his sandwich, which was nothing more then turkey with lettuce, mayonnaise, and tomato on some type of overly large bread that he couldn't identify. The blonde tried it. The sandwich was a lot different from any of the food back at the castle in The World That Never Was, fresh for one thing. At the back of his mind Roxas knew it was good but he disregarded the taste. It was food and stilled his hunger. That was the only important thing, taste didn't matter as long as he was finally eating.
"So what do you guys want to do next?" Olette asked.
Pence shrugged. "I have no idea."
"I was thinking we could get started on our summer homework." Olette suggested
Hayner and Pence both groaned. "C'mon Olette" Pence said through a mouthful of food. "We still have over a week before school starts. We can do it tomorrow."
"But if we do it now then we'll have it out of the way." Olette said cheerfully.
"Whatever" Hayner said neutrally. "What do you want to do it on?"
Pence scrunched his eyes up in thought before his face lit up. "I know! We can do it on the seven wonders of Twilight Town."
Olette smiled. "That's fine with me. So then I guess we're going to Sunset Hill after this?"
Hayner nodded approvingly. "Yeah fine, good idea Pence."
"Yeah" Pence continued, voice rising in excitement. "It's not at Sunset Hill but I heard there's this haunted mansion through the woods and if you look into the second story window you can see this girl inside."
Roxas nearly choked again. "Lets stay away from the mansion."
Hayner glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Scared?" The blonde said mockingly. It was the first time Hayner had spoken directly to Roxas.
"No…" Roxas trailed off, searching for a reasonable answer. "But when I first got to Twilight Town I saw the mansion. It looked… interesting so I went inside of it. There's nothing in there but rotting wood and dust. Go if you want. You won't find anything."
Hayner snorted but didn't reply.
"Well if we're going to Sunset Hill we won't have time to go to the mansion anyway." Olette resolved. "So what about you Roxas? I'm sure you've transferred schools. What's your summer homework on? Or are you doing Twilight Town's homework? Whatever it is you can do yours with us…unless you already did it, then you can just come with us to see Sunset Hill. It's really pretty. I'm sure you'll like it"
"I don't go to school" Roxas answered.
Hayner, Pence, and Olette were looking at him in a mixture of disbelief and amazement. "You don't?" Olette asked weakly.
"No, I've never been to school in my life."
"Don't your parents care!" Pence blurted out.
"I don't have parents." Roxas replied easily.
Pence and Olette gaped at him, eyes widening. Hayner on the other hand seemed to come out of his initial shock and just narrowed his eyes.
"Seriously?" Olette breathed out.
"Seriously"
"Wow" Pence whispered.
Olette looked instantly regretful, almost to the point where Roxas could have sworn she was trying to blink back tears. "We're sorry Roxas! We didn't know. Why-why don't you have parents?"
Roxas shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. "Don't be. I'm not. I don't want to talk about it."
"Then where are you staying?" Olette pressed "If you don't have any parents? A relative?"
"I'm not staying anywhere. Last night I slept out on the bench beside the mall."
"Way to go Olette" Hayner said sarcastically. "You just picked up some deranged homeless kid."
Olette glanced at Hayner. "I…" At a loss for words she quickly turned back to Roxas. "Roxas, you really don't have a place to stay?"
"I'll find something" Roxas said dismissively.
Pence leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin in his hands. "Yeah, but we can't just let you sleep outside somewhere."
"I'll get a hotel. There are hotels here right?"
"There's a few but you don't need a hotel Roxas. Their so expensive. I know what you can do!" Olette said as if she just found the magical solution. "You can stay with Hayner. It's perfect since his mom is out for the next few days."
Hayner jerked his head toward Olette, glaring angrily at her. "What?! No Olette!"
"Come on Hayner"
"No!"
"Why not?"
Hayner fisted his hands, looking like he half wanted to lash out at the nearest living thing and half sigh in exasperation. "Because I've only known him for an hour at the most, for all we know he could be lying to us, he looks like he's on the run or something, and you just happened to find him walking around in the mall or wherever you found him. Now you want him to spend the night at my house?!"
"I'm not lying." Roxas said dully. "And stop talking about me in the third person."
Hayner glanced at Roxas, about to snap back a retort when Olette intervened. She leaned over the table and touched the back Hayner's hand, giving him her best smile. "Please Hayner."
Hayner turned his head to Olette and met her eyes with a stony expression, lowering his voice. "Olette. No."
Olette slumped back against her chair. "Hayner-"
"No, how many times are you going to make me repeat myself?"
"Actually that could work" Pence said thoughtfully before Olette had a chance to answer Hayner. "If Roxas could stay with Hayner for a few nights then we could probably find him a job. Then he could rent a place. Twilight Town has a lot of single rooms to rent. They're really cheap too. I heard the poster guy was looking for some help."
"That's right!" Olette said, the excitement returning to her voice. "The last guy quit. I don't remember why."
"He broke his leg after he fell off the skateboard, trying to grind a rail or something" Pence supplied. The brunet then looked nervously toward Roxas. "You can skateboard, right Roxas?"
"Skateboard?" Roxas asked with a bit of annoyance seeping into his tone. "How would I know?"
Pence looked like he didn't know how to respond and smiled uncomfortably, shrugging off Roxas's question. Olette didn't take any notice and looked back to Hayner. "See Hayner, it'll work really well. Please."
Pence too turned to Hayner with a hopeful expression. The blonde seemed defeated and sighed deeply, letting his elbows rest against the table top, putting his head in his hands, clutching at his hair. "Fine" he muttered. "He can stay with me as long he keeps out of my way. A couple of nights and that's it. After that he's on his own."
Pence looked vaguely relieved.
Olette smiled brightly. "Thanks! You won't regret it Hayner." The girl then glanced at Roxas. "That's okay with you, right Roxas? If you stay with Hayner for a couple of days?"
Roxas was silent for a moment. He'd been in Twilight Town less then a day and he thought he was doing pretty good. He had clothes, gotten food, and now he had a place to stay for the time being anyway. From the way Pence and Olette were talking he may even have a possible way to get munny. The last thing Roxas had expected was their help, the blonde nobody being used to functioning independently but he could also take advantage of a situation. "It's better then trying to find and paying for a hotel or sleeping outside."
Pence cleared his throat. "Hey Roxas" He said reflectively. "I was thinking how did you wind up back in Twilight Town exactly?"
"I don't remember" Roxas replied shortly.
"You don't remember?" Pence confirmed.
"No, I don't have any memories of my past. I can remember the past year and that's it. I've been living out in streets, the darkness, and the rain. I don't know how I woke up in Twilight Town. I was just here." It was the closest to the truth Roxas could come. At least it wasn't a flat out lie and might even make Pence and Olette stop asking him so many questions but with the way they were blinking at him again, Roxas doubted it. Hayner just looked even more ticked off.
"You mean like amnesia." Olette questioned.
"If that's what you want to call it."
"So let me get this straight" Pence said, sounding as if he hadn't made up his mind on what to believe yet. "You've been living on the streets, you don't remember anything at all except for the past year, and you don't even know how you got to Twilight Town?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
Off of Roxas's last statement Hayner stood up angrily from his chair, making it scrape loudly against the floor, grabbed his half eaten sandwich and slammed his other hand down on the table, hard enough to make Pence and Olette jump. "I think I've suddenly lost my appetite." He snapped.
Hayner turned around and stalked away from the group. "I'll meet you on the top of Sunset Hill" He grounded out over his shoulder before he disappeared into the maze of tables and chairs.
Olette trailed her friend with her eyes. "What's wrong with Hayner? I know he gets into these moods sometimes but I've never seen him act like this."
"I don't know" Pence said without concern. "But I wouldn't worry he probably just needs some time to cool down."
Olette nodded and Roxas brushed the whole thing aside, quickly going back to finishing his sandwich.