Chibified

Shizuka Usagi

Chapter 3

Roxas and Goofy had arrived in Hollow Bastion. As Roxas looked around, he noticed that Hollow Bastion has changed since last year. As the two approached the marketplace, two figures ran up to meet them.

"Goofy!" Donald shouted. "Who do ya have with ya?" Yuffie came up behind him, panting slightly.

"Gosh, Donald. You run fast for a—hey who are—is that you, Sora?" Yuffie stammered aghast. Roxas looked uncomfortable at her scrutiny.

"Yuffie, this is Roxas. He is Sora's—uh—friend from Twilight Town." Goofy explained.

"But… doesn't the law say that you're not allowed to bring aliens to different worlds?" Yuffie questioned.

Aliens? Roxas thought confused. What does she mean by that?

"Well—um—the king made an exception this time. Since it's an emergency." Goofy answered hastily.

"Fine by me." Yuffie said, easily won over. Then she turned her attention back to Roxas. "I almost thought you guys were twins. You look so similar."

"Um… excuse us a minute, Yuffie." Donald said, ushering Goofy and Roxas ten meters away from the somewhat nosy ninja.

"Listen, Roxas, I don't think we should go tellin' people about the connection between you and Sora. We gotta keep this a secret, okay." Donald said winking.

"Okay…" Roxas replied uneasily.

"The same goes with you, Goofy. Don't screw up." Donald said, as if expecting him to mess up.

Goofy and Roxas thought simultaneously, Isn't he usually the one screwing up?

"So, you're here to help take care of Sora, right?" Yuffie asked Roxas once he returned. He nodded in response.

"Okay. Then let's go. Time's a wasting." She said, skipping towards the borough.

"Is she always this perky?" Roxas asked when she was out of earshot.

"Just you wait. This isn't the worst of it." Donald grumbled, causing him an elbow to the side by Goofy.

"We don't wanna give Yuffie a bad impression, do we? They're going to have to live together for a while." Goofy reminded while Donald scowled.

—

Out of nowhere, Heartless began popping up all over the place once Roxas arrived. "What the—"

"Watch out!" Just when a Heartless attacked Roxas from behind, Yuffie threw her shuriken at it, slicing the Shadow in half.

"You know how to fight?" she called out, throwing a kunai at another.

He shook his head. Not without the struggle club or… keyblade. Hand to hand combat isn't really my thing.

Goofy pulled out his shield and Donald took out his staff. Yuffie jumped down from the ledge and they formed a triangle around Roxas.

"What is it with these Heartless? They all seem to be targeting Roxas. Like when they do when Sora is around." Yuffie mused aloud.

Suddenly, stronger Heartless and Nobodies appeared. Hollow Bastion's defense grid wasn't enough to keep them at bay. Their escape attempts were blocked by invisible barriers created by the enemy. The trio was beginning to tire out. They couldn't handle so many at once. They had run out of restoration items and Donald's magic was depleted.

"What will we do?" Donald said in desperation.

"We need backup right away." Yuffie huffed.

She took out her communicator from her back pocket. She attempted to contact Leon and the others, but a Nobody came out of nowhere and gave Yuffie a blow to the stomach. She flew across the borough, knocking into the brick wall. The communicator fell from her grasp and was destroyed when it came in contact with the group.

"Yuffie!" Roxas, Goofy, and Donald called out in unison. However, she couldn't reply because she knocked out. The Nobody that attacked her earlier went to do the finishing blow. Goofy and Donald tried to help her but too many enemies blocked their path. Roxas filled with rage. He wasn't going to let someone get hurt because of him. With newfound strength, he flipped over the blockade and ran to protect Yuffie.

"Roxas...get out of…the way." Yuffie breathed, but Roxas didn't listen. He held out his arms in a defensive position and braced himself.

"Roxas, Yuffie!" Donald and Goofy shouted helplessly.

As the Dusk reached to carve out his heart, a flash of light blinded them, causing the Heartless and Nobodies to shriek in pain and vanish. When the light faded away, Roxas was seen hunched over with the Kingdom Key.

"Roxas has got the keyblade!" Goofy exclaimed.

"How did you do that?" Donald questioned.

"Ask questions later. The priority is to help her." Roxas scooped the unconscious Yuffie off the ground. "Where can we get help?"

"Let's take her to Merlin. This way." Goofy and Donald led the way to Merlin's house.

—

Merlin was dusting his spectacles when Roxas, Goofy, and Donald barged in. He almost dropped his glasses in surprise. He was about to scold them for being so boisterous, but then stopped when he saw the unconscious, battered Yuffie in Roxas' arms.

"What in the world happened to the miss?" Merlin inquired as he ushered them to bring Yuffie to his bed.

Roxas laid her down carefully, then turned to Merlin. "We were ambushed by Heartless and Dusks. She was injured by one. Will you please help her?"

"Hmm…" Merlin inspected her wounds carefully. "Luckily, there's nothing fatal. Though there is a stomach wound below her upper torso."

"This is my fault. If I hadn't come here, nobody would've been hurt." Roxas said guiltily.

"It's not your fault, Roxas. You did your best." Goofy comforted, patting him on the back.

"Yeah. It's a good thing you had the keyblade." Donald added.

"Keyblade!" Merlin echoed, almost dropping his roll of bandages. "We have another keyblade wielder?"

"It seems so. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy were asleep, I told his place as the key wielder." Roxas explained.

"Oh, yes, I remember. I was informed that Sora had a counterpart. That must've been you." Merlin recalled.

"Now, we're two separate beings. I'm not his twin." Roxas said firmly.

"Of course, you're much too serious." Goofy supported.

"And a lot smarter…" Donald mumbled, causing Goofy to elbow him again.

"Enough of that. What about Yuffie?" Roxas reminded, bringing them back to reality.

Their personalities may be different, but they have the same heart. They both care about their friends—even the ones they've just met, Merlin thought.

"Yes, yes. The wound is pretty deep. This calls for… curaga!" Merlin casted a spell on Yuffie's injury, causing it to close up.

Yuffie stirred slightly, but she returned to her slumber. Her irregular breathing returned to normal. Everyone sighed in relief. Merlin wrapped the bandages around her abdomen so the wound wouldn't reopen.

"Will she be okay?" Roxas asked. His indifferent tone was mixed with concern. Merlin nodded.

"After a day or so, Yuffie will be back to normal. She's a strong girl. She'll make it through."

"But now, wouldn't Roxas have to take care of both Sora and Yuffie?" Donald asked.

"I can handle it." Roxas announced, surprising the three. "I'm stronger than I look."

"I see." Merlin said. "Well, you and Yuffie can stay at the vacant house—the one across from mine. It's already furnished and supplied with essentials. Sora is already there."

"Thank you." Roxas said, taking Yuffie into his arms. Then he left, followed by Donald and Goofy.

—

The house that Roxas would be staying at had two stories. The first floor consisted of a kitchen, dining, and living room. The upper level had two bedrooms and a bathroom. Roxas went into the guest room, opposite of Sora's, and laid Yuffie on the bed.

"Gawrsh, Roxas. Do you think you'll be okay?" Goofy asked.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Besides, you guys said you'll check in whenever you can, right?" Roxas replied.

"Of course!" Donald confirmed.

"Why don't we check up on Sora before we leave, Donald?" Goofy asked Donald. He agreed and the three went to check up on Sora.

"He looks okay to me." Roxas said, inspecting him.

"Hmm…he still seems to be having a fever. But it has gone down by a lot." Donald observed.

"That's a good sign. Who knows Roxas? Maybe you'll be able to go home sooner than ya thought." Goofy said.

Roxas just nodded. He had the queerest feeling that things weren't going to go the way it seemed.

"Alright, Roxas, we'd better get going. See ya later." Goofy waved and the two left.

"Goodnight, Sora." Roxas said, glancing at his counterpart before leaving the room.

What he didn't notice was that Sora was glowing ever so slightly…