I see Sora portrayed as an over hyper active annoyed, naïve kid in just about every story. Okay, I'll admit from time to time he acts that way but who doesn't? It's nice to throw in every now and then but all the time, no way. He's also not weak either, if he was would be have been able to defeat organization thirteen? (okay realistically speaking no, but still that's not how the game went!) My first chapter was about the only time you'll see Sora being that childish, but he was excited about moving and couldn't resist making fun of Roxas being overly dramatic, so he simply responded in the same way. Unlike Roxas who wasn't faking it he was. I'm not a huge Sora fan though, I just like being a little more serious from time to time.

Originally set to be a single chapter, it was divided into 3 and 4 for easier reading and editing. Chapter three re-edited as of 3/7/09

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Roxas buried his face deeper into a soft pillow and whined as rays of light peered in through the living room window. The golden beams landed across his eyes causing the blond to stir from sleep. With a groan he turned over onto his side and made himself comfortable; ready to settle back to slumber, however the sound of footsteps met his ears and roused him from his nap. Rolling back over he found his brother standing a few feet away fully dressed and awake.

"Roxas, Mom says get up. She's getting breakfast ready soon and Cloud will be leaving for work in about 30 minutes." Sora said softly, not wanting to hurt his brother's tired ears.

At the mention of Cloud's name, Roxas narrowed his eyes and turned back over on the couch stubbornly refusing to get up. He had made it perfectly clear before the move he had no interest in getting to know Cloud.

"Com'n Roxas, just because you got sent to bed early last night by Cloud doesn't mean you should still be mad at him. Besides, it could have been a lot worse. But I think you'll really like him once to get to know him some more, he's a lot like you actually." Roxas sat up and glared at his brother who was acting all buddy like after what happened, with the fight they had and Cloud speaking to him like he had the right to anything. How dare he compare him to that man, and how was it he managed to be so calm and alert in the mornings? Nothing seemed to be working out right now. He knew this whole trip was going to be a disaster, last night was a sign. Speaking of last night, Roxas never got a chance to tell anyone about Zexion. It didn't matter, not like the person knew what he looked like anyway, it had been too dark to see after all.

"I'm not in the mood to get friendly with anybody today Sora. So why don't you go back out there and tell mom she can-"

"Roxas, are you out of bed yet?" Their mother's voice burst in from the other room through open door. Roxas growled loudly and flipped her off from the security of a different location. He loved his mother honestly, but just her voice for no reason sometimes sent him over to the edge. Especially when he wasn't in a good mood, hearing her voice was the worst.

"You know Roxas; you can be a real dick sometimes." Sora said with a glare and walked out of the room.

"Sora, wait I didn't mean-" Roxas started but never got too finished as a closing door cut him off. Sighing loudly Roxas plopped back down and pulled the pillow tightly over his head. Why did everything have to be so difficult? He wasn't even in a bed for crying out loud! Their furniture had been left at the old house because it was too much to store into the car, so till they brought something new Sora and Roxas were stuck sleeping in the living room. Sora had been kind enough to sleep in the recliner rather than the couch though. Sometimes it was hard to believe Sora's generosity. Even after having punched him point blank the other still put him before himself, and now he had to go and be a total ass in front of him. Roxas set the pillow aside and got up from the couch, rubbing his stiff back as he walked to the bathroom.

"Morning Roxas" Cloud said to him as passed him in the hallway.

"Whatever." Roxas muttered shutting the bathroom door. Cloud stared puzzled at the closed door a moment before turning away and continuing on down the hall. Shaking off the oddity of what just happened. Sora and his mother were already present in the kitchen and greeted Cloud instantly when he walked into the room.

"Hey Cloud." Sora said with a smile, Cloud nodded at him in acknowledgment before turning his gaze to Sora's mother.

"Good morning Tifa." He said. She smiled at him as she set two more plates down on the table.

"Just finishing up breakfast" she said pleasantly before returning her attention towards the stove.

Cloud smiled at her and took a seat; he glanced at Sora was also smiling. The TV was airing the news in the other room and after a few minutes of listening reports Cloud turned his attention to Sora, about to ask him how his night went when Roxas suddenly came into the room. Hair matted up disorderly, he resembled Sora more today with the exception of shorter and much more obviously blonder hair. Sora didn't even acknowledge him as Roxas walked. Roxas looked half asleep and walked in a zombie like state to the kitchen, obeying only his instinct to feed.

"Morning Roxas" his mother greeted happily. Roxas was about to reply with a rude comment before he felt Sora scowling from behind him. Forcing a smile he greeted her back and grabbed something out of the refrigerator.

"Aren't you going to join us?" Tifa asked sadly already knowing the answer.

"No" Roxas said impudently. After his response Roxas felt his brother's scowl as well as Cloud's disapproval in his behavior.

"-thank you." He added in a mutter before leaving the kitchen to vanish back to what would eventually become his room.

Trudging to where the luggage was stored, Roxas held the factory made breakfast between his teeth and lazily scratched his stomach from early morning drowsiness. Proceeding to discard his white top he dropped it to the floor after tossing his packaged food elsewhere. Kneeling down he began shuffling through duffel bags for something to wear, he had a hard time deciphering his and Sora clothes by color coordination alone. Silently cursing his mother once again for packing everything together, finally he managed something to wear. Holding up a shirt it unraveling from its fold and had line indent from being compressed for many hours, not caring about the mark he pulled the tight fitting shirt over his head. Borrowing once more through the bags for bottoms Roxas pulled out wrinkled jeans and stood up and lowered his night pants; through alone he blushed when his checkered boxers beneath began to slip accidentally. Once dressed Roxas found his rolled up pair of socks from the day prior and grabbed a spare pair of shoes from the bundle of travel wear. His regular shoes lay near the front door but Roxas wanted to avoid as much contact with his family possible. Well his family and that guy who Roxas refused to accept as one of them. Grabbing his food item off the ground he walked out of the room and into the master bedroom.

"So this is where my mother's staying." Roxas thought with disdain. He frowned; their old house was much more luxurious than this place, even though it was simple in design it had an unspoken elegance. Not only was it this place small, it was remotely empty, no personal touches, just a bed, dresser, night stand and tiny throw rug. Which to Roxas the rug resembled a sinking ship in a vast ocean by its horrendous condition, with its stained material and many tears. Shaking his head in disapproval Roxas made his way into the only other bathroom in the house. Like the bedroom and the rest of the house it lacked any sense of design. Even the way it had been constructed was deficient in creativity. The architect who built this home must have cut every corner possible: walls flat, counter tops a bare color and the floors just as tasteless. Roxas only grew bitterer at the sight, this place was proving to be just as much of a disappointment as he had expected.

He threw away his food wrapper and scuffed down his meal in a few bites. How something smaller than your hand managed so many calories was astounding, but Roxas didn't care for he never had problems with weight before. Going to the sink to wash away the sugary stickiness, half excepting the pipes not to work, he wiped his wet hands on his pants and headed over to the window which so unintelligently was placed right beside the toilet.

Opening the screenless frame he slipped outside into an alleyway little over six feet below, it proved to problematic with his shortness. Sliding out of the frame, he felt dry wood carve into his stomach and chest as his shirt was lifted. With a final bit of a struggle he was free and fell to the ground below, soring his ankles as he landed. There was a harsh slam from up above of wood smacking down against wood. Standing firmly on the ground with regained balance in the shaded alley, Roxas narrowed his eyes up at the window which had closed itself promptly after his escape. He noticed how easily he would be for any intruder to break in, one more thing to add to his list of reason to hate this place: any pervert could peek in on his mother, or any bulgar could use this route easily during the day when no one was home. There were going to be some definite changes around here.

Roxas' skin goosebumped as he stood in the monstrous shade of the sky scrapper the house stood beside the house. Turning around he examined the building and tried to guess as to what type of building it was. There were no windows on it for many stories up, but still anyone with a telescope at those heights could watch in. Maybe it was an office building, but who in their right minds would build a home here after a huge office was built? Unless the house had been here first and someone fought for its rights to remain. Though that was highly unlikely, who would waste all that time and money to preserve a dump like this? Cloud didn't exactly live the high life either so by now someone surely would have brought him out. Cars honked from streets on either side of him, everyone was always on the go. It was a dangerous place for any child to live should they accidentally cross onto the road without protection. It took Roxas nearly two hours to fall asleep the night before after Cloud sent him to bed at 7, the cars outside relentlessly bothered him and refused to let sleep come easy. He could imagine the school year already; lots of homework that the teacher's only gave out so they could have something to do at night. Then coming home late on a smelly bus, or worse: walking through the billowing rutted streets after hours with the heavy flow of traffic that made crossing streets impossible. He pictured himself in complete exhaustion and never handing in any assignments, grades dropping from his C and B average to straight Ds, it was all inevitable! Thanks to this damned city and its messed up way of life, nothing good could come of it only bad.

Veering out from the confines of the alleyway Roxas peeked his head out to the open sidewalk, harsh sun hitting his eyes and blinding him on spot. Roxas cried out and submerged back into the protection of the shaded alleyway and rubbed his throbbing eyes.

"Guess you're not use to this weather" came a voice from up high. Roxas pulled his hands away from his eye lids and looked around. There was no way he imaged that voice, but as far as he could tell there was no one here.

"Up here." the voice spoke again. Looking up, Roxas made out the silhouette of a figure standing on a fire escape on the side building that faced the road way. The figure was leaned over the rail and crooking around the side of the building to better view him. Rather than not be responsible for a fall Roxas stepped out into the sun struck sidewalk, but the figure never moved from their spot.

"You don't' remember me do you?" It said.

He'd only been here a day, who could he have met, unless it was the person from last night? It very well could have been for Roxas could make out very little details from either situation. The voice had been distorted by the rainfall but Roxas was sure it was a male he was talking too. Honestly though Roxas could not remember anything at all. Yesterday had been killer and he preferred pretend everything from that day did not happen, especially the fact he brought him here.

"Where do you live?" Roxas asked. He could see more easily with the sun partially out of his eyes and made out the person gesturing to the window behind them.

"This apartment." They stated

"Oh" Roxas looked back down the alleyway and noticed it opened all the way to another street behind the house. Memory coming in Roxas remembered that's where the dumpsters he traveled to last night where located.

"Are you the one I meet last night?" Roxas asked wanting to rest his curiosity. He couldn't make out any details but he could tell that the person had nodded.

"Would you like to come up?" Roxas was asked.

Roxas froze; his mother would have a fit if she found out! But inside Roxas wanted nothing more than to get away from the house and though it wasn't getting far away it was still somewhere else. Any place was better than the house he agreed on, besides, he didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Sure" he finally answered. When he did, the other said nothing but turned back towards the window behind him and stepped inside. The window Roxas noticed was roughly the same size as the one in Cloud's bathroom, and by estimation of entry access, Roxas concluded that the person was also roughly his size. Then he heard the voice again.

"Go about the front, apartment thirty-nine I'll buzz you in." Following orders Roxas walked around under the burning sun to the front of the building and went up its cement stoup.

There were many buttons with various labels on them. Roxas stared not sure what to do or expect. Perhaps there would be more intrusions for him to follow. Waiting in silence for a few moments Roxas shifted his weight from each foot feeling vaguely out of place and uneasy. On further examination Roxas noticed the labels were all in numeric order and finally he found one labeled thirty-nine. Raising his bare wrist he pressed the button with the given number and held it down. He waited. Nothing

Pulling his finger away he was about to leave when the sound of a lock un-clicked and the voice greeted him again.

"Come inside and go to the elevator, level 7." There was another audible click then silence once more.

Roxas pulled on the surprising cold gold colored metal handle and walked precariously inside. The inside was a strong contrasting blue-grey darkness compared to the sunshine outdoors. The only light let in was from windows floors up that managed to travel through the various hallways and corners to find their way down. Along with the light reflecting on the sidewalk outside peering in through the glass of the entry door there was nothing. No electric lighting above, nor lamps to make up for their absence. Roxas noticed a built in desk just a few feet away that was made of the same material as the floor but no one was presence. Peering over the counter top Roxas saw various filing bins, forms of blank crisp white papers and uncapped pens. Continuing on, Roxas advanced towards elevator that was right beside the unmanned counter. He had noticed a lounge looking room just beyond the other side of the desk through a short hallway but he didn't bother checking. It would be rude to leave this stranger waiting…

The paradox of that was so unbelievable Roxas had to resist hitting himself. Pressing the up arrow the sound of circuitry and machinery hummed as the elevator started. At the sound of a ding, thick metal doors opened to a small carpeted and false wood room with damaged railing. As Roxas stepped inside and pressed the story to the 8th floor he couldn't help but wonder why the outside shell of the doors had been so scratched up. It looked like someone had clawed it endlessly with nails. As the doors closed Roxas saw it was not the outside he had to worry about. For when the metal barriers closed trapping him inside the small room Roxas noticed a large rustic colored stain spattered on the inside of the doors.

Fear spiked in Roxas like a sudden dose and he began feeling claustrophobic. Was this all some sort of conspiracy and this person he was seeing controlled an entire division devoted to luring in unsuspecting people and killing them in the most inhumane ways? Looking up Roxas noticed a camera in the corner of the elevator, perhaps he was being watched at this very moment! Roxas shook his head and scolded himself for his crazy thoughts, but in logic relieved some of the guilt. He was in a strange new place, the city no less and he came from the much simpler country-side, a town so small everyone knew each other by first and last name. Laughing at his over active imagination Roxas sighed in relief as the doors opened to solid ground. Stepping out he noticed all the apartment numbers reading incorrectly, everything was in the forties.

"Shit, wrong floor." Roxas cursed quickly and turned back towards the elevators only to find them closing. Yelling for them to stop he raced to them but the doors shuts and he could hear the elevator making it's decent to the bottom. He cursed and looked to a metal panel strip for a button but found none. What type of place was this?! Panic rearing in him again Roxas frantically hit the metal panel hoping it was some new type of sensory device. Of course he was not that lucky, sighing he gave up hitting the strip and nervously peeked out into the hallway. There was no one around, so for the mean time he was safe. Stepping out from behind the cavity of the elevator entry Roxas looked left to right down the hall. To his right the apartment read forty-five, following it he saw the next said forty-six, figuring this was the wrong way Roxas receding back to travel left where the numbers grew smaller.

As he made it to forty Roxas discovered another set of elevators, this time with buttons attached. Excitement traveled through Roxas and he quickly rushed towards them and just as he was about the hit the switch a familiar ding rang out causing him to jump back. In a moment of winded action he pushed open the door to the stairwell that was set beside the elevators. Hiding behind a baby blue colored door that matched in color to the entire insides of the stairway, Roxas glanced out of the rectangular window embedded into the door that had thin diagonal stitches lined on the thick glass.

"I'm telling you they're not going to buy it. The last time you or I tried something like this the boss threw us out on our asses."

"If someone had done the correct research that wouldn't have happened, this time I've taken the responsibility for such things."

Roxas gasped and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to remain silent. Two men had emerged from the elevators, one tall with a powerful looking body and thick black dread locks. The other was much smaller with a lanky form and slouching shoulders; his hair was a lighter black and tied back in a pony tail which showed obvious signs of greying. Roxas only had a moment to examine their faces but that was enough, the larger of the two had profound facial hair and a fierce expression while the other not quite as treacherous, had spiteful scarring and strangely pointed ears. Speaking of ears, what the hell happened to other guy, the tall one? Was he raised by elephants or something, his ears were huge! Perhaps he had wedges placed in his lopes that weighted them down and caused them lengthen, either way it didn't look right. A small smiled irked on Roxas's pale lips and small chuckle escape him as he imaged the man wondering around with a herd of elephants. But his small laugh cost him dearly for the shorter man spun around and for the briefest moment their eyes locked.

"Who's there?" He demanded. Busted!

Roxas fled the sight quickly and didn't bother to look back as he heard the door opening above him. He jumped an entire flight of stairs and pushed through the door like he was running for his life.

"What was that?" Xaldin questioned catching only a brief glancing of a fleeing blond.

"No idea." Xigbar said plainly. "Damn kids" he added in for good measure.

"Right… Well remember to have the presentation ready for Xemnas on Monday."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, what if only one of us gets the promotion?" Xigbar inquired.

"Then I'll be sure you still visit you around holidays." Answered Xaldin

"Ha! As if"

Roxas had had enough of this damn place. People walking around looking like they worked for the Godfather, blood stains on doors and cameras watching him! This whole thing was a bad idea from the start, he was pretty sure he'd feel safer striking up a conversation with a drunken homeless man.

"What's your hurry, Roxas?"

Turing on a dime Roxas saw a young boy standing outside an apartment doorway looking at him from behind a lock of purple slate colored hair. Who was he; he looked way too young to be the same person he was taking to before.

"It's okay, you're not in any danger here, come inside." The person said and left the hallway to venture back inside, leaving the door opened invitingly. Glancing around Roxas saw he was alone again, rather than have to suffer through anymore experiences Roxas walked briskly inside and closed the forest green door labeled thirty-nine.