AN: sorry about the last chapter! I had a bit of an emergency to attend to. Anyhow, I'm gonna make up for it in this chapter.

Light at the End

chapter 2

chlorine and salt

Roxas quickly threw on his black hoodie and scarf. The temperature had dropped down to about 25 degrees and he wanted to bundle up as my h as possible.

Roxas' room looked like any teen boy's would and yet a little different. Officially the room had been a television den. Rather then a bed, a reclining futon was his source of rest. It was wedged in between two end tables, each housing a lamp. Opposite to this was a sliding glass door. Even before this had became Roxas' room, it had always been kept closed and covered with blinds. To the right of that, in the corner, was an old blue recliner chair. His grandmother had offered to get rid of it but he denied saying he liked it where it was. Right of the room there was a chestnut wood desk. Atop that was a laptop. It was actually pretty advanced. Not the type of thing you'd expect to see in such an old house.

His mother had left Roxas enough money to live comfortably. She had invested in a few shares and on top of that, she didn't believe in banks. She had safes hidden everywhere each containing anywhere from 500 to, and this was the max he had found, 44,000 dollars. He used some of that money to modernize his room a bit.

He walked over to his dresser and grabbed his bathing suit. There was no way he was going out in the freezing cold snow in nothing but a bathing suit. He'd change in the locker rooms.

He waved goodbye to his grandmother before stepping outside and into the cold. He shivered at the freezing wind which hit his face. 'Sora must be mental," he thought. 'Wanting to swim when he knows how cold it is.' He let out an audible sigh. "Well, better get going."

He made his way out. Roxas cut through the large, garden like clearing across from the condo, heaving his legs through the thick blankets of snow and on to the shoveled pathways.

About two minutes passed before he finally made it there. Two freezing, unforgivable, minutes. Roxas entered the building, feeling the warmth of the heater hit his face like a bullet to the head. Shivering, he searched his pockets, retrieving what looked like a gold pocket watch.

It was a momentum of his mother. She had given it to him as a birthday gift some many years ago. On the cover was an eagle perched on a mountain top with its wings spread wide. On the inside were the engravings "10/11/13". The day she had died. Still quite recent.

Roxas quickly checked the time before returning it to his pocket. 10:27. He began to make his way to the desk before being stopped by the maintenance man, Cid. "Hey there, Roxy, how you feel'n," he asked.

"Roxy? Who is this 'Roxy' in which you speak," Roxas retorted.

Cid only rolled his eyes. "Sorry. Roxas."

"I'm doing allot better. And yourself?"

"Pretty good. Oh, if you look'n for Sora, he already went in. He walked in wearing just his bathing suit and a white tee. His Ma looked ready to kill em. Well, as close as Aries can get to that look anyhow."

The two shared a quick laugh before waving each other off and returning to their lives.

Roxas stopped at the front desk, happy to see the warm smile on Aries' face. "Why, hello, Roxas," she said. "Here to see Sora?"

"Hey Mrs. Fair. Yeah he invited me to the pool." As he said this, Roxas handed her his card. Everyone in the condo complex had one. Without it the clubhouse was off limits.

"Well he's already headed in. Have a nice time, sweetheart."

"Thanks Mrs. Fair. Have a nice day."

With that he made his way into the locker room, quickly striping himself of his clothes and changing into his swimming trunks ((AN: dont worry... Da speedos come later... Mwahahahaha!)) before anyone came in. Afterwords, he stuffed his belongings into a random locker, not bothering to lock it. Nothing had been stolen from the lockers for years, so people rarely worried.

Roxas entered the swimming area, only to be greeted with the sight of a relaxed Sora, simply floating on his back, not a care in the world.

He stood there for awhile simply taking in his features. His chocolate brown hair, his slightly toned torso, even the veins of his neck and arms. Every detail.

He was ripped from this trance, however, when ocean blue eyes fluttered open to meet sapphires. Sora beamed a smile. "Hey, Roxy! Get your butt in here so I can dunk you," he giggled.

Roxas shared in his laughter. "Hey, c'mon! I've asked you a million times not to call me..." The name seemed to stick in his throat. "Roxy. It's annoying!"

"I know... But it sounds better!"

"Sora... Please?" Roxas put on his best puppy eyes, hoping for some results.

To his pleasure, it did. Sora could never resist Roxas' puppy eyes. "Roxas... Thats not fair! You know I can't say no to that look... It makes you look so..." He searched for the right word, as if it were a needle in a haystack. "Cute."

" This earned quite the blush out of Roxas.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them. It was Roxas who cut through it. "I'm not cute," he said the flustered look never leaving his cheeks. "I'm handsome."

Sora let out a sigh of relief, glad to have that moment over. "Well hurry up and get your 'handsome' face in here," Sora said.

Roxas gladly complied. Without a second thought he started a run, jumped , and dove head first into the water, feeling the warmth embody him. He stayed under the water for a minute (AN: he can hold his breath pretty damn long) before coming up for air.

The two entertained themselves with whatever they could think of. Rough housing, random contest like who could jump the farthest, but for the most part, they wound up throwing around a water ball Sora had bright with him for the rest of the time.

Sora checked the nearby clock on the wall. His eyes widened at what he saw. "Have we seriously been here THAT long?"

Roxas looked over to it as well. "5:31?! Crap, my Grandma is gonna kill me!" He was thrown into a small panic consisting of "crap crap crap crap crap!" and "what do i do..."

Seeing this, Sora wrapped his arm around him. "Hey, it'll be ok. I'm sure she'll understand. Just tell her you lost track of time."

"But..."

"Roxas, your not going to be in trouble."

Roxas let out a sigh of defeat. He was right. Roxas' grandma rarely raised her voice or scolded him. Then again, usually she slept allot during the day.

The two got out of the pool and made their ways into the locker room. Each turned in different directions as they changed. But this didn't stop either of them from stealing a quick peek at the other.

Once each was dried and fully clothed, they practically ran out of the locker room. Once at the desk, each of them asked Aries for their cards. As they were about to turn around, they heard the one voice they had hoped not to. "Roxas! If you were going to be here so long, you could have called me." Roxas' grandma. Oh joy.

"Oh... Hey grandma. Sorry... I lost track of time."

She only sighed. "Just like your mother... No sense of time. It's alright. Just try to call me next time, alright?"

"Yes ma'am..."

Sora stepped in, an almost unnoticeable fluster upon his face. "Uhm... Mrs. Strife? I was wondering if Roxas could stay over tonight."

Both Roxas and his grandmother looked surprised. "Well, I wouldn't mind. Roxas?"

"Not at all."

"Well then hurry and get home and pack a bag!"

Roxas flashed a smile. "C'mon, Sora! Lets go. I'm gonna need a bit of help packing." The two were off in a flash.

*•*•*

Back in the condo, Roxas threw together some clothes into an empty schoolbag. Sora looked around the room in awe. It certainly had changed since it was turned into a bedroom. But there was one question eating a way at him. "Where's your bed?"

Roxas pointed to the futon. "It reclines into one. I keep the blankets underneath. Speaking of, can you grab my sleeping bag from under there?"

Sora shook his head no. "Leon's out on another trip. His bed is free."

Roxas froze up. Just the thought of disturbing any of his things... "Dude, grab the damned sleeping bag."

Sora laughed at Roxas' fear for his brother. "He's not gonna be back till march."

"Oh thank god... In that case, never mind."

"Speaking of brothers, hows Cloud?"

"How should I know? Last I heard from him he said he was going to the Land of Dragons. That was at..." He let out a sigh. "At the wake."

"Roxas... I-"

"I'm not about to break into tears. I'm fine." He put on a smile. To those who didn't know him well, it was real. But to others, it was the most fake thing they'd ever seen.

Sora only sighed. Fighting with him would be useless. Then, something hit him. "Wait, the Land of Dragons? Thats where Leon was headed!"

The two exchanged a quick look before breaking out in laughter. Both Cloud and Leon were mercenaries. The two teamed up for several different missions and did some... Other things on the side lines. Cloud was related to Roxas only on his father's side. Though that was a man neither of them cared to see. The only way to describe him was whore. Roxas had three younger siblings he barely even knew.

After Roxas finished packing, and Sora insisting on carrying his bag, they made there way to Sora's house.

There Roxas and Zack immediately started with their usual routine of "hey old man" and "shut up, shortie" followed by other remarks holding no real meaning other then to tease.

The night went on as any other with the Fair's. Sora destroying Roxas in black ops, Roxas destroying Sora in dark souls ((AN: god curse that dreadful game)), Aries cooking dinner, everyone discussing their days during dinner. All of this topped off by Roxas and Sora playing a card game after eating. This time it was war.

"So," Sora said as he and Roxas each place down their cards. "How are you adjusting?"

Roxas sighed. Of all the questions. "It's not like I don't feel at home here or anything, but I think I liked it better when Destiny Condo's was my home away from home... Opposed to my actual home in Twilight Town. What really bugs me, though is that I'm stuck in a house full of pictures of her..."

"I can see how that'd get under your skin."

"It seems like... Well that this place is just wrong without her here..." He voice was beginning to get a tad shaky. They had both stopped playing.

Sora got up from he seat across the table and sat next to Roxas. "Roxas... It probably means nothing but... She spoke highly about you behind closed doors. She really loved you more then anything else."

With that, Roxas broke. Uncontrollable tears flooded from his eyes as he sobbed to no end.

Not even thinking, Sora wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. He rubbed circles around his back as Roxas weeped into he chest.

"S- she's gone! Oh god, Sora, she's gone! What do I do? What do I do without her? I want her back! G- god please give her back... Mom..."

Sora only held him, rubbing soothing circles around his back. "Shh... It'll be ok..." He continued this until Roxas' cries mellowed into small whimpers, down to sniffles. "Come on... Lets go in my room," Sora said. He helped the sniffling boy up the stairs, never once letting his arms leave Roxas.

Once they reached his room, Sora leaded Roxas to his bed and under the covers. Not a word was spoken. None were needed. Roxas held onto Sora as if he were a teddybear. Sora whipped away the salty tears from Roxas' face and began to stroke Roxas' hair, only succeeding in helping to calm him more. "Thank you," was all Roxas had said before drifting into sleep.