An: at long last it has come. Chapter 5! I Remember that really psychotic unison thing cloud and zack did? yeah, expect more of that. I also plan on explaining more of Roxas' personal life. You know, things like hobbies, past experiences, that sort of thing. This is another one based of true events.

A special shout out to those who have been constantly reviewing:

Thank you so much for all your feedback and reviews! I love the fact that people have actually even bothered to read this none the less give their commentary on it. I hope you all continue to read and comment on absolutely anything at all! Any and all feedback is always encouraged and requested! Hell, it could be a list of reasons why this sucks and I'd do my best to change it to everyone's liking. I'll do anything & everything I can to improve it based if the reviews i'm given.

Without further adue, let us begin.

Chapter Five
The Shadow of the Past

Sora was the first to awake today, smiling at the sight of his heavenly blond. He still couldn't believe the events that had transpired the day before. Nothing. From the fun at the hill, to the blood stained snow, he still couldn't process it all as real.

Allowing these thoughts to leave him, he nuzzled closer to Roxas, warping his arms around him. Oh how he wished this one moment would last forever. Roxas tossed and turned some, mumbling a few words in his sleep. The most audible of them all was "mom." Sora tried his best to comfort him, giving him small hushes and rubbing circles around his back. Though it took some effort, Roxas soon calmed.

Sora was left to imagine what awful dream Roxas could have been having. The poor boy. No family that had ever made an effort to stay in his life other then his grandmother and Cloud. No parents that wouldn't sell him on the black market. He'd lost a lot. Though Sora would never be able to tell Roxas any of this. If there was anything in the world Roxas hatted, it was pity. He despised the very thought. The looks of sorrow and glares he would receive offten made him feel uncomfortable. Like a thousand knives were being aimed at him in the form of sight, weather they be glares of pitty or those of disgust. Roxas could never stand it.

Sora managed to get in about another five minutes of sleep before finally sitting up. Still to lazy to get outt of bed, he just sat there, lost in thought. Within exactly six minutes, Roxas soon awoke with a yawn. "Mourning," he said as a scooched himself up into a sitting position.

"Mourning, Roxy. How'd you- OW!" Roxas had landed a firm hand upon Sora's cheek.

"For the love of god, Sora. It is way to early for you to be teasing me with that name."

"Well you didn't need to go and hit me for it!" Sora rubbed the now swollen flesh. "That hurt..."

Roxas giggled at Sora's whining. "Then come here so I can kiss it better, you little baby."

Sora's eyes narrowed a bit. Nothing serious, just a fake, playful glare. "Don't get cocky, little man." he rolled on top of Roxas, taking both of his arms and pinning them to the headboard. "Or I may just have to punish you..."

Roxas felt the blood rush to his face. "Hey..."

It was Sora's turn to giggle. "Your just way to easy to fluster, you know that?"

"S- shut up... Besides, I can dominate you any day."

"Then try to right now."

With that, Roxas began to struggle under Sora's grasp, managing to get his hands free every now and again but never really managing to get on top. Sora had to admit though, he was definitely putting up a good fight. Had he not been trying his absolute hardest, Roxas would have had him pinned. Nonetheless, he managed to stay firmly planted above the blond.

Roxas fought and fought, but to no avail. Sora had managed to reestablish his grip over his blue eyed angle. Roxas let out a small squeal as he saw Sora lean in, pressing their lips together. Roxas didn't fight it for long, not before finally melting into the kiss. He allowed Sora entry into his mouth, his tongue exploring ever tooth, every crevice. Roxas squirmed under Sora as he leaned in closer, getting some friction between the two, their barely clothed groins grinding together, never once loosening his grasp. The kiss, to Roxas' dismay, was soon broken. Roxas gave a small pout. "Hey... I was enjoying that..."

Sora only giggled at Roxas' plea for more. "IF your good, maybe you'll get more later."

Roxas groaned as Sora stood. "No far..."

"To bad," Sora laughed.

"Hey! I can tell you want more just as much as I do!"

"Oh? And how's that?"

"Those boxers do a really crappy job at hiding your erection..."

Sora looked down to meet a large tent, one that threatened to fall and reveal its contents any second. Sora was left wordless.

"Don't worry," Roxas reassured him. "I'm not much better." Roxas stood, exposing his lower regions to Sora's eyes. He was definitely aroused, that much was for certain.

Sora gave a sly smile, one that showed the question in its appearance.

Roxas frowned. "No."

Sora seemed to shatter like a mirror. "W- what Why not? It's not like you haven't known me since you were 4."

Roxas sighed. "Well I promised myself i'd tell you eventually..."

"Tell me what?"

Roxas fell silent. "No... Never mind."

"RRRRRRRoooxxxxxaaaaasssss!"

"Calm down and shut up...'

"But-"

"I said shut up."

Sora let out an irritated groan and sat on the bed. "What."

"You know how I hate to be called..." He seemed to choke a bit. It was not out of sarcasim, but pure disgust. "Roxy... Well I have a story behind that... Not one I like telling."

"About?"

"..." Roxas fell silent yet again.

"Come on... Don't close up now..."

He sighed. "About what happened in Midgurd with my dad..."

Sora's eyes widened. He remembered how Roxas acted each time he returned from that place. Like a zombie. As if he were nothing but an empty shell. Roxas would lock himself up in his room for days, not even leaving to eat. He would do nothing. Just cling to pillow and cry. he wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, wouldn't even go to relieve himself. Just cry, never saying a word of the events that transpiered. The only hints to the stories were the scars and burns upon his body.

"He was the nicest man in public... but when it was just me, him, and very occasionally, Cloud... He was a devil. He'd hit me... Choke me... Cut me... And he-"

"Roxas, so help me god, if you somewhat as mention what he did to you and me..." it was Cloud.

"Shut up. If you don't like it then leave," Roxas spat at him.

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"

Roxas nodded then turned back to Sora. "It wasn't just phisical abuse, Sora... He sold us... Whenever Cloud tried to protect me Sephiroth would starve me for the next few days while he gave out my..." He gulped, trying to find the right word. "Services..."

It took a little while for Sora to let it to sink in till it hit him. 'Oh my god... Roxas... Cloud... Did he r- rape you two?

Cloud shook his head. "He sold us to others. Never himself."

"And when we weren't in that situation, we were beat or whipped. A day without the belt was a day in heaven," Roxas added. "And in every one of those dreadful moments there was that awful fucking name... Roxy."

Sora got up and sat next to Roxas. "God, Roxas i'm sorry..." He pulled him into a warm embrace.

Roxas wrapped his arms around Sora squeezing tightly, trying to force the memories out of his mind.

The force Roxas was applying did give off a bit of pain and discomfort, but he didn't say a thing. This was something Roxas needed. Bottled up pain and hate could lead a person to do awful things.

After a wordless minute, the embrace ended. "Thank you," Roxas mumbled.

Sora replied with a warm smile and a tender kiss. " You're welcome."

Cloud clapped his hands together. "Right! Now that that's over and done with, what do you say we go downstairs and get some breakfast, eh?"

Sora and Roxas nodded, each throwing something on before heading downstairs. For Sora, it was a bath robe he had got for his birthday the previous year. As for Roxas, he threw on a pair of pajama pants he had brought with him. Cloud, having already been fully dressed, had already descended the steps.

As soon as Sora and Roxas made it to the kitchen they were greeted with a familiar smell, the smell of nothingness. Thats right, not a thing was made. Sora went over to Aries. "Hey, Mom, wheres breakfast?"

She sighed and pointed to Zack. "Ask him... He told me not to cook..."

"What gives, old man," Roxas said. "Another famous, 'Fair evil plan?'"

Both Cloud and Zack laughed in unison, their eyes locking on Roxas. "From what we understand, your quite the cook, Strife. Perhaps you'd like to demonstrate that talent with a knife in your hands this mourning?"

Roxas shuddered. "God I hate it when you two do that... It creeps me the hell out... But I wouldn't mind proving it at all. So long as you're willing to supply the ingredients."

"Sure, what do you need," asked Cloud.

"Coco beans, flour, blue berries, eggs, chocolate, and whipped cream."

It sounded more like something you'd use in a desert dish. Regardless, Cloud began to rummage through the kitchen in search of these ingredients. He soon returned. "I laid everything out on the counter."

With that, Roxas went to work. He got out the proper cooking utensils he'd need. 'Nothing far to extravagant,' he thought to himself. 'Just something tasty enough to shut those two up.'

Within three minute, the house was filled with the heavenly scent of chocolate. "Cloud, head to the store and buy another three chocolate bars if you want this to work," Roxas called out. Cloud stood without a word, took his keys and left. He was back within two minutes. "I went over to the convinance store not far from here. I got five just in case."

"Good, I needed an extra one anyway." Roxas came out of the kitchen, a bit of batter on his face. " he got the bars of chocolate from Cloud and returned to his workstation.

twenty minutes later-

"Breakfast is ready," Roxas called out. The others had practically swarmed in. The aromas had simply succeeded in making them all a little hungrier. On the table was something quite unique. Miniature, chocolate covered pancakes. Each one had a perfect frozen shell of chocolate over it, each with an odd topping on top which none but Zack, Cloud, and Roxas could identify. "Behold, my infamous chocolate covered, blue berry pancakes topped with coco. Cold on the outside, warm and delicious on the inside. They're small so I made four for everyone. Should be enough. Ok, dig in!"

It didn't take long for everyone to finish their meals.

"Roxas," Zack started. "That was amazing!"

Roxas smiled brightly. "Thanks."

"Well you've put me to shame," Aries said.

Roxas Gave off a small giggle. "Hey now, your cooking has its own charm."

Cloud only nodded, a gesture Roxas knew all to well.

"Wow! Roxas, that was amazing! How'd you freeze the chocolate on top without making the pancakes cold," Sora asked.

"I rubbed it with strawberries." The others looked at him puzzled. Roxas sighed. "Have you ever dipped a strawberry in chocolate and noticed how quickly it hardened compared to other things? Well I used that to harden it up. Don't tell me none of you tasted it."

Aries spoke up. "We did... But that never occurred to us."

Sora stood before the conversation continued. "Aside from that note... Is your grandmother home right now? If so, go grab your laptop. I REALLY wanna see that new... Whatchamacallit... Is it a virus?"

Roxas sighed. "No, you technologically impaired idiot... It's a Batch file that pins on to my I.P. address, giving me remote access to to the runners computer and free reign over any and all functions of the source sender's machine." Againg those around him gave him a blank look. He sighed. "It lets me control someone else's computer from my own."

"Uh huh," Sora said still trying to process it all. "Quick question, when did you become a hacking genius?"

"When I hacked my principle's account on the school computers in kindergarten and bought a car with his credit card."

"Hahaha! Yeah, sure Roxas."

"If you don't believe me I kept the bill in storage."

The two shared a laugh before heading upstairs and getting probably dressed. Each wore what others now recognized as their signature outfits. Roxas with his sleeveless black zip-up vest and the short sleeve jacket with the black and white plad-like pattern. Those black and white pants and his strap on shoes.

AS for Sora, he wore that odd, multi colored outfit with his short sleeve hoodie, oversized shoes, fishermen pants with straps, a sleeveless shirt, and his signature crown necklace.

(An: God it's hard to describe their outfits with proper words... Seriously, though, what ARE those straps on Sora's pants?)

"So, wanna head to your place today, Roxas," Sora asked.

"sure, why not."

There the two did what ever suited their fancy. Played bored games, rode around on their bikes, even had a snowball fight. All of which was ended with a magnificent meal from Roxas' Grandmother and a soft kiss from Sora on Roxas' cheek before the two dossed off to sleep on Roxas' small futon.

*.*.*

This was two months ago. Since then, no progress has been made on the custody battle between Roxas' Grandmother, Barbara, and his father, Sephiroth. The only real progress in The battle was Roxas' transfer of schools from Twilight High school to Destiny high school. Sora had introduced Roxas to his group of friends in Destiny High school. A shy, yet kind and friendly pink haired girl named Kiri, and a quite, serious, yet nonetheless friendly silver haired boy named Riku. Both were shocked to discover Roxas' relation to Sora, and even more shocked that Sora had any interest in boys at all. Kiri and Roxas got along quite well, but the relation between Riku and Roxas was... odd. Roxas was never a sports person, but when he committed himself to something, there was no stopping him. The two things these two constantly competed in were martial arts and swimming. It seemed Roxas had him beat in both. Other then that, the two got along famously.

*.*.*

Sora and Roxas had walked to school as usual, arriving a good 20 minutes before most other kids. Sora wore casual clothes while Roxas wore a military, specifically navy styled uniform.

"I told you not to join that class Roxas... The uniforms suck the fun right out of it."

"It's not that bad, and besides, how different can an air force ROTC be from a navy ROTC? Hell, I was even allowed to use my nave uniform until they get my new one ready. And besides... I only have to wear it on Thursdays."

"But don' you have to shave your head? I Don't want you to shave your head! I like your hair! It's soft and pretty!"

"Aww don' t worry! I wouldn't let them touch me with that razor even in death. And besides... Why drop out now? I'm an ensign. That means anyone below me has to stop whatever their doing, face me and salute me... It's fun!"

"Well... I do have to give you that one. Oh! there they are." He pointed to a waving Kiri

Roxas felt a tad nervous. He had hung out with Riku and Kiri before, but he wasn't nervous about that. He was nervous because this was his first day of school in Destiny high.

AN: I am SO sorry this is so late... I'd go into the fact as to why it's late but... that would be to much drama... As usual, review. I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK! I HUNGER FOR IT!

PS: Don't ever hold what I say in the first authors note to me... things usually change.