Disclaimer: We don't own them. We only own the idea.
Warnings: Slight language and mentions of sexual situations.
Gift of the Heart
Chapter Three
Choices
A bit later Roxas found himself contented. The small blond was nuzzled comfortably into his other's side, with his arms wrapped around the boy's waist. The boy's head lay on Sora's shoulder, his pale lips curved upwards into a grin. Small coos came from the sleeping form as he snuggled next to his somebody unconsciously.
Like his other, Sora was tangled with Roxas and held him close. He had dozed for a bit but his boundless energy had gotten the best of him and he had fully woken up a few minutes ago. Instead of rising and bouncing about as he usually did, he found himself content to simply lay and enjoy being so physically close to his other half. One of his arms held the blond tightly. With his others he drifted his fingers lightly over the pale blue line more then a little excited that he could still be touching the teen.
A light coo came from the teen as he nuzzled the side of his face into the brunette's shoulder. "ThankYou" he spoke in his slumber, his lips still positioned in a contented grin.
o o o o
In the other room Kairi woke up, looking to see her nobody was still in a doodling state. "Did you ever stop Namine? What have you been working so hard on?"
Blue eyes looked up and smiled at the ones that matched them. "Nothing. Just doodling." she said happily, before closing the small spiral bound pad. "Do you want to go explore the city now Kairi?" The red haired girl nodded a quick smile and headed to the door. She was followed by her other, without question. Once in the hall she stopped.
"Don't worry Kairi. I'll go get Sora and Roxas. You go get Riku."
"Ok!" Both took separate directions to their locations.
There was a knock at the door, and Kairi spoke. "Riku? Are you awake?" she chimed wondering if her friend could hear her, not wanting to disturb him.
The silver haired man was more than ready for the noises to die down when they had. He had then spent the remainder of his time lying on his back in attempts to deny what his best friend and his other half had been doing. "Yes!" He called out when Kairi called for him and a moment later he was there opening the door. "What's going on?"
Kairi smiled at the sliver haired teen brightly as he opened the door. "Namine and I were going to go explore the city. Want to come?" she asked him with a chipper tone.
"Sure," Riku said with a shrug. Inside he was screaming 'YES!! Please get me away from the potential for more make out noise!' but he didn't want to sound desperate or anything. He was technical oldest of the group and therefore had a reputation to maintain.
Kairi giggled a little bit at her friend. "Well come on Riku." she smiled brightly as she wrapped her arms around one of his and pulled him out of the room. "I'm sure there will be all kinds of cool things to see. I get to go exploring with you and Sora for once. It makes me so happy." she paused only for a moment. "We should ask Ms. Kida to show us around."
"That sounds good," Riku agreed allowing the young woman to pull him along. "She does seem to be in charge of this place," he told her softly.
o o o o
Namine however was not so subtle. She gave a light knock on the door before she turned the door knob and poked her head inside. "Sora? Roxas? Are you two awake?" she asked before her eyes rested on the form of the boys. Her lips only slid upwards in a smile. "Oh I see." she spoke in an innocent but seemingly understanding voice.
In their exhaustion Sora had never really thought to cover them. It hadn't really been a problem until a certain blond had opened the door. Sora had been so intent on the blond in his arms that he had failed to even hear Namine until she spoke. When she did he jumped in shock and then immediately began attempting to hide his more private bits. "Namine! I- uh- we- uh," the brunette found himself at a loss for words. What was worse was he knew the bottle of lotion was lying only a little bit away.
Namine let out a quiet giggle. She let herself in smiling at the two boys. One awake, the other still contently slumbering with his face buried into his other's shoulder. "It's alright Sora. I had an idea." she smiled at him with a knowing wink. "Kairi and I are going to go explore the city. We figured it'd be a better idea to have the whole group come. So you want to come with us?"
"Uh sure," Sora said softly. He had had an idea that she had an idea of what they were doing but that didn't make it any better. She was half of his little sister and therefore considered his little sister herself. "Could you, uh, give us a minute?" He asked shyly.
"Oh. Yeah Sure." Namine said slipping herself out of the room, to leave Sora time to tend to the sleeping blond.
Namine approached the other two smiling. "They're coming." She explained to them not pausing in the least. She headed back to her room with a smile. "I have to have my sketchbook. I might see some scenery I like." she grinned before disappearing into the room and reappearing with the spiral pad in her hands.
o o o o
Sora sighed as soon as the door had closed. Well that had been awkward and he was fairly certain his cheeks were bright red at the moment. "Roxas," he called running his hand over the blonde's back before poking him in the side. "Wake up. The girls wanna go explore. If you don't get up and they come back I'm gonna show them all your goodies!" the brunette declared poking the blond again.
"urgh... Mmmmm." Roxas let out a contented coo, nuzzling into Sora's shoulder a final time as his eyes opened to small slits. "Sora?" he cooed in question. "Can't I sleep a bit longer?" he asked having not heard the explanation for his awaking.
"Well Roxas," Sora began devilishly. "You could, but then when the girls come back I'm going to make sure they get a good clear, unobstructed view of your entire body including all the evidence of what we just did." Despite his words he wasn't making any further motions to move himself. They could both act brave but when it came down to it Sora didn't know just how long he would have Roxas physically with him.
"What?! What do you mean come back?!" he shouted setting up right quickly his eyes going wide. His face flushed red and he shot a look of embarrassed terror to his somebody. "You mean come back as in 'was here already?' Oh god..." A pale hand soon slid up into blond locks as the pale skin grew redder.
"Yeah," Sora said grinning still. "Namine was here and she got a nice view of your rear end. At least your front was pressed to me. Mine was out there for anyone to see!"
Roxas could feel the heat in his face. "I..well..um... damnit," he stuttered shifting himself out of bed. He quickly gathered up his garments and began to dress himself, flushed red the entire time.
Sora rose as well and pulled his clothing back on, doing up the various straps and belts until everything was settled as it needed to be. "She said something about exploring the city," Sora told his nobody once he was dressed. He moved over to Roxas and leaned in to kiss him deeply.
Roxas let the kiss only linger for a second before he pulled away. "Come on you. We can't keep them. Waiting." He said sending his other a glare. "Good job genius. You didn't cover us up again didn't you? You have to think about that now. I don't think I'm going to be able to look at them without blushing," he snapped fixing his belt before sliding on his bracelet and rings.
"Well I wasn't cold," Sora said defensively. He moved across the room and snagged the lotion bottle. The brunette stared at it for a moment before sliding it into one of his pockets to join the collection of other stuff there. "Hey Rox, are you sore at all?" he asked knowing that it had been both of their first times in real bodies and he didn't want Roxas walking around in pain all day.
"I'm fine Sora. Let's just go." he said taking his somebody by the hand and pulling him out the door. Even if he was sore - or developed soreness he wasn't about to tell Sora. The other keyblader worried about him far too much. Roxas tugged Sora along until the others came in sight. He felt incredibly awkward suddenly.
"Alright alright," Sora said as he followed behind Roxas. He twined their fingers together so that Roxas would understand that he was in no way shape or form willing to let go. When they stopped in front of the other three people Sora felt the awkwardness in the air, mostly coming from his other. He had never kept secrets from Riku and Kairi and he wasn't about to start now. "So Roxas and I are together," he said bluntly which received a grunt from Riku. "Now that that is out of the way, who is leading?" he asked beaming.
Namine and Kairi giggled when Roxas's face matched his collar as quickly as the words rolled off Sora's lips. "SORA-! " He blurted out glaring embarrassed darts at his lover. "A little tact?!" came quickly after his first out burst. His eyes dropped and he looked to the side. Great. Now he really didn't want to look at them. Namine was one thing but Kairi and Riku were like Sora's family. It would be like Roxas bluntly telling Hayner, Pence, Olette and Axel. - Namine too but she was there- . 'I don't believe you.' he hissed mentally, his face growing hot.
'What they already know,' Sora shot back at the blond. 'Besides I can't keep any secrets from Riku and Kairi. You know that.' Apparently Roxas had gotten the shy half of them, well more shyness then Sora had. Outwardly he grinned at everyone as Riku told them they had decided they should go find Kida to lead them.
"Right!" Sora declared taking a leading position for their little group. "Let's go find us a tour guide!" he declared taking off the way opposite the way they had originally come
"Hey, oh fearless leader," Riku started as he snagged the back of Sora's hood with one hand. "Maybe you should lead us in the right direction." He stated with a bit of his old attitude back. Sora turned and smiled sheepishly. "Right, I mean let's be off!" He declared spinning and marching the other way pulling Roxas behind him. He couldn't keep the smile off his face.
'That is not the point! You- You were the one - oh never mind. You're impossible Roxas thought still, blushing the color just faded slightly. He followed along as he was tugged behind his other.
Namine and Kairi giggled. "Roxas is just like Sora's personal puppy," Kairi whispered to her nobody who giggled at the comment, as they followed along behind the group.
Riku simply raised a brow at the girls. If Roxas was Sora's puppy then he must be Kairi's since she seemed to want to pull him around by the arm. Sora just grinned and kept leading them through the hallways until they ended in a large open room. Thankfully, for the brunette and the others who would have followed said brunette, he spotted the woman he was looking for standing in the room. "Kida!" He exclaimed as he released Roxas hand so he could bound over to her. "We wanna go tour the city and it would be really great if you could show us!" He declared with all of his boundless energy apparent. She simply smiled at him.
"Of course. I will show you all there is to see. Follow me," she told them with a smile as she led them to the opening that led to the streets. Sora bounded back to Roxas and took his hand again before falling into place behind her at a much calmer pace. "This is the market," Kida said gesturing to the open area in front of the building they had just come from. There were what looked like little booths and stalls set up everywhere and people bustled between them. Kida suddenly got a bright look in her eyes and spun to face the group. "Do you climb?" she asked them all.
"Excuse me?" Roxas asked back raising an eyebrow at the girl.
"What do you mean do we climb?" Kairi chimed from behind the spiky haired teens. Namine too looked at the girl with a confused expression.
She paused for a moment as she tried to reformulate her thoughts. "There is a spot where you can see all of Atlantis, but you must climb high to see it. We can climb that," she told them pointing at one of the large man like statues.
"Are you kidding me? I don't think so." Roxas said firmly pulling his hand from Sora's so that he could cross his arms over his chest.
Kida looked faintly disappointed but she carried on anyway. "If you change your mind I will take you later. Come see my people," she told them walking through the streets and deeper into the city. Sora glared at his other. 'Roxas! Be nice or no more sex for you!' he threatened mentally even though they both knew he would never be able to keep that promise.
"What?! You bastard!" Roxas blurted out aloud as his sapphire eyes narrowed. He crackled his knuckles and stormed after the white haired woman. "Lead the way. Now." he said in the same firm tone. Oh it was on now. Sora just issued a challenge in disguise. 'You're a cheating bastard' Roxas hissed mentally at his somebody, shooting him a glare over his shoulder quickly.
Kida blinked confused. What was it about outsiders that made them so odd? "Lead the way to what?" she asked unsure of what the blond was talking about. Sora grinned to himself when Roxas wasn't looking. He knew exactly how to rile his blond and he also knew how to calm him later.
Behind them Riku shook his head and sighed. "I don't want to know," he muttered to himself.
"That thing. The thing you were talking about earlier," he spat out not sure if he was making sense, and definitely not caring. He wasn't paying that much attention to Sora now, because he was more focused on completing this little challenge. Ooh he'd get Sora back. If he wanted to play hard ball, Roxas would play.
Kairi looked up at Riku and sighed. "We're not honestly going to climb all the way up there are we? I mean it doesn't look safe Riku."
"Follow me," Kida said softly as she led the way to the base of one of the statues. Once they neared it they could see that it was covered in vines and cracks that would provide for decent hand holds. "I can lead if you like." She offered. Sora completely ignored her and charged to the large rock statue. There was now a decided competition between him and Roxas. He didn't pause as his hand snagged one hand hold and he began his climb.
Riku shook his head as he stared at the two before answering Kairi. "No we aren't going to. We're going to allow them to get this out of their system before we can see the rest of the city."
"Cheater!" Roxas proclaimed aloud charging after his other. He too hooked his hand around the vines, and began to climb. He tugged and pulled his body higher, trying to catch up to Sora and failing. The boy was strong and Roxas of all people knew that all too well. "Sora! Just you wait..." he hissed sliding his foot to get a grip, his words were cut short when he felt his tennis shoe slide instead of stick. 'Shit'. He cursed mentally clenching his hand tighter as he tried again. His other foot slipped and before Roxas knew it he was holding on by his upper strength alone. 'Damnit all' he hissed again, as he struggled to find his footing. The blond could feel his hands growing sweaty as they started to slip.
"Roxas!" "Sora do something!" Kairi and Namine shouted as they watched the blond begin to lose his footing. They watched helplessly as their friend struggled not to fall, however Kairi quickly shoved Riku forward, when the blond slipped again, cursing aloud. Roxas shouted for his other when he began to fall, and Kairi shouted at Riku to help the boy.
Riku moved forward to put him self into position to catch the teen when he fell. Besides that there was really nothing more he could do.
At the girls yells Sora turned to glance at his other. "Roxas!" He shouted as he saw the blond start to slip. Sora raised his arms above him and pulled himself up so that his legs were positioned beneath him. He let go with on hand to turn and look at Roxas again. "Roxas!!" he screamed in near panic as he saw the blond slip.
Sora didn't pause to think. He gathered his strength and pressed off with his legs angled towards the blond. In one hand he called to oblivion and it formed obediently into his fingers. The other arm stretched towards the blond. If Sora hadn't been able to push off he never would have reached Roxas. As it was he barely managed to snag the blond around the middle. The moment he did he smashed his keyblade against the rock attempting to catch them and if that failed then at least slow them.
Seeing them coming closer to the ground Riku backed a few steps and then leapt into the air. His body slammed into the falling boys shoving them all sideways instead of down. The older boy managed to twist so that when they smashed into the ground Riku took the brunt of the fall onto his own body. Even so the three went sprawling in a tangle of limbs with the keyblade clattering away.
Roxas opened his eyes slowly seeing a blur of color before they focused on the worried faces of Namine and Kairi. "Roxas! Sora! Riku! Are you alright?!" the two girls chimed out in unison. Roxas sat up slowly and looked down to see Riku underneath him and Sora to his side. He let out a pained moan and got off of the taller boy quickly. "Thanks guys," he said sheepishly looking at the ground.
Sora groaned as he rolled off his best friend. "That was more then enough adventure for me for one day," he moaned out as he popped his back. "Thanks Riku," he said glance back to the teen to see his bright emerald eyes closed in pain.
Riku slowly sat up, opening his eyes as he did. He glanced to his arm where a rather sharp looking rock protruded from soft flesh. Slowly Riku closed his fingers around the rock and he took a deep breath before jerking it out. The offending rock went flying as he threw it and covered the blood oozing wound with his other hand.
"Riku!" Sora exclaimed seeing his friend's injury.
"I'm fine Sora," Riku said through gritted teeth.
Suddenly Kida was there and shoving Riku's hand away from the wound. Her delicate fingers lifted the glowing crystal at her neck close to the area. She held it there until it looked as if Riku's skin itself was glowing blue. She then dropped it before pressing her hand tightly on the wound. Riku let out a small hiss of pain as she did so. A moment later she removed her hand, leaving a glowing blue hand print in her wake. It faded quickly leaving nothing more then smooth unmarred skin behind. "I am sorry. I did not know this would happen." She said softly.
"Riku! Are you Ok?!" Kairi blurted out wrapping her arms around the boy's neck in a fit of worry. "That was so brave Riku! I'm sorry I shoved you." she sounded again, holding onto the boy tightly.
Roxas let out a sigh. That was enough adventure for him. It was like falling off the clock tower all over again. Both times he managed to escape certain death...somehow. "Sora? Roxas?" Are you Hurt?" Namine chimed in looking over the two keybearers.
"I'm alright Namine. Sora and Riku made sure of that." Roxas tried to comfort her before he looked to Kida. "It's alright. No need to apologize. You didn't know anymore than we did. It's ok."
She nodded at the blonds words. Sora on the other hand was in awe. He completely ignored Kairi and Namine as he shuffled over to Riku and pressed his fingers against where the boy's wound had been. "How?" Sora asked looking at her.
"These crystals have the life force of my people. They are tied to the heart of Atlantis. The heart is life so they can bring healing. Among other things," she explained softly.
Sora turned his attention back onto Riku before turning it back to Roxas. "Roxas!" he declared before sporadically launching himself at the blond. "I was so worried about you!! I thought I was going to loose you!!" He wrapped his arms about the teen and buried his face in Roxas's neck.
Roxas let out an awkward sounding chuckle before her wrapped his arms around the other boy. He slid his hand into Sora's hair, knowing how to calm him. "I'm fine Sora. You and Riku made sure of that. Besides it's not like I haven't fallen off of tall things before. If you hadn't been able to do anything, I'm sure Riku would have caught me."
Sora didn't reply as he pulled Roxas close to him nuzzling into his neck lightly. He heard the rustle of clothing that signal Riku rising to his feet. "Since there are not any heartless here maybe we should move on to another world," the silver haired man stated. Sora didn't reply he simply tightened his hold on the blond not wanting to think about what leaving could be.
Roxas returned the hold to his other trying to reassure the boy that he was indeed OK. A little shaken up but all around OK. "Sounds good to me Riku." Roxas smiled, patting Sora on the back. In the back of his mind he screamed a loud 'No! Are you insane?!' but didn't say anything. He was sure that if he left the world he would fade back within Sora. In fact he knew if he left the city he would fade back within Sora. The heart it's self had told him so. But instead of voicing his worries the blond boy smiled a fake smile and agreed.
Oblivious to the unspoken words of the two, Riku nodded his confirmation. "Did you happen to find a small craft that doesn't look like it belongs here?" the silver haired teen asked Kida. She nodded and told them that it was being brought to the center of town and she would lead them there.
Sora knew that his best friend was right but he couldn't stop the flaring of panic and pain that appeared at the thought Roxas would no longer be with him. Some of that must have reflected in his eyes because Riku gave him an apologetic look before gently grabbing both Kairi and Namine's arms with the excuse of helping them over the rough terrain. He gently guided them away giving the other two some time to themselves.
"Riku! What about Sora and Rox-" Kairi started to say before Namine gave her a firm look. "Oh." she said still getting used to the idea of the two keybladers being intimate.
o o o o
It only took Sora a moment to figure out that words would be very ineffective. Instead he quickly captured the blonde's lips in a passionate kiss to tell him with lips and tongue what his words could never say.
Roxas leaned into the kiss and gave it everything he had. Now that the others were gone and it was only him and Sora he allowed a more fragile side of himself to show. Soon enough Roxas broke the kiss and looked into Sora's eyes with a look of fear. "Sora." the boy started as his eyebrows pushed upwards knitted with worry.
"Sora, I don't want to leave. If we leave..if we leave... if leave I'll.." he started not wanting to think about going back to the way it once was before. "I know I'm selfish for not wanting to live my life the way I'm supposed to. I know I'm selfish for wanting to exist but...But...Sora.. I .." the blond shook in the keybearer's arms and soon pulled him as close as possible burring his face into the boy's shoulder in a vain attempt to hide from the world. "Sora if we leave I'll fade back into you! I know that's just how it has to be, but I don't want that. I want to be able to hold you! I want to be able to really feel you!!" the blond teen shouted into his other's shoulder before letting out a disgruntled coo and nuzzling against the boy.
Sora echoed perfectly everything that Roxas had described. "I don't want you to fade either. You deserve your own life," he said with a hint of a sob coloring his voice. "I wish we could stay here forever, but we can't. I promised the king…" Sora trailed off brokenly as he found himself torn between the other half of his heart and a promise that he had made. Neither option would be an easy one to chose.
Roxas pulled away and sighed. His eyes looked at Sora, torn and broken. "I know Sora. It's ok. It's not like I'll be completely gone." he smiled half heartedly as a single tear rolled down his pale cheek. His words were fake and trying to see the best of things. Roxas was always a poor liar. He could never pretend very well either. "Sora, before I fade away again. This time let me say it. 'I love you and Good-bye' " he spoke in a mournful tone, stroking a hand gently down the boy's face before leaning forward to kiss him once again.
Sora jerked back from the kiss with tears rolling from his eyes. "No! Not good-bye!" he said fiercely. "You'll be with me always, and we can come back here anytime and you can have your own body again right?" He was desperate to hear that they could, that this wasn't a one time deal.
Roxas shook his head, his bangs falling in his eyes as the tears rolled down his cheeks in heavy streams. His small frame trembled in Sora's hands and he tried to keep his composer as he spoke. The blond failed as every word came out shaking. "Sora no. No Sora. Please don't do that to me. This is hard enough." the blond looked up at his other with eyes filled with an intense pain he'd never felt before. It felt as if his heart was shattering with every word.
"I love you Sora. I love you so much. But please don't make me give you up again. Don't let me be yours to only take it all away again. It's not that easy. You'll always be whole, but Sora, it doesn't work like that for me. How would you feel if you were given a body for a day only to have it taken away? I don't want to have life pulled in and out of my hands. So please Sora, if you're going to do this we can't come back here. It's Ok Sora. I'll always be with you. Always." he spoke the tears growing heavier blending with his voice the more he spoke. When he finished Roxas gave Sora a sad smile and ran off after the others, the tears flowing behind him.
The brunette choked back a sob as he watched the other half of his heart run after his friends. Roxas was right. He had taken away the nobody's existence accidentally before he was not doing it again. Riku and Kairi were strong they would be alright without him, and if they needed him they could always come get him and he could do whatever they needed and then return to Roxas. That sounded like a feasible plan to the teen. With it in mind he wiped away the remainder of his tears and took off at a dash after his friends.
A/N's:
Kat: Gah! So sorry this took way longer then intended. Both Kira and I suffered major computer trouble. Hers was saveable mine came out the other side with a new hard drive and none of my files. Thankfully Kira still had the raws, we just had to wait until her computer was fixed and she could give them to me. No worries the story still lives and goes on! Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter RoxasTheOther and KiraLacusForever. We are always excited to get them so keep them coming!
Edit: Ah! All my formating dissapeared! Fixed now... I think...
