He wonders if he should enter.

He almost wants to make a dramatic entrance. He wants to flourish the door wide and have some sappy strings music in the background as he comes riding in on a white horse as roses suddenly start falling from the sky…

Alright. He's never going to ever watch a chick flick with Olette. Ever. Again.

Still, he's not sure how to enter. He wonders if they will welcome him. He wonders if Tifa and Yuffie will go berserk while attacking him with brooms. He wonders if they're even home, if they're even there.

He wonders if he should enter. (Thus, he has talked himself back in a circle. Ah, the complexity of the human mind.)

Cough.

"Alright, I know that the door is gorgeous and that you totally want to make out with it, but could you do it after I go in?"

Roxas spins around and comes face to face with…

"…Yuffie?" He asks, unsure. The girl in front of him could not be Yuffie. For Yuffie never smiled this widely around him, Yuffie was never in a good mood, for Yuffie was always PMSing…

…Was that sparkles around her face?

And before he can say another word, Yuffie grabs his arm and slams the door open, making the choice for him as she drags him into the house.

"Oi! People! Come look at the stray dog I found hanging outside our door!" Yuffie yells, making Roxas wince. (His left ear will never be the same.)

"Shaddup brat! I don't care about your damn pet!" Cid calls back from his chair, his eyes never leaving the computer screen.

Yuffie's grin only widens.

"Aww…Cid, you're being mean to 'im. Look, you've hurt his feelings." Yuffie says chidingly.

"I don't care!"

"Cid…c'mon now. Say sorry to Roxas…"

Cid whirls around his chair.

"Why the hell would ya name your pet…" He catches sight of Roxas, struggling in Yuffie's grip. "…Roxas!"

Cid immediately gets up and goes over to ruffle his hair.

"So ya came back, eh?"

Great. Now people will treating him as if he really was a dog. Now all he needed was a leash and a collar and then he was all set.

Oh what joy that would be.

"What're you all yelling about now…Roxas?"

Whoa crap.

Roxas looks at the woman who just walked in, wondering if he bolted fast enough he'd make it out in time.

Tifa.

From the looks of it…Nope. Not a chance. (At least she didn't seem to have a broom or some rope on her.)

She looks over her him, her face unreadable.

"So…How was your trip?" She asks.

Such a simple question. Is it a trick? A test?

"Er…It was…good."

Silence.

(Whoa, the sparkles! Tifa's smiling! He's dreaming!)

"Welcome home, kid."

And then she ruffles his hair.

"Riku, what are you doing?"

Riku is at a loss for words when as he's searching through the Land of Dragons, Naminé suddenly appears in front of him.

"I'm…looking for you?"

She narrows his eyes at him, almost in a look of disgust.

"We have to check up on Sora!"

And she promptly drags him through a portal of darkness.

"Aerith…did something happen? Why is everyone so happy and…well, sparkly?"

Aerith gives him a funny look before bursting into light chuckles. Roxas frowns (it seemed like everyone was laughing at him recently), but waits patiently for her to answer.

"Roxas…don't you see?" She puts a hand on his shoulder. "We're happy…cause you're here."

…What?

He's stunned. He's out of words. He…really? Is he the reason everyone's…happy?

Aerith smiles.

And then she ruffles his hair.

"You're so cute, sometimes."

"Okay little dude, we need a name for you. Cause I'm so nice, I'll let you decide your name. So…whaddya want? Serixophth? Phoxiserith? Sexirophth? Sophtirhex?"

When the small child doesn't answer, Braig runs an annoyed hand through his hair.

"Alright, alright, I know it's hard to get a good name out of Sephiroth, but really, we can't keep calling you "little dude". That just won't work."

The boy remains, his gaze up at the sky. Braig waits a few moments.

"Okay? You decide yet?"

Silence.

Braig narrows his eyes.

"…Are you even listening? What are you looking at anyway?"

Such a quiet voice.

"Cloud."

For a brief moment, Braig feels a small (small tiny microscopic, mind you) piece of sympathy for the boy. After all, they had made him this way.

But he quickly pushes his thoughts away, reminded himself firmly not to get emotions in the way of science.

"Fine, then! Cloud, it is!"

As expected, the boy doesn't answer, merely continuing to stare upwards.

Braig sighs.

"Besides…if all goes right, you'll get a heart anyway."

DiZ is already standing by the pod when they arrive. As soon as he sees them, his seem to glitter.

"So...It's happening." He says simply, and lays a hand on the pod.

Naminé merely looks down, her hair falling over her eyes.

"It seems so."

Her voice is bland and unreadable, quiet. Riku looks at the two of them, his eyes moving back and forth.

"...What's going on?" He asks, oddly suspicious.

It's silent for a moment.

Then, DiZ smiles.

"Sora seems to be waking up."

AN: Haha...short chapter. I know. The reason is...well...this isn't really an update. -prepares shield- You see...this story is going to be put on hiatus. And since I don't really like putting out an author's note without a chapter, I gave you whatever scenes I had for the next chapter.

Now, for the reason I'm putting this on hold is that I'm kinda unsatisfied as the story seems to be deteriorating a lot. So I think I'm going to take a break and just stop for a while, then come back to it and finish it. (I will finish this by the end of the year, the latest latest latest. You are definitely free to bug and whack me if it seems like I'm slacking.)

Also...any ideas are treasured. Really. I mean...I do have any idea for the ending...but it sucks. Big time. So any advice, or prediction, or something, will be awesomely helpful.

Anyway, as always, I'm really grateful for the support I've gotten for the last...(-checks when the story was published-)...two weeks. It was awesome. It made my summer not so boring. (Especially on that horrid vacation to Canada...urgh. That boring trip was the reason I updated every day.) So...anyone who actually is reading this far...YOU ROCK! :D