The epic, 20th installment of Plum Wings. I hope you enjoy it, and I will have you all know that the finale is well on the way. Have fun~

I do not own KH.

PLUM WINGS & A MIDNIGHT DIRGE - REALIZATION

The pain in my arm was beyond possible, it seemed. It hurt beyond any pain I had ever felt before, and I wondered whether or not I was going to make it to the top. With every move I made with that arm, it sent numbing pain throughout my body. It was unbearable, but I had to get through it, I had to see him again. After all, that's why I had made it halfway up the cliff already, to see him.

I couldnt take the bag with me, I knew how much pain I would be in already, and the only thing down there that would be lost was the blanket and grime-coated clothes. But even then, anyone could go down at any time and retrieve them. They would be left untouched.

The pain blinded me for most of my way up. But I had to keep going, and after a while, I just ignored the pain altogether and climbed as fast as I could until I reached the top. Not even pausing to rest, I walked strongly out through the woods, and tried to keep out of people's way in town. Then, I arrived at my destination.

Knocking on the door, I waited for a few seconds when I got no answer and then knocked again. I heard movement inside his house, and when he saw me, his reaction was half of what I thought it was going to be. I thought he would either be incredibly happy, or detestably pissed. He was neither. More neutral, than anything. But after we exchanged words, he dove into my arms.I felt a jolt in my broken arm, but decided not to move it in the end. It had been through enough, and it wasnt time for pain, then. It was time for happiness. I had never been so happy in my life.

"Demyx, Im sorry," I swallowed my pride and said it. And I meant it. He said nothing in response, only held me tighter. I smiled, giving him another small squeeze before letting go of him.

"C'mon, Zexion" He led me inside his house, and then pushed me into the bathroom with a smile. "Go shower, you're gross," He laughed, and I could see, even from a distance, even from the tone of his voice, that tears were in his eyes. I smiled a bit myself, and then peered into the bathroom to look at myself for the first time in months.

"Oh, my," I said. My face was filthy, splotchy, and shining with greasy-skin oils. My eyes were tired, and I was thinner, a lot thinner. Both in my face and the rest of my body. My hair was disgustingly, well, disgusting, and I honestly could not wait to shower. A moment later Demyx came in with a pair of fresh clothes for me, a T-shirt and skinny jeans, both black. I chuckled in his direction, and I watched him smile. I closed the door, and prepared for the best shower I would ever have.

I have no idea how much time ended up passing, but it was a rather big chunk of time. When I stepped out of the shower, though, I had steamed up the room fairly well. I had to wait for a minute or two before I could clean the mirror off of its built up perspiration, but when I did, and when I saw my clean face, I was overjoyed. I felt so clean, so fresh and ready, it was a wonderful feeling, and it was just as great of a feeling to watch all of the dirt run off my skin.

When I came out of the room, I went straight to Demyx, who was waiting patiently on the edge of his bed. He turned to see me, with a smile already on his face. I knew he was just as happy as I was. He came over to me and hugged me, and I gave him a one-armed hug.

"Demyx," I said.

"Yeah?" He was still smiling, but by now the emotion had faded from my face.

"We should visit the hospital," I pointed at my arm, and he cringed at the sight of it. "Do you have any gauze?" He skipped past me with a nod, and brought back a roll of it. I held up my broken arm, and I held the end of the gauze while Demyx rolled it around my arm. The gash I had from day one that lead down to the bone never healed, and was slightly bleeding now that it was washed, and it altogether looked putrid. Hence the gauze.

I did not know how to go about asking for any sort of operation to be done on my arm, so when we reached the hospital, I went up to the front desk and said I had a broken arm. The secretary did not look very concerned, then again, they probably see things far worse than my arm all of the time, so it was unsurprising.

"Are you sure about the break?"

"More than positive." A few more words were exchanged, and after a period of waiting, we got an X-ray done. Of course, we had to peel the gauze away, and at the sight of my arm and at the gash it had, even the specialist raised his eyebrows. After seeing the actual X-ray, he said, probably on an impulse,

"Good, God, what did you do?" He stared at the image as I told.

"I am sure that, by now, you have heard about the story of the boys trapped in the ravine, yes?" The man nodded. "I was one of them," He looked at Zexion with bewilderment.

"Oh, yeah? Well, it's good they rescued you! What about the other boy?"

"Hello!" Demyx said cheerfully, raising his hand with a smile.

"Im happy for you boys, you've surely been through quite a bit. Now, tell me about the circumstances of how this break came to be. It's in an unusual spot,"

"The two of us fell down into the ravine at night. When we were falling, we both suffered injuries, but this was the worst. I assume I hit a broken-off branch around the size of this hole in my arm, and at the rate I was falling, if it was sharp enough or even just strong enough, I believe it reached the bone and broke it. It has been through a lot, recently, mostly today. You see, no one came to my aid, and I had to climb out myself. I have had this break for weeks, months, now." And after that explanation, the specialist had me booked for an operation on my arm that day, and I was not expecting it. I did hope that they were going to accept my medical insurance, I knew some of the information, and they should be able to find me, so, I did not think money was an issue. And, as it turns out, I was correct. Money was no issue.

I ended up walking out of there several hours later with a full-arm cast. Why? Because hospitals are stupid. I swear, if you broke a finger the right way, they would give you a cast up to your elbow. Damn people.

"Demyx, I am not going to your house, I am going to mine, first, to let my family know that I am alright. Plus, they would be wondering about the insurance at the hospital, so why not let them in on it all..."

We got to our street, and Demyx went on one side and I to the other. I did not knock, I only opened the door. My mother was home, as she always seemed to be. She heard the front door close, I know, because she called out my father's name in wonder, asking if he was home early. I gave her no response, instead, I walked into the kitchen, where she was feeding an animal. Apparently, they purchased a cat while I was away, it scampered past my leg.

She was about to call out, my mother was, a second time when she looked up and saw me. I had one hand in my pocket and the other, in the cast, feeling just plain awkward. She was silent, and her jaw had dropped. She set the bag of cat food on the counter, and put her hand to her chest.

"Zexion...?" She took her steps toward me, and I only looked at her with the same expression as always. She reached out, nearly touching my cheek and slightly grazing my hair, which, had grown quite a lot. I moved my head slightly out of the way to keep her from hovering her hand over my face, and that's when she hugged me. I made no effort to show her any affection, as I had for most of my life. She let go of me, and saying nothing, wiped the tears from her eyes. She got on the phone and called my father, telling him to come home right away. A few minutes later, he walked in the door and saw me. He had nearly the same reaction. After all of the "Oh my god, you're alive" things went by, I dismissed myself.

"I am going in my room. I will be taking with me a few changes of clothes and other things. I am going to Demyx's. Also, do you know what Twilit Academy has done with my belongings?" It was the first thing I had said to them, and they were even more eccentric about me, then. But, when I finally worked an answer from them, my things had been returned, and they were in bags inside my room. I went through the bags and quickly replaced the books and things where they needed to go. I took a few shirts and pants and things, then headed over to Demyx's house without another word, only a wave to the both of my parents. I could see them out of my peripheral vision, that they were watching me cross the street. It was like a load off of my chest when I went into Demyx's house. He was waiting for me in the living room.

"So, how'd it go?" He asked.

"How do you think?" I answered. "The two of them gave me the same reaction. 'You're alive, oh, thank goodness!'" My voice was high when I mocked my mother and father, and Demyx responded with a laugh. I chuckled, and then placed my things in his room.

"What did they say about your arm, Zexion?" He called.

"Not a thing. They must have been too happy at my living state to really notice it. Im sure it will hit them eventually,"

I did not return home for days. I did not want to go back home, but I could find no strong reason why. I spent most of my extra time wondering about it, actually. Usually, while I had time alone.

"Demyx, Im going to take a shower, if you need to use the bathroom, please do it now,"

"O-ka-y," He jumped up from his chair at his desk and nearly skipped to the restroom. Sighing, I sat down and waited for him to come out, which, surprisingly, only took a minute or two. "You are clear to enter!" Demyx said, slipping past me as I headed out of his bedroom door.

Halfway through my shower, I began thinking about my reasons behind wanting to stay away from my own home. And, I sank once again into that mindless state. I must have created it as a way to keep my sanity, being down in the ravine all that time alone.

"So you chose to stay here, did you?" I let my arms hang at my side, the water nearly burning my bare skin.

"Yes," I said. "I have,"

"Why?" Between each sentence I spoke, there was a pause, a deep and important pause.

"Demyx."

"Him? You stay because of him?"

"No, not because. For,"

"I see," I said. "You stay for him. Now, tell me why that is."

"I have told you previously, I love him,"

"Is that all? Love?"

"Yes," I turned my head. "No," There was another pause, a longer one, this time. It was full of inquiry. "It's a mix of several emotions...not only love."

"Tell me,"

"There is...love, for him," I began. "There is also fear, for...for me, as well as...sadness, concerning myself, as well as him,"

"Is that all?"

"Yes,"

"Why do you not tell him these things if you adore him as you so tell?"

"That..." I said, slipping away from the mindlessness. "Is something that I do not know,"

It took a lot of effort until anything about that subject was said to Demyx. He never asked about it, but I felt like it needed addressing. Eventually, I came out and said something to him.

"Demyx,"

"Mhm?"

"When I woke up, why did you question me about what I had written?"

"Huh?" He turned to look at me, he was sitting at his desk. "Written?

"Yes," I could see in his eyes that he knew what I was talking about, only he decided to play dumb. "You know what I am talking about." He was silent.

"I...I don't really know..." I let him think, and then he continued. "I just wanted you to...I guess it was, um...It's because..."

"You said that you loved me." Once again, he was silent for a long time. "Do you?" But I did not get any sort of answer for a long time. Not until we were both laying down for bed. I was on the bed (Demyx insisted that we switch off each night) and he was on the floor, and everything was quiet until he spoke.

"Zexion?" I did not answer. "Zexion? Are you awake?" Again, I gave no answer. He sighed, but spoke again after a moment. "Zexion, I do love you...and, I dont know if you love me, but...I don't know, maybe you'll remember that I said it when you wake up..."

"Demyx." I nearly cut him off, but he tried to pretend like he was asleep. He didnt move, and said nothing. "Demyx. I know you are awake, and I heard what you said." Silence. I sighed, but I knew he was listening. "And, in response, the only thing I have for you, is that...you can go ahead, and assume, that I share your feelings." That was as forward as I was going to say it, but as soon as I had finished that sentence, I heard the blankets shuffle, and when I sat up, I saw Demyx's shadow against the light of the moon coming through his window.

"Do you mean that?"

"I would be lying if I told you no," Just then, I felt like I was slipping into the mindlessness again. I tried to stay out of it, partially because I wanted to be honest with him without being honest mindlessly, which is what that state usually was. I figured it was to get myself to realize what my reasons and feelings were behind everything, but it was usually uncontrollable...

"So, you...you love me...?" He nearly whispered the last part of the sentence. I took a breath, and then answered positively after a moment.

"Yes." I heard a very fast shuffle and then Demyx had his arms around me, his lips against mine in the dark. My eyes were wide with surprise, but even if they were closed there would be no difference as far as seeing went. But when he pulled away, I found myself going after him. My hand found the back of his head, my fingers were in his short and soft hair, and our lips were moving in sync.

Things continued for what felt like a long while, but nothing past kissing happened. Although, we did end up sleeping in the same bed, that night.