Sakura here. Sorry that it's a day late! Technical difficulties and so such on both ends. But here it is! Next week, we'll have it in on time.
Also, last chapter was essentially a prologue, if you didn't notice already. I had to update it several times.
Please note that we often rush at the last minute to do proofreading, so if something seems off to you, then don't be afraid to send us a message.
This chapter contains a loooooooong flashback. Also texts. If you can't understand the formatting, then please inform us about that as well.
Enjoy~!
Chapter 2: Day One: Destiny
"Augh..." Sora's head hurt. He had just bumped into something... Or someone on the way to the store. As he sat up and rubbed his head, he saw a blurry figure with a yellow fuzzy thing on top of their head. Sora's vision slowly came into focus as he began to see the person who had hit him. They had spiky blonde hair that swirled to one side, bright blue eyes... And the same face. It was like looking into a mirror. The other boy looked exactly like him aside from the blonde hair. Same spiky hair texture. Same eyes. Same nose, lips, jawline, and shocked expression. Sora was too shocked to comprehend the situation or even get up. For a whole minute that seemed to span an eternity, he stared at his look-alike. When he realized that he probably looked like a bumbling idiot, Sora tried to get up quickly, but groaned with pain at his bruised leg and butt. When the pain subsided, he brushed his pants off and reached down to help the blonde up, continuing to be baffled at how similar they looked. At first it was like an illusion, where if he looked away the boy would disappear. But as the blonde returned his gaze with his own identically blue eyes and took his hand, a shiver ran through Sora's body. He was real. Even their hands felt the same... Sora pulled the blonde up and watched intently in confusion as he brushed himself off and picked up his skateboard.
The same question was on the tips of their tongues. Who are you? And why do we look so alike?
Roxas shook the thought out of his head. It had to just be a coincidence. There's only a finite amount of faces in the world, so it can't be that surprising that this stranger happened to have the same one... The awkwardness of the silence finally hit Roxas and he quickly tried to break it. "Um... I'm sorry about that." The blond quickly brushed off his pants and diverted his eyes away from the stranger's gaze. "I just wasn't really looking where I was headed..."
"I-It's okay..." Sora mumbled as he also diverted his gaze from his blond doppelganger. He snuck a glance back at the stranger and examined him again. He didn't look like he was from around here... A tourist, perhaps? He looked about Sora's age... Some kid on vacation, probably... Sora shook his head and took one last look at his look-alike before walking into the store, still severely shaken up from the entire scene that had unfolded. Once inside, he slapped his cheeks and tried to focus, pulling out the shopping list his mother had given him. "Potatoes, beef, broccoli, carrots... Paopu?" Sora looked quizzically at the last item on the list. He knew the legends behind the paopu fruit. The question was why would his mother want the item for dinner...? She hardly ever used it, anyway. The brunette shrugged and walked over to the produce aisle.
Roxas waited until the stranger was out of sight before he exhaled in relief. He couldn't be wasting his time freaking out over some stupid coincidence... He had a group of hungry teenagers to shop for. The blond stepped into the small grocery store and looked around. He looked over to see a sign over a pile of yellow fruit. "Destiny Island's Most Delicious Delicacy..." Roxas read the sign aloud to himself. "Hmm..." It was worth checking out. He walked over and stopped when he realized that the yellow fruit were in the shape of a star! He read the small note card, detailing the legendary power of the paopu fruit. Roxas reached out, but froze, when he realized he had accidentally placed his hand on the hand of someone else...
Someone else's hand was on top of Sora's. This hand felt eerily familiar. His head snapped over to the owner of the hand and found that it belonged to his very own lookalike. This was insane. They had bumped into each other in front of the store, and now... Sora gulped and took his hand away quickly as if the yellow fruit was on fire. The legends about the paopu fruit scared him. He didn't entirely want to be bound to anyone for the rest of his life. At least... Not any time soon... He looked over at his blonde counterpart and stared in an obvious and impolite manner. They were silent for a few moments before Sora couldn't hold it in any longer.
It started as a fit of giggles for Sora and low chuckling for Roxas. Pretty soon, the produce section was filled with the sounds of their cacophonous laughter. Sora was clutching his sides and wiping a tear from his eyes while Roxas held his hand over his mouth as a failed attempt to muffle his laughter. Even though the blond was aware that people were beginning to look over at them, he didn't really care. He just couldn't stop the laughter. Roxas didn't even know why he was laughing so hard, but the whole situation was so entertaining. By the time most of the other people in the produce area had cleared out to avoid the crazy teenagers, their laughter died down and they found time to finally breathe.
"This is so weird!" Sora panted, trying to hold back laughter at the risk of his sides splitting.
"I know!" Roxas let out a chuckle as he grinned at his doppelganger. "What were the chances of running into someone who looks just like you...twice!"
"I know!" Sora continued to clutch his sides and laugh, the distance between the two closing slightly as he devolved into a giggling mess once again. Once he had regained what little self-control he had left, he looked directly into his blonde look-alike's identically blue eyes as a silly grin spread across his face. "My name's Sora," he said as he stuck out his hand.
"Hello, Sora!" The blond reached out to shake the boy's hand, giving him a friendly smile. "My name's Roxas!" The boy quickly pulled his phone out, speedily typing to his friend, Axel, letting the redhead know he wouldn't be back for a while, and that there was a diner not far from the place they were staying. "Erm... I was wondering..." Roxas spoke as he slowly slid his phone back into his pocket. "Would you want to... Hang out? If you're free right now, that is..."
Sora noticed that they were still holding hands, but he didn't mind. In fact, he wanted to spend more time with his -dare I say- new friend. "Sure! Let me just text my mom..." the brunette pulled his phone out and was about to text his dear, sweet mother that he would be out with a friend for a while but was interrupted by a familiar "Bazinga!" texttone. Sora blushed and checked who exactly had texted him at this crucial point in time. What he saw was... Unspeakable. His best friend Riku had sent him a text message. In all caps. With spelling errors.
SOFA MY INLINE FRIEND IS MERTON ME IRL TODAY I CAN'T HANG OUT WITH YOU WISH ME LICK!
All Sora gave to this message was a blank, shocked stare. He replied with a "... Sofa?" and quickly texted his mother.
I'm gonna be out with a friend today. Be back late. Love you, Mom!
The reply came a second later, as he was about to slip his phone back into his pocket. Sora pulled his phone back out and checked the new message.
Of course, honey! Be home in time for dinner, okay?
I will. See you later.
Sora closed his phone and put it back into his pocket. "I can go. Shall we pay for our stuff, Roxas?" he said with a smile.
Axel smirked at the text he had received.
Meet me at the ice cream shop on main street. The one with the big blue sign. I'll be waiting.
God, he was lucky to be here. PrinceOfDarkness... It was finally time for the hot redhead to meet his almost as sexy online friend. He bit his lip and tried to figure out how he could get out of the beach house without looking too suspicious to the watchful eyes of Zexion, Xion and Namine. He didn't have to worry about Demyx, the perky blonde was too busy being excited about the beach to notice anything. But those three... Sometimes the trio scared him. Before he could think too much, Axel received a text from his other blonde friend.
Won't be back for a while. There's a diner up the street from the house.
Huh? Why?
Axel was seriously concerned at this point in time. He looked at the message confusedly. Roxas had never been outside of the city both of them had grown up in. Even though the city was a dangerous place at times and both of them were used to getting into trouble while just walking down to the drug store, Axel still worried about his best friend. They were like brothers from different mothers... But Axel decided to trust Roxas this time.
"Hey, guys. Roxas is gonna be late. Let's go to the diner down the street."
Though Namine and Xion looked at him confusedly, Zexion broke their judging gaze and said, "Might as well... Demyx?"
"I WANT WAFFLES!" And with that, Demyx stood up and sprinted to the door. "COME ON GUYS, LET'S GO!"
Axel merely smiled and walked with the rest of the group toward the diner. Sneaking away would be a piece of cake with Demyx as the center of attention... All he had to do was text his Prince back saying that he'd meet him in about twenty minutes.
Done and done.
Sora had never had this much fun with anyone. Not even his own best friend. Roxas was like a mirror image of himself. Same likes, dislikes, and interests... It was hard to believe that they had only met a half hour ago by almost getting severely injured in front of the supermarket by the skateboarding blond. As they walked down the warm, sunny sidewalk along the main shopping street, they had a sort of comfortable attitude about them. The kind that best friends that had known each other their entire lives had... The sun beat down on them, and even though Sora was used to the heat, he was starting to sweat. The brunette stretched his lean arms, his blue shirt riding up and showing off his navel.
Roxas blushed as the other male's lower abdomen was exposed. It was strange. To Roxas, Sora felt as if he were a part of himself... As if the two were destined to meet. And though it felt rather narcissistic, the blond found himself attracted to this guy. Just the idea of seeing that face, lustfully gasping...
Agh! What the hell am I thinking?
Sora noticed that Roxas' face had a pinkish tint to it... Was he getting heat stroke? He hoped that he wasn't... He put his hands behind his head and whistled as he stepped to his right side a bit, hoping to slowly lead his blond counterpart into the shade. He found it strange and a bit funny how someone so like himself could also be different at the same time. Sora turned to Roxas and spoke. "You're definitely not from around here... So where are you from, Roxas?"
Roxas smiled over at Sora, chuckling softly as he spoke. "I'm from Twilight Town. Actually, I was born out here, but I moved away with my dad when I was really young..." Roxas's smile turned into a subtle frown. "I'm just visiting the area for Spring break with my friends. I take it you're from around here?" The blond gave a curious look over to his look-a-like.
Sora stared at Roxas with his mouth hanging open. He had stopped walking at this point. They were both born in the Destiny Islands... "Y-Yeah..." The brunette shuddered. This was really strange... And strangely exciting. "Born and raised here... My mom and dad separated when I was young... But she remarried..." He took a deep breath to calm his nerves a moment. "Do... You remember anything from when you lived here...?"
Roxas sighed softly. He didn't really like talking about these things... They only ever made him depressed. "No... The only reason I know I'm from here is because my dad said so. I have a few...vague memories, but for all I know, they could just be my imagination." The boy slid his hands into his pockets and looked up at the bright blue sky, watching the clouds lazily drift by.
Sora gazed at Roxas sympathetically, his big blue eyes as wide as a sad puppy's. He bit his lip for a moment and gently grabbed his blond counterpart's wrist to get his attention. He smiled wryly and gazed into the mirroring eyes, assuring Roxas that it was okay.
"Let's go get ice cream. Okay?"
Roxas blushed as he felt Sora's soft hand on his wrist. "O-Okay!" If there was any way to cheer Roxas up, it was ice cream. He loved ice cream. The frosty dessert always seemed to comfort the boy, and almost automatically cheered him up.
Sora smiled and pulled Roxas along, making the blond run with him toward the ice cream shop.
Riku paced back and forth in front of the ice cream shop. This would finally be the day... The day he would finally see the male he had spent hours speaking to through a computer...
Riku sat at his desk, his pricey desktop computer on. A browser window was open to a certain website that he used. A chat room.
-FlamingPyro8 has entered the room-
Riku's face lit up slightly as he brought his pale fingers to the lettered keys in front of him and started to type.
PrinceofDarkness: Well, hello there.
FlamingPyro8: Hey yourself
FlamingPyro8: How are you doing, Prince?
Riku took a moment to think about how he really felt before putting it into words.
PrinceOfDarkness: Better, actually...
FlamingPyro8: Really? :o
FlamingPyro8: I'm glad!
PrinceofDarkness: It took some time... A lot of time... At first I didn't believe I could ever get over...him. But now, I look at it this way...
PrinceOfDarkness: He's my friend. And his happiness comes first. To me, our friendship is more important than any dumb relationship. ...I'm over it.
There was no response from his friend for a moment. As Riku began to type the beginning of a worried query as to the presence of his dear Flaming Pyro, a message popped up.
FlamingPyro8: Do you have anything to drink on your end?
Riku stared at his screen curiously with furrowed eyebrows.
PrinceOfDarkness: No... Not with me at the moment...
FlamingPyro8: I have a bottle of Martinelli's on my left. Let's have a toast.
FlamingPyro8: Okay?
PrinceOfDarkness: What do you mean by that...?
FlamingPyro8: You've been pining over him for years, right? Well, now it's time to loosen up. Grab something to drink. Anything. We're gonna have fun tonight~ ;D
The edges of Riku's lips curled into a wry smile.
PrinceOfDarkness: brb
PrinceOfDarkness: back
FlamingPyro8: Cheers!
PrinceOfDarkness: Cheers.
Riku took a swig of the two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper he had swiped from the fridge. Hopefully his father wouldn't care about the absence of a large container of his favorite non-alcoholic beverage.
FlamingPyro8: I know how you feel, man. It took me a long time to get over my best friend, too...
PrinceOfDarkness: Really...? What made you change your mind about your feelings?
FlamingPyro8: I decided he was more like a little brother to me. We did grow up together, after all.
FlamingPyro8: Besides... He never really showed much interest in relationships with anyone. Aside from friendship.
FlamingPyro8: And I guessed that I would probably never be interested in something romantic with me... Besides, he did say he was most definitely straight at one point in middle school.
PrinceOfDarkness: My friend had a crush on the pretty girl down the street. She was nice and all, but didn't show romantic interest in him until a lot later. Then, all of a sudden one day he said he wasn't straight.
Riku sighed and took another long swig of the fruity soda to calm his nerves.
PrinceOfDarkness: To tell the truth... I'm glad I'm over him.
PrinceOfDarkness: Even after all he's put me through, he's still my best friend in the whole world.
PrinceOfDarkness: And I wouldn't trade that for anything else.
The silver-haired male could feel tears forming. They weren't sad... But nostalgic. It was silly that he had clung to such silly ideas of relationships when he had a perfectly good one all along that was right under his nose.
FlamingPyro8: I'm exactly the same...
Riku could feel his heart fluttering slightly as he read those four words over and over again. The tears had dissipated, the happy pain of nostalgia being replaced with... Sympathy. A different sort of bond. A warm glow filled his chest as he breathed in slowly.
PrinceOfDarkness: Pyro...?
FlamingPyro8: Yeah?
PrinceOfDarkness: Thank you.
FlamingPyro8: No need to thank me!
FlamingPyro8: In fact... I should be the one thanking you.
FlamingPyro8: Thank you for being here, Prince.
Riku's pale cheeks were warmed by a gentle pink flush. His heart beat faster, with a single thought on his mind...
PrinceOfDarkness: We should meet up.
FlamingPyro8: In reality? As in I come to the Islands? Are you serious?
PrinceOfDarkness: I want to meet you. See if you really are a flaming pyro like you say you are.
FlamingPyro8: That would be awesome! Let's do it!
FlamingPyro8: I was planning a big trip for my last Spring Break in high school with a bunch of my friends. When that happens, I'll visit you.
FlamingPyro8: Got it memorized?
PrinceOfDarkness: I got it.
Riku couldn't help but smile excitedly. He was going to see the online friend he had been acquainted with for the past two years for the first time. But before he could check his own calendar to see when his spring break was, a nagging thought popped up that he couldn't help but consider. Luckily, his dear flaming friend had thought of it first.
FlamingPyro8: Wait. I don't know what you look like. Crap.
FlamingPyro8: How is this gonna work?
FlamingPyro8: We don't even know each other's name...
Before the silverette could agree with the pyro, he thought of something absolutely brilliant. Something that would make their first encounter truly excellent.
PrinceOfDarkness: How about we keep it that way for now?
FlamingPyro8: What?
PrinceOfDarkness: We won't tell each other our names or see each other's face until we meet for the first time in person.
PrinceOfDarkness: All we will go on is a description of each other and our internet handles.
FlamingPyro8: That is...
FlamingPyro8: Insane.
FlamingPyro8: Let's do it.
FlamingPyro8: I have bright red hair. Gorgeous green eyes. ;) Skinny as hell, but sexier than you can believe. Two tattoos under my eyes. People say I should model.
Riku tried to visualize the person described, but could only come up with a vague idea of him. At least that idea was better than nothing...
PrinceOfDarkness: I've been told I have a nice face and figure, and look quite unique. Modeling may have been implied, but I'm not entirely interested.
PrinceOfDarkness: Silver hair that reaches my shoulders. Aqua eyes. I'm a bit on the pale side, even though I've spent my time in the sun. I just can't tan.
FlamingPyro8: You sound gorgeous...
Riku blushed furiously and resisted the urge to say, "You, too..."
PrinceOfDarkness: I can't wait...
FlamingPyro8: Me neither...
FlamingPyro8: Aw, shit. My brother's kicking me off to watch porn. Gotta go!
PrinceOfDarkness: Good night... See you during Spring Break.
-FlamingPyro8 has left the room-
Riku leaned back in his chair and sighed, running his fingers through his hair in an exasperated manner. He looked up at the ceiling and smiled as he tried harder to imagine what "Pyro" looked like... Bright red hair, gorgeous green eyes, skinny, two teardrop tattoos...
He really did sound handsome.
"Prince...? Is that you?"
Cliffhanger, wooo! Don't worry, it'll be continued first thing next chapter. The little PrinceOfDarkness and our very own FlamingPyro8 will have their fun... In due time. ;D
Well, wasn't that fun? See you guys next week! Don't forget to review! Next week will have something special for all of you~!