Chapter title subject to change.

Summary: (Post-KH2.) After finally returning home, Sora's having a tough time adjusting and getting used to the peace. Matters are made more difficult when he can't explain where he's been to his family, and his friends Riku and Kairi are experiencing their own troubles; but nothing can make things harder when his hard-earned peace is shattered by an all-too-familiar enemy...

Returning Home

By FlikFreak

Chapter Two: Rewind

Sora was strongly considering defenestrating the radio right about then. The most exciting bit of news that he heard had something to do with how the latest blitzball game went. At least he was heading out to hang out with Riku and Kairi later, or else he would be bored out of his mind. He flipped off the offending news broadcast and began to count out some of his munny. He didn't remember how much the ferry was, so he resorted to putting as much in his pocket as he could without getting a suspicious bulge when added to his cell phone and one of his key chains.

On the way downstairs, his mother gave him a disapproving look concerning his clothes, but let it slide. Sora was wearing the clothes he came home in – the ones that the fairies in Yen Sid's tower had made especially for him. After wearing the said outfit for so long, he felt naked wearing anything else, and it wasn't just from the familiarity with wearing it. These clothes were special, and hadn't received a single rip or tear through the duration of his journey. When his parents asked where he got them, he just shrugged and said, "Someone gave them to me a year ago." They knew partially what he was getting at and let the issue go.

The ferry hadn't changed. The fare was still quite expensive, and the ferryman recognized Sora and tried to give him a discount out of pity. Sora refused kindly, paying for his ticket and boarding. He found Riku and Kairi near the front of the boat. Kairi had a sketchbook in her hands, and Riku was just staring absently at the ocean like he usually did. Sora was about to call out to them, but apparently Riku knew he was there without even looking. "Sleep in again, Sora?"

"You're just early," Sora protested, leaning over the rail next to Riku. They were all wearing their same clothes that they had during the adventure, although Kairi had traded her pink dress for the old white tank top and purple skirt she had worn when it first began. It made his head reel a bit in nostalgia. "What all is in the mall, anyway?"

Kairi shrugged, opening her sketchbook and sitting down. "There's a lot of clothing stores in there, but I think we've got a Gameyield and some sports places in there. I haven't been in it myself yet; Selphie was the one that told me about it."

Riku smirked, still not looking at them. "You could use some new clothes, Sora. Black is a good look on you and all, but I kinda miss that old red outfit."

"I feel naked wearing anything else," Sora protested. "These aren't just any clothes, you know."

They did know, but they still laughed. Sora laughed with them; he could see their point. Most of his clothes at home were too small for him now (sadly, this included his favorite outfit that he had worn through his first adventure), so he would be buying more. I sure hope I brought enough munny.

After the initial departure, Kairi had begun sketching in her book. Sora couldn't help but glance over at her, and he grinned. "She wanted to draw again?"

Kairi snapped out of whatever daze she had apparently been in, and shook her head. "Oh, no. She was showing me how to draw. I guess I kinda got an interest in art from her…"

"Can I see?"

She instantly hugged the book to herself. "No way!"

"Aw, come on!"

"She's really shy about showing her work!"

"But I wanna see…"

Riku snickered. "Let it go, Sora. If Naminé doesn't want to show her work, then don't force her to."

Sora sulked. "Aw…okay…"

"Speaking of which," Kairi began, "How's Roxas doing?"

"I'm fine," Sora insisted, then did a double take and covered his mouth. There was a few seconds of staring from Riku and Kairi (and whoever else was unfortunate to overhear them) before he corrected himself. "…well, he is, apparently."

While Kairi nodded understandingly, Riku quirked an eyebrow. "Does he always do that?"

"Do what?" Sora asked, blinking.

"Act through you rather than just telling you in your mind."

Sora bit his lip when he responded. "Roxas can't feel his own emotions…so he sort of 'borrows' mine, I guess you could say." Oh, how he hated putting it that way; and it wasn't Roxas doing the hating this time. It was harder on Sora than it was on the Nobody; Roxas couldn't cry, so Sora had to cry for him. The first time it happened and before they figured it out, Roxas only became more flustered as to why he couldn't cry himself and the tears only came faster…but Sora had been sad, too. It wasn't just Roxas that was upset over the ordeal.

He shouldn't have to worry. It was fine, he could deal with it. By now, he was used to the whole mess.

"You shouldn't be trapped like that," Sora insisted, earning only a brief look from Kairi and Riku. "No one deserves it, even a Nobody."

DiZ was right. Sora was way too nice for his own good.

Sora's face turned red. "Hey!"

His friends must've known what just happened, because they burst out laughing. Sora started laughing too…at first he wasn't, but after a few moments, he really, really was.

Sora had been told the mall was great, but only upon seeing it had he decided that it was the best thing since Sea Salt Ice Cream (which he thought was rather good, even without Roxas's influence). "Olette would have a ball in here," he had said.

Kairi, whom had spent her own share of time with Olette, had agreed entirely.

They headed for the clothing stores first for Sora and Riku's sakes; they had been gone for so long they hadn't had the chance to buy anything new to wear. Sora didn't end up buying much, as Roxas was starting to influence his choice of clothing ("I just get the feeling we shouldn't get any…oh…"). Amusingly enough, the Nobody had a very good sense of fashion, and more than once Sora found himself losing focus for a while and snapping to again only to find himself looking in the mirror and hearing Kairi compliment him. Or Naminé. The two acted so alike it was hard to tell.

After buying some new clothes, the trio headed to the food court for lunch. It was there that Sora finally noticed something was wrong with Riku as they were ordering their food.

"I'll take a basket of chicken fingers," Kairi began, "A double bacon cheese burger, and…what did you want again, Riku?"

Riku was squinting at the menu overhead intently and quietly, a lost look in his eyes. Finally, he looked back down at Kairi's voice and shook his head. "I'll get whatever you're getting."

"…and another chicken finger basket. How much do I owe you?"

Sora stared at Riku, whom didn't seem to notice. That look in his eyes…he had seen it only once before. It had been Kairi, when her heart had rested within Sora's own. The faraway look when she just couldn't act on her own. She had stared at him blankly, then the door in the back of the cave had exploded open, shoving him to the remains of the island.

He shouldn't be remembering that. Times were happier now; no need to dwell on the past.

"Speak for yourself," Sora muttered. He earned no strange glances from Kairi or Riku.

After lunch, not much was left to do at the mall. Sora found an interesting game at Gameyield, but he didn't buy it. Kairi paid a quick visit to the art store, and Riku skipped his normal visit to the book shop to buy Sora a skateboard. When the brunette gave him a questioning look, he just smirked and said, "I'm pretty sure he misses it." No further explanation was needed.

The group didn't disband until everyone was led safely home. Kairi was dropped off first at her father's house, and Sora was left to head home with Riku. The two lived close by, so there were no problems with getting separated quickly. Even so, it didn't do much during the two years that Sora had fought the heartless, and there were more ways to be distant rather than counting inches and miles.

"Is something bothering you, Riku?" Sora asked.

The silver-haired boy blinked and shook his head. "No. Why do you keep asking me that?"

"You never look at me anymore," Sora replied. "It's like you don't want to talk to me."

Riku hesitated, biting his lip. "It's not like that, Sora. There's nothing wrong, it's just…"

"It's just what?" Sora urged him. "You can tell me."

"…no," Riku replied. "I'm not sure, Sora. I think this is something I-"

Sora knew where this was going. "You're not doing it alone, Riku," he said sternly. "Last time I took my eyes off of you, I hardly recognized you afterward. I'm not letting you do that to yourself again. I wouldn't be your friend if I did."

There was a moment of quiet, and Riku smiled. "Thanks, Sora."

The spiky-haired brunette smiled back. "That's what friends are for, Riku."

But even though his friend claimed to be fine, Sora could see the sadness in his eyes. What was Riku not telling him?

Two hours later saw Sora off in dreamland again. This time he was sitting on top of the tower in Twilight Town, staring at the eternal sunset beyond the towering buildings. The train fled underneath the cloudy sky. As Sora took a breath, he felt a breeze push past him, drawing his attention to a familiar blonde sitting next to him, holding a blue popsicle for him to take. "Want one?"

Sora stared at the offered ice cream and took it after a brief hesitation. "Thanks, Roxas."

The nobody shrugged. "No problem. Not like I have anyone else to share it with anymore."

It wasn't meant to be a remark, but Sora still felt a load of guilt hit him when he realized who Roxas was referring to. The memory of a certain red-haired man wielding flaming chakrams came to mind. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't," Roxas said. "He did it to help you, and thanks to that I was able to wake up." He paused, looking up. "Besides, you've got enough on your shoulders having to feel emotions for two people at once."

Sora still couldn't shake the feeling. After licking his ice cream bar a few times, he glanced at his nobody. "I thought you'd be angry. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have…"

Roxas shook his head. "I'm glad, actually. Vexen said something about a Nobody being reborn as a whole person if they come in contact with someone else's heart. I woke up when he…left, so he must've somehow come in contact with yours. I think we'll see him again, even if he doesn't recognize us."

"I look forward to that," Sora commented.

"You sure that's not me talking?" Roxas asked.

The brunette shook his head. "No. I really want to meet him again. For one, I don't think I had the chance to thank him. I was so shocked when he…"

"We both were, Sora," Roxas said, his shoulders sinking.

"And judging by how he acted as a Nobody," Sora continued, "I bet his Somebody must be a great guy."

Roxas grinned. "He wasn't always like that. When I first met him, he was pretty serious about what he did, but after a while he started to relax more. We used to eat Sea Salt Ice Cream up here all the time…he didn't like it all that much at first, but he ate it anyway. He liked rice cakes better." He glanced over at Sora. "Speaking of which, your ice cream is melting."

Sora instinctively lifted the bar to his mouth and took a very large bite out of it, which quickly proved to be a mistake when the salty flavor overwhelmed him. He made a sound that was a touch more high-pitched than he intended and flailed around, quickly trying to swallow the mess of frozen snack. His antics elicited a bout of laughter from Roxas, whom did absolutely nothing to help with his plight. By the time Sora had managed to get a hold of the situation, he found himself clapping the heels of his hands over his eyes. "Great. Now I have a brainfreeze."

"You're dreaming, Sora," Roxas pointed out, still trying to get a handle on his laughter. "How can you get a brainfreeze in a dream?"

"Search me," Sora replied. "I'm not even sure this is a dream."

Roxas finally sobered, quirking an eyebrow at Sora's statement. "What makes you say that?"

The brunette grinned. "I dunno. Whatever this is, I'm glad it's happening. I don't get to talk to you like this very often."

"Actually, you don't get to talk to me like this at all unless I have to tear myself from you like I did before you finished off Xemnas."

Sora winced at Roxas's choice of words. "Was it that painful?"

"Sort of," Roxas replied. "It wasn't painful, actually…just took a lot out of me." He laughed. "The look on your face when you saw me was priceless."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Maybe."

He considered wrestling the truth out of Roxas, but Sora reconsidered and stayed still, afraid that such an action would shatter the image in front of him. Instead he stuck his tongue out playfully and turned back to the sunset. "Hey, Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think is wrong with Riku?"

Roxas sighed. "You're worried about him, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, I only know as much as you do. I am you, after all."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Don't you have any ideas?"

"He said nothing was wrong," Roxas said, taking a few licks from his popsicle, "Meaning either something really, really bad is going on, he doesn't want to trouble you with it, or both. Of course, he could be just adjusting to having a more peaceful life again. If he is, I'd let it be for now. He doesn't need any more pressure after all he went through. Xehanort isn't a good color on him."

The memory of what had happened to Riku came back to Sora and he sighed, looking away. "Why is it that everyone has to suffer to help me?"

Roxas smiled. "If you ask me, they wouldn't be your friends if they didn't. You've done the same for them, too, haven't you?"

Sora looked at the sky. Roxas was right. He had sacrificed himself to save Kairi. Even after that, he had searched all over for Riku, only to nearly lose him again. He hated to admit that Riku had been through more than him, not because of pride issues, but because of guilt. Riku had been trapped inside Kingdom Hearts, defended him while he slept to regain his memories, transformed into Xehanort's Heartless once again, and even took a near-lethal blow from Xemnas in his place. Riku had gone through far more than Sora had. And now he was going through more…but for what?

"You should get some real sleep, Sora," Roxas said. "I can't rest unless you do."

There was a guilty grin and Sora stared at the remains of his beloved ice cream stick. "Yeah…I really could use some shuteye, even if I haven't been fighting off baddies all day."

"You miss it? Man, I'm glad it's over with."

"Hey, kicking butt can be pretty fun, you know. But yeah, I'm glad I'm home and don't have to worry about that."

"Then savor your sleep," Roxas suggested, standing and brushing off his khaki pants. "You know how to reach me."

Sora nodded, feeling the world around him fade out. "G'night," he said as he finally fell into a true sleep.

To Be Continued…