Hiya there! OneMoreTragicEnding here - gosh, that's a mouthful. Let's go with An-Chan ^w^ - nice to see you all again! I'm having some troubles with this fanfic now that I've somehow gotten into SoRoku. I don't even know how it happened, but I can assure you that I will try my utmost best to finish this story. I probably won't make it long

Talk about Namine and Kairi deaths in this chapter. Don't like? Well, there's a nice back button on your web page, or just skip this chapter ^w^

Sora handed a mug of piping-hot hot chocolate to Axel, sitting down on the chair at the dinner table opposite of the two. He wrapped his hands around the mug of his own hot drink.

"We used to have a sister named Namine, and Namine had a twin, like we did. Her name was Kairi, and the four of us were really close, like families are supposed to be, I guess." Sora sighed. "Anyways, they were both born with a birth defect; they couldn't see and hear from their left eye and ear. They were about four years younger than us.

"They caught colds very easily, and one time, while mom and dad were gone to see mom's doctor, they left us in charge of taking care of them. We were having fun – this was about three years ago." Rain started to fall in heavy sheets outside. "We were making muffins and a cake, since it was going to be their birthday the next day.

"They ran out of the house in the rain when they heard a car screech to a halt outside our house, without a coat or anything. The car had ran over our dog, Precious, and I think they knelt there on the grass for ten minutes. We couldn't get them inside before that.

"They caught a terrible cold, one that was far worse than possible, mostly because their immune system was at a nice, flat zero. They coughed a lot, with a high fever. We couldn't do much; we just waited for mom and dad.

"Sadly, when mom and dad got back, it wasn't until morning on their seventh birthday, and… by then…" Sora closed his eyes, biting back the tears, his voice and shoulders shaking. "They had died in their sleep that morning, on their birthday. We took our eyes off of them for one second, and they just… died.

"Mom was devastated – dad just… left, making my mom feel even worse when he didn't go to their funeral. Mom started to do a lot of drinking, smoking, drugs; you name it, trying to remove her sadness. She tried suicide a few times, which leads me to the last part of my story.

"At one point mom hit a nerve in the back of her neck when she tried to end her life, paralyzing her from the next down. She was rushed to the hospital – that was about three months ago now – and they did a number of surgeries on her. Dad didn't come back until a month ago, and he's beside her now. The doctor says she should be out of the hospital by the end of this month, but it's hard to believe him when her eyes get duller and duller as the days pass, and that she has trouble speaking as she goes.

"Roxas hates dad – he blames him for mom's condition, but he blames himself for Namine and Kairi's deaths – eh?" Sora looked up, his azure eyes meeting the same eyes of his brother standing in the hallway, dripping wet. "Roxas?"

"I deserved that one, I guess." He smiled sadly, gesturing to the rain. "And it's not like the whole world doesn't know it, so I don't mind, before you tell me." And with that he walked down the hall, his feet walking up the staircase. Moments later, the sound of running water was heard.

"Where did he go?" Axel asked, blinking. Sora took a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Their graves." He said simply. "I should go see if he's doing alright. Wait here."

"Thanks… for telling us." Riku said, looking to his hot chocolate.

"No problem!" He smiled. "We're friends, right? You're allowed to know."

Riku blinked at him, but by then Sora had gone up the stairs.

"Roxas?" Sora asked, knocking on the bathroom door. "You okay?" He opened the door, walking into the steamy bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm just a little cold." He told him, securing the towel around his waist. "At least I won't catch a cold this way." He winked, stepping out into the hallway and into his room without another word.

"As anti-social as a duck." Sora sighed. "Just come downstairs after, alright?" He called after his brother. He didn't wait for his answer.

"Won't your parents be worried?" Sora asked, looking at the time. Seeing as it was six at night, he rummaged through the freezer for something to make.

"No, we both live not far from here." Axel supplied, drinking the rest of his drink almost piping hot.

"Where?" He asked, taking out a bag of French fries, frowning. "Last time I'm letting Roxas go shopping for food on his own." He muttered, taking out a pan. "Always French fries."

Axel laughed, having heard what he said.

"French fries are good for the health; they're potatoes." Roxas frowned, making himself some hot chocolate.

"Not the way you eat them." Sora grinned. "You guys wanna stay over for supper? Sure, my brother eats – no wait, inhales – almost all of the food I make, but there's always enough for more people."

"Yeah; my 'rents are out for the night. I'll accept the invite." Axel smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"And my sister has a recital tonight, so I'll accept too. Anything to get out of watching ballet." He shuddered.

"So, you've forgiven him, Roxas?" Sora asked, poking his arm. He swatted it away, slightly annoyed.

"Meh. I got other things to think about. I won't waste thinking space on a skinny twig." He smiled, taking a sip from his mug.

"Ouch, that's cold." Axel frowned. Roxas stuck out his tongue at him

"Consider it his way of calling a truce." Sora supplied, putting the tray of fries into the oven.

"I never said that." Roxas frowned at his brother.

"It was implied." They all laughed.

Roxas was still munching on the tip of a French fry when Riku and Axel left, mindlessly chewing the tip into mush.

"Having fun?" Sora asked his brother as they walked up the stairs; it was eight and the pair were tired.

"Hm? Oh, sorry." He swallowed his bite. "Twenty-nine days left, Sora."

"Yeah." Sora smiled. "And then we can go back home."

He had the same dream again. His mind yelled out.

"I don't want to see this!" He cried out, a slave to his memory. "What do you want from me?"

"You didn't sleep well, did you, Roxas?" Sora asked, walking beside his brother up the steps that led into the school. Roxas sighed.

"Not really. I'm just so tired I could drop dead." He sighed again. "Can I?"

"No." Sora pouted. "If you do I'll be stuck doing all the housework alone."

He ducked as Roxas swung a slap towards his head.

"You're only concerned about that?" He laughed.

"Well, you're only concerned about sleep."

"Touché." He muttered. "Aw, damnit. Why me?" He asked himself silently when he spotted a tall redhead and a slightly shorter blue-haired teen coming towards them. "I blame you." Roxas whispered to Sora venomously.

"That's no fair!" He whined. Roxas stuck out his tongue at Sora.

"If you complain I'll leave you to get lost." He warned. Sora stopped mid-sentence.

"Fine."

"Well, aren't you two happy today!" Axel grinned. "How's everything in shrimp-city?"

Roxas' eyes shone dangerously, which was Axel's warning to dodge a kick to his stomach.

"You weren't supposed to dodge that!" Roxas yelled, but his eyes and his lips were smiling. Quite a change, really. He was even laughing. Sora smiled, happy to see his brother in high spirits.

"Oh, and Roxas? We have Phys. Ed today." Sora warned his brother, which immediately put a damper on his mood. He looked at his brother.

"Thanks for the warning!" He said a little fast, turning around. "See ya!"

Both Sora and Axel grabbed one of his arms, pulling him into the school, despite his protests and his threats. Riku walked behind the flailing Roxas, grinning from ear to ear.

"If you're so worked up about it, this is something I have to see." Axel laughed, earning a rather harsh comment from the captive blond.

"Don't tell me you guys are in it?" He whined, earning a smirk from the three.

"Of course we are. We're in all your classes, or haven't you noticed?"

"Damnit!" He cursed. "Lemme go! Lemme go! I'll rip your arms off and stick them on your head if you don't let me go!"

"Not a chance." Riku laughed. "You'll never get Axel to let you go until you tell him why you don't want to do Phys. Ed."

"Because I'm a klutz, okay?" He snapped, trying to break free as he was dragged into English class, earning some odd stares. "Now let. Me. Go!"

They dropped him inside the classroom, near his desk.

"Damnit. You're all evil." He mock-sniffed, sitting hard on his chair. Axel sat on the desk in front of his, with Sora beside him, and Riku in front of Sora. "And you're all making sure I don't leave, too? You're all evil."

"Axel's a mini-masochist, Roxas." Riku said, poking said nympho with a sharpened pencil. "He loves seeing people suffer to some extent."

"Like I said." Roxas crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "E. Vil." He said dryly.

"And yet you love me anyways." Axel mocked, poking his arm. A little more and Roxas would've bitten it clean off.

"You've got me mixed up with someone else, I'm afraid."

"Okay, everyone, settle down." Jenny called, getting up from her desk. "Today, you're writing about an event in your life that has changed you, for better or worse. You will not read these out loud, so don't be afraid to write it; only I will see it."

"I stand corrected." Roxas muttered. "She's more evil than you guys."

"Win." Axel laughs to himself, doing the jackpot-arm thing. They all roll their eyes.

Until next time!