I'm so sorry it took so long to update! School kept me busy for awhile, and my Creative Writing class had been sucking up all my creative writing energy. But we just finished our project a little while ago, so I'll have a nice little break before the next one. Oh, and just because I feel like complaining, I love spray-painting and all, but I hate how my arm hurts afterwards. I spray painted a lot a little while ago and now my arm aches! I really wish I had more upper-body strength, I feel so pathetic, haha!

Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, I'm really sorry about taking so long, and thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your reassurances that you are reading and enjoying the story made me feel so much better! Love all of you!

Song is "Vitamn R (Leading Us Along)" by Chevelle. I love that band so much!

4 :: Reprieve

"Some will learn; many do.
Cover up or spread it out."

Sora could remember one time, when he was very small, maybe five or six, he had Christmas with his parents. He couldn't remember ever seeing them on the holidays, that one time was a fluke and they were only there for about two hours anyways. Now, this didn't mean he became one of those kids that believed they were merely not good enough for their parents to spend time with them, no, that was Axel. Sora knew the truth.

Somehow, he had managed to find the undeniable truth that Axel was too scared to come to terms with. It wasn't that their parents didn't find them worthy of their time, it was something more like they didn't have the time to spend on them even if they were worthy of it. He knew his parents spent their time elsewhere, on other things they found more important than their children.

This didn't mean Sora grew to hate his parents. No, he had no reason to begin to hate parents that he never felt he had in the first place. Besides, he had the servants and Axel anyways. With them around, it was like a family without parents. It was good enough for him, because he knew that he wouldn't get them. It was good enough to him, because there was no other alternative really. It was good enough, because he knew nothing else.

And really, he wondered how good parents could be. Always hugging and kissing their children, only to turn around and scold them until they cried. His servants never made him cry, and Axel would give him hugs all the time. He was happy enough this way.

And then came the day he met Kairi Howards. He hated Kairi with a passion. The redheaded girl was like the embodiment of the word "loathing" to him.

His parents had set up the arranged marriage when he was just four, Kairi and Sora hadn't even ever met, but Sora's parents didn't want him to marry some little gold-digger island girl, and Kairi's parents wanted to make sure she would be happy and comfortable when she grew-up. So they decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Sora really wished he was one of those birds.

So when the engaged couple were both around ten, their parents decided it was time the two should meet. Kairi had been attending some prestigious private academy in some other city while Sora attended the local Destiny Island Private School. So really, the two had no idea the other existed, besides the arranged marriage, that is.

So dinner was planned. And it was there at the dinner table that Sora would understand exactly what he was missing, what other children got and he didn't. Because Kairi's parents loved her. They asked her how her day went, about her friends, wanted to know her opinions and tried to make her happy. And his parents talked about their business and…

No, that was pretty much it, unless you counted a comment or two about the roast.

This isn't what lead to Sora hating Kairi, though, he knew better than to hate someone out of jealousy. He wasn't about to cause that kind of unnecessary suffering.

Actually, it would probably have been when Kairi began to brag about everything she does to his parents that he began to hate her. Mostly because everytime she mentioned another award for her piano playing, or being the top of her class for another year in a row, his parents would look at him like he was some defect. Like there was something wrong with him for not being perfect like her.

He must have been glaring at her, he knew he must have, but she didn't pay it any attention, she just kept going on and on and her parents looked oh-so damn proud. So he did the only thing a kid would find logical at the time. He stood up, pointed at Kairi…

And called her a bitch.

In all honesty, Sora didn't know what that word meant. He only knew two things about it: his parents called people who didn't cooperate with them that, and people who were called as such were greatly disliked.

At first, he had been greatly pleased with the shocked gasp that went around the table, and the tears welling in the little red haired girl's eyes. But when his dad grabbed his arm and began to roughly drag him out of the room, leaving his mom to try and salvage the relationship with the Howards family, he realized another thing about that word.

It was not to be used by Sora because hearing it from the child would look bad for his father and hinder whatever his goal is, and when this happened, Father got angry.

From that day forward, his parents told him over and over again to do his best in school, always be pleasant to people, never associate with the wrong groups, always speak politely, and be, overall, perfect. If he didn't do this, they never went out of their way to hide their disappointment in him.

He didn't want their disappointment, though, he wanted their love. He knew it was a waste of time, he has always known that, but when they are at least looking at him with approval, he can pretend it's love.

So, Sora would like to make it clear why he hated Kairi: his parents.

"Turn around, had enough,
Pick and choose or pass it on."

Roxas remembers spending Christmas with his parents when he was a kid. He would wake up in the morning, run to their room, give them quite a rude wake up call, and then they would go down to open presents.

He would remember how excited he would be when he got what he wanted, and how disappointed he would be when he would get something he didn't… like a sweatshirt or something.

They would then go into the kitchen and his parents would make breakfast while he played with one of the new toys at the kitchen table, and they would eat together and talk about Santa and reindeer.

It was his tenth Christmas Roxas would remember the most though, because that year, for Christmas, the only present Santa left for his parents was a single card underneath the tree. At first, Roxas had felt bad and, thinking it would make his parents unhappy that he got so many presents and they only got a measly card, got a pen to scratch out his name on one of his unopened presents and wrote in that it was for them.

They laughed and told him they wanted the one card and not his presents.

When they began eating breakfast, Roxas, still feeling bad, finally asked if the card even came with anything. And it was there that they decided to break the news to him. They wanted to travel again.

The card had tickets to Tanzania.

Roxas remembers not being able to eat after that, asking them if he really had to go with them, how he didn't want to leave Hollow Bastion. He didn't want to leave Hayner, Pence, Olette, Lulu and Wakka. He didn't want to jump from country to country, he didn't want to visit other people's homes and never his own.

They made a deal, one where Roxas would stay in an apartment near Lulu and Wakka, and they would travel, sending him money so he could take care of himself. He swore a small part of him broke somewhere when they agreed to that, that they were perfectly fine with leaving their son alone, countries away, oceans away, and just send him money.

Were they really that sick of him? Was he a bad son or something? They didn't want him?

Then, the first letter came. The money was being wired to him, they had taught him how to wire money for that specific purpose, so he had no idea why they would bother sending him letters. He had ripped it open and dozens of pictures came spilling out, along with a letter that must have been five pages long, at least.

Roxas knew everything about the places his parents had been, the sites they had seen, how they really were still thinking about him, and how they really did still love him…

They were just a bit irresponsible and had a serious travel bug.

So Roxas found he was content enough with that. He knew they would come back some day for him, and he knew they hadn't left because of him. The pictures and letters were all he had of them, and the only things that reminded him of their existence and not just their bank accounts.

Still, he hasn't had a happy Christmas since his ninth.

"Buying in, heading for,

Suffer now or suffer then."

The brunette looked up from his seat, staring at his father as the man paced the length of the room, Sora's mother sat compliantly in the seat next to her son, in front of her husband's desk. They were in the study, or actually Mr. Taylor's study, but the man used it so little that it had never caught on that it actually belonged to him. Sora sometimes used the room to get some quiet time because no one else would bother going near it, besides Aerith who would dust.

The sapphire eyes stared cautiously as the man continued his pacing for another five minutes, no words being spoken, no sound infiltrating their fortress of silence. But the tension was still obvious.

Finally, "Did you know of this?"

Sora flinched at the suddenness of the words, gaze coming in to focus on what he had been watching, "E-Excuse me?"

His father grimaced, walking up behind his desk to look through the paperwork Sora had filled out for their school Roxas had suppose to attend. His eyes had immediately focused on where it asked for the address of his current residency, it listed his home. The man's icy blue eyes flashed with anger, turning back to his son, "Did you know of his… condition?"

Sora wrinkled his nose at his father's choice of terminology, "No sir, but-"

His father immediately retracted from the desk, falling back on his chair, "Then he hid it from us, we can not trust him, he must leave at once. Sora, you will call Mr. Shinra and-"

His mother, for the first time Sora could ever remember in his entire life, interrupted his father, "We can not!"

The man looked to his wife scathingly, obviously angered that he had been interrupted, "And why not, may I ask? We can not house a-a-"

"Homosexual…" Sora finished for him quietly, making the room go silent. A small ball of anger curling in his stomach as his mind screamed at him to say something, anything, to remind the man of his eldest son, a homosexual. But nothing else left his mouth.

Mr. Taylor looked at his son for a moment, then snorted, "Yes, we can not risk our reputation by housing him. Do you realize what would be said about us?"

Mrs. Taylor violently shook her head, "Dear, just imagine what would be said about us for turning out the boy because he is a homosexual."

"We'll say that he was a liar and a thief, no one will doubt it, he lived in Hollow Bastion, after all," He shrugged, seeming to have made up his mind.

She sighed, frowning deeply, "It won't be that simple, you and I both know that, they won't pay any mind to the reasonable, they will only see the scandalous. And for such upstanding people to be homophobic would cause quite an uproar-"

"Fine! Then what, please tell me, do you suggest we do?" Mr. Taylor snapped, slamming his fists on the desk in his anger.

His mother said nothing else, making Sora shift uncomfortably in his seat. If this went on and his father got his way, like he usually would, then Roxas would soon be thrown out of their house, he would be homeless. Sora didn't know if he could deal with the guilt of turning someone out onto the street like that, Roxas certainly wouldn't be able to get back to Hollow Bastion either, he definitely didn't look like he had the money.

He had to say something, he couldn't just let his father kick Roxas out, "Let him stay, don't send him to school, no one has to know about him."

The room was silent as his father gave him a hard stare, making him want to squirm under the stare, but knowing he wouldn't take him seriously if he did such. His mother remained quiet as her son continued, "Then you won't be accused of throwing out a child because he is a homosexual, and no one will know about him because he won't be going to the school, and you can just tell Mr. Shinra that Roxas doesn't want to enroll in this school because of his grades, because his grades aren't actually all that great-"

"Fine," Sora released the breath he had been holding, relief rushing through his veins and relaxing his body slightly at his father's words. He looked up to see the man back to pacing, now running a hand through his hair, "But he is not to go out to any popular stores or anything, and never let him go out alone, I do not want him meeting anyone important. And actually, only go out at night, he is allowed out during the day as long as he stays on our property but, if and when we have guests, he is to stay in his room, like Axel."

Sora bit his lip from saying anything else, just nodding and breathing silently in relief that at the very least, Roxas wasn't homeless.

His father finished, basically saying that they were to pretend Roxas did not exist, to only leave in case of an emergency, and even then, only go out at night because he did not want anyone to know about the boy. He also said to make sure not even his friends knew about Roxas, because they would tell others.

Part of Sora was angry, he would admit that much, but at the same time, he wouldn't say anything. His father owned this house, owned him, and was the only thing keeping Roxas from having to sleep on the streets until either his uncle found him or he managed to get enough money to go back to Hollow Bastion. Even though Sora hadn't known the guy for long, he still couldn't let that happen.

His father told him to go make Roxas aware of everything, leaving Sora to stand outside the door of his study for a few moments. Listening to the clock tick away time, part of his mind wondering if he could just sit and stare off into space until he died. Would anyone come to check on him before he could? Maybe he could just disperse into space, become nothing and everything, leave his body and never have to return to any of this.

That sounded much better.

"Cause he's alone (he has become)
He's alone (he has become)."

Roxas had shaded most of the picture by now, making it seem even darker than it had been originally been. And it had been drawn with a shading pencil, so it was pretty dark to begin with. But it was alright, he was just shading because he was relieving anger, and the picture looked better the darker it was, anyways.

A light knock came to his door, making him shout something that sounded faintly like a "come in," then returned all his focus back to the picture in his lap. Axel stepped in with a raised eyebrow, spying the short blonde on his bed, back pressed against the wall next to the window, sketchbook in his lap with his knees slightly drawn up, and a scowl set firmly as he madly scribbled the pencil over the paper.

The redhead found it a slightly amusing scene, more amusing if it were not for the fact that the blonde was obviously upset about something. Walking further in, he took a quick glance around the room to try and see the boy's personal belongings for some more personal insight. All he saw was the photo album, skateboard, and bag full of art supplies. Looking back to the bed, he sighed and walked over, leaning against the window at the end of the blonde's bed, only about a foot away from the teen.

The silence stretched on as Roxas just seemed to ignore him for taking his frustration out on the paper and pencil, leaving Axel to just stare at him curiously. The redhead noticed the strange doll now, sitting squished between the bottom of the sketchpad and the blonde's stomach. It looked like a very uncomfortable position, but he still found it cute the kid would still have a doll.

Another couple moments and the redhead decided to see if the blonde was just scribbling, or actually drawing a picture. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a very dark looking city with concrete buildings and streets, neon signs were the only source of light in the place, and the rain blurred the entire setting. A lone skyscraper stood in the middle, with giant TV's resting at the top of it, on the screen flickered some images that held too much static to be identified. It was a chilling scene, there was no doubt about that. Part of the redhead was slightly disturbed the blonde would be able to draw something that, while didn't have any one particular thing that stood out to identify it as such, was so… creepy.

When he had finally finished looking it over, he realized Roxas had stopped shading to stare down at the paper angrily, like he was blaming all his woes on the poor thing. Axel hoped that the ceasing of the shading meant, despite the glaring instead, that Roxas would talk or do something else or at least acknowledge Axel's existence. Unfortunately for him, though, Roxas just continued to glare, seeming to have zoned out, for the next ten minutes.

Finally, Axel had enough. He grabbed the sketchbook from the teen's hands, making the blonde cry out in shock and indignation before he turned his glare onto the redhead instead, "Give it back."

Axel smirked, happy that, while he wasn't in a very pleasant mood, Roxas had finally responded to his presence, "Make me."

The blonde snarled and jumped off the bed, walking up to the taller teen. He glared at him for another moment before looked down, almost meekly. Axel raised an eyebrow at the change of attitude, beginning to wonder if maybe the kid was bipolar or something. Then his arms were suddenly thrown around his waist, making Axel jump and stare in shock as the blonde began to shake.

Oh god, Roxas was gonna cry! What was he gonna do? Axel couldn't handle tears! Sora barely ever cried! Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, don't cry, don't cry!

Hesitantly, the redhead lowered his arms around the younger's shoulders, still uneasy about the entire situation. Small, little, hopefully reassuring muttering slipped past his lips as he tried to keep the boy from crying. Only half of him was wondering why the kid was about to cry, the other half just wanted to get the fuck out of there before the waterworks actually started.

At the moment, the other half was winning.

As Axel became more and more uneasy with the awkwardness of his lack of skills at consoling someone, he was nearly relieved when the blonde just suddenly snatched the book back out of his hands, sniffed and glared at him again, then returned to his bed and his weird doll.

Axel scowled at him, but couldn't help but feel relief that the blonde wasn't really about to cry, plus he was a little impressed with is acting skills. Just as he was about to break the silence once again, then teen threw the items in his lap onto the bed. He stormed over to the sofa and violently tugged his shoes on before snatching up his skateboard and camera.

Axel thought he heard an apology come from the teen, but he couldn't be sure, as it also sounded like he said he needed pineapple sauce… Okay, so it was more likely an apology. Not that it really mattered in the end, though, as he still stormed out of the room before Axel could reply anyways.

The redhead was left staring at the door dumbly, confusion written over his face from the way the kid had been acting. It didn't make sense, there was no reason for him to act in such a way.

His mouth suddenly dropped open as a thought struck him: Sora had made sure Roxas would have breakfast with their parents. He groaned to himself, biting his lip in irritation at imagining what could have gone down to make the blonde so upset.

Thankfully, though, his thoughts were interrupted as another knock was at the door, making Axel stare at it and wonder if he should answer it or not. Because, well, it wasn't his room, and the owner of the room wasn't around, and it would probably raise a few questions, but, at the same time, he wondered if it was really important, and he could also tell them that Roxas had just left.

He blinked as a few more urgent knocks came, making him shrug and quickly run over to throw the door open. Sora stared up at him in surprise for a moment or two, then frowned, "Axel? Where is Roxas? Why are you here?"

Green eyes narrowed as he turned his gaze to the floor, "He ran out of here, looked pissed. What did they do now?"

Sora frowned at his question, knowing he meant their parents, "Roxas-he, um, I will tell you later. Where did he go?"

Axel stared at the brunette suspiciously, then scowled, feeling his anger boil up in him. Was it really that bad? Were his parents just cruel people, or just bad at being human? The redhead shrugged roughly and quickly squeezed past his brother, stalking down the hallway, "Took his board and camera and left, dunno where he went."

Sora stared after him in annoyance for a couple seconds, wondering why Axel was so angry now. Today was just not a good day, too many angry people. And now Sora would have to run all around town to find Roxas and make sure he didn't make it public knowledge that he lived with the Taylors and was gay, or he may find the blonde homeless.

Oh, God…

The brunette felt panic rise in his chest, making him run to the front door, yelling that he was going "out," to anyone who would hear and be concerned.

"The hassle of all the screaming fits,
That panic makes remorse."

Axel had had enough, he threw open the doors to his father's study, anger raging through him, feeling like flames were sweeping through his veins upon the sight of the man behind the desk. Mr. Taylor glared up at his son, obviously disgruntled that there would be a confrontation already. He preferred to avoid his eldest, he didn't exactly enjoy arguing with him.

How would you like to be reminded of a mistake over and over again? Clearly, they had done something wrong with the first son, and the enraged teen that was standing in the doorway, glaring at him, was the byproduct of that mistake. He didn't want this teen, he wanted the child that tried so hard at everything he did, who didn't start trouble, who did the smart and responsible thing, who would outshine all the other sons and daughters.

This one, he was not so proud of. He didn't know what he had done wrong to make this happen, but clearly something happened. It was only because he was, technically, his son, that he kept the guy around. Otherwise, Axel wouldn't be a person he allowed into his life.

His patience was running thin, though, as Axel was causing him more and more headaches than usual, and causing more and more trouble than before. He was reaching the end of his rope…

And Axel couldn't have known what would happen this time, with this argument, with this one last fight. He didn't read the future, anyone else who was in their positions may have been able to predict the ending result, but neither of them had thought it would come down to it.

All because of Roxas, when he would find out about it, though, he would just feel miserable again. He would wish even more that he had never come here, that he never met these people. For now, though, he was living in the bliss of just being pissed at himself, and the Taylors, and most of the human race.

He was on his board, practically flying down the sidewalk, thankful that the neighborhood was so rich that there were no cracks, not even dirt on the concrete. It was easy riding, although, slightly boring in that aspect. But it didn't matter, his thoughts were so muddled, so angry, that he wouldn't be able to focus either way.

He had never felt angry when people said anything about his future, or his sexual orientation for that matter, but maybe it was because they had been so damn insistent, and wouldn't let him just shrug it off, then to turn around and tell him he didn't know what he was doing, that he would have to do this because it was right.

What did they know what was right? They had one child who clearly hated them quite a bit, and another who was being suffocated with their expectations. Really, maybe they should have listened to him a bit more, his life will at least lead him to being happy.

The sun was high in the sky, making him assume it was probably around noon, sweat was beading on the back of his neck and slowly dripping down from his hairline. He was thankful he decided to wear a tank top, or else he would have been dying at the moment. Finally coming out of his thoughts, he took in his surroundings and confirmed his suspicions that he had no idea where he was.

Sighing to himself, he patted down his pockets, he had some money, not a lot, but the left over from his last paycheck from Lulu. He spotted a quant little restaurant just down the street. He aimed his board in the direction, ignoring the disgruntled looks of the rich people as they dodged him, he honestly gained a bit of pleasure from their disapproving and angry glares.

He kicked the board up and pushed into the restaurant, sighing in relief as the AC ran over his damp skin. Did he remember to put on deodorant? Let's hope so…

He glanced around the place to see there were only a few customers, all of which staring at him either like he was a disgusting bug, or like he was a rare species of human that should be studied.

The latter disturbed him more than the former.

He just looked at the floor and hopped up on the seat in front of the counter, a bubbly blonde waitress smiled at him, a curious look in her eyes as she handed him a menu. He leaned his board against the chair, hooking one set of wheels on one of the wooden supports on the legs to keep it from falling and drawing more attention to him.

If that was possible. What, had they never seen a slightly low-middle-class kid before?

The waitress smiled excitedly, "I'm Rikku, you new here?"

Roxas just nodded, eyes widening as he looked over the menu. It was… whoa… that's a lot of money… "Um, name's Roxas, from Bastion."

Rikku's eyes widened, "Hollow Bastion?"

Roxas rolled his eyes at her shocked expression, but nodded to confirm her outburst. Well, at least the people stopped staring at him, now they were whispering and pointing instead, lovely. This girl wreaked subtly, obviously, Roxas should've just seen that coming with his luck going the way it was today.

A moment of silence passed over as Roxas could see the millions of questions running through her mind, like she was just trying to pick which one to spout first, "Well, I would ask you if you knew my friend there, but you probably don't. Hollow Bastion is such a big city…" Roxas just nodded and pulled out his wallet. It was well worn, "pleather," old but not completely falling apart just yet, and he wouldn't buy a new one until it was completely decrepit. He counted ten bucks.

Another glance at the menu and he confirmed that he would only have enough to get some toast and orange juice, maybe bargain for some eggs if this girl was anything like Bastion girls. A glance at her, and he thought he wouldn't get that bargain, but, hell, he could try anyways.

"Hey, you know, you remind me a lot of-"

"You're not getting anything free."

Roxas cursed under his breath and pouted slightly, "Whatever, toast and OJ, please," Rikku giggled slightly and turned to shout into the kitchen.

"Toast!" She quickly grabbed a glass from under the counter and turned around to a fridge, she grabbed a pitcher and poured some in the glass, handing it to the blonde who quickly gulped down half the glass.

Her eyes glittered with obvious curiosity, "So, what is a boy from Hollow Bastion doing on Destiny Islands?"

Roxas sighed as he realized he would be sucked into some small talk, or maybe she was planning to chat him up. Roxas had heard from Rai one time, that rich girls got some thrill from flirting with poor guys who seemed dangerous. Or something like that, it didn't make sense to Roxas, and he didn't think he appeared dangerous enough for that, but, hell, for all he knew, these rich girls could find him the epitome of risk.

Oh, yuck…

"I'm gay."

Rikku's eyebrows shot up, but then narrowed in confusion, "You're here because you're gay?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, wondering if he should clarify what he had meant, but shrugged it off, "No, I'm poor and my rich uncle thought making me live here would be a good idea. Do truckers go through here often?"

Rikku snorted, making it obvious that what he said was ridiculous. Whether it be his question or what he said about his uncle, but he took it to mean both. A bell rang and she ran to the window and back with his toast. His stomach grumbled and he looked down at it pitifully. It was obvious that it didn't matter if he was only lower-middle class. Here, he may as well be dirt poor.

He sighed and doomed himself to nibbling on the pieces, hoping that maybe taking longer would make it seem like more food. Suddenly, the seat next to him was occupied, and then the other one quickly filled also. He glanced on both sides, wondering if maybe some rich guys were planning to throw him out of town when he saw they were definitely not some tough, rich guys.

Petite, beautiful, and pleasantly smiling teen girls were definitely not the rich assholes he had imagined, but you never know…. Or they could be planning to chat him up, too… Was Roxas being vain thinking that?

"Hello, my name is Kairi Howards, and this is my little sister, Naminé, may we ask who you are?" Roxas nearly snorted at her overly polite tone, but he thought spraying toast crumbs over a pretty, rich girl would most likely be a bad plan.

"Roxas Casey."

Kairi looked enthralled, "Where are you from?" She probably knew, Rikku hadn't exactly been quiet about it earlier, but he found it amusing that she was attempting to seem like she hadn't been eavesdropping like everyone else.

"Bastion."

"Really? Hollow Bastion?" Roxas nodded, wondering why people kept asking him that. He didn't think there was any other city named "Bastion," it wasn't exactly the ideal name for a place.

Naminé finally decided to speak up, "Do you know Vaan and Penelo Ratsbane?"

Roxas' mind instantly flashed an image of two teens in his class, the last time he had seen them… it had probably been about two or three months ago. He had bought a pair of shorts from the store they both worked at, their adoptive father, Migello, owned the place. He nodded to the blonde, making her smile, "How are they? We are related, somewhat. Through marriage."

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Fine, last time I checked. How are you related?"

Kairi spoke up again, sheepish smile on her face, "Our aunt had married their father, after he had divorced their mother. We do not see them very much, though, as our mother…"

Roxas nodded, "I get it," He easily brushed it off, like it wasn't a big deal that their mother thought she was too good for Vaan and Penelo. He remembered them from school, he had never been very close to them, but he knew they were good kids, they helped out others even when it put them in a less than desirable situation, "Their birth parents are dead, they were adopted by their father's friend, Migello. Last I heard, though, your aunt bailed on them."

The girls looked shocked, Kairi shot out of her seat, "What?! She-They are alone?!" Roxas shook his head slowly, narrowing his eyes at her reaction. Had she really not known? She seemed to suddenly remember about Migello, and then slowly moved back into her seat, "If-If it is not too much trouble, could you give us a number to contact them by?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow, then smirked, "What do you plan to do? Your mother ain't gonna do anything, is she?"

Kairi scowled at him, suddenly looking upset, "Do not make judgments on us based off of our mother's actions. I would think the fact that we are at least making an attempt to get in contact with them would be enough proof that-"

Roxas shook his head quickly and sighed, "Fine, okay," He was getting a headache from this, he just wanted to be left alone, is it really too much to ask for? "You got a pen, I'll write it down for ya."

Kairi shook her head and pulled out an expensive looking phone, making a twinge of jealousy run through Roxas. Of course she would have a cell, she could afford one. Roxas wouldn't be able to even hope to get one of those. He gently took it from her and poked the buttons gently, watching the numbers appear on the screen. Thinking back for a moment, it had been quite awhile since he last called Migello's place, but he was pretty sure that was the number.

He pressed send, and cautiously held it up to his ear. Naminé and Kairi were staring at him intently, making the blonde shift uncomfortably and turn around in his seat. He leaned against the counter and stared out the glass front door. From the corner of his vision, he could still see them staring at him, and he could also spy every other person in the place gawking like he was a freaking movie star, only with a lot less money.

Rikku was waving enthusiastically from a table she was busing, making Roxas frown but nod at her nonetheless. Finally, the ringing in his ear stopped, and he desperately hoped that he had been sent to voice mail… Unfortunately, Migello's voice was there.

"Migello's-"

"Hey, it's Rox," Naminé and Kairi looked excited as he spoke, he ignored them, "Is Vaan or Penelo around?"

Migello muttered something, then shouted for the teens, making Roxas wince and pull the cell away from his ear for a second. He quickly brought it back up as he heard Migello speaking, "Roxas, lad, where have ya been? Haven't seen ya in months, wondering if ya got hit by a truck or somethin'."

Roxas cleared his throat to hide a chuckle, Migello had a bit of a morbid sense of humor, "Nah, I'm alive, and I wasn't hit by anything." Naminé looked surprised but continued being quiet, Kairi had, thankfully, moved out of his line of vision, though, "Are they there?"

"Yeah, yeah-VAAN! PENELO! PHONE!-They're slow as usual, lazing about like-"

"What?! We're not 'lazing' anything! We're working our asses off for ya, you old-"

"Who is on the phone for us? Migello? Vaan! Shut up! Who's on the phone?"

Roxas sighed as what seemed to be a fight started to ensue, thankfully, Penelo had somehow managed to snag the phone before it became too long, "Hi! Who's this?"

"Pen, it's Rox," He relaxed a bit, happy that it was her who got the phone, Vaan was easily angered, and distracted. Not that he didn't like the guy, it was just hard to talk with him on the phone, Penelo was much more affable.

"Rox! Oh my God! Where did you go?"

Roxas smiled bitterly, "Destiny Islands, I'll explain some other time, or, better yet, ask Hay, 'Let, or Pence. They know what's goin' on."

"Are you serious?! Um, yeah, yeah, I'll ask 'em, but you gotta call again soon! I can't believe it, you're seriously there? Get me something, like a keychain, if you got the money!"

Roxas didn't try to suppress the chuckle this time, Naminé seemed surprised, but Kairi had entered back into his vision, and she just seemed impatient, "Listen, Pen, I'm using someone's cell, she wants to talk to you, 'k?"He handed the small machine over before he could get a reply.

Kairi quickly snatched it up, bringing it to her ear as Roxas turned to look at Naminé. The blonde girl was just smiling at him, but this time it seemed sincere, "Thank you, really. We felt guilty for not being able to get in touch with them."

Roxas shrugged, and turned to his toast, he sighed and began nibbling once more, "I guess. But what do you think you can do?"

She frowned for a moment, "I do not know, but that is not the point. The least we can do is try and reach them. If they even want our help, then we will try our best to help them. We are family."

Roxas flinched at the word, gaze flying to Naminé's as she smiled at him. Family seemed like such a complicated word, all of a sudden, after seeing so many of them, and for them all to be so different. His real parents left, he was forced away from his adopted one for awhile, the Taylor's less-than-perfect situation, Kairi and Naminé's snobbish mother and flaky aunt, and Vaan and Penelo's loss of their parents and adoption of Migello.

What did the word even mean anymore? What kind of explanation could it provide? And yet, was he not the one who, just last night, curled up with a photo he titled just that? How could something that was so reassuring, so meaningful one night, seem so confusing the next day?

His headache returned and he just shoved the last two pieces of toast in his mouth, then washed it down with the remaining orange juice. Naminé wrinkled her nose in distaste but didn't comment, though a gentle smile came onto her face when his stomach grumbled, "Could you stay and eat lunch with us?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at her offer, but shrugged, "Can't, I don't have any money left… thanks for the offer, though, I guess."

"We will pay, please?" Naminé, believe it or not, seemed sincere. It didn't make sense to Roxas, why she would want them to eat together…

Maybe she was one of the "dangerous guys equals thrill" girls?

"I'm gay."

"Me, too, Kairi's straight, though, the loser," She laughed lightly, making Roxas smile slightly, then shrug.

"Sure, I'd like to eat with you."

By the time he reached the Taylor's home once again, it was dark, and he was a bit creeped out by how quiet the entire house seemed. It was only ten at night, was everyone really in bed already? Either way, he snuck back to his room as quietly as he could, just being thankful Kairi and Naminé had told him how to get to his street again, or else he would be wandering around, lost and without a clue. He would have to be more careful of wandering the streets when angry.

Dinner with those girls had been interesting. They weren't typical rich girls, or maybe they were and Roxas just didn't know many rich girls. Basically, what he was trying to say was that they weren't snobbish, narcissistic, ditzy, fashion-monkeys. Naminé was actually quite artistic, and she liked many of the same artists as him, and Kairi was really smart, she planned to go to college for computer programming or something like that.

Yes, they did think about fashion, but were not obsessed over it, and they weren't that stuck-up. They were a bit, just a little bit, but only when it came to alcoholic or drug-addicted hobos, so Roxas figured it wasn't too bad. They had big hearts, really, mostly to people who hadn't doomed themselves, though.

Granted, he thought it was a bit heartless they didn't believe in giving second chances, but Kairi had said there is only one chance in life.

Finally inside his room, the first thing he did was change into his shorts and tank top for sleeping. Gently, he tugged a photo out of his pocket and smiled when looking at it. He had taken their picture when they had been debating something about the mayor's new ideas to update the playground. Naminé said they would be making it safer, so less kids would get hurt, and plus it was getting a little old, but Kairi thought life involved those risks, wealthy kids shouldn't be coddled as much as they were already, and the money should be spent on something better. Like maybe a nice orphanage so that other class ranges could be introduced to their islands.

Despite himself, he had found their presence to be quite nice, he had actually enjoyed talking to them. And they were fun to be around to, he smiled fondly as he pulled the other pictures out. Kairi and Naminé had jumped to snatch away the camera when they realized he took their picture, and he had taken pictures of their futile attempts to the reach across the table for the camera.

Walking to the photo album, he found another new page and slipped the photos in, like a mini-collage of the same two girls in different poses. He pulled out his pen and thought back to the last thing they had said to him before he left.

They had invited him to hang out with them again, to come to their house tomorrow so they could swim in their pool or something. A nice break from being cooped up in the Taylor's mansion all day.

A smirk came to his features as he leaned over the album, on the label beneath the pictures, he wrote: Reprieve.

"It's typical - create a world,
A special place of my design."