Next chapter is last! I'm ending with an even number! Makes me feel so proud that I have everything so planned out. My computer is working sorta properly now, too! It's just shuts-down randomly every once in awhile and some windows stop responding for short periods of time... Basically, I can do my shit on it for the most part. Thanks to those who sent me luck with it... but it's a rip off computer, the cheap kind you buy at Walmart, this thing need a miracle to keep going for the next couple years.

Anyways, I used "Long Day" by Matchbox 20 (favorite song ever... at the moment) which made me really happy because I felt some of the lyrics really matched Sora and Roxas at this moment. I know I left it at a huge cliffhanger at the end, but the next chapter won't be too hard for me to type, I'll just have to come up with the time. Hope you guys love it as much as I love your reviews!

9 :: Bright

Reach she said for no one else but you,
'Cuz you won't turn away
When someone else is gone

Sora spent the majority of the plane ride staring out the window or having Kairi talk to him. Note, "Kairi talk to him," it was a one-sided conversation, involving mostly her telling him that if he fucked this up, she was gonna have an axe murderer named Bubba castrate him with a spork.

Lovely picture, isn't that?

Sora really wondered what Kairi's motivation was for putting him through this hell, Naminé and Xion had spent the entire trip talking about some chick Naminé was starting to have the hots for, and Kairi was just going obsessive-compulsive over the practically non-existent relationship Sora and Roxas had.

Any affection there was between them, Sora was sure was one-sided. It just wouldn't make any sense for Roxas to like him, Sora could tell that he may (MAY) feel something for Roxas. But he would think it was mostly because he caused some very important events in his life.

However, he doubted that Roxas would find Sora significant in any way. He probably just thought he was just another rich boy-except he isn't. Now. His family probably didn't even have enough money to leave the island without help, nevermind afford that hotel room his parents were living in.

It's funny, Sora never thought he would ever have to worry about debt, but he was suddenly finding himself in a lot of it. To Axel, to Kairi, to banks, to Ro-

"Are you listening to me at all?"

"Nope."

Kairi huffed and fell back into her seat, glaring at the teen in front of her, but Sora just continued to stare out the window absent-mindedly. Really, she was trying to help him, she was trying to guarantee his happy ending with Roxas, and all he could do was ignore her and zone-out? Geez, no gratitude at all.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled out her laptop, going straight to Google and typing in Roxas's name, then she realized she didn't actually know his last name. Turning her gaze back to the absent-minded brunette in front of her, she smiled, "Hey, Sora? What's Roxas's last name?"

"Casey," He replied, not missing a beat, he sighed a bit, and nearly whispered the next part without realizing it, "Roxas Casey."

Her grin spread a little, eyes becoming a bit more mischievous, but Sora didn't notice at all, gaze still fixated on the passing clouds. She typed in Roxas's name in the search bar, then looked back up at him, "You happen to know where he lives?"

Sora frowned and shook his head, making her grin fade a bit in disappointment, but she didn't waste too much time on it, "How about any jobs?"

"Lulu's Bakery."

She quickly typed the words in and the first result was the staff page of the website for Lulu's Bakery. Roxas was listed promptly as a cashier/baker/bus boy. Sure had plenty of work on his hands, didn't he? How did they expect him to do so much at once. Then again, they only had Lulu herself, and her husband… Wakka (strange name). How could they run a business with so little help? Was that even possible?

Honestly, her father had millions of employees for his corporation, and even Gull Wing Diner had at least ten people working there. Ridiculous to have so few, she really didn't understand people this time. Wouldn't it make more money if there is more service to the customers? Or maybe they can't afford to hire more?

That made sense, they are poor after all. She clicked on the homepage button, eyes squinting as she looked at the picture of the bakery. It was on a crowded street with trash in the gutters, two separate shops on either side, one with spray paint over a window, and a dirty sign hanging above it, aged in color and rain-damage. It looked quite pleasant on the inside, from what you can see through the windows, there were cute little tables, chairs and some booths, but the outside looked like a mess. Was all of Hollow Bastion like this?

Why on earth would Roxas ever want to come back here?

Sora finally noticed she had stopped talking, and turned his attention to her. She sat quietly with her laptop in her lap, a scowl over her face. Whatever she was looking at obviously didn't make her happy, but Sora doubted he would want to know what it is.

She glanced up and grinned when she saw she had his attention, "So the plan is that as soon as we land, Naminé and Xion are going to get a hotel room and meet up with us at Roxas's home."

"His home?" Sora looked surprised, raising an eyebrow at her, "And where is this home? Didn't you just ask me?"

She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, "Well, I figure that, like most businesses, Lulu will also have certain information about her employees on file. So we can just go to her bakery and ask where Roxas lives!"

Sora still looked skeptical, "And what makes you think she'll give it to you?"

"You have to stop being so pessimistic," Kairi pouted, then turned to look back down at her laptop, "Hey, have you seen Hollow Bastion before, Sora?"

The teen thought for a moment, listing the many cities he has visited briefly before, but he found that Hollow Bastion wasn't one of them, "No, I don't think so."

"Hm, it looks horrible. All brick, dirt, rust, trash… Are all cities like this?"

"Pretty much."

"Why would Roxas ever want to go back to such a place? Destiny Island is so much better."

Sora scowled, turning his attention back out the window, "Because, he hates my parents, and he probably hates me, too. Anywhere but with us was probably better than-"

"Oh, would you shut up already? I'm tired of hearing your bitching!" Sora jumped as Kairi pointed at him harshly, scowl looking like it has been welded onto her face, "All you say is that Roxas hates you, but that's just because you don't want to admit that he has a little crush on you! Get over it! A guy likes you! Roxas likes you! And you like him back, that's why you're so hurt over him leaving. Just freaking accept that and stop whining! You're a bitch to drag around like this!"

Sora just stared at her for a moment, something inside his brain rattling because of something she had said. Or it could have been everything. Everything she said could make everything in his brain rattle like an out of control blender. Thoughts jumbling in their attempt to come up with reason, explanation, logic.

The truth was, in the end, though, that there was no logic to this.

It hit him like a ton of bricks, that he had missed it for so long, that he had been unable to see it since it happened. When it came right down to it, things weren't meant to be logical, they were meant to be unexpected, unreasonable, almost chaotic.

Nothing could be expected to be so confined. People, love, they just didn't make sense, they never would.

And neither would why Roxas liked him…

Or why he liked Roxas.

It's me, yeah I can't get myself to go away
It's me, and I can't get myself to go away
Oh God I shouldn't feel this way

Lulu sighed as she brought the thermometer, scowling as Olette, Hayner and Seifer stood in the room with her, waiting impatiently for the verdict. If his fever was above 102°F, then he would be going to the hospital, as the cold was beginning to get out of control.

Lulu has been trying to feed him for the past three days, but his aversion to food was just too strong, he couldn't swallow, and he has been sweating and going in and out of unconsciousness all day. It was nearly seven at night, but they would go straight to the emergency room anyways.

Olette had tried Paine's medicine, but, unfortunately, Roxas couldn't swallow that either, and it appeared there was no other way. Unless they did as Hayner suggested and drilled a hole in his neck to shove it down there, but that was going a little too far.

By this point, he just laid there, eyes half-lidded, they could no longer tell if he was awake or asleep, as he wouldn't respond to them at all unless they did something like shove him. Lulu was past the point of concerned, even though she knew better than to express it in a way that would worry others, she would instead take care of him like her son, because he was in their little family.

Roxas wasn't like her son, as far as she was concerned, he is her son.

She winced as she glanced at the thermometer, dropping it back down on the bed before quickly moving to yell at the hallway, "Wakka! Get the car ready!"

Hayner jumped forward, eyes locking onto the tiny screen only for his eyes to widen drastically, "105°!"

Olette rushed out of the room with Lulu, leaving Hayner and Seifer to quickly pull and carry Roxas out of his bed, they moved him onto Seifer's back to carefully carry him to the car.

The kitchen was quiet, the smell of cooked pastries left a haunting scent behind, but the truth was that the bakery had been closed early that day, as Roxas was in no condition to move, Lulu was too worried to really focus on work, and Wakka couldn't figure out how to balance taking care of Vida, Roxas and Lulu while trying to serve customers at the same time. That stuff just didn't work out.

They passed through the empty kitchen to the floor, where Wakka had already finished cleaning and putting the chairs up, but now was outside, waiting in the driver's seat of the car. Olette sat in the passenger's seat, speaking rapidly as she was probably doing just out of nervousness, and Lulu was holding the back seat door open, Vida standing beside her quite confused.

She ushered them in quickly, and they managed to somewhat prop the dazed teen up against Hayner, so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Spinning back around, Seifer looked at Lulu in confusion as she pulled Vida away from the car, whispering something about Roxas being alright to him, "Wait, Lu! How're you gonna get there?"

She looked up and waved him off, "I'll call a taxi, I have to get someone to watch Vida and lock up the shop. Go ahead, I'll meet you in the waiting room!"

Wakka was driving before Seifer had a proper chance to shut the door, making the guy swear profusely, "Hey! Watch what you're doing!"

"Hey, I'm driving, you watch Roxas! Make sure he's cool, his temp can't get no higher, or bad things are gonna happen, you hear? He's temp better not get no higher!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, just watch the damn road!"

"Would you all just shut up! You're not gonna make anything better for Roxas!" Olette butted in, glancing over at Hayner's shoulder to see the blonde, her and Hayner just exchanged concerned glances, but then his eyes turned away, back out the window as if to distract himself.

Olette spun around, watching the route Wakka was taking and then turning to him, "Why are you taking Blitz Ave.? Don't take Blitz, left! Go on Twilight Drive! Twilight! Where the hell are you going?"

"Hey! I've been driving for twenty years! You just got your permit last week, so I don't wanna hear it! You got that!"

In a distorted kind of haze, Roxas could feel the car's movement jostle him around, but he couldn't care less, honestly. His mind was a mush, his muscles were rubber, and he was pretty sure his skin had turned into those Clearasil Pads, the ones you used to clean your face with. The yelling sounded filtered through his ears, and he knew his eyes were open, but the colors just blurred around in a mess.

He felt so warm. Physically, obviously, he had heard Hayner yell "105°!" not too long ago, so he was guessing that was either the temperature outside or his temperature on the inside.

Even with these deduced conclusions, though, he felt like that wasn't quite right, that he was missing something. That he got something wrong. He couldn't tell if that was actually what happened, or if it was just his cold messing with his head, but it didn't put him in the right position.

Something was screaming at him to go back home, to get back in bed and just wait. But that didn't make any sense at all, that was practically suicidal right there. Was all his depressive thoughts over Sora really making him suicidal now?

He groaned, loudly, making everyone flinch, as they thought he was in pain, but it wasn't from the cold. He was in pain because he just thought of freaking Sora again. Why couldn't he just go away? Why couldn't he just forget about him already? It wasn't suppose to hurt, Roxas wasn't suppose to hurt over a boy, he never had before.

If he showed interest in a guy, he would make the move, he would incite all the moves, but Sora was like a chess board with flipped rules. Things just didn't work like this, he was never like this before he got to Destiny Island.

Or was it Sora that changed him?

Whatever it was, he just wanted it to stop, or at least let him forget.

Forget Destiny Island, Kairi, Naminé, Xion, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Reno, Riku, Rufus Shinra, Axel, everything, everybody, right down to that annoying blonde girl from the restaurant.

Even Sora. He just wanted to forget Sora.

Terrified of no one else but me
I'm here all the time
I won't go away

Finally off the plane, Sora stretched his legs as they sat in the car, driven by one of the butlers, he assumed. A temporary chauffer until they hired one for their stay here, is what Sora assumed, as they could afford the expense.

Kairi jabbered on and on about something, but Sora found his hearing beginning to grow accustom to drowning her out, and he just stared out the window at the spots of the street the street lights lit up, areas that even the enormous amount of lights from the buildings couldn't brighten. Everything looked threatening, looked dirty, looked unwelcoming.

Sora couldn't remember those other cities he had been to appearing such a way.

As a constricting note twisted in his stomach, he was reminded that it may not be the actual place, but more how it appears to him under these circumstances. It was natural to be nervous about visiting someone you had a crush on, someone who you would be confessing a crush to.

It was strange, admitting that he liked a boy. But at the same time it wasn't. It wasn't that he liked boys, but that he liked Roxas, and Roxas happened to be male. If Roxas was female, he was sure he would think himself straight. If Roxas was a transsexual, he would assume he was either bi or pansexual. But in the end, it really didn't matter which way he swung.

As he was attracted to Roxas, end of story. Boy, girl, transgender prostitute on the corner of a Laundromat.

… Well, maybe some changes would be made if he was one of those, as they had just passed one and it sent chills down Sora's spine.

The car suddenly stopped, making him jump suddenly. He snapped his head to look out the window on Kairi's side and saw a quant little shop… With metal bars blocking the windows on the outside… Were they closed?

Well, probably, it is nearly 7:30 at night, this was ridiculously late for a bakery to still be open. Most people tended to buy cheery things like pastries when there was a cheery atmosphere… like when there was sun and no threat of muggers around a corner.

Kairi, apparently, had no ability to read the atmosphere, or just ignored the atmosphere, as she jumped right out and ran up to the door, knocking at it repeatedly. Slowly, Sora also climbed out, cautiously looking up and down the street, then up at the store…

So this was the city Roxas was raised in… And this was the store he worked at…

How depressing.

Kairi turned obviously seeming to believe they were out of luck, but then she jumped as the door suddenly swung open and a woman quickly ran out, yelling back to someone a quick thanks. She turned and looked down at Kairi, a worried frown creasing her face, "Sorry, miss, we're closed."

She was about to run off before Kairi called out to her quickly, "Ah, wait! We just need to ask a quick question! About Roxas!"

The woman froze, just before she would've stepped onto the street and hailed a taxi, she turned back and looked at Kairi, then her gaze traveled over to Sora. Something seemed to click in her eyes, a connection made, "You're that boy that Wakka told me about, the one Roxas drew."

"Excuse me?" A light blush traveled up to his face as he thought of Roxas drawing him, wondering what the picture had looked like.

"Sora?"

"Yes!"

The woman turned around and marched up to them, one glance at the car, "Is that your car? Roxas isn't here, you have a GPS, right?"

She made hand gestures, obviously ushering them back into the car, and they all jumped in. She leaned closer to the driver, taking the GPS from him and quickly pressing in the address, then she turned back around to look at them, "I'm Lulu, Roxas has been living with me and my family for awhile now."

Sora's eyes widened, "Wait, so, he lives there?" He gestured vaguely in the direction of the bakery they had just left, and Lulu just nodded, "But, where are we going then?"

She sighed, "First, how about you two tell me your names and how you know Roxas, he hasn't told us much about his trip, much less about the people he met."

Kairi butted in quickly, "I'm Kairi Howards, my sisters and I are friends with Roxas. And Sora Taylors, his family housed Roxas."

"Where are we going?" Sora could feel it, that worry tighten in his stomach. Why wasn't she telling them where they were going? She was avoiding saying something about Roxas, making Sora begin to sweat over the thought that something might've happened to him.

She frowned at him, and leaned back in her seat, finally looking around at the car, a look in her eyes read that she was slightly impressed, but then her eyes landed on the brunette teen once again, and she had to look away from his eyes, "Roxas… He got sick a couple days ago. His temperature is high, so I told my husband and his friends to take him to the hospital about a half hour ago."

Sora's head spun, and the pit in his stomach that had been nervous about confessing to Roxas changed to being nervous about what would happen to Roxas.

And no Lord your hand won't stop it
Just keep you trembling
It's been a long day, always ain't that right

Emergency rooms were filled with mostly three types of people, from what Sora could see. Bloody people, insanely sick people, and homeless people. He thanked God he was moved right along to the waiting room.

Roxas is gonna be alright.

Inside the waiting room were four people that Lulu led them up to. The tanned man he now recognized from the picture in Roxas's album. The other three said they were his friends, but he missed their names.

Roxas is gonna be alright.

He sat between one of those friends, and some woman who was just staring at the wall across from her with a dazed expression. Sora knew how she felt. With the TV making some background noise that was drowned out by the incredible silence in the room.

Roxas was gonna be fine.

His knee was jumping, his finger tapping against it, and he could feel his other hand sweating against the material of his jeans. The room was too hot, the air was too cold, his eyes were open and staring around, but it was like a passing scene in a movie. Seen, not watched, not taken in, not remembered as anything except a moment in time that could easily be forgotten.

Roxas is gonna be fine, just fine.

Except this would be remembered, in the background on the melodramatic hospital soap-opera, there sat him, nervously anticipating the chance to rush to Roxas's side, to see the haunting blonde, to be sure that everything was gonna be alright.

Nothing bad would happen to Roxas.

Because that's how soap-operas worked, they were dramatic, they were corny, and they played during the daytime when you were skipping school and the good shows wouldn't appear for another couple hours.

It's Roxas, nothing bad would happen.

How long was he gonna wait here?

"Roxas Casey?" He was probably the first to jump up, and the others were quick to follow. The doctor spoke, words coming from his mouth but nothing really being heard. Sora was just waiting for the sentence, the results, the final verdict one Roxas.

"A high enough temperature, sustained over a period of time can lead to brain-damage…"

Sora suddenly remembered Roxas's photo album.

"The malnutrition…"

He could see the smile Roxas had displayed in that picture of him with his friends.

"The dehydration…"

That smile had been so bright.

Reach down your hand in your pocket
Pull out some hope for me