Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter 13

Roxas Strife lay sleeping in his bed. In the adjacent bedroom, his sister, Kairi, was screaming and crying. Her father, Zack, was trying desperately to calm her down. He didn't want to wake his wife or son, so Zack had chosen to handle the matter himself.

But this tactic was failing.

So he rushed to Roxas' room. He shook the sleeping boy lightly.

Roxas sat up and looked at his father sleepily. He blinked, silently asking Zack 'Why did you wake me up?'

"Roxas! Kairi...she had another nightmare. Can you...?"

Roxas nodded, yawned and padded to his sister's room.

He crawled onto the bed and sat at Kairi's feet. The little girl was crying so hard she didn't even notice him.

Roxas began to sing the only song that would calm her: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are."

Kairi's cries were silenced. She stared at her brother with wide eyes.

"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are."

"B-but Roxas. There's no stars!" Kairi pointed to the window.

"Maybe not in the sky, but those aren't the only stars you know." the boy replied.

"Really? Where else?" she asked curiously.

He pointed at her face "In your eyes!"

The redheaded girl leaped out of bed and ran to the mirror mounted on the wall. "Where? I don't see any stars!" Kairi exclaimed. Roxas slipped off the bed and to her side.

"You gotta look really close!"

Kairi pressed her face to the glass surface. She stared into her irises.

A sparkle. Faint, but still there.

"Oh! I do have stars in my eyes!" she looked at her brother euphorically. Then, confusedly.

"Why are there stars in my eyes?"

"Do you remember what time you were born?" Roxas asked.

Kairi tilted her head back slightly "Uh...9:00 pm?"

Roxas nodded "Yup. You were born at night. And stars are out at night. So, your eyes are filled with stars!" he explained.

"What about people born in the daytime?"

He smiled "They have clouds in their eyes. Which means they change colors."

"Wow..." Kairi murmured, amazed.

"Roxas?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"What are your eyes filled with?" she tried to use the same words he did, to sound smart.

"Well...I was born at twilight. So my eyes are filled halfway with stars and halfway with clouds." he answered proudly.

Kairi crossed her arms "No fair."

Roxas smiled "Your right, it's not fair. But you know what, Kairi?"

She uncrossed her arms "What?"

"Your eyes are special. They're green."

"So?"

"Is the sky green?"

She pursed her lips "No."

"Exactly. So that's why your eyes are special." he told her.

She beamed "Your right!"

Zack watched from the doorway. He smiled slightly at his children, then felt a pair of pale arms circle his waist.

"They are so sweet." Aerith rested her chin on his shoulder, just barley able to reach.

Zack turned his head "I-I'm sorry! I tried to calm her down before you woke up!" he apologized.

His wife smiled "It's alright. But you should have known Roxas was the only one who could settle her."

"Heh heh...well...I am pretty tired y'know. Lack of sleep does things to people."

Aerith laughed "Then maybe you should go to bed. I'll put Roxas down."

"Fine. But I wanna know something first."

"What?"

He turned and pressed his forehead to her's "Are your eyes filled with stars or clouds?"

Roxas~

I sat up in bed, panting. The dream came back and I made a quick assessment:

My subconscious hates me.

Xion~

"Dad!" I yelled. He lifted his head from the pillow and glared at me.

"What now, Xion?"

"When is Roxas gonna be released?"

"Today. Go back to bed." he replied flatly.

"When today?"

"Mm...*yawn* noon...?"

I could barley sit still. Roxas had been in the hospital for a week, (ok, three days) no visitors allowed. In the meantime, my parents were planning Zack and Kairi's funeral, which would be a joint affair.

The funeral was in three days, so the release date made sense.

Noon finally came. Dad drove me to the hospital. We went to Roxas' room.

Roxas~

Lucrecia came in.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

I picked up my notebook and answered 'Fine.'

She nodded and I continued to write 'What you said the first day, about fixing my Siceforia, did you mean it?'

She read the note and smiled "Yes. There is a procedure for members of SOLDIER, to repair their birth defects."

Those were (well...sort of) the words I've wanted to hear for years.

"But...it is very dangerous." Lucrecia told me.

I shook my head 'I don't care. I'll try anything.'

She pressed her lips together "Alright. It won't cost you anything, because of the risk. You can undergo the operation after the funeral."

Did these people know everything about my life?!

The door opened. Cloud and Xion walked in.

Xion~

I flung the door open and entered the room. Roxas was sitting on the bed, holding a notebook.

The nurse from the first day was standing in front of him. I ran past her and threw my arms around my friend.

I felt him tense, I pulled away. "What's wrong-?" I gasped.

Dark bruises covered his arms, a strip of gauze was wrapped around his forehead.

"Roxas..." l made a realization "Did I...hurt you?"

He shook his head and the nurse began to speak. "We were just talking about the operation."

"So you've decided?" Dad asked Roxas, who nodded.

Operation? I thought.

"Operation?" I then voiced.

Dad nodded "Roxas is going to have an operation...sort a...to fix his Siceforia."

I looked at Roxas. He smiled.

"Is it dangerous?" I asked.

The woman nodded solemnly. "There is a 37% chance of survival. Possibly lower due to the difficulty of the operation."

Uh...lot's of big words, there.

The nurse led my dad to another room to 'explain the procedure'. She gave Roxas back his street clothes. I turned my back while he changed.

"Roxas...I...uh.." why is talking to him so hard now?!

"We went to your apartment and um...got all your stuff. I-if you need to go back..."

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Roxas standing behind me, a worried expression on his face.

'Is something wrong?' he asked.

I pretty much lost it there.

I ran forward to him, then buried my face in his shoulder.

"Roxas!" I started to cry "I was s-so s-scared!" my tears soaked his shirt.

Silence...silence...silence...

Suddenly, I felt his arms wrap around me. He held me close as I sobbed.

"I...thought you were going to die. Back in the old mansion." I murmured.

Roxas didn't do anything. He didn't have to.

XxX

We were in the car, driving to the funeral. Roxas was asleep, which was to be expected. The doctors said he was still very, very weak, so he would be sleeping a lot and would get dizzy and disoriented easily. And after the operation, it would be waaayyy worse, apparently.

Roxas wore one of my dad's old suits. Black tie and everything. I, on the other hand, was looking depressing in a knee-length black dress and black ballet flats (blegh). All in all, it wasn't that bad, I guess. My parents donned equally dark outfits.

The blonde next to me woke a few miles away from the funeral. He looked around and then over to me.

"Almost there." I whispered. He nodded.

We got to the funeral (a clearing behind an abandoned church where Roxas' mom lived before she met Zack). Roxas opened the door before the car stopped. He ran to the woods.

He disappeared.