I've been sleeping forever. I can't make myself wake up, knowing that when I do, Roxas won't be there. It hurts more than ever now. Being so close and so far away at the same time. I'll never get him back now. And for that reason, opening my eyes is the scariest thing I have to face.
I could just stay asleep forever. Inside my head, I could live on the memories. A kiss here. A touch there. A whispered word in the dark of the night. I can let those feeling surround me in the darkness of my slumber, never having to face the pain of it being over.
"I can't believe he's still sleeping." Sora whispers to keep me from waking up. He's standing over me with his arms crossed, just watching me.
"After everything that he's been through, it's not surprising." Riku is standing across the room, staring out the window. "I think that sword may have been sapping him of his energy. He's probably lucky to be alive."
Lucky is a funny way of looking at it. I don't feel especially lucky right now. I'm stuck in a sleep that I can't force my way out of and the only thing I care about in the world is gone. Where's the luck in that?
"I can feel Roxas inside of me. He wants him more than anything. It's a hard thing to feel."
"Come on, Sora. We should let him sleep."
"I'll be out in a minute."
Riku leaves the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Sora throws himself into a chair on the opposite wall. I hear him take a big sigh.
I can't do this. I can't lie here and sleep anymore. "Don't stay in this darkness for too long, Dexlin. It will eat away at you until there is nothing left." Roxas's words echo through my head. He's right. I need to open my eyes. The pain won't go away if I try to ignore it. I need to face it, sooner or later. I can't outrun this.
Light floods my eyes as I try to open them. The sun is so bright. My eyes fight to adjust to the massive intake of light. "So…ra?"
"You're awake." He jumps out of the chair and stands on the side of the bed. "We've been kind of worried."
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Three days."
My muscles are sore. I stretch my arms, trying to work out some of the kinks. It certainly feels like I've been asleep for three days, but I still can't believe it. Three whole days just gone.
"I brought you some clothes. We look about the same size, but they might be a little big on you. I figured these would be better than that big, black overcoat."
"Thanks." I sit up in the bed, cracking my back as I go.
"I'll leave you to it then." He starts to walk out the room. As he opens the door, he turns back to me. "Dexlin, he did love you. Still does."
He closes the door before tears start to roll down my cheeks.
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Destiny Island is a really beautiful place, especially at sunset. I've been here for two weeks and I still haven't seen everything. It's surprising how a place so small can have so much to see. But I've already found my favorite spot.
I'm sitting on the beach not far from where everyone docks their boats when they come to the smaller island. It's got a perfect, unobstructed view of the sunset. The sky turns beautiful shades of pink and orange as the sun lowers into the horizon. At just the right angle it looks like the sun is crashing into the endless ocean.
I just wish Roxas could sit next to me and watch it.
"I thought I would find you out here."
I turn around to find Kairi standing behind me. She sits down next to me and pushes sand through her fingers. She flashes a warm smile at me.
"How did you know?"
"This is the same spot where I sat while I was waiting for Sora to come home. It has the best view."
"It is peaceful." The sound of waves crashing on the beach fills my ears. It's loud enough to block all the other thoughts from my mind. I can just sit here and feel the breeze hitting my face. "But there is a big difference between our situations, you know?"
"What's that?"
"Sora came back to you."
She looped her arm through mine and put her head on my shoulder. We were silent for a while, instead focusing on the sunset. Slowly, the sun dipped lower and lower. The pink and orange colors gave way to a dark sky filled with bright stars. Finally, the last bit of the sun dropped below the horizon.
We stayed there, letting the sounds of night fill the air. A seagull flew a little overhead, gliding to one of the trees not far away. Everything seemed to be shutting down for the night. Even the waves seemed a little softer.
"It's getting late, Kairi. We should probably get back."
"Yeah. Sora's probably wondering what happened to us."
Dusting the sand off our clothes, we walked back to the dock to get our boats.
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Sora has been nice enough to let me stay with him. He lives with Riku in a rather large house. I'm not sure where their parents are and they don't like to talk about it. I've gathered that their absence has something to do with what happened when the Heartless took their world and the time that Sora spent sleeping. I don't want to push the issue. The same way I didn't want to push the people in Twilight Town about whatever happened that they didn't want to talk about. Maybe it just wasn't my place.
I'm staying in a room on the second floor of the house. Sora and Riku are in rooms just down the hall. They made sure to let me know that I can get them if I need anything. But I don't. I just want to sit on my bed and stare out the window. I have a really nice view of the island from my room. I don't know why, but that comforts me. Maybe it's knowing that that is the last place that I saw Roxas. I just like to stare at the island, imagining he's back there. I'm just trying to hold on to memories.
I put my head against the window and pretty soon I'm asleep.
If I had stayed awake just a few minutes longer, I could have seen the shadows of two people moving across the beach.
