Sunlight floods my eyes. It's too bright for me to see anything. My eyes can't adjust. I try to move my arms, but I can't. It feels like they are made entirely out of lead. Have I woken up just to be stuck in bed for the rest of my life?
A shadow moves in between me and the blinding sunlight. I can't tell who it is because my vision is all blurry.
"You're awake." It's Namine. Her soft voice fills my ears. It's comforting. I know that I am actually alive now.
A second shadow joins Namine. "We were so worried about you." Kairi. She's here. They're both alright.
"Rooooxxxxxxasssss." My throat hurts as the words come out. I don't even recognize the sound of my own voice. It sounds like the voice of a dying person. But I'm not dying. I'm alive.
Kairi put her arms underneath me, propping me up to where I'm half sitting. I can see a little better now. Namine and Kairi both have big smiles on their faces. There's a third person in the room. A maid. She's dusting.
"Roxas is down in the kitchen with Sora and Riku." Namine sits on the bed next to my feet. "We had to make him leave. He hasn't left your side in days. He hasn't slept or eaten. He was going to hurt himself if we didn't make him go."
Kairi hands me a glass of water. The cool liquid eases the pain in my throat. I drink the whole glass in one sip.
"How long have I been out?"
"Six days. We were scared that you would never wake up." A flash of fear and worry crosses Namine's face, but only for a second. She quickly recovers, stretching her smile even farther.
Kairi walks across the room to where the maid is busy dusting. "Ella, will you please go down to the kitchen and tell Roxas that Dexlin is awake?"
"Right away, Princess Kairi." Ella starts for the door.
"Please don't call me that."
"Wait!" It takes a lot of energy for me to get the word out, but I have to. "I want to go downstairs."
"You probably shouldn't. You are still very weak, Dexlin. The walk through the palace may be too much for you to handle. We'll get Roxas up here."
"No. I want to get up. Please."
The girls look at each other, deciding what they should do. "Okay. But you have to let Namine and I help you. There's no way you can make the trip on your own."
I focus every ounce of my energy, which is not a whole lot, into getting out of the bed. My arms finally move, but my legs are more difficult. It feels like they are tied to the bed.
Both Kairi and Namine grab one of my arms and lift me out the bed. My entire body screams because my muscles are so sore, but I don't make a sound. If they know how much it hurts, they might force me to stay in bed. With their help, I make one foot go in front of the other.
The trip is slow going. It feels like it takes an hour just to get down the hall to the stairs. It takes even longer to get down them. But we're getting closer to the kitchen. I can almost feel Roxas waiting there for me.
"You saved us all, you know?" Kairi puts an arm around my waist to give me a little extra support as we make it down the last stair.
"I know. Andriel told me." My voice is weak. Each step I take drains me of the little energy that I have.
"You met Andriel? But how?"
"I don't know. She was there. In my head."
Kairi doesn't continue the conversation. Maybe, like me, she doesn't want everyone knowing about the strange meeting. Until Kairi said her name, I thought it was all a dream. But Andriel did say something about making a deal with Kairi before. So it had to have been real. That means that everything else she said is real too.
I've lost all sense of time by the time we make it to the hallway where the kitchen is. I feel like I have no strength left in my body, but I push on. I have to do this and nothing is going to stop me. I've been through worse than a little pain from walking.
As we round the corner, I can see into the kitchen. Sora and Riku are standing at one of the counters, each eating a piece of fruit. Their mouths hang open in shock when they see me. They don't say a word and we step into the kitchen. Roxas is asleep. He's sitting in one of the chairs, but his face is flat against the table next to a half empty bowl of food. A small little puddle of drool has formed near the corner of his mouth. How long was he awake that he could fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position?
"Hi." That's all I can manage to say right now. My throat is back to hurting again and I don't have the strength to talk. If it weren't for Kairi and Namine, I wouldn't be able to stand up straight.
The sound of my voice causes Roxas to wake up. He sits up so fast that he knocks the bowl over, scattering food all over the table. He seems a little disoriented at first, looking around confused. Then he sees me. His eyes immediately fill with tears. "You're awake."
I can't say anything in return. I can't even smile. A small tear escapes from my eye and rolls down my cheek.
Kairi and Namine let go of my arms as Roxas gets up and walks quickly across the kitchen. I can tell that he wants to run, but he's controlling himself. I manage to balance myself for a few seconds without the help of the girls, but I can't do it for long. My legs give out and I fall right into Roxas's arms.
It feels good to be held by him again.
"Thank you." Roxas's whisper fills my ear. "Thank you."
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"Come on, just a few more steps and you've got it."
I know that I owe a lot to Aerith, especially since she is the one that found me and helped me in Traverse Town, but she is really getting on my nerves right now. If I could take just a few more steps there would be no need to be doing these ridiculous exercises.
I'm frustrated. It's been three weeks since I woke up and I've barely left the medical wing since. I'm having a lot of trouble recuperating from sacrificing my light. It's only been in the last couple of days that I have been able to stay away for a most of the day. Before that I would just nod off randomly, not having enough energy to stay conscious.
Slowly my energy is coming back to me, but not quick enough for my liking. On a good day, I can manage to stand in place by myself. A couple times I've even been able to get out of bed on my own. But I still can't walk without help. It's like my legs forgot how to work while I was asleep.
My hands are gripping the side railings so hard that my knuckles have turned white. My hair is drenched with sweat. This should be easy. If I could just get my legs to move a couple inches then I would be done.
"Just a little farther."
"I can't!" It's too hard. My legs won't listen to me. I'm holding myself up by the railings because they're not even strong enough for me to stand. They feel like jelly.
"You can do this, Dexlin. I know you can." Roxas puts his hand on my back. He's not pushing me. His touch is just light enough for me to feel it.
I don't know why but his touch gives me a little more strength. My legs feel a little more solid than before. My foot moves and inch. It's not exactly what I told it to do, but it is definitely a start.
"There you go. You're doing it. Now just a little more."
I'm losing my frustration. That one small inch of movement is enough to give me hope. I can do this. It's just going to take time.
Inch by inch I make my through the railings. Aerith says if I do this everyday then I should be able to regain my ability to walk. She says she taught many people this way after the Heartless attacks. The question I have is, "If it's taking me this long just to learn how to walk, how long is going to take before I can hold my Keyblade again?"
I struggle but I make it to the end. My breathing is heavier than it has ever been before. I think if I was given the choice, I would take a battle with Xemnas over this physical therapy.
"I knew you could do it." Roxas takes his hand away from my back. He comes around to the front of me. His smile makes me happy.
The weight of what I've just done comes crashing down on me. I have no energy left to hold myself up. Aerith reaches up to catch me while Roxas gets a chair for me to fall into. I'm exhausted. I think I over did it.
"You did really well, Dexlin." Aerith takes both of my hands in hers and rubs them. "I think that's enough for today."
That's good because I couldn't do anymore even if I wanted to. My legs have given up for now. Besides I don't think I am going to be able to stay awake much longer.
Roxas scoops me out of the chair and carries me across the room. I hate sleeping in the medical wing. It's not that the bed is uncomfortable or anything. It just reminds me that something is wrong with me.
"Roxas? Will you stay with me tonight?" I hate asking him because I know he doesn't really like it in the medical wing either. I like to know that he is at least comfortable when he's sleep, especially how he stayed up most of the time that I was asleep.
"Of course, I will. All you had to do was ask."
Carefully, he puts me down on the bed and crawls in next to me. My head lands on his chest and I hear the comforting sounds of his heartbeat.
"I want to go home."
His arm tightens around me. "I know you do, Dex. And we will. Just as soon as you're better. And we'll go to other places to. I'll show you other worlds. Your body has to adjust to not having your light anymore."
I curl up into him, moments from falling into a deep sleep. "You're my light, Roxas."