Chapter TWELVE! Woot! Ahah, I almost didn't upload one today because I was drawing most of the time, and I drew a scene from this story! I found it so cute, even if I messed up one of Roxas' legs (found out after inking it) I may upload it onto Deviantart, and I'll let you guys know if I do ^^
Reviews time!
To Poseidon's-Princess: Being demented is fun =3 I quite enjoy it XD
To Tera Loveless Uchiha: Nickelback is an awesome band =3 And yeah, I feel really bad for making Sora's father hate him so much... poor kid =( And I don't know why, I decided to make Roxas a sort-of violin prodigy XD And thank the fact that I can type so fast my hands turn to mush for the quick updates XD But I am very glad you enjoy this story very much =3
To il2swim57: Ahah, that anagram made me laugh! XD Your welcome, and I don't know why there is so much fluff, really. Meh, oh well =3
Give me a nudge if you want something to show up in this story, like a scene or chapter, and no matter how explicit, I will put it down =3 And if you want me to make another story/one-shot on a certain subject, feel free to tell me.
On to the chapter!
Paper Moon
Chapter Twelve
Angel's wings
Roxas
"Come on!" Sora urges, climbing onto the next branch. I stop at the first one, gasping slightly.
"Yeah, well, I haven't really ever climbed a tree before!" I shoot back, grabbing the next branch and hoisting myself onto it. "Why are we climbing this tree anyways?"
"Because the sunset is prettier from up high, and a tree is just right!" I sigh. Of course.
"Gimme a second." I grunt as I pull myself onto the branch he's sitting on, leaning back against the tree trunk as I place myself. "God, what I wouldn't give for a pair of wings."
"You probably do have some." He smiles as I give him a quizzical look. "All angels have wings."
I make a sound at the back of my throat, but he's looking to the horzon with a smile.
"Why do you think that?" I ask after some time, watching the sky as well.
"Think what?" He swings his legs underneath him.
"That I'm an angel." I shrug. "For all I know, I've got nothing in me like that."
"Aw c'mon, you know that's not true!" He protests, turning his attention on me, eyes completely serious.
"How so?" He pouts a moment, thinking.
"Because you're too nice to be anything else." He says simply, turning his head back to the sky.
I open my mouth to speak, but I'm interrupted.
"Young masters!" We both look down to the grass, me making a confused face at the masters part, like if she's including me. "Your father is here!" May calls out from underneath the tree.
Sora goes rigid, his legs stopping their swinging motion.
"Is he coming this way?" I ask her, since he's unable to speak.
"No, he is talking to the Mistress." She says. "I must leave, or he will know you are here!" She bows quickly, running back towards the house with her skirts in hand. I look at him, but he's looking to the ground.
"We'll stay up here." I say. "Until May comes back, or until nightfall. We'll sneak back in or something, and avoid him." He nods, turning his eyes onto me.
"Thank you." He says, voice low and shaky. I put my arm around him in comfort, and we turn our eyes to the sunset, trying to forget many things, he his father, and I mine.
~~(o.o)~~
The sun is set by the time we're both wrenched out of our thoughts, the sound of footfalls coming from underneath the tree. I look down, and all I see is a broad-shouldered man a few feet from the base of the tree, with white hair that is pretty long, and I can't see his eyes. But the very sight of the man makes me cringe back a little, as if he holds the power to erase me from this world.
Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
"Sora," the man says stiffly. "I know you're not far from here. Stop fooling around and act your age."
He certainly isn't. I scoff in my mind as I follow a reluctant Sora down the tree, jumping from the last branch onto the ground. I turn and catch Sora as he jumps down to slow his fall, and very slowly, reluctantly, as if he's about to bolt, Sora turns to look at the man.
"Yes... father?" He says gently, as if he knows one wrong word will result in some sort of pain. He sounds small, scared, and alone.
"Who is this?" He asks, jutting his nose towards me. I keep my face impassive as I watch him, returning his cold stare. I don't reply his question by giving him the satisfaction of an answer. He clearly wants me to tell him, but there is no law saying I must.
"I asked you a question, boy." He says through his teeth, golden eyes trying to break me.
"I know." I tell him evenly, returning his penetrating gaze. His arm twitches, and I'm thrown to the side, grass coming to meet my right side hard.
I sit there, half-lying down onto the ground, left hand over my cheek as my right hand barely manages to hold me up, eyes wide at the stinging pain. Images of thousands of days fly through my mind, my father always the one in the spotlight, standing over me, bottle in one hand and other hand always so near my throat, my mother passed out on the couch for some reason, the light always so dim. I was never allowed to make a sound. No matter the pain. If I did, things were just worse. If not a bottle, the side of the counter met my face. Or my hair was burned off my scalp.
"Stop it!" Sora's exclamation brings me from the nightmares, and I look up as he plants himself in between me and his father, eyes streaming tears and a defiant look in them. "Don't hurt him!"
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face.
Just don't turn away.
"Why? People are always in the way, Sora. They only serve to stand in the way." Sora's hands start to shake as his father continues. "They are but distractions, like this boy. But you were always too soft to know that, to ever appreciate my teachings. You were scum from the start."
"Don't you dare say another word." I hiss at him, having stood slowly to my feet at his words and I now have a hand holding the arm he was about to strike Sora with. He jerks it from my grasp. "Sora is a far better person than you will ever be."
"Who are you?" He snaps at me again. I can tell this man only knows how to argue, not discuss.
"I am Roxas Strife." I say just as harshly.
"Then why, pray tell, do you defend such a useless person?" He asks me. I grit my teeth, and I can't help it. I explode.
"Because I owe him my life, goddamnit!" I shout in his face. "Not only that, I owe him my soul, and every other goddamn life I'll ever have! You just don't fucking understand that your son is just fine the way he is because you're obsessed with the fact that he isn't the son you wanted! Well, you know what, I've had it up to here with your goddamn repulsion. Take your goddamn ass and take a fucking walk or whatever, but don't you ever say such a fucking thing to him again." I hiss out the last part, grabbing Sora's hand and bolting towards the thicker part of the forest that is part of the vast yard. (A.N.: Ooooo, Roxas sounds like the real him now! He's brought out the big guns =3 XD)
"Roxas..." Sora starts. I shake my head.
Why are you looking for love?
Why are you searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run,
To where will you go?
He stays quiet as I pull him along, intent on putting some distance between him and us. Why are some people so goddamn stupid.
"Because they never learn." Sora says quietly, making me realize I'd said my thought aloud. I slow down a little, stopping moments later near a very large tree. I look around to see if he'd followed us.
"Thank you..." He continues, making me look at him. He was looking at his feet, but now he lifts his head up to look at me. His eyes are filled with awe and gratitude. "For stopping father... not even grown men have the guts to do that."
"I wouldn't care if he was the fucking king of England." I sigh, turning completely to look at him.
"Do you always cuss like that?" He asks, tilting his head a little to the side in curiosity.
"Not really." I laugh shakily. "I think I was just mad enough to do that... but I wanted to call him so many things..."
He wraps his arms around my waist, shaking his head as he rests it on my chest.
"No need." He whispers as I return his embrace. "Standing up to him like that was good enough for me."
"I want him to hurt like you did." I sigh, resting my chin on his spiked brown hair. "No one should be allowed to hurt you like that."
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall.
In the dead of night
Whenever you call.
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.
"Right now," he starts, laughing a little. "Only one person in the world could hurt me much more than he ever could."
"Who?"
He steps back and grabs my hands, placing them gently over his heart, which I can feel beating softly underneath my hands.
"My own little angel." He says cheerfully. I smile.
"If I'm an angel, then what does that make you?" I ask. He smiles up at me in return.
"The opposite of an angel, since we're different, but the same. I'd be a fallen angel, or, better yet, a demon."
"That sounds correct."
Look at these hands, and my side.
They swallowed the grave, on that night.
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life.
I want to give you life.
A bush rustles not far away, and we turn our eyes to see his father emerge once again. My lip curls back, and Sora steps in front of me, as if to protect me.
"What do you want?" I snap at him.
"You have some guts to talk to me that way, kid. I don't know who you think you are-"
"He's my Nobody." Sora says stiffly, making me look at him in slight confusion. "And he doesn't think it, he knows it."
"Whatever that means." He takes something from his belt, lifting it up and aiming it at my head. A jolt of fear runs down my back at the sight of the weapon, but Sora only steps more in front of me.
"Step away from him, boy." Ansem says, aiming the gun at me with unblinking eyes. "Unless you wish to die with him?"
"I'd rather do that." He says, gazing right into his father's eyes. "Than let you kill him and know for the rest of my life I could have tried to stop you."
"Sora, don't-"
He shakes his head at my protest, turning his head around to look at me.
"It's better that way." He smiles. "And I owe you my life, soul, and any other life I'll live as well."
"He's making a mistake." I smile a knowing smile, and Sora seems to catch on after a moment. We look to him. "If someone dies on your land, won't that make everything suspiscious?" I ask him, but continue without letting him answer. "Plus people will start to wonder iff you're fit to be Royalty, and sooner or later, they'll strip you of your royal status, and you'll be left on the streets to rot." I narrow my eyes. "Just like I was."
His hand falters a moment, which is just what I need.
"Come on!" I shout to Sora, pulling him through the woods again, and this time he leads the way.
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall.
In the dead of night
Whenever you call.
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.
This time we hear no pursuit, but we push on, and I know where he's leading us when a small garden shed shows up between the trees.
"My father wouldn't think of this." He says as he practically shoves me in before him, closing the door after that and locking a deadbolt. He sinks to the ground. "I am so sorry."
"It's not your fault your father is terrible." I tell him with a small smile, crouching beside him.
"I guess." He shrugs.
"By the way," I start, sitting beside him with my back to the wall. "What did you mean by the Nobody thing?"
He hums to himself a moment, thinking.
"I don't know... it just came to me. Just like the idea that I'm your Somebody came to my head, too."
"You can be really strange sometimes." I laugh, making him pout. I bring my knees up to my chest, hugging them to me as I rest my chin on them. "But that's what makes you you."
"Are you alright?" He asks, scooting closer and taking my face in his hands, looking at where his father striked me.
"It's nothing I'm not used to." I tell him. He frowns.
"You weren't used to it anymore. I saw the haunted look in your eyes. It made you think of your father."
"You know me so well." I look down as his fingers brush my cheek soothingly, it probably being an angry red or something. I bruise so easily.
"I wish he hadn't hit you." He sighs. "You'd healed from all your wounds, and here's a new one."
I chuckle to myself a little. "Not all of them."
He raises an eyebrow, and to demonstrate I show him the little red mark he'd left me this morning.
"That one doesn't count." He huffs, blushing a little. I laugh further, and he occupies himself by looking suddenly very interested in my cheek.
"And anyways, you've had your fair share." He says after a moment of silence. Now I raise my eyebrows at him.
"Well, then. Pray tell, where have I left my mark?" I ask.
"My back. Your fingernails did that." He laughs at my face, which probably matches the red of my newfound wound. "And here." He shows me a small cut on his lower lip.
"What am I looking at?" I ask, curious.
"You bit me." He smirks.
"I did?" Huh. News to me.
"Well, I think you were in too high in Cloud Nine to notice." I stick out my tongue at him.
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know,
That I, I love you;
I'll never let you go.
"Don't pretend you were the good one." I smirk at my remark. "I'm not the one who instigated it."
"That's highly unfair!" He protests. "I can't control my dreams-"
I jerk my head back slightly at that new tidbit.
"Dreams?" I ask, but he has his head turned away, an amazing shade of scarlet. "Care to tell me?"
"No." He huffs. I chuckle.
"Very well. I'll just assume the worst." I shrug, feigning innocence. He yelps, jumping once in place in shock, turning to face me.
"Alright, alright, fine!" He says in surrender. "I'll tell you." He keeps his head down, eyes hidden from me.
"Go on..." I urge.
"Umm... in my dream, we..." He pauses, hands clenching into fists slightly. I lean forward slightly, curious. "We made..."
Putting two and two together, I jump in place, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Why'd you dream such a thing?" I ask, surprise clearly marked in my voice, and on my face in the form of a huge blush that matches his.
"I don't know! Blame May! She put those toughts into my mind when I asked her a simple question half a year ago!"
We avoid eye contact, finding great interest in the walls.
At least I know a little more about how his mind works.
"Was it..." I start after a while. He laughs nervously, scratching behind his head. (A.N.: We can't blame the kid. By the gods, he's seventeen and never really done that before! Cut him some slack, Roxas!)
"It was... something." He admits. "I wouldn't know, really... but I'd only ever do that with one person."
I blush deeper, finding the floor interesting all of a sudden.
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall.
In the dead of night
Whenever you call.
Please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you...
"Sorry." He sighs. "At least I'm being honest."
"Don't be." I smile at him, lifting my head up. "I don't blame you." (A.N.: There we go!)
"Thanks." He smiles back, face still red. He kisses my cheek gently where his father hit me, lips lingering there. "Someday..." He starts in a whisper, saying the words gently on my skin. "I'll have you enjoy that little moment of forever." I laugh softly.
"I'd like that." He smiles against my cheek. The doorhandle shakes shortly after that.
"Sora? Roxas?" He lifts up his head at his mother's words. "Ansem is gone now... I don't think he'll bother us anymore."
Smiling Sora stands up and undoes the deadbolt, allowing her to enter just as I stand.
"Oh my God! What happened to your face?" She asks worriedly, coming to look at it. I blush slightly, not really used to having people worry about me.
"Get used to it." Sora smiles as she drags me through the forest, he following behind us. "She worries a lot."
"It's nice." I smile back. "Being cared for..."
I mouth some words to Sora while his mother isn't looking, a reply to something his father interrupted me from saying - not in the tree, but when we were in the forest.
We'll only break each other when we're done living all our lives. He smiles at that, nodding and pointing his thumb to his chest, where his heart is.
It's a promise. He follows me as Evelyn drags me into the house.
Awwehs, I like this chapter =3 The song is By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North. It is an awesome song and whoever disagrees shall be forced to drink orange juice right after brushing their teeth XD
Anyways, until next time.
BOB has now taken over the tv as well, so now you cannot watch tv, only read this. Mouhahahaha, all hail BOB!
I seriously need some sleep XD