A/N: ...I really don't have anything to say.

Sora hated the stares the most.

The pitying looks he would get were horrible; they made him feel like it was wrong to be like this. He wanted his voice back, don't get me wrong.. but he was able to easily communicate with Roxas anyway, so he didn't really need it to be happy. It just really got to him how everyone seemed to assume that it was bad.

To be honest, what that Lea boy had said was sort of...relieving. To not be judged because he couldn't speak, to be told that he was fine just the way he was...It was refreshing.

He was also pretty sure the Lea boy had a crush on his brother.

Riku didn't seem too bad either. He wasn't freaked out by the fact that he couldn't speak, which made him happy, and treated him as if he was, well, normal.

He hoped Roxas would get over this. He knew his older brother blamed himself constantly for it, but Sora was happy enough. He just couldn't find a way to show Roxas that, and words seemed insincere; Roxas just assumed he was writing it to make him feel better.

Period 2 and 3 passed without much incident, other than the pitying stares, and soon lunch rolled around. The two boys walked towards the cafeteria, expecting to sit alone like they did pretty much every day.

Entering it, Roxas started glancing around for a spare table to sit at. Sora scanned the crowds, on the other hand, and spotted a familiar figure waving him over.

He blinked, then grinned, waving back before grabbing Roxas' arm and dragging his surprised brother through the crowds. They reached the table and Sora sat down next to the silver head, grinning.

"Well hey there, Sor, Roxy," Lea greeted with a smirk. Roxas gazed at him a moment, then looked irritated.

"Sora, are you sure you want to sit here?" he asked his twin. Sora considered, then nodded, hiding his smug grin. Roxas sighed then sat down next to him, opposite Lea.

"How has your day been so far?" Riku asked him as they started eating.

Sora shrugged, waving his hand in the 'so-so' gesture. Riku nodded.

"Been a bit tough?"

Sora nodded, giving a dramatic sigh, and Riku laughed.

"I'm sure it'll be better once everyone calms down about it a bit," he said.

Sora shrugged, biting into his sandwich.

Roxas had watched the exchange in shock. Riku had accurately guessed exactly what Sora meant with each of his actions...he hadn't met anybody except himself who could do that!

"So, cutie, what you got next?" Lea asked him.

Roxas glanced over at him, raising his eyebrow at the odd name, then pulled out the sheet of paper before scanning over it. "English," he replied finally.

"Ooh, we finally have a lesson together," Lea said happily.

"Okayyy..." Roxas murmured, a little confused.

Lea glanced up then grinned, waving someone over. Roxas looked up just as several people sat down in the seats across from them, smiling.

"Hey Lea, hey Riku. Oh, are you two the new kids?" asked the girl across from him.

"Oh, um, yeah. I'm Roxas, and this is Sora," he said.

"I'm Kairi. This is my younger sister Naminé, and my older sister Xion," she introduced, motioning first to a blonde, then a black haired girl.

Sora waved to both of them, smiling, and they smiled back before also waving. Xion turned to Riku and began talking to him, but Naminé pulled out a sketchpad and started to draw instead.

Sora found himself easily relaxing into the group. Roxas was happily chatting away to Kairi, while Lea gave extremly obvious hints that he liked Roxas (all of which Roxas managed to miss), and Xion and Riku chatting together seemed pretty natural. Even the gentle brush of Naminé's pencils against her pad seemed right at home in the group.

He leant forward, trying to get a peek of her drawing, and she glanced at him before smiling and turning it round. He blinked as he realised it was them that she was drawing, before grinning. He looked at her and nodded, and though she didn't seem to completely understand what he meant, she knew that it was positive, so smiled back.

As he sat back, continuing to munch on his sandwiches, he gave a small smile.

This felt just like home.

He woke to a nightmare.

Roxas groaned as he rolled over, burying his head into his pillows. Again. That nightmare again. What was wrong? What bad thing was going to happen? So far, the only things that had happened were good; they'd made some new friends who really accepted them, and most of the people in the school were pretty nice. He thought maybe the bad thing was everyone finding out Sora was mute the way they had, but the nightmare still continued...so what was it?

He sat up, glancing over at Sora's bed. His twin was still peacefully asleep, a smile tugging at his lips even in his dreams. Roxas had never met anyone like Sora; so bright and happy and full of life. Always diving headlong in everything, despite the fact he couldn't speak. He was always so cheerful, even after everything that had happened...It was Roxas who just couldn't get over it.

He hoped he could. For Sora's sake, he hoped he could overcome this.

His mobile rang, the music drifting out, and Roxas quickly picked it up as Sora jerked awake. He pressed the answer button and lifted it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Roxas. How are you?"

"Dad! We're great, thanks."

"Glad to hear it. Settling into your new school okay?"

"Mm-hmm! We made some new friends yesterday, so it's going brilliantly."

Sora grinned as he realised who Roxas was talking to, jumping onto Roxas' bed and bouncing up and down like an excited child. Roxas laughed.

"Sora says hi too," he said, putting it on loud speaker.

"Hello to you aswell, Sora! I heard you made some new friends."

Sora nodded, and Roxas smiled. "He said yeah."

"What's their names?"

"Riku, Lea, Xion, Naminé and Kairi," Roxas listed off.

"That many friends on your first day there? Keep that up and you'll have the whole school as your friend by the end of the year."

Sora gave a soundless giggle, then nudged Roxas, nodding to the phone.

"Oh, right. Are you coming to visit anytime soon, Dad?"

He sighed. "I wish I could, guys. Work's pretty rough over here, and with the weather as it is, a lot of flights are being cancelled too. As soon as I get the time, I'll be over, but until then just hang on, okay?"

"Alright," Roxas agreed, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. Apparently their dad noticed, however.

"I'm really sorry. I keep trying to book a week off, but everything seems against me at the moment."

"It's okay Dad, honest. We'll see you soon though, right?"

"Yup. Count on it."

"Okay. Well, gotta go, we need to get ready."

"Alright. Call me if you have any problems!"

"Will do. Bye Dad!"

"Love you both. Bye."

The phone clicked off, and Roxas glanced over at Sora. He seemed a little disappointed, but smiled brightly anyway.

"Yeah, I'm upset too, Sor. But he said he'd visit soon, so that's something, right? Come on, we don't want to be late," he said, getting up and heading downstairs, Sora in tow.

It had been a couple of weeks since the twins had started school, and they had settled in well. The group was rarely seen apart, working together on school assignments and eating together at lunch, as well as hanging out during break.

Finally, during last lesson on Friday (the only lesson they had together), Lea leant back against the wall.

"You know, we should do something this weekend. All of us together," he said.

Everyone looked at him in surprise. "I thought you didn't like socialising," Kairi said, eyebrow raised.

Lea shrugged. "Hey, you guys are pretty cool, I'll admit that. I'm willing to give a try. So, you lot in?"

They glanced at each other, then each nodded. "Sure. Don't see why not," Riku replied with a shrug.

"Where are we going to meet up?" asked Xion.

Lea considered, then grinned. "How about ten o'clock, the train station. Bring some munny along," he added before hurrying back into the exercise they were supposed to be doing.

The others shrugged then went after him, groaning as the teacher told them they were doing hockey.

Sora tapped Roxas on the shoulder, waking his twin halfway through the nightmare. Roxas woke suddenly, jumping before relaxing as he realised it was only Sora.

"What are you doing?" he asked, yawning widely as he glanced at the clock and realised it was only eight.

Sora rolled his eyes, pointing to the calender. Roxas squinted to see through the sleep-induced bluriness, then realised that they were going to be meeting with the others today.

"Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me, Sora," he said, leaping off his bed and hurrying around to get ready in time.

When he finally came back into the bedroom from having breakfast, Sora was already changed. He was wearing a red shirt with white jacket over it, the sleeves and lining blue. His jeans were light blue, while his trainers were black. His usual accessory, a chain with a crown on the end, clinked around his neck.

Roxas went to his wardrobe, looking through it for something suitable to wear. Eventually he went with grey jeans, black trainers with white soles, a black tank top and black sleeveless jacket with a high collar. A checkered band was around his wrist, and a chain with a cross hung around his neck.

Brushing a hand through his hair, he pocketed his wallet and glanced over at Sora. "You ready?" he asked. Sora nodded, bouncing over to the door and waiting expectantly. Roxas laughed and joined him, the two of them heading out to the bus stop.

They eventually reached the train station a quater hour early, and entered it, looking around. Roxas bought two bars of sea salt ice cream from the vendor, passing one to Sora. They nibbled on the bars as they waited for the others to show up.

Riku came first, dressed pretty casual in blue jeans and a black shirt. He wore a white jacket over it, a yellow stripe going round the edge, and he raised a hand in greeting as he spotted the twins.

The girls were next, giggling together. Kairi wore a strapped lilac dress that came to her knees, and her fringe was clipped back. Naminé wore a black strap top underneath a white dress. Xion wore a white shirt with lilac edges, the strap going around her neck, and a denim skirt.

They joined the trio, waiting for Lea to arrive. After fifteen minutes, Riku sighed.

"He's always late, even when he organises stuff," he muttered irritably.

"He should be along soon though," Kairi pointed out.

As if on cue, Lea came running up. "Hey guys! Sorry I took so long, I overslept," he said with a grin.

"Whatever, idiot. Come on, what are we doing?"

Lea grinned, and everyone looked at him expectantly. "We...are going to the beach!"

For a moment everyone was silent, then Riku gave him an unimpressed expression. "Is that all?"

"Aww, c'mon! It'll be fun!"

"I don't think we've ever been the beach," Roxas mused, Sora shaking his head.

The others went quiet, staring at them. "How could you have not been to the beach?" asked Xion finally.

"Well, we've been, just never for very long and not really with anyone," Roxas reiterated.

The group stared a moment longer.

"Well, that settles it. We're going," Kairi decided finally, standing up and crossing over to the booth. The others followed, pulling out munny to pay for their tickets.

When everyone had a ticket, they went to the platform to wait for the train to arrive.

Sora tugged on Roxas' hand, causing the older to turn and look at his twin. Sora's eyes were wide and excited, and Roxas laughed.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too," he agreed.

Sora happily bounced around as they waited for the train, until Roxas grabbed his wrist.

"Save that energy for the beach, idiot," he said with a shake of his head.

A/N: Oh Roxas, you cutely naive idiot you.

And, next chapter, the epic adventure tooooo...the beach! (Meh, mostly AkuRoku fluff)

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