Sora
"Are they still holding hands?" I hear Namine whisper behind me as we walk to the lunch room. It's true... Kairi and I haven't really lost contact since she first took my hand in art class. "How cute!" she squeals, making Kairi turn and glare at her.
"Shut up, Namine!" she exclaims, blushing deeply and leaning against my arm a little more.
I have to admit, it's a little strange the way she's taken to me so quickly. But I just have to remember that she's not as mentally stable as the rest of us. And if it makes her feel happy and safe to hang onto me like this, then who am I to stop her? There are worse things in the world than having a gorgeous lady on my arm all the time.
We go through the lunch line and get our trays, then sit down at a round table in the corner. Kairi, of course, scoots close to me and keeps her fingers laced with mine. For a long while, all the others do is stare at us.
"Uhm... so Kairi. Tell me about you," I say, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Like... like what? I'm not sure what to say..." she replies softly, and I feel like this might be the most she's spoken in awhile.
I shrug and take a bite of my ...mac and cheese? I honestly have no idea what this slop is. "Like... what are your hobbies? How do you spend your time?"
"I write a lot... uhm... I like to swim... and explore the island..."
"Oh fun!" I exclaim, grinning, "We'll have to go to the island together sometime. I bet I can show you places you've never been before!"
She seems excited by this. "Oh, could we? I'd like that a lot... So what do you like?"
"Well... I play bass guitar. It's incredibly relaxing, something I taught myself living on the island. I also really love to swim, and study marine life like my dad."
Xion looks over at me. "So your dad is a marine biologist, right?"
"Yeah, one of the best around. Why do you ask?"
She chuckles a little. "Our mom, Aerith Gainsborough, works with him. She's been talking about Cloud Strife and his magnificent work all week. I can see the family resemblance, Mr. Spikey Hair."
I roll my eyes and laugh, "Yeah, yeah... mock the hair."
"That's how I knew you were the boy Kairi saw on the island. You and your dad are the only people who lived there year round," Namine says, smiling.
"That makes sense. I was a little freaked out that you knew that," I admit.
Riku snorts a little and Xion pokes him in the side. "What?" he asks, laughing, "You're the one who told him she was psychic! Dude, they were totally messing with you about that."
Figures. "Oh ha ha ha. How funny of you," I joke, sticking my tongue out at Xion.
"You're the one who fell for it!" she exclaims, throwing her hands up, "Can't blame me for that!"
Kairi laughs, and everyone suddenly stops and stares at her again. "What?" she asks, pouting a little. "Can I not laugh now?"
"No, no, Kai... it's just... this is so different from how you usually are..." Namine assures her, and I can tell they feel kind of bad for singling her out all the time.
"Get used to it..." she mumbles, and it makes me turn to face her.
"Hey, Kairi? I'm just curious... why me? Why do I make you act differently than when you're around others?"
She looks down, blushing a little. "I... I don't know, Sora... You make me feel like I can be myself... you make the fear go away..."
My heart is beating so erratically I think I might die. She's just so damned adorable... "Aww, Kairi... I'm glad I make you feel that way," I tell her, unlacing our fingers and wrapping my arm around her.
Okay, so my first day isn't going the way I expected. But... do I honestly care?
Roxas
"Hey Roxas... this might sound weird, but were you wearing a brown wig today at any point?" Demyx asks me at my locker near the end of the day.
I turn and look at him, surprised by the silly question. "Uhm... no? That's a weird thing to ask, Dem."
"That's super weird... I passed a guy in the hallway earlier that looked just like you, except with dark brown hair. I thought it was you for a second, but when I said hi, he just gave me a weird look."
Just as he finishes his sentence, Axel runs over, looking out of breath. "Roxas, you need to come see this! There's a guy, and he looks just like you!"
"We've covered this already, Axe. I'm not interested. It's probably just a silly coincidence," I say, not wanting to chase down some poor kid and gawk at him.
Axel shakes his head, "No, Roxas... I mean, he really looks like you. Even moreso than the Gainsborough triplets look alike. It's really freaky..."
"Triplets...? What the hell are you talking about, Axel?"
But then I see exactly what he's talking about. Walking down the hall with a small red-head wrapped around him is a guy who looks... exactly like me. The only difference is literally his hair. I don't even know what to say, so I just stand there and stare at him.
He almost walks by me, but then a black-haired girl stops and yanks on his arm, pointing at me. "Sora, do you have a brother we didn't know about?" she asks him, and his eyes widen just as far as mine.
"What the hell...?" he says under his breath, studying me closely. It's almost like looking in a mirror.
"Whoa... who are you...?" I ask him, suddenly extremely concerned.
He blinks a couple times and shakes his head a little. "Uhm... Sora Strife... and you are...?"
"Roxas Fair... Why do you... why...?"
"Why do I look like you? Got me," he says with a shrug. "This is kind of freaky..."
The girl on his arm looks a little scared, and I wonder why she won't let go of him. "Sora, you don't know him?"
"No, Kai... do you?"
"He was in one of my classes... he's new here too," she tells him. Was she really in one of my classes?
Something seems off here. "Wait a second, you're new here? This was your first day?" I ask him, getting a bit uneasy about all of this.
"Yeah... I moved here with my dad from the island," he says, "Why?"
"I just moved here with my mom and my step dad from Twilight Town... this was my first day too..."
It's then that I notice Demyx, Axel and all of Sora's friends staring at us like we've each grown an extra head.
"Dude... he doesn't know his dad, and you don't know your mom..." the white-haired guy behind him says. "You think... you could be twins?"
"Don't be stupid, Riku!" a blonde girl screeches, hurting my head a little. These must be the Gainsborough triplets they mentioned, because the three of them all look the same. "They can't be brothers... that's super weird!"
This is getting too strange for my comfort. "Hey, uhm... what's your dad's name? I'm just curious..."
"Cloud Strife. And your mom?"
"Tifa Lockhart is her maiden name. She's married to Zack Fair now."
The least I can do is ask my mom about him, I guess... Maybe she knows who he is. If not, then we can write this off as some sort of strange coincidence, and ignore it until we graduate.
Sora
After such a strange encounter at school, my mind has been in complete overload. I've been waiting for Dad to get home for two hours now so I can confront him about all of this nonsense.
"Sora! I brought dinner home!" I hear him yell up the stairs, and I run down immediately, ready to talk to him.
We put our Chinese on plates and sit down at the dining room table, which is still cluttered a little with things we need to unpack.
"So how was school? Did you meet anyone?" he asks.
I remember the scene Kairi made when I had to let go of her to leave... it was a little heartbreaking, to be honest. "Uhm... yeah, these triplet girls and one of their boyfriends. They're really nice, I think you know their mom, Aerith?"
"Oh yes! She told me about her daughters. Shame about Kairi, isn't it?"
"Uhm... yeah... hey, dad? Does the name Tifa Lockhart mean anything to you?" I ask suddenly, unable to hold it in anymore.
He nearly chokes on his lo mein and I know I've struck a nerve. "Where... where did you hear that name?"
"It's kind of funny, Dad... There's a kid named Roxas who looks exactly like me... He said his mom's name is Tifa. Is there any reason why we look exactly the same?"
"Oh, Sora..." he says, looking down at his lap. "I... Tifa Lockhart is... she's your mother..."
I knew it. Deep down inside me, from the moment I saw Roxas in the hall, I knew it. "Dad... why didn't you tell me I had a brother?"
"I... I honestly didn't know... when your mother left me, she was still pregnant. A few weeks later, she showed up at my door with you and told me not to contact her again... She must've had twins, and couldn't take care of you both..." he explains, looking shocked and confused.
I suddenly feel horrible for sounding so accusing, and I get up and hug him, seeing how pained he looks. "Dad, I'm sorry... I thought you knew..."
"I have another son..." he says slowly, trying to take it all in. "Sora... do you think... could you invite him over...?"
"I can try, Dad... but he seemed really... I don't know... I'll try..."
He's getting really emotional, and I can tell he's about to cry. "I wonder how she's doing..."
"She got re-married..." I tell him, "To some guy named Zack Fair."
Strangley, this doesn't seem to phase him. "Yeah... I figured they'd get married. He's the reason she left me. Ran off with my best friend..."
"You and Zack were best friends?"
"Oh yeah, we'd known each other forever. But when they took off together, I never saw either of them again, save the one time she left you with me."
I nod, "Well, I heard they were living in Twilight Town up until recently. That's a few hours from here by car."
"She always wanted to move out there... she hated the idea of living on the island," he tells me, smiling a little. "God am I glad that bitch is with someone else."
"Dad!" I exclaim, my eyes wide. "What the hell?!"
He bursts out laughing, "What?! She was a bitch!"
"Glad to know you're over her, Dad..." I say, chuckling.
We go back to eating our dinner, and I can tell he's still thinking about Roxas.
"Hey, Dad? He... he looks a lot like you."
Roxas
"Don't you ever mention that name in this house again!" my mother screeches, throwing a wine glass at me and narrowly missing my head. "That man was the worst thing that ever happened to me!"
"Mom, how do you know him?!" I shout, but it's almost impossible to try to talk to her when she's been drinking.
She collapses on the couch and throws a pillow over her face, "Ugh! Go ask Zack!"
I roll my eyes and growl, storming into Zack's study and slamming the door behind me. "Who the FUCK is Cloud Strife, and why did Mom just try to kill me for mentioning him?!" I demand, fuming mad by now.
"Cloud? Where did you hear about Cloud?" he asks me, staying weirdly calm.
"So you do know him?"
He furrows his brow, "Of course I do, Roxas. He's your father... we were best friends for years."
The way he says it bothers me for some reason. He's acting like I should already know all of this. "My... my father? You knew who my real dad was this entire time, and you never once thought to tell me?!"
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Roxas! I thought Tifa told you years ago!"
There's frustration bubbling up inside of me into a pure rage, and I don't know what to do with it. "God damn it, Zack! Tell me what happened!"
"It's a long story, Rox... I don't know..."
"Tell me!" I shout, slamming my fist into the wall.
He jumps a little and takes off his reading glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Sit down... I'll tell you everything." I take a seat across from him and wait. "Your father and I grew up together... ever since we were toddlers. When he met Tifa, they were so happy and in love... but I had also fallen for her. Of course, I didn't act on it. But then your mother came running to my house, a good eight months pregnant with you and your brother, and started sobbing about how she caught Cloud in bed with a man. She said she was leaving him, so I told her that I was in love with her... We moved to Twilight Town, and he moved to the island like he always wanted. I... I could never face him again after stealing his wife."
"Why did she keep me? Why did she give him my brother?" I ask, only slightly calmer.
"We had no money... we couldn't afford to keep both of you. I was still a law student, and she was a waitress. Your mother didn't know what to do, but she couldn't just give you both up, so she took your brother to Cloud and... we never looked back."
It takes a couple minutes for the information to sink in, and I eventually sigh. "I'm sorry I was so angry, Zack... I just... I met him. I met Sora, I met my brother. He goes to my school," I tell him, running my hands through my hair. "Wait, so Cloud is gay?"
"According to Tifa... I never would've guessed."
"God... I wonder if Sora knows..." I muse, "He said it was just the two of them living together."
"Roxas, you can't tell Tifa that you met your brother. If she knew that he was so close... it would destroy her. She's hated herself ever since she gave him up."
I look up at him, "That's why she drinks, isn't it?"