A/N: This chapter is mostly where the original fanfic stopped at (which I find sad on my part lol), and where some fresh content finally comes in~ Also, I'll warn you now that the lengths of these chapters are going to vary, so hopefully you guys won't get annoyed at that ahaha;; I just hope I'll be able to continue to be motivated to write and update this at a regular pace without extended gaps in between;;

Without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 2: Denial

Silence.

That was all that could be heard as the words finally sunk in.

Xion was speechless at this entire revelation. The rest of the family, however, opted to remain silent, having known about the situation beforehand privately.

Roxas, having been silent ever since her grandfather began his speech and further shocked into more silence after, finally found the will to speak.

"…Marriage?"

Saying that word in a tone of complete disbelief, Roxas searched Eraqus' face, hoping that maybe, just maybe, what the old man had requested of them was just an illusion, a slip of the tongue, anything. Bursting into nervous chuckles, he couldn't help but exclaim in a forced, lighthearted tone, "You must be joking, grandfather!"

It has to be.

"That's right!" Xion added in agreement, snapping out of her speechless trance a second later. "Me? Marry Roxas?" She pointed at the blonde sitting next to her, and as if on cue, the two began to laugh almost hysterically, finding the sudden situation to be ridiculous.

"Hey!" Eraqus finally snapped, immediately cutting the two's laughter off at his serious tone. "This isn't a joking matter! The only way I'll be able to die peacefully and face Roxas' grandfather is when the two of you get married!"

"But how can a high school student get married?!" Xion suddenly exclaimed in exasperation, her anger finally getting the best of her at the absurdity of it all.

She couldn't believe this. She was only sixteen, for Hearts' sake! Marriage was seriously at the least of her concerns. She still needed to graduate high school, attend college, and get a job! She barely was just beginning to prepare herself for the real word, so how could her grandfather just throw such a matter at her like it wasn't going to change her life forever?

Indeed, she loved her grandfather deeply, and she swore mentally that she would do anything for him, but not this. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with Roxas, but if she wanted to marry someone, at least she wanted to marry someone who she loved when she was older.

Someone like— She shook her head.

Eraqus and the rest of their family members seemed to have been prepared for that question, Roxas noticed, because Zack answered her, albeit hesitantly at seeing his daughter practically fuming. "…Xion, anyone at the age of sixteen can marry with their parents' consent."

She was baffled, once again. Wow. Even their families were in for this entire thing? Did they not care about what her and Roxas felt about the consequences of her grandfather's request?

Plus… Her friends. Her school. His friends and acquaintances. His workplace. What would they all think about this? Wouldn't they all find this absurd too? Wouldn't they judge them?

"I haven't much time left, you know?" Eraqus pleaded, a sorrowful expression on his face. The entire room stilled in anticipation, awaiting their responses from the two. Time seemed to stretch on, the silence almost straining both her family and them.

. . . No.

No.

She couldn't do it.

"…I won't," Xion finally said, shocking everyone in the room. As if her resolution had strengthened after saying that, she looked at her grandfather in the eye, a flame almost burning within the depths of her sapphire eyes. "Never."

And with that, she promptly stood up and left the room.

Roxas, on the other hand, gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry, grandfather. I'll forget what you just said," he said in a tone that was almost deathly quiet before getting up to leave soon after.

Just as Roxas was about to step out of the front door, Cloud had recovered from his initial shock. "Hey, you— He hasn't finished speaking!" But Roxas promptly shut the door closed after him, not listening to his father's words.

Everyone was stunned. Xion was never one to be defiant, and this was probably the first time that she had made an outburst of anger in front of their families. Roxas was usually the hotheaded one, but this time, he had restrained himself. It was as if their personalities had switched.

Vanitas whistled a low note, impressed and amused at the same time.

Nobody had expected things to have escalated as badly as it did just now.

Xion stormed out of her house, overcome with anger and disbelief. In a span of half an hour, she felt like her life had turned upside down.

This has to be just a bad joke.

She almost wanted to cry.

Why was this happening?

She couldn't even think straight anymore.

Hearing the front door open and close behind her, Xion quickly wiped away the forming tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, not wanting whoever it was to see her upset. Turning around, she saw that it was Roxas, who had an expression on his face that she couldn't quite make out.

Blue eyes met blue, and at that moment, the two didn't know what to say to one another, let alone to themselves.

Roxas broke eye contact first, and Xion didn't know why her anger had resurfaced once again at his actions. Muttering undecipherable words under her breath darkly, she turned on her heel and walked away, wanting nothing but peace and quiet alone.

"I'm speechless myself!" Roxas shouted after her, agitation laced in his voice as he watched her retreating back.

Letting out a disgruntled groan once she was out of sight, he roughly ran a hand through his blonde spikes, not caring if his hair was now tousled and sticking up in ungodly ways.

He, himself, couldn't think straight either.

And right now, all he wanted was to get his mind off of what had just happened, and there was only one way he knew how.

"It's me. I'm back."

"Huh?"

Roxas chuckled, not surprised at the person's reaction on the other end of the line. After all, he mostly kept his return a secret, even to his close friends. "I'm back in Twilight Town."

"Twilight Town…?" There was a slight pause after a moment of confusion. "Wait, dude, are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious," Roxas assured, laughing, "I'm standing in front of the department building right now."

"What the—why didn't you tell us?!"

"Well, I am right now, aren't I?" Roxas shot back smartly, his lips quirking into an amused smile.

"You little—"

"I know, I know, Axel," the blonde said, cutting him off before the redhead could begin to berate him even more. "Let's get together with Sora later, alright?"

He could practically hear Axel's smirk from the other end of the line. "Damn right we are."

Hanging up the phone, Roxas gazed up at his college before him. It had been a little more than a few years ever since he was last here, having been served in the Kingdom Army as every male in the worlds were mandated to do due to growing concerns over a second Keyblade War.

Typically, the required amount of time needed to serve in the army was roughly about two years before they were released, but Roxas, ever the determined and loyal one who realized he would be a valuable asset to the army, decided to stay in order to protect the worlds and especially his home. Now that there weren't any current conflicts left that could potentially endanger any of the worlds, he was discharged.

Well, the term 'discharged' was used loosely when it came to the Kingdom Army.

It didn't mean that he was officially free from the army, for if there were any urgent situations that arose in the future, he would have to go back. Because of that, the Kingdom Army conducted boot camps every so often to ensure that none of the soldiers were out of practice and shape.

But Roxas wasn't worried about that for now. There weren't any current issues that were going to endanger any worlds as far as he knew, and the boot camp wasn't going to be held any time soon.

Pushing the entrance doors open, Roxas felt as if he was stepping into a territory that felt familiar yet wasn't at the same time. Ever since he came back, he had been feeling this way everywhere he went.

He let out a small sigh.

It's going to take me a while to get used to it, won't it?

Roxas took his time to walk to his designation, looking around on his way to see if there were any changes. While there were a few slight changes here and there, he was surprised to see that it was the same old department as before. But now he knew why he felt like it was unfamiliar when he first entered the building.

There was new blood in the department.

Roxas cringed. Okay, that didn't sound right.

He was right, however. There was a considerably large amount of new students flitting around and about, and there were only a handful of faces that he's recognized so far.

The females, especially, seemed to like to flit over to him. Every time they laid eyes on him, they would attempt to flirt with him, and every time, he would try to get away as subtly as possible without wanting to hurt their feelings.

He didn't know if he particularly liked the sudden and immense attention he was getting from the girls, but he did know that this was probably the reason why Axel hadn't picked up his call the first time.

In fact, he had to call Axel for the eighth time before the guy had finally answered his call. Shaking his head, he noticed that he had reached his designation without realizing it, his legs seeming to have remembered the way to this particular room.

The door to the room had a small window to it, allowing Roxas to peek in to see if there was a certain someone inside, as he had an inkling that she would be there. Just as he had thought, he caught sight of a redhead, who seemed to be in deep thought as she stared at the paperwork on her desk.

Knocking on the door as to alert the person inside before opening it, the redhead looked up to see who it was, her thoughtful expression soon fading into one of surprise as her eyes landed on him.

"Oh my— Roxas! Is that you?"

The redhead stood up from her desk, her paperwork completely forgotten on the desk and she strode over to the blonde, enveloping him into a friendly hug. Roxas returned the action, noting how she had grown her hair out a bit more ever since he had last seen her.

Moroboshi Kairi was one of his close friends, along with Axel and Sora, who he had graduated high school with. He had expected them to split up and go on their own ways like most adults had told him, only to find out that they were all going to the same college, and coincidentally, all in the same department. Thus, the group continued to be as close as ever together.

"This is a surprise!" she said as she released him with a big smile on her face. "What brings you here?"

Although the question could be assumed to be asking about his little visit to see her, he knew that she was asking about his sudden return back to Twilight Town instead. Letting out a small sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Kairi, Roxas sat down on one of the nearby desks as she remained where she stood, watching him. "Family business," he replied simply.

Kairi's smile faltered a little. Seeing as how his mood had dropped ever so slightly at his response, she had a feeling that something serious had arose if he had returned back home without notifying her and the others. At his vague answer, she knew that he didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

"How are you?" Roxas asked her, wanting to change the subject.

"I've been well!" Kairi decided to not press on about the situation, for she was certain that he would tell her in due time. She couldn't blame him, since she wasn't as close to him like Axel and Sora were.

Figuring that a joke would lighten up his mood, she dramatically let out a sigh as she delicately placed a hand on her cheek. "Although…" Roxas raised an eyebrow at the wistful expression on her face. "My looks have been keeping me too busy lately," she finished, grinning when Roxas snorted.

"Oh, sure," he said, not buying it and causing a blush to appear on the redhead's cheeks as he gave her a look that said all.

Him and Axel knew that Kairi had been crushing on Sora, who just so happened to share mutual feelings also, ever since high school. But Sora, being typical old Sora, was completely dense whenever she would drop hints that indicated her feelings whatsoever. With the proper pushing and help thanks to Roxas and Axel, who were exasperated beyond that point, the two began to date when they finally confessed to one another.

"A-Anyway, you should come see me when I'm the TA," she said after clearing her throat, this time changing the subject herself. "I can help you skip classes."

She gave him a wink, and Roxas couldn't help but laugh. "Would I, a model student, do that?"

Roxas had to admit though; he wasn't particularly a model student during his high school days. While he wasn't an actual delinquent of some sort, he slacked off and would skip classes every so often no doubt thanks to Axel.

It was only until his last two years did he focus more on his studies, leaving that kind of thing behind.

Still, Kairi liked to tease him about it, just for the sake of bringing back good memories.

Roxas was now standing, once again, at the entrance of the department building after catching up briefly with Kairi. A text message soon came from Axel, telling him that he and Sora were on their way to meet up with him.

Trying to look busy or preoccupied by using his phone in hopes that no other girls would swarm him again, a shout that closely resembled a wail from the distance caught his attention, footsteps quickly approaching him at an incredibly fast pace.

"Friend, my good friend!"

Before Roxas could look up, a heavy force on his back almost made him topple over for the second time that day. Turning around, he couldn't help but laugh when big spikes of brown hair blocked his vision. "Hey, Sora."

"How have you been?" an overexcited Sora asked, still latched onto Roxas' back.

"Great," Roxas replied happily, before a long arm slung itself around the two guys' shoulders lazily.

"Well, well… Look at you, Roxas," a voice drawled, his tone amused. "Life in the army has done you well, hasn't it?"

A smirk lifted the blonde's lips, for Axel was hinting towards Roxas' more toned and taller build. While he wasn't as tall as Axel, he had grown considerably from the short teenage boy to an adult man—something that Roxas was thankful for as he remembered how short he was bfore.

"What brought you back all of a sudden?" Sora asked curiously, "Problems at home?"

Almost immediately, Roxas' demeanor fell, once again, as thoughts and concerns from the events earlier that afternoon came back to invade his mind.

"Yeah, something's come up at home…" he muttered, shrugging the two guys off of him gently.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I'm…" Albeit feeling slightly abashed, Roxas finally blurted the words he's been denying to accept ever since he first heard them, "…I'm getting married."

"Huh?"

A/N: I managed to write this chapter in a span of two days, which is a big accomplishment for me, especially since I'm continuously looking back at the Korean movie script ahaha;; I originally planned to post this chapter later, but I'm very limited on internet access at the moment;; Like I mentioned in the first chapter, these first chapters are going to be closely following the Korean movie with the exception of some parts, but sooner or later, the story line is going to mostly stray from that into some original content~ Also, I'm planning for this story to escalate slowly, so hopefully you guys won't mind that too much. After all, this would mean more frequent updates!

I hope that the parts about the Kingdom Army weren't too confusing since I am making this inspired by the movie, so it's similar to conscription in South Korea if you guys didn't quite get it. For the most part though, I'm just making things up according to my own liking ahaha;;

Thank you for reading! Reviews, support, and feedback are welcome!