UPDATE FOR ROXIRI WEEK 2023! Yay! I'm posting this one-shot here because it's not my favorite I've written, but I still hope you like it! Enjoy!
Day 5: Body Swap
Roxas groans as he sits up. He had blacked out a minute there. It was a bright flash of light and a shout of "Watch out!" from Merlin, then nothing. He blinks and waits. No piercing pain—that's a good sign. He looks at Merlin who is waving his hand over the smoking cauldron.
"Well," the wizard says, "that was unexpected."
"What happened?" Roxas asks.
"It seems I miscalculated. Are you alright?"
Roxas nods.
"And you Roxas?" Merlin looks over his shoulder to the left.
"I just said I'm fine," Roxas says again.
Merlin's head snaps to Roxas. Roxas tilts his head and gives him a curious look.
"Oh dear."
"Oh dear what?"
Roxas looks to where the voice came from and balks. His eyes stare back at him. He sees the realization spread across his features. Not-Roxas points at Roxas. "What are you doing with me?!"
"Me?!" Roxas looks down at his clothes and realizes they aren't his clothes. They're Ventus's. His hands fly to his face—no, Ventus's face. "I didn't do this! Merlin, what did you do?"
"Like I said—miscalculated." Merlin sticks his spoon on the concoction. He examines the goopy paste at the end of it. "Might take me a bit to fix this."
Roxas pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath. "How long?"
"Give me the day."
"A day?" Ventus heaves a sigh and lays back down on the ground.
Roxas grumbles to himself as he gets up and heads to where Ventus is. It's quite the out of body experience, seeing himself doing things he isn't actually doing. He feels like he should have some control over this. He gives Ventus his hand. He expects something weird to happen when he grabs his own hand but nothing does. And then Ventus is on his feet and Roxas is staring at his own face, calculating the look in his own eyes.
"We can survive this, right?" Roxas asks.
Ventus, in a way only Ventus can, turns his mood instantly and laughs. "We can totally survive this!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
It seems they can survive this. The two debate for a while on what exactly to do, if to tell the others or not. As they walk back to the castle in Radiant Garden, Ventus argues vehemently for them to pretend to be one another. Roxas has to continually shoot down the idea. He doesn't want to exacerbate the condition. It's weird enough he has to argue with his own face. He would rather not be reminded every time he has to see his own face making expressions he isn't sure he's ever made. He definitely plans on staying away from mirrors.
"This isn't funny."
"But think of how hilarious it will be if we utilize it."
"It's already awkward. Can't we just, I don't know, sit and wait in our own rooms?"
"That's boring even for you."
"Ouch."
"Oh, come on. You've been a stick in the mud this whole trip."
"I'm just tired, ok?"
"The last mission was three days ago. We came here to hang out, touch base before we have to move out again. Have some fun! Think about it, what do you want to do while you're here that's fun? Absolutely anything! The sky is the limit. Just pick!"
Roxas sighs. They've reached the gates. When he looks at Ventus—at his own face, ugh!—he is taken aback by the earnestness in his own face. He wants to feel that himself.
"Anything," Ventus whispers. "Just say it."
Roxas looks at his feet and kicks a pebble. "I guess…I mean, I would hang out with—I've always thought about…"
"Oh! That's it! You would finally ask out Kairi."
Roxas's eyes snap to Ventus's overly eager features. "How did you—?" Then he realizes. "Ventus, no."
Roxas reaches out a second too late because Ventus is fast. How is he that fast?! Or Roxas is since it's his body. But still!
The chase is on.
"Ventus, get back here!"
Ventus is most certainly not listening. He bursts through the front entrance and continues his dead sprint with Roxas hot on his heels. Naminé, poor, unsuspecting Naminé, is the first person they see.
"Where's Kairi?" Ventus calls to her as he runs in her direction.
Naminé clutches her sketchbook to her chest as if it will protect her. "Um, garden?"
"Thanks!" Ventus says as he breezes by her with Roxas passing only a moment later.
Two turns and three hallways later they are out the back entrance. Ventus nearly collides with Terra and Riku who are sparring in the green space.
Ventus points behind him. "Help! Stop Ventus!"
"I'm not Ventus, you jerk!" Roxas shouts. He realizes this doesn't help his case because Terra and Riku immediately attempt to get in his way. And for a brief moment, Roxas is pleased to know they would follow his request without question, but now is not the time for those thoughts.
Roxas switches into combat. He doesn't draw his keyblades. He isn't even sure he could while being in a different body. He dodges Terra's attempt to grab him, but Riku plays dirty and trips him. Roxas rolls and leaps back to his feet before Riku can manage to hold him down.
All this costs him precious time. By the time Roxas makes it further into the garden, he sees Ventus waving down Kairi who moves to greet him, a smile on her face, unaware of the chaos about to ambush her. Roxas sees his body skid to a stop, and he pushes his legs harder than he ever has. He sees Ventus open his mouth, preparing to say the words Roxas won't, and Roxas can't let that happen. He can't! He—
He tackles so hard into Ventus that not only does he knock every bit of air from Ventus's lungs, he also is completely winded. That doesn't stop him from scrambling to his feet and wheezing to a shocked Kairi, "Don't—Don't listen—" a gasp, a swallow, "—to a thing he—he says."
And then Roxas has absolutely no air left because he himself is tackled by an all too enthusiastic Riku. It's like being hit by the train in Twilight Town—you know, if it was going faster than the ten miles an hour it usually does. He's got to give props to Riku, he utilizes every ounce of his weight to be effective in combat.
Roxas lies there underneath the weight of Riku, wheezing and gasping for breath, and for a moment he's grateful he looks pathetic like this in Ventus's body instead of his own.
"Uh…" Kairi looks to each individual present. "Did I miss something?"
Ventus is on his feet now and says to her, "I was wondering if you wanted—"
"If you wanted to go out with me!" Roxas shouts with what little air he managed to acquire.
Kairi looks at him with slight disappointment on her face, maybe even a bit of pity which makes Roxas's heart ache along with his lungs.
"Oh, Ventus, that's really sweet, but I don't think—"
"I'm not Ventus!" Roxas shouts again, totally and completely frustrated. He tries wriggling free from his captor.
"Seriously," Ventus says, finally helping, and looking awfully smug about it too, "let him up. Let him finish."
Riku practically pulls Roxas up. Roxas shakes out the wrinkles in shirt and looks at those beautiful violet eyes that look back at him with complete confusion.
"I'm Roxas," Roxas says, still fully aware of his face right now. "Merlin made a mistake and switched Ven and me." Roxas yanks Ventus beside him. He points at Ventus's face which is Roxas's face. "This face is my face, but I'm stuck in here," Roxas points to Ventus's face which he dons, "until Merlin can fix this."
As Roxas speaks, Kairi's eyebrows go higher with surprise.
"So I was the one asking you out, but Ventus thought it would be helpful," Roxas says this part through gritted teeth. He also may be gripping Ventus's arm a little too hard, "if it also came from my face, not his."
"Oh," Kairi draws out the vowel. "Ok, I got it now. Yes."
"You believe me?" Roxas asks, relieved.
"Yes and yes."
"Yeah."
Ventus elbows Roxas in the ribcage. "She said yes."
"Yeah, she gets it," Roxas says.
"I said yes, Roxas," Kairi says with a smile and a giggle.
"Yes what?"
"Yes, I'll go out with you."
Three heartbeats of silence before—"Really?"
Kairi giggles and nods. She steps in between Roxas and Ventus, linking her arms with either one of theirs. She looks up at Roxas, "Really, but let's go back to Merlin. I rather like your original face, and that's the one I'd like to see when we are together."
They start to walk back. Roxas glances over to see Ventus's smug look of triumph, and Roxas can't seem to find it in himself to be mad. No, maybe he will be thanking him later.
Later.
After he gets his face back.
