Sora wasted no time and knelt beside the anxious boy, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. Roxas, feeling Sora's familiar presence, calmed down and leaned in, a warm feeling radiating from his chest.
"Roxas, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. You didn't deserve any of that. You deserve to be your own person. I promise I'll protect you. I won't let that happen again."
Roxas couldn't help it. He threw his arms around Sora and held on tight, allowing himself to be comforted.
"That's right. And if Sora's our friend, then so are you." Donald added.
"Yeah, hyuck! Looks like you're stuck with us, Roxas."
Roxas and Sora smiled at the memories of their time in Hollow Bastion. No matter what challenges they faced, they would always have each other. Sora got up slowly and grabbed Roxas by the hand to help him up. Roxas felt a stinging pain. Sora held onto his torso to keep him steady. The pain subsided, but their reunion was interrupted by a piercing explosion coming from outside, promptly followed by silence. Without missing a beat, their keyblades materialized.
"You guys stay with Roxas. I'll go ahead." insisted Sora.
"Oh no you don't! I'm coming with you. Goofy, Jiminy, you two stay with Roxas." Donald interjected, and with that, Sora and Donald set off to explore the mansion.
"Don't worry Roxas. We're professionals at dealing with bad guys." Goofy assured him.
"I'd love to tell you more, but my journal entries got erased." added Jiminy.
"That's okay," Roxas replied. "Sora and I share the same memories... well, mostly. I can't remember what happened before you fell asleep."
"Neither can we." Jiminy responded. "Sora and Mickey sealed the Door to Darkness after defeating Ansem, and Riku was left inside. Everything after that is a blur." His attention turned to the pouch and notebook lying on the floor. "Maybe these can give us a clue as to what's going on. We'd better take them just in case."
As Sora and Donald approached the foyer of the mansion, they were greeted by the stray Nobodies that still lingered. Sora made haste, taking out a good number with his keyblade, slashing and dodging with precision. Donald took out the more evasive ones using Stopga and Thundaga and, finally, they finished the rest off with Flare Force, filling the mansion with light.
Once the threat was eliminated, Sora and Donald continued outside but no one was around. Confused, they headed back inside to fetch the rest of the team. They unanimously decided to exit the mansion and investigate Twilight Town, a place Sora and Roxas were very familiar with.
Roxas held onto the pouch and notebook. At least they would have extra munny, and Jiminy was eager to analyze the drawings left behind. Sora made sure to stay close to Roxas as they made their way through the woods. Roxas had a slight limp and was prone to shaking and overstimulation. None of them understood how Roxas had been able to return, but they were grateful nonetheless. Sora felt a strange sensation, a connection to Roxas similar to what he had with his friends who had hearts. But much stronger.
Sora snapped out of his thoughts when the group arrived in Twilight Town, crawling through a sizable crack in a wall that separated the woods from the town. The whole place was in disarray as people bickered about mysterious men in coats who had recently passed through. They eventually ran into a group of teens all about the same age as Sora and Roxas. The teens were locked in a shouting match, and a fight was bound to break out.
Roxas gasped as he immediately recognized the teens, jogging Sora's memories of Data Twilight Town.
"You didn't do jack to help!" screamed Hayner.
"We were out here fending off those foul creatures while you were busy pissing your pants!" Seifer screamed back.
"If anyone pissed their pants, it's Rai! Look, I even see a wet spot!" Pence shouted, pointing at Rai's sweatpants. Olette rolled her eyes.
"That's not cool, ya know! I just sweat a lot because I'm so hydrated! I'd never ruin my sick look by pissing my pants!" blurted Rai. Olette stared blankly at him in disbelief at the words coming out of his mouth.
"Yeah, don't be jealous of our style. You could look this good, too, if you could afford it." Fuu said smugly.
"We were warning the shopkeepers! Some of them couldn't evacuate, so we helped them cover up their windows and doors!" replied Hayner, ignoring Fuu and Rai.
"We also rescued the cat that got stuck on the roof of the candy shop. Vivi even helped." Olette added. Vivi sheepishly nodded in agreement.
"Don't side with those losers, Vivi!" shouted Seifer.
"Hey, don't yell at him! He's the only one of you with sense!" Hayner snapped. Seifer and Hayner got in each other's faces, both ready to take the first swing.
Roxas ran forward, surprising Sora, who tried to stop him.
"Now's not the time to fight! There's some really bad guys who are probably still wandering around town. We should work together instead of getting at each other's throats." Roxas said. Hayner looked at the newcomer, mildly impressed but moreso confused.
"Tch! For all we know, he could be one of the intruders!" Seifer spat. Those words stung, leaving Roxas feeling guilty. He had once been a part of the Organization, so Seifer was technically right. Roxas lowered his head in shame.
Sora could sense the distress Roxas was feeling. He stepped forward, crossing his arms, and glared at Seifer. Goofy and Donald followed suit. Seifer backed off, realizing he was outnumbered by these newcomers. He muttered something under his breath as he and his gang took their leave.
"Roxas, are you okay? You're shaking." Sora whispered as he gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine, Sora. Don't worry about it." Roxas swatted his hand away, embarrassed.
"Hey, that was pretty cool of you. Have we met before?" Hayner tried to act nonchalant but couldn't shake the feeling they'd met before.
"Uh... n-no, but I may have seen you around. I know the area. I came to watch the Struggle Tournament a while back." Lying was too easy, and it made Roxas uneasy. "My name's Roxas and this is Sora, Donald, and Goofy."
"Nice to meet you. My name's Hayner. The wise guy over here is Pence, and Olette is the cool one. That guy you told off was Seifer by the way. He's the current Struggle champion."
"If I'm the cool one, what does that make you, Hayner?" Olette teased, unable to hide her slight blush.
"The handsome one, obviously!" Pence and Olette couldn't help but laugh. Hayner just grinned and shrugged it off.
"Hey, maybe if Roxas joins our team, we can steal the championship from Seifer."
"Pence, don't pressure him. He just got here, but we'd love to hang out. Did you finish your summer homework, by the way?" Roxas stammered, but before he could respond to Olette, Sora turned to Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy.
"Hey, do you guys think Roxas will be safe here while we look for Riku and the king?"
"I don't know." Donald groaned.
"Hey, I'm not a child. I have a keyblade, too." Roxas interjected.
"To be fair, I remember you did give Riku a run for his munny in the Realm of Darkness." Sora stated, smugly placing his hands behind his head. Roxas wasn't exactly fond of that memory, and Sora noticed.
"B-but maybe we can talk about this some other time. We could all use a break. I'm starving." Roxas agreed and turned to Hayner.
"We were thinking about grabbing a bite. Wanna come with?"
"Sure, we know the perfect spot!"
And with that, they headed off. Pence filled Roxas in on the happenings around town. Roxas happily played dumb. He used the munny from his pouch to buy an extra-large deluxe pizza and loaded fries. Roxas made sure to keep the pouch concealed from Olette, who had an identical one. She took munny out of hers to buy another pizza and a liter of pop.
Soon, they were all laughing over greasy pizza and spilling their drinks. Roxas got along well with the teens, which was a tremendous weight off his shoulders. Goofy had to stop Donald and Sora from eating the whole pizza, getting a chuckle out of Roxas. They were famished after their year-long slumber, but Sora was just happy to see Roxas smiling with his old friends. He deserved this moment of peace, and Sora hoped to protect that smile no matter what.
They were stuffed, but that didn't stop them from buying sea-salt ice cream. They all enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the plaza as the sun set. Goofy snuck Jiminy a few bites, but the little guy got a massive brain freeze. Roxas had to stop Sora and Donald from choking on their popsicle sticks after they practically inhaled their ice cream. Eventually, they said goodbye to the teens as night fell.
Using the remaining munny, Roxas was able to get a decent room for the five of them. Roxas smiled at Sora, and for once, everything felt right. If only Axel and Naminé were here.