Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Roxas stared at the three figures stood before him. A smile crept onto his face as he raised a hand to wave to them.
"Um..." he murmured quietly. "Hi!"
The trio peered with interest at the blond boy. All of them were doing their best to appear friendly and welcoming.
"Hiya!"
"Hey there!"
"You must be Roxas."
"I am," the Nobody affirmed.
"I'm Hayner!"
"I'm Pence!"
"And I'm Olette!"
"I know."
That was what Roxas wanted to say as he observed the three teenagers introducing themselves to him. Just the sight of them made him feel wistful and nostalgic inside.
None of them had ever met him before, yet he knew perfectly well who they were.
At least, he had once thought he'd known them. For a long time, he believed that these kids were his good friends who he went to school with and hung out with in Twilight Town. To his shock, it turned out the world he'd been residing in was merely a replica. He'd been dismayed to learn everything about it was merely made of data right down to the people within it - including his friends.
"Sora said you were coming here," Pence said cheerily. "He said he wanted us to meet you."
"He did, did he?"
A knot tightened inside Roxas' stomach. This wasn't his first time encountering the real trio in the true Twilight Town. He'd seen them from inside Sora's body when he'd travelled to this world with Donald and Goofy. It had taken him no time at all to make friends with the Hayner, Pence and Olette - which only added to Roxas' pain over how the versions he'd known were fakes. On saying goodbye to his new friends, everyone had been surprise to see a tear fall from Sora's eye - which no one could tell had actually come from Roxas.
Now here he was, free and independent from Sora, who'd told him to go to the real Twilight Town. It was here Roxas had ran into the real Hayner, Pence and Olette, all of whom were keen to meet him.
"So you're a friend of Sora's, huh?" Olette inquired.
"Yeah..." Roxas nodded. "The two of us have always been pretty close to one another..."
"Well then, any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours!" Hayner broke into a broad grin. "As far as I'm concerned, you're one of us, Roxas!"
Great warmth filled Roxas body. He was overwhelmed by how these three teenagers genuinely wanted him to be a part of their group. There was no data to be found masquerading as people here. These were the real Hayner, Pence and Olette of Twilight Town - and they all wanted to be his friend.
"Glad to be part of your gang!" Roxas declared happily.
The others jumped up and punched the air. They were overjoyed to have made a new friend.
"You'll have lots of fun with us, Roxas! We have plenty of places around here to kick back and relax in..." Hayner paused, lowering his voice. "That is when Olette is not bossing us to do our homework!"
"I heard that!" Olette frowned. "And don't think us making friends with Roxas is gonna get you out of brushing up on your arithmetic!"
"Aww!" Pence sulked.
"Who cares about a bunch of numbers?" Hayner raised a fist. "I got more important things to think about - like coming out on top of the Struggle Tournament. You should come see me take part in it, Roxas! You'll be wowed by what a tough fighter I am!"
Roxas chuckled. He knew all about the fighter tournament from his time in the replica Twilight Town. He was eager to take sign himself up in the real one, particularly so that he could shock the real Hayner by managing to win it.
"Hey, you wanna come with us to the station, Roxas?" Hayner suggested. "We like to sit at the clock tower and eat ice cream. Care to join us?"
Roxas beamed brightly. The activity which had been suggested to him was precisely his kind of thing to do in this world. He was all too eager do to it here with his old-turned-new friends.
"I sure would!"
"Great! Alright then, just follow us! This way to the station!"
Roxas followed the trio out of the town square and up the lane that led to the railway station. There was no need for them to show him the way as he knew Twilight Town all too well. He was extremely happy to be here with the actual Hayner, Pence and Olette. He had to remember to thank Sora for allowing them to become a part of his life and be his friends for real.
He was also determined to remember to get them to meet some certain friends of his own. Roxas was keep to introduce them to Axel and Xion. Getting his fellow Nobodies to join them in sitting at the clocktower and eating ice cream would turn this little gang in Twilight Town into a bigger one filled with more fun and laughter.
THE END