Hey there everyone, good evening, and how’s it going?  Well then, here is a new story of mine that I shall be posting here, and as you can see, the title of the story is Bokutachi No Hibi, which means Our Days in Japanese!  This story is about Roxas and Xion, and it’ll be a high school life/drama story.  Before beginning to read the story, I wanted to tell you a bit about how I came to writing it.

 

So then, my inspirations for writing this story are Caelum Mare, for by reading his Kingdom Hearts fanfiction, titled Art of Attraction, I was able to get the basis for this story, so for that, I thank him very much!  And my dear Inori helped me flesh out my idea by searching for last names for the characters that will appear here, and by giving me suggestions for this story, and she even came up with the title!  So yeah, what you’ll see here is a collaboration between me and my dear Inori, so I’d like to thank her for supporting me in writing this story and for helping me out with it! This story is dedicated to her! Without further ado, here is the story!  Enjoy! 

 

Prologue: A Confusing Dream

(Start Song Here)

 

  “Can we stay together…?”

  “Is it too late?”

  “There’s no stopping this…I wish we could have stayed together…”

  “No!  Don’t go!”

  “Gaze up at the stars…and remember me…”

 

  I suddenly wake up, gasping for breath.  Sweat is dropping down from my brow.  My head hurts and I feel so confused…I look towards my alarm clock and notice that it’s 3:00am.  I slowly lean back on my bed, looking up at the ceiling, the whole room darkened and quiet.  My name is Roxas Harada, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve always had this same dream.  And in this dream, I always hear the voice of a girl, but I can never seem to picture who she is.  Someone from my past? Someone I’ve yet to meet?  Someone who only exists in my dreams?  The only clue I have from this dream is that it takes place in what seems to be an island, a beautiful island paradise, near a palm tree.  The images always blur whenever I try to focus on what I’m seeing in the dream.  I really don’t know what to make of it.  I’ve tried to talk to my brothers about it, but I don’t think they can help me.  So for all this time, all I’ve been able to do is wonder.  Wonder what the dream means…

(End Song Here)

 

  Not being able to fall asleep, I wake up and yawn and stretch my legs, and then I lazily open the door and walk downstairs to get myself a glass of milk.  Jeez, and tomorrow’s school!  Great…all I know is that tomorrow I won’t have a spectacular first day.  Anyways, I head down and then head towards the kitchen, opening the fridge, and then I spot the gallon of milk.  Just as I’m about to look for a glass, I suddenly feel something on my shoulder, and then I give out a startled yell.  When I turn around, I see my fraternal twin brother, Vanitas, laughing , but trying not to sound too loud.  “Ha, you should have seen the look on your face, it was priceless!”  he said, clearly enjoying himself.  “Uh-huh, yeah, I must have looked totally ridiculous!” I replied back to him sarcastically.

 

  Vanitas then put his arm around my shoulder and smiled, laughing continuously.  “You know, that’s what I love most about you Roxas!  You’ve got one great sense of humor!” he said, shaking his head while smiling.  I simply nodded and ran my hand through my spiky hair.  He noticed something was up, and then he leaned his back to the kitchen counter.  “Hey bro, what’s up?  You look down in the dumps.” he asked.  The way he asked it was in an “aw, what’s wrong with my brother?” kind of tone.  God, he sounded annoying.  But I knew he meant well, so I turned around and looked at him straight in the eyes.  It was a little intimidating looking at his eyes since they were yellow.  I mean seriously, his eyes were shining through the dark like a cat, and it was creepy!  And with all that spiky black hair, and black pajamas, all I could see were his eyes, and it gave me the creeps.

 

  To shake him off, I tried to come up with an excuse.  “Well, I just don’t feel sleepy, that’s all.  It also could be because I’m a little stressed out because of school tomorrow…” I said to him, hoping that he’d buy this.  I mean, sure, school wasn’t the problem, but I wasn’t a big fan of school either, so hopefully, he’d just buy this story and carry on.  But unfortunately, because he’s my brother, he knew that wasn’t the case.  “Uh-huh, sure.  You can’t fool me, goldilocks, something’s got you thinking, and I want to know what it is.” he said, this time saying it in a mischievous voice, like if I didn’t tell him, he’d probably give me a wedgie, or worse, he’d take my glass of milk and throw it to my face!  Oh, and I knew that he was capable of doing that!  He was that much of a jerk!  “Umm…” I began to say.

 

  “What is going on down there?” a voice echoed from upstairs.  The kitchen lights turned on, and I covered my face, for the sudden light made my vision blurry.  When my eyes adjusted, I saw my identical twin brother Ventus, standing in front of me and Vanitas with his arms crossed and with a very irritated expression on his face.  “Do you two know what time it is!?  What the heck are you doing down here!?  You two should be sleeping right now!”  he exclaimed.  Vanitas was about to explain what had happened, but Ventus cut him short.  “I don’t want to hear it.  Just go upstairs already!” he said.  Vanitas rolled his eyes and scoffed at him.  “Jeez, okay, okay, I’m going, Sergeant Killjoy!  Good night.” he said as he walked upstairs and went to his room.  Ventus then turned his attention to me.  I don’t know what was worse.  Having Vanitas give me a wedgie, or Ventus’ death stare.  Ventus, or Ven, how we liked to call him, was the mature one, always looking out for me and Vanitas.  “Well, isn’t it time you go to bed too?” Ven asked.  “I just came down for a glass of milk.” I said to him.

 

  And so with that, I quickly served myself the glass of milk, drank it, and then left the glass in the sink.  “Good night.” I said to Ven, giving him a hug, and then I turned around and headed upstairs.  “Hey Roxas.  Are you okay?” he asked me.  I wanted to turn around and tell him what was up, but I decided to ignore the question and I headed towards my room.  As soon as I opened the door to my room, I took a few seconds to go in.  I was still thinking about the dream.  After a few more seconds, I decided to dismiss my current thoughts.  I closed the door and headed for bed.  I needed to get some sleep for tomorrow.  We were going to start high school tomorrow.  A new school, new faces, tons of trouble, and a pack of evil students to complicate my existence.  Whoop dee doo…

 

  I tossed and turned in bed, trying to get some sleep, but I felt restless.  I hated when this happened.  I then sat on my bed, looking at my alarm clock.  It was now 4:00am.  Great…just perfect.  Only three and a half hours of sleep left before school. Well, for the heck of it, I just decided to take my IPad, which was on the night counter beside me, and I plugged my headphones in to listen to some music.  I had a few songs here and there.  Some from American bands and pop artists and some Japanese songs added in for good measure too.  Since I didn’t know what song I wanted to put, I pressed shuffle, and then suddenly, Everything Goes Black from Skillet began to play.  It was from their most recent album, Rise.  One of my favorites by far.  As I closed my eyes and listened to the rhythm of the guitar, bass and drums, the lyrics started to come in.  “Chasing these shadows…around this darkened room…I’ve lain here so long I don’t even want to move…I need a minute now to heal…I need a minute now, to remember how to feel…whenever you’re gone away…the darkness hides the day…whenever you’re gone, the bleeding won’t stop…it hurts till you come back…everything goes black…everything goes black…”

 

  And just like that, I closed my eyes listening to the song, and I started to get sleepier.  But instead of just sleeping, now I saw the faint, blurry image of a girl.  The same girl from the same dream.  “Huh, I guess I can’t help but dream of you.  That figures.” I said to myself, giving in to the gentle calmness of sleep, finally managing to fall into a deep sleep.

----------------------------------------

 

Who is the mysterious girl from Roxas’ dreams?  Why is it that he can’t stop having the same dream?  That is an answer that Roxas himself does not know, but he’ll have to leave those thoughts be for now, for he, Ventus and Vanitas will start high school the next day.  What will await them?  Find out in Chapter One: “The First Day.”

 

Well everyone, I hope that you all found this prologue to your liking!  This story will have fifty chapters, so I hope you stick around and enjoy it, for I’ll be posting chapters as often as I can!  Oh, and the story's perspective will shift from first person to third person views.  Thank you all very much for reading the prologue, and make sure to post your comments on what you thought of it!  Until next time, stay tuned for the next chapter everyone! 

This was interesting.

Wow, I wish Seifer stayed the sweet person he used to be when he met Fuu. I can't wait to read the next chapter.

Hey there everyone, good evening!  Here’s another chapter!  I hope that you all enjoy it!  I decided that it'd be nice to go a little more in depth with Vanitas' character, and I think this chapter is the best way to do it! It’s about time that Vanitas got his own little chapter!  Now then, this chapter will be from Xion’s perspective, so I hope that you all enjoy!

 

Chapter Seventeen: Vanitas The Gentleman

 

  The next day, I woke up feeling drowsy.  Ven, Vanitas, Tidus and I had gone out of the hospital late at night, and by the time I had gotten home, it was already past midnight.  I had taken a shower and gone to sleep, so waking up just a few hours later wasn’t anything out of this world, but still, I felt tired.  But that would soon be fixed with a cold splash of water to my face.  With that thought in my mind, I went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water in my face, and in no time, I was awake.  I then went downstairs and packed myself something to eat since I didn’t feel like eating breakfast right now.  I then went towards the bus stop, and just a few short minutes later, the bus arrived, and I got in.  There weren’t that many students on the bus today, and when I looked outside, I noticed why.  It was very cloudy.  Most of the students would probably stay in their homes today, but I had nothing to do at home, so I preferred going to school instead.  As I sat on my seat, I noticed that Ven was sleeping, but Vanitas was wide awake, and he soon got out of his seat and sat next to me.

 

  “Well good morning there Xion!  How are you feeling today?”  he asked with a sly grin.  God, how I hated womanizers.  But he looked and sounded so goofy that I couldn’t help but giggle.

 

  “I’m doing good thanks, just a little sleepy, but I see that you’re wide awake!” I answered him, and at that, he shrugged.

 

  “Of course I’m wide awake!  I need to be able to look presentable for all the cuties in this school!  A man’s gotta do his best to build a reputation!” he explained, putting his arm around my shoulder.  I blushed and then quickly moved away.

 

  “Back off Vanitas, before I hit you!” I growled at him, and at that, he laughed.

 

  “Aw come on, I’m just trying to be a little romantic! Ha, don’t worry Xion, I know that you’re Roxas’ girl.  If there’s anything I respect, it’s my brothers feelings.” he said with a now serious face.  His tone indicated that he meant those words.

 

  “Vanitas…can you tell me about Roxas?  You know, before High School and all?” I asked him.  At that, Vanitas smiled and closed his eyes.  He then looked at me and crossed his arms.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Well, you see, Roxas has never been the type of person that fits in.  He’s always been what you would call an outcast.  Usually he’d be all by his lonesome, and he always kept his feelings to himself.  He’d never tell me or Ven about his problems, and I’ve always thought that it’s because he doesn’t want to worry others about his own problems.  Ha, the idiot can be really stupid sometimes.  Ven and I have watched over him during the years, and our neighbor, Claire, has also been there for him.  It was only when we entered High School now that he finally started getting out of his shell.  Don’t get me wrong, he still tends to keep things to himself, but ever since he’s met you, he’s been changing, little by little.” Vanitas explained, and I looked at him in shock.  I never expected that Vanitas could be this serious.

 

  “Wow…I never knew.  Poor Roxas.” I said as I looked out the window.

 

  “Yeah…but I’ll tell you one thing.  Roxas has a strong heart.  Even though he’s been through a lot, he’s always been able to hang on.  He always fights back and never lets despair take a hold of him.  That’s something I admire about him…I don’t think I’d ever be able to have that quality.” Vanitas said as he looked at his hands and then towards me.

 

  “You know Vanitas?  You’re not as stupid as I thought you were.” I said teasingly to cheer him up, and, hilariously, he gave me a glare.

 

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?” he angrily replied, and shortly after, we couldn’t help but laugh together.  This was nice.  At least we were able to keep ourselves cheerful despite the situation with Roxas.  God,  I missed him…

(End Song Here)

 

  After a few more minutes, we arrived to school, and Vanitas woke Ven up and we got out of the bus and went our separate ways.  As I was going to the classroom, I couldn’t help but get the sudden urge to follow Vanitas.  Don’t ask me why, but I just had that sudden urge.  I felt curious about him.  But the truth is, the way he talked about Roxas seemed to indicate he’s a far more serious person than I had thought him to be at first.  And so, with that in mind, I wanted to follow him, to see where he’d go.  Discreetly, I began following him, and I made my way past a few students and kept walking forward.  Then, Vanitas turned to the right, and then I walked towards a nearby tree and peeked over to him, and there he was, walking towards a group of girls!  Then again, it didn’t surprise me.  Still, I wanted to see what he’d do.

 

  “Hey there girls, did you miss me?” Vanitas said with his overconfident tone.  I rolled my eyes and sighed.  Typical Vanitas.  Then I saw one of the girls wearing a worried face.

 

  “Vanitas, it’s Tanya!  She hasn’t talked to us ever since she came!  She looks like she’s depressed!”  one of the girls said.  Vanitas then looked at the girl seriously and put his hand on her shoulder.

 

  “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her.” he said, and with that, he walked over to Tanya, who was sitting in a nearby bench, and the other girls gathered around.

 

  “Hey there, my lovely Tanya, what’s the matter?” Vanitas asked in his overconfident tone again.  Tanya looked at Vanitas with tearful eyes and sobbed.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Vanitas…it’s my brother…he died last night of a heart attack!” Tanya declared, and everyone gasped, now understanding her pain.  I couldn’t believe the poor girl was suffering such pain!  Now I expected Vanitas to try to take advantage of this opportunity.

 

  “Tanya…look, these kinds of things happen.  Life can be a beautiful thing, but sometimes it can be cruel as well.  We never know how long or how short our time on this Earth will be, so we have to try our best to live every day for the moment and never have any regrets.  I know that when a family member is lost, there is a great deal of pain and sorrow, because after all, our family is our most sacred bond.  I’m truly sorry about what happened to your brother, I really am, but he wouldn’t want you to be crying.  Why, I think that what he’d really want is for you to keep on giving everyone your beautiful smile and live every day in his loving memory!  He’d want you to keep enjoying every day of your life, and he’d want you to succeed in life.  I’m not saying that you can’t cry.  Cry as much as you need, but know that your brother will always be with you, wherever you go.  He’ll always help you through tough times, and he’ll do his best to guide you in life.  He will always remain alive within you.” Vanitas said.  I could not believe what I had just heard.  Never did I expect those words to come out of Vanitas’ mouth!

 

  “Vanitas…I don’t know what to say…” Tanya said while wiping off her tears.  At that, Vanitas chuckled softly and winked.

 

  “Well, you could always give me a kiss!” he said teasingly, and at that, Tanya blushed blood red, and one of the other girls was just about to hit him, and Vanitas dodged and backed away.

 

  “Vanitas, get back here!”  one of the girls said, and at that, Vanitas shook his head.

 

  “I’m just kidding!  But seriously though, live every day in your brother’s memory, and you’ll be fine.  He’ll always be with you.” Vanitas said with a tender smile to Tanya.  At that, she stood up and smiled and bowed appreciatively to him.

 

  “Thank you so much Vanitas, your words meant so much!”  Tanya happily replied, and with that, the other girls flocked to Vanitas’ side.  He laughed and raised his arms.

 

  “Ladies, ladies, please!  There’s enough of me to go around!” he said while chuckling, and then he walked with the girls towards the school courtyard.

(End Song Here)

 

  That’s Vanitas for you. I had to admit that I never saw this coming.  All this time, I had thought that Vanitas was just a pervy, obnoxious skirt chaser who only wanted to date girls for the fun of it, but after hearing everything he just said to that Tanya girl, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Vanitas was actually a caring, kindhearted person, a person who was deeper to earth than I could have ever imagined!  The way he talked about Roxas, plus the way he spoke to Tanya all made me change my view of him drastically.  I was impressed by what I had just seen.  Now I had a newfound respect for Vanitas.  I’d never see him the same way ever again.  I then smiled and looked up to the sky, and thought about how lucky Roxas is to have a brother like Vanitas.  And I’m sure Ven would agree as well.  They seemed to be really close.  Having seen what I had come to see, I stood up and walked towards the classroom.  I’d be a few minutes late, but it was worth it.  As I entered the classroom, I noticed that Namine, the girl I had met before, was sitting on a desk next to mine.  She seemed heavily focused on what she was drawing.

 

  “Hey there Namine.” I said as I broke her focus, and she looked up at me and smiled.  She was just about done with her drawing.

 

  “Oh, hello there Xion, it’s nice to see you again!” Namine said politely, and then I took a closer look at her drawing.

 

  “Wow, aren’t those Disney characters?” I asked as I saw the detail and shadowing of the drawing.  She smiled and nodded.

 

  “Yes.  I drew Mickey, Donald and Goofy dressed as the Three Musketeers.  I plan on coloring it later on.” she explained as she added the finishing touches to the characters.

 

  “Ah, I see.  So then, what are you doing here?  Is there something you have to ask the professor?” I asked as I sat down and got my notebook out along with my pencil and eraser.

 

  “Oh, well, you see, the thing is that since I’m in the advanced program, I need more credits in order to pass this grade.  I need about three more classes to pass so that I can be able to get the credits I need.  Since I’ve always loved art, I decided to go for the Advanced Art program as soon as I got into this school, and I haven’t regretted a bit of it.  I’ve made so many good friends, I’ve learned to use many more different art skills, and well, I’ve been able to make even better drawings with said skills.  And so, since I could choose the classes I wanted to take for my extra credits, I decided to take this one too.  It looks like we’ll be classmates now.  I hope we can become great friends!” she said with a sweet smile, and I smiled back and extended out my hand to shake hers.

 

  “It’ll be a pleasure being your classmate.” I said to her, and with that, we both smiled, and soon after, class was in session.  During class, we’d pass each other notes without the professor noticing.  We’d been doing that for well over thirty minutes.

 

  “Hey, can I ask you something Xion?” was written in the paper.  I then wrote down on the paper and passed it on to her.

 

  “Yeah, what is it?” I had written down.  After a few minutes, she passed the paper on to me.

 

  “Are you friends with that blonde boy?”  she had asked.  I then froze.  Could she have been meaning Roxas?  I then answered her question with a question of my own.

 

  “Do you mean Roxas?” I asked.  Then I immediately received the paper again.

 

  “Yes, that’s him.  You see, I’ve seen him around school from time to time, sometimes alone, sometimes with you or with a boy.  Do you know if…he has a girlfriend?”  she asked.  No sooner than I had read the question, I felt my blood drain from my body.

 

  She was interested in Roxas?  It seemed to be that she was a secret admirer.  I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to write.  I felt my heart pounding and racing to my throat, and I felt my body shivering.  Was this jealousy?  Was this what I was feeling right now?  I didn’t know what I was feeling!  All I knew is that after having read Namine’s question, I got very uneasy, but I did my best to hide it.  I didn’t want Namine to think she’d struck a nerve.  Luckily, the professor started walking down towards us while he was explaining the science of metamorphosis, meaning that I couldn’t pass notes anymore for the time being.  I didn’t know what to answer Namine.  I love Roxas…and I know he loves me too, but we aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend.  Gah, I didn’t know what to do!

 

  “Now then students…” the professor was starting to say, but not soon after the bell rang, and I quickly stood up and made my way out of the classroom.

 

  “Hey Xion, where are you going?” Namine asked.  She was expecting an answer.

 

  “Sorry Namine, but I just remembered something important I had to take care of!  We can talk about this when we see each other again!” I said, pretending to act casual.  I couldn’t have been more panicked.  Then, suddenly, I bumped into Vanitas.

 

  “Well hey, where’s the fire, princess?” he said with a smile, and I grabbed his hand and made a run for it, dashing past the other students.

 

  “Just come with me quickly!” I said to him as I ran.

 

  “Here we go again…geez Xion, would you slow down, what’s this about?” he asked.

 

  “I’ll explain in a moment!” I said as I continued running until we were at the same spot I had seen him talk with Tanya this morning, and since no one was around, I sighed of relief.  Vanitas looked at me with a puzzled face.

 

  “Mind telling me what’s going on?” he asked with his arms crossed.  And with that, I explained the whole situation to him.

 

  “So…what should I do?” I asked him after finishing my explanation.  Vanitas thought long and hard about this before answering, but then he sat down on the bench and put his hands together.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Well, this is certainly a very interesting situation you’re in right now Xion.  I mean, you and Roxas are close as can be, and suddenly this Namine girl comes in and asks you if he has a girlfriend.  I’m pretty sure you were quite panicked, given how you just yanked me away from the hallway.  Well, what can I tell you?  These kinds of situations can be tough.  What’s happening between you and Roxas is your business, but if you feel so anxious about this, then that must mean that you want Roxas to yourself.  You may not be his girlfriend yet, but knowing that Namine apparently might have feelings for him upsets you.  It seems that after all this time that you’ve known Roxas, you’ve taken quite a liking to him.  In the end, you have to follow your heart.  Only you can decide how you want to go about this.  Whatever you do is up to you.  But when it comes to love, I’m not exactly an expert, but at least I can tell you that much.” Vanitas said, and once again, I couldn’t help but feel impressed.  He was talking like quite the gentleman.

 

  “Thanks for your advice Vanitas…I need to sort this whole thing out.” I said with a sigh as I put a strand of my hair behind my ear.

 

  “Yeah, that’s for sure.  But you know, you and Roxas make a cute match.  So I hope you guys end up being together!  You could end up being my sister in law!” he said teasingly as he put his arm over my shoulder.

 

  “W-what!?” I yelled out while blushing.

 

  “Come on sis, give it your best shot!” Vanitas said as he laughed.  He was back to his cocky self again.  I just rolled my eyes and laughed.  Then, the same group of girls from this morning waved at Vanitas.

 

  “Well then, it looks like my faithful lady friends are waiting for me.  I’ll see you after school!” Vanitas said with a bow as he smirked and ran towards the group of girls.  I smiled and waved back at him.

 

  I owed Vanitas.  After my momentary confusion, he was able to help me clear my head and think.  I sat down on the bench and stayed there for a while.  I wanted to make sure to not hurt Namine’s feelings since she’s such a nice person and all, but I didn’t want to tell her that Roxas didn’t have a girlfriend.  It’s true what Vanitas had said.  I wanted Roxas all for myself.  I guess I really was feeling jealous.  I blushed and thought of Roxas, who was probably sleeping right now at the hospital.  I sighed and looked up to the clear blue sky, hoping that it’d give me an answer to this.  But the sky remained as silent as it was beautiful.  I then looked down at the floor and looked at my feet.  I felt bad for having left Namine hanging, but I felt that it was best to have done that.  If I hadn’t, I might have ended up hurting her feelings.  I just sat there and relaxed and felt at ease.  It was already late to go into the next class, so I decided to cut class and just stay here for a while.  And that’s precisely what I did.  I remained where I was until lunch break.  Soon after, I saw Tidus coming by and waving at me.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Hey Xion!” Tidus yelled to me, as he ran towards me.  He then panted and caught his breath as soon as he got near the bench.

 

  “Hey Tidus, how are you doing today?”  I asked him with a smile.  I didn’t want to worry him about my situation, so I did my best to hide my distress.

 

  “Oh, nothing much really, I was just taking a geometry quiz.  It was a killer, but I think I passed it, or at the very least, I hope I did.” he explained, and then he sat down beside me.

 

  “So, what do you have in that bag?” I asked him.  Tidus then took out a ham and cheese sandwich.

 

  “Oh, this?  It’s my lunch!  You want half?” he asked me.  I politely shook my head and looked up at the sky.

 

  “No thanks, I don’t feel like eating right now.” I said to him, and at that, Tidus shrugged and began eating his lunch.  Luckily, he didn’t notice that I was feeling depressed.

 

  As he ate his lunch, we talked about random things and he asked me how I was doing in my classes.  I told him that I was doing fine and that I was preparing myself for a few tests I had to take, and then Tidus started talking about his Blitzball idea again, and he was bragging about how his idea was a product of intellectual genius, and he said he had been discussing the details with coach Terra, and apparently the coach had taken an interest in his idea.  When I asked him just what Blitzball was about, Tidus simply grinned and shook his head. He said that he didn’t want to reveal the big surprise.  I smiled and we both laughed together, and then the bell rang, and we went to our respective classes.  As I walked into the classroom, I saw Namine, who was drawing again.  Feeling bad for earlier, I quickly went to her side.

 

  “Hey Namine, sorry that I had to run off earlier today, I was in a rush, so I’m sorry for leaving.” I said to her, and she simply smiled and kept drawing.

 

  “Oh, don’t worry about it Xion, it’s okay.  In fact, I forgot about what we were talking about when you left, so I guess we’ll talk about it when I remember.” Namine said with a shy smile as she then put her pencil and eraser away and closed her sketchbook.

 

  “Right, sure thing Namine.” I said while nodding.  Then, the professor clapped his hands to get the attention of all the students.

 

  “Now then students, class is in session!”  the professor said, and so we all started writing down notes.

 

  For the rest of the day, everything went fine.  Namine and I talked to each other whenever we had the chance, but we didn’t pass notes to each other this time.  I felt relieved that Namine wasn’t touching on the subject of Roxas.  I really didn’t think that I’d be able to handle the conversation, so I appreciated the fact that we weren’t talking about that.  The afternoon went by slowly, but no rainclouds came by.  The sky was a clear blue, with very few clouds, if any at all.  I stared at the sky whenever the professor wasn’t looking, admiring its majestic grace.  I went to all my classes, and then, when the bell rang, it was time to go home.  As I walked outside, I waved goodbye to Namine, and then I saw Vanitas sitting in the bus stop, and I walked towards him.

 

  “Hey there Vanitas.  Where’s Ven?” I asked, seeing that Ven wasn’t around.

 

  “Oh, hey Xion.  Ven decided to stay after school.  I think he said something about forming a club or whatever.  Since he’s always liked that kind of stuff, it’s not really surprising to me.” he said dismissively, and then I sat beside him.

 

  “Hmm, the bus seems to be running late today, don’t you think?” I asked, trying to start up a conversation, because I could notice that something was bothering Vanitas.

 

  “Yeah…” he replied.  I twirled my fingers and put a strand of hair behind my ear.

 

  “So, are you going to see Roxas later?” I asked, and at that, Vanitas looked at me and nodded.

 

  “Yeah, after Ven gets home, we’ll pick up Tidus and we’ll go to see him.  You’re also obviously welcome to come with us.” he said, and at that, he seemed to look like his old self again.

 

  “Well, I’ll be looking forward to it!”  I said excitedly, and at that, the bus came and we stood up. Vanitas then bowed and extended his arm.

 

  “After you, madam.” Vanitas said mockingly, and I giggled and rolled my eyes.

 

  “Why, thank you, kind gentleman.” I replied as we got on the bus.

 

  “Sorry for coming late kids, I had to go on some last minute errands.  But don’t worry, I’ll get ya home in no time!” Cid said, and Vanitas punched his shoulder.

 

  “Yeah, yeah, just drive, old man!” he replied.

 

  “Old man!?  Just who do you think you’re talking to!?” Cid grunted out, and I smiled and giggled at the silliness of the conversation.

 

  I then thought about Vanitas again.  I was truly impressed by what I had seen today.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Vanitas was such a gentleman.  I thought that he was just a womanizing, perverted jerk, but after today’s events, I couldn’t have been more mistaken in my prejudices.  I could see why Ven and Roxas were so close to him.  He’s the kind of person that’d put up a cocky act to get others to laugh, but when the time came to it, he’d offer advice and be surprisingly supportive.  That just goes to show you that there’s more to people than meets the eye.  That’s the lesson I had learned today, and it wasn’t a lesson that I’d soon forget.  And as for Namine, I really didn’t know how I’d handle that situation, at least not yet.  I’d have to really think on how I’d work around this.  But first I’d have to talk to Roxas about it, but I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about Namine.  Well, one thing was for sure.  All I wanted was to think clearly and relax.  Besides, I was going to see Roxas in the hospital later, so I was looking forward to it.

-------------------------------------

 

“I’m trapped in a dream…”

“She will no longer be the one you’ve come to know.”

“What?”

“The truth has yet to reveal itself.”

“…So much confusion…”

 

Be prepared for Chapter Eighteen: “An Ill Omen?”

 

Okay everyone, that was the chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it!  Sorry that I’m taking longer to post my chapters, but since I have limited time, I don’t have enough time to write, so I’m truly sorry for making you all wait so much, but don’t worry, I’ll keep on writing this story until I finish it!  Now then, be sure to comment on what you thought of tonight’s chapter, and until next time, stay tuned for the next one everybody!

Edited November 18, 201410 yr by Shigehiko

Amazing work.

I love this chapter, I love Vanitas's advice and Vanitas is hilarious, and so is Cid.  :biggrin:

Good evening everyone, I hope that you’ve all been doing okay!  So then, here’s the next chapter, so I hope that you all enjoy it to the max!  And for all those who started their Thanksgiving vacation, congratulations, you’ve earned it, and it is my deepest hope that you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving vacation with your friends and family and loved ones!  So then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it’ll be from Roxas’ perspective!  Read on, my beloved readers!

 

Chapter Eighteen:  An Ill Omen?

 

  It’s been a while since I last saw the outside world.  Ever since that incident with Seifer, I’ve been cooped up in this hospital while I recover from the stab he had given me.  Thank God I’m much better now, but for safety precautions, the doctors told me to stay a few more days.  Since I had no other choice in the matter, I had to stay, although I have to say that I’ve been treated very well.  Xion, Ven, Vanitas and Tidus come almost every day to see me, and I really appreciate them for always being there for me.  I always enjoyed my time with them whenever they came.  And nurse Aerith has been keeping me company as well, she’s a very sweet person, and very dedicated to her job!  Overall, I’ve been taken good care of in my time here in the hospital, and I couldn’t be more grateful, but I was itching to be with everyone again!  Just a few more days, and I’d finally be let out of the hospital, all I had to do was wait.  I missed having lunch with Xion and Tidus and spending time with my brothers.  God, I missed being outside very much.  Aerith, who was cleaning the windows, looked at me with a smile.

 

  “Is there anything you need, Mr. Harada?” she asked with her gentle tone.

 

  “No, I’m good.  Thanks.  And you can call me Roxas by the way!” I answered her while smiling back.  She nodded and laughed softly.

 

  “All right, well, if there’s anything you need, let me know.” she said to me with a smile, and then she continued cleaning the windows.

 

  “Thank you very much.” I replied to her, and then I turned on the TV and put it in low volume.  I looked at the clock across the room and it was already 8:00pm.  Since I had been awake early in the morning, I felt tired, and I found myself slowly closing my eyes.

 

(Start Song Here)

  I fought to open my eyes, because I wanted to stay awake for just a little while longer, but the more I struggled, the sleepier I became.  It wasn’t long until all I could see was darkness.  There was no use fighting it anymore, so I decided that I’d stay asleep.  As I calmly breathed in and out and covered myself with my blanket, I felt relaxed and comfortable.  Suddenly, I felt as if I was moving in a whirlpool.  My body was going around in circles, and I felt as if a powerful gust of wind was blowing on my face!  I couldn’t make sense of what was going on, and before I knew it, I started falling down an endless abyss, and I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn’t come out!  I then fell straight down and landed on a strange platform.

 

  “Huh? What is this?” I asked to myself aloud.  I looked around, and no answer came to me.  I then realized that I was dreaming again.

 

  “I’m trapped in a dream…” I uttered to myself.  It had been such a long time since I had my last dream that it almost felt surreal.  I looked around and expected something to pop out of nowhere.  Then, I heard a distant noise.

 

  “The truth has yet to be revealed…” a voice suddenly said.  It sounded like a woman’s voice.  I looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. 

 

  “What?” I asked out loud, to get the voice’s attention.

 

  “She will no longer be the one you’ve come to know…” the voice said ominously.  I felt confused and aimlessly wandered around the vast emptiness of my subconscious, my footsteps forming the ground below my feet.

 

  “What do you mean!?  Is this about Xion!?” I asked, as the darkness gave way to a field of blinding light.  In the distance, I could see the silhouette of someone, probably the woman who was talking to me.

 

  “Things shall forever change…” the voice said, and the silhouette started to approach me.  I didn’t do anything to run away.  I wanted to face this silhouette head on.

 

  “Stop talking in riddles and speak clearly to me!” I declared, and with that, the silhouette disappeared and then reappeared before my very eyes.

 

  I didn’t know what to make of this strange silhouette.  The shape it had indicated it was a woman, but the most bizarre thing of all is that she was literally a silhouette.  She didn’t have eyes, a face or mouth, and she was like a shadow.  She seemed to be staring at me, as if analyzing me, here and there in circles around me.  What was all this about!?  Why did I have to have the most bizarre dreams in the universe?  Couldn’t my dreams be simpler than all this complicated stuff?  Anyways, the point was that this was a strange encounter indeed.  I half expected the silhouette to continue talking to me in vague riddles, and as I tried walking towards her, she stopped, and then I stopped.  I then crossed my arms and glared at the silhouette, silently waiting.

 

  “Well?  Aren’t you going to talk?” I asked.  The silhouette then nodded.

 

  “You have been through a life changing experience…you have seen how much your loved ones care about you…you’ve seen the power that love and friendship have…and now, you shall need those powers more than ever.” the silhouette explained.

 

  “What do you mean?  Is something going to happen?” I asked, feeling slightly nervous as I continued keeping my eyes on the silhouette.

 

  “Soon…an event of great consequence shall occur, and you shall never see her in the same light again…your view of her will change…” she said, then shifting her form before my very eyes, and when she finished changing form, I was shocked!  She had taken the appearance of Xion!

 

  “Everything you think you know is about to change forever…” she said in Xion’s exact voice!  I felt paralyzed, and I didn’t know what to say!

 

  “So much confusion…” I said, trying to figure out what the silhouette meant.  Then I looked at my hands and felt my heart tighten suddenly.

 

  “Things are not as they seem.  You have been given a rare opportunity…the opportunity to enact change on this person’s life…to enact a whole new point of view.” she said as I clenched my hand to my chest.

 

  “What do I have to do?” I asked, glaring at the silhouette.  I had to know what my role was in all of this.

 

  “You must be prepared to face the ultimate hardships.  These hardships will test your willpower and your resolve.  You must overcome these in order to be able to change her life…or else she will fade into oblivion.” the silhouette said, and with that, she suddenly vanished, and I was pulled out of a dream and I woke up abruptly.  I gasped and caught my breath and clenched my fists to the bed.  Why did the dream have to end there!?  I still had questions that needed to be answered!  I couldn’t leave things as they were!  But one thing was for sure…whatever the silhouette said that I’d have to face must be something terrifyingly overwhelming.  I shook my head and then sighed.  I then looked at the clock and it was 10:00pm, and the TV was turned off.  Aerith must have turned it off while I was asleep, and the lights were dim.  I turned the lights off and only the moonlight shone through the tiny cracks of the curtain covering the window.  All I could think of now was falling asleep, and before I knew it, I had already closed my eyes and fallen into slumber.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Roxas….Roxas!” I heard a voice call out to me.  I was in such a deep sleep that I couldn’t get my eyes to open.

 

  “Roxas!” the voice called out, now louder.  I then recognized the voice.  It was Claire!  I slowly opened my eyes and yawned.

 

  “Claire…is that you?” I asked, feeling drowsy and very heavy.

 

  “Yeah, I came to see you.  It looks like you’re doing better.” she said with a smile as she sat beside me.

 

  “Yup, I’m doing much better indeed.  Thanks for coming.”  I said to her, and then I sat on the bed, and noticed it was already morning.  Claire shook her head and waved her hand dismissively.

 

  “No need to thank me.  We’re neighbors after all, and you are family.” she said as she looked at me.  She could notice something was wrong.

 

  “Um, what is it Claire?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

 

  “Something’s wrong with you.  Mind telling me what’s up?” she asked as she crossed her arms.  She could see right through me.  I had no other choice than to talk.

 

  “Well, the thing is, last night I had a strange dream.  It had been a long time since I had a strange dream like that, and overall, it was very confusing.  There was this silhouette telling me that Xion would never be the one I’ve come to know…that I’d have to face hardships that would test my willpower and resolve, and well, it said that I had to be prepared for when those hardships would come.  Gah, it was all confusing and weird…I really hate having dreams like that.  I just…don’t know what to do.  Ever since I met Xion, I’ve had this sort of connection with her, and well, I can’t explain it easily.  I mean, sure, I have feelings for her, but the connection I’m talking about is something else.  It’s like we had met each other in a past life or something, I don’t know.  But one thing’s for certain.  If there are indeed hardships coming towards me, I’ll face them head on, whatever they may be!” I said after explaining everything to Claire.  She looked at me and then she closed her eyes and entered deep in thought, analyzing the words I had just said.

 

  “Well, from the looks of things, you have your work cut out for you.” Claire said as she stood up and walked towards the window.

 

  “Yeah, you can say that again…” I replied, looking up to the ceiling.

 

  “Roxas…there are times in life when you have to face the unexpected, and sometimes, you won’t know how to deal with the situation no matter how prepared you get.  So my advice to you is that you keep yourself levelheaded, and whatever comes your way, face it however you can.” she said to me as she gazed out the window.

 

  “Claire…did you ever go through this kind of stuff when you were a teenager?” I asked her, feeling curious.

 

  “Well, more or less, although I never had the type of dreams you have.  But, I did have my fair share of experiences back then.  In the end, these types of things make you stronger as a person.” she explained as she glanced over her shoulder at me and smiled.

 

  “I see.  Thanks Claire.” I said as I bowed my head appreciatively to her.

 

  “Don’t mention it.” she said while waving her hand dismissively.  Then she walked towards me and stroked my hair.

 

  “Well then, I’m going now, I think Ven and Vanitas said they’d be coming to see you later.” she said as she walked towards the door.

 

  “Okay, thanks for coming!” I said as I waved goodbye to her.

 

  As the door closed, I was once again alone in this room.  Thanks to Claire though, I felt much more confident.  She always knew just what to say.  Now my thoughts drifted to Xion.  I hope that she’d come later along with Ven and Vanitas.  I missed her, and all I wanted to do was talk to her for hours and hours without end.  I wanted to get out of this hospital so badly, the wait seemed to eternal!  But, I had to deal with the time I had been given to recover.  As I laid back on the bed, I turned on the TV, and it was on Disney Channel, and apparently they were giving a Phineas And Ferb marathon.  That was a pretty funny show.  I got distracted and ended up being absorbed by the show, and it helped kill the time, since there was nothing else to do.

 

  As the hours rolled on by, I continually thought more of Xion.  Then I thought about the dream I had again.  I sighed and then turned off the TV and laid back on the bed, looking at the ceiling.  Suddenly, I felt my heart tighten.  I clenched my fist to my chest, and I closed my eyes, feeling a sudden pain.  No, I wasn’t having a heart attack, but I was feeling so strange.  Why was I experiencing this?  Then, after a few seconds, the strange feeling stopped, and then I sighed and put my hands to my face and I shook my head.  Seriously, what the hell?  I decided I wouldn’t tell this to the doctors though, I didn’t want to have to stay in the hospital overtime.  After about two hours, I turned off the TV and I heard a knock on the door.  I then sat on the bed and stretched my arms out.

 

  “Come in!” I shouted, and then, when the door opened, it was Xion who came in, and she waved at me with a smile.  Oh God, it was Xion!

 

  “Hey Roxas, how are you feeling?”  she asked me as she sat down beside me.

 

  “I’m feeling much better now, as a matter of fact, I should be out of this hospital real soon!” I explained, and at that, Xion sighed of relief.

 

  “Oh, that’s good.  I’ve missed…I mean, uh, we’ve all missed you back at school!” Xion stuttered as she blushed.  I chuckled to myself and felt relaxed.

 

  “I see.  And where are Ven and Vanitas?  Are they outside?” I asked.  She shook her head.

 

  “No, they aren’t here yet, they said they had something they had to take care of real quick before coming, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon!  Oh, and Tidus said he’d come in a while too!” she answered reassuringly.

 

  “Haha, I see.  Well, that’s good to hear.” I said, feeling satisfied with her answer.

 

  “Yeah…” Xion said, as she blushed and looked away.  I then remembered the dream, and I decided I’d tell her about it.

 

  “Um, Xion, can I tell you something?” I asked casually.  She nodded and put her hands together.

 

  “Of course Roxas, anything!” she answered sharply.  I then took a deep breath.

 

  “The thing is, that last night I had this strange dream, and well…apparently, the dream was about you…well, call it more like some kind of prediction.  In the dream, a silhouette told me that you’d never be the one I’ve come to know.  Apparently, something big is on the horizon.  And whatever this is supposed to be, it’ll change you greatly.  I just don’t know how to explain it, but just by hearing those words, I couldn’t help but feel worried.  I don’t want anything to happen to you, I want you to be safe!  Oh God, I know this all sounds really complicated and probably insane, but I’m telling you as it is.  And then the silhouette told me that I’d have to be prepared to face hardships that’d test my willpower and resolve.  I don’t care what hardships I have to face, all I need is for you to be okay!  If anything happens to you, anything at all, you need to let me know, you got that?” I asked of her after having explained the dream to her in the clearest way possible.  She looked at me, and for a while, we didn’t say anything to each other, but then, she stretched out her hand, and she held mine, and she smiled.

 

  “Roxas…I’ll never change.  I am who I am, and who else would I be if not me?” she asked as she blushed.

 

  “I know…but still, I’m just looking out for you.” I said to her, and then we looked into each other’s eyes, and as if by magnetic force, we got closer to each other.

 

  “I…Roxas…I…” she started to say, but I put my finger to her lips.

 

  “It’s okay…” I whispered, and as I held her face with both my hands, she closed her eyes and I closed mine and we passionately kissed, slowly and sincerely.

 

  “Mmm…Roxas…” I heard her whisper through the kiss as she kissed back intensely.  The moment couldn’t be more perfect!

 

  “I love you!” we both said to each other at the same time, and at that, we blushed and froze.

 

  “Roxas…” Xion said, but before she could say anything, Tidus slammed through the door and came and hugged me joyously.

 

  “My old buddy Roxas, it’s good to see you’re getting even better!!!!” Tidus yelled as he suffocated me, and I laughed and hugged him back.  My moment with Xion ended then and there, and I knew we wouldn’t have any privacy for a good, long while.  But, that was okay, because the moment had been perfect.

 

  Over the course of the next several minutes, Tidus brought in a small blackboard and started writing down a lot of his new ideas, plus, he kept talking about his Blitzball idea, and that is was currently going under construction.  Apparently, coach Terra had approved of the idea, and Tidus couldn’t have been happier.  Other ideas that Tidus had in mind were about making a card game where monsters called Summons would be used, and the concept seemed interesting.  He mentioned some of the names of the monsters, which were: Gilgamesh, Leviathan, Tiamat, etc, and I could see that he was clearly inspired by the Final Fantasy games, since those games had Summon monsters too.  Xion and I laughed and smiled the entire time Tidus explained his larger than life ideas, and well, overall, it was great to have Tidus come visit!  Xion and I exchanged looks at each other from time to time, and I couldn’t help but blush.  For the rest of the time that Tidus was here, we had some good laughs and a great time!  Tidus then put the blackboard on the far side of the room and he sat near the window.

 

  “Aw, Roxas, we can’t wait for you to come back already!  We miss you at school!  It’s not the same without you!” Tidus barked out excitedly, and I smiled and laughed.

 

  “I know how you feel man, my life isn’t the same without you guys.” I said while smiling, and then I looked over at Xion, who was blushing.

 

  “You’d better be careful next time, and don’t risk your life like that again!” she said while punching my arm gently.

 

  “Don’t worry, it’ll all be okay.” I reassured her, and Tidus nodded and crossed his arms and smiled.

 

  “Yeah Xion, everything will be okay, you’ll see!” Tidus cheerfully replied.

 

(Start Song Here)

  It was then that I had a sudden headache.  I grunted in pain and gasped for breath, and I felt my heart tighten, and a loud screeching noise was piercing through my ears, it was unbearable!  God, what was this!?  Everything blacked out instantly on me, and all I could see was pitch black darkness.  I could feel my head pounding me, and I could hear the distant screams of Xion and Tidus begging me to wake up.  I tried to hang on by fighting against this terrifying pain, but I wasn’t able to get out of this!  I felt like my head was about to explode!  Could this possibly be one of the hardships I have to endure?  If so, this is one hell of a way to start!  I gasped for breath, and then, all of a sudden, I could see again, but everything around me was black and white.  I then saw Xion and Tidus, dead on the floor with blood all over.

 

  “W-what?  What is this!?  Xion!?  Tidus!?” I screamed in shock and horror.  Why were they dead on the floor?

 

  Then, the screeching continued, and my head was overwhelmed with enormous pain again.  I could see different images popping up into my head.  Xion was being tortured…it was something horrifying to see!  She looked like she was being tortured by some mad scientist!  Was this some sort of vision?  Then, an image of Ven and Vanitas appeared, and both of them were fighting against each other, and both had major bruises.  I tried to call out to them, but they wouldn’t hear me.  Just what the hell was this!?  Then, another image appeared, in which the school was burning, and everyone was running outside in frantic panic!  I then let out a scream from the top of my lungs, and as soon as I did that, I came to again, and Xion and Tidus were just fine now, but  I noticed something strange.

 

  “Hey Roxas, are you okay?” Xion asked, looking at me with concern.

 

  “Yeah Roxas, you spaced out for a moment!” Tidus pointed out.

 

  “No, no, everything’s fine!  I must have just lost myself in thought!” I answered dismissively.  It was just as I had suspected.  What had happened just now was all in my mind.  I never actually had the headache.  It was all an illusion…

 

  “Well, anyways, I was just in the middle of a joke!” Tidus proclaimed.

 

  “Haha, yeah, let’s see if it’s funny!” Xion said as she giggled.

 

  “Okay, let’s hear it!” I replied with a smile.

 

  As Tidus resumed his joke, I thought about what had just happened to me.  What could it have all meant?  Was I having some sort of vision?  I really didn’t know what to make of this, but all I knew is that I wasn’t going to tell anyone about what I had just experienced.  I didn’t want to have to go to a psychologist, so I stayed shut about it.  After a few hours, Xion and Tidus left, and then Ven and Vanitas came and they stayed for a while, and Ven was the one who offered to stay for the night.  As soon as Vanitas left, Ven fell fast asleep.  He had explained earlier that he had been working all day at school, going through a few tests and starting up on some projects he had to return.  It was only natural that he was tired, so I didn’t wake him up.  I smiled and looked at him and then yawned and felt sleepy myself.  I turned on the TV for a bit, and I switched channels until I got to ABC, and they were airing the latest Episode of Once Upon A Time.  The show was now in its fourth season, and Elsa, the Ice Queen from Frozen, had been included in the show, it was pretty cool!  About an hour later, I turned off the TV and fell asleep.  God, I wanted to get out of this hospital already.

(End Song Here)

-------------------------------------------

 

“Welcome back, Roxas!”

“Let’s Celebrate!”

“So, you’re Roxas.”

“I’m finally back.”

 

Stay tuned for Chapter Nineteen: “Homecoming.”

 

Well everyone, that was the chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it!  I’m so sorry that I took so long to post this chapter!  I appreciate the patience and support you’ve all shown for my story, and well, I hope you all found this chapter exciting!  I hope that I don’t take as long to post the next chapter, but in any case, as you all know, I’ll always post chapters sooner or later.  Anyways, please share your thoughts on what you thought of tonight’s chapter!  Well then, until next time, stay tuned for the next one!

Edited November 29, 201410 yr by Shigehiko

Interesting, this may be the calm before the storm.

Oh man, those visions were CREEPY! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Hey there everyone, good evening!  I hope that you’ve all been enjoying your day!  Now then, here is another chapter, I hope that you all enjoy it!  It’ll be from Roxas’ perspective!  Wow everyone, we’re already in December, just a few weeks away from ending this year and beginning a whole new year!  I’m very much looking forward to 2015!  Haha, anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

 

Chapter Nineteen: Homecoming

 

  Finally, after many days in the hospital, I was finally going home.  The news had come two days ago, when Ven had stayed the night with me.  Afterwards, Vanitas stayed the night with me last night, and today was finally the day that I would get out of the hospital.  I was so excited that I couldn’t contain myself!  Aerith came along and gave me a farewell breakfast, and she was happy that I had recovered.  I decided to take a shower so I could arrive home refreshed, and that’s exactly what I did.  As I let the water fall on me, I closed my eyes and smiled.  I couldn’t wait to feel my own bed again, and I couldn’t wait to see everyone again.  The excitement was so much that I started to laugh to myself, and then I shook my head.  It’s funny how life works.  One moment you’re living your life, and the next, unexpected and surprising things happen.  It’s enough to make a person think on what life means.  As I got out of the shower and dried myself and put on my clothes, I started laughing again, and then Vanitas peeked through the door and gave me a mocking look.

 

  “Well, I see that this hospital has finally made you insane.  What are you doing, laughing to yourself like that?” Vanitas asked as he started laughing himself.

 

  “I don’t know.  I guess I’m just happy that I’m finally coming back home.  I’ve missed being with you guys.” I said to him, and at that, Vanitas came and gave me a hug and held me tight.

 

  “That’s right bro, you’re coming back with us.  Thank God for that.” Vanitas replied as his eyes started getting watery.  I smirked and punched his arm.

 

  “Well, well, well, is that a tear I see?  What’s wrong bro, getting soft on me?” I said to him teasingly, and then he laughed and brushed me off.

 

  “Haha, back off, jerk!  That wasn’t a tear, something fell on my eye!” Vanitas said as he turned around to wipe off his tears.  I smiled and hugged him.

 

  “Yeah, sure.  Now come on, let’s get going.” I said to him, and with that, we went towards the counter.

 

  As we walked towards the counter, I felt strangely numb.  That was no surprise since I had been in bed ever since I got to this hospital, but despite that, it still felt weird to walk.  My legs were stiff and my back hurt for a bit, and for a moment, I couldn’t feel my feet.  Vanitas remained by my side in case I fell, and we kept walking.  When we finally made it to the counter, Vanitas started signing some papers, and then I signed some papers as well, and then we went outside.  The sun pierced my face, and I closed my eyes and flinched.  It had been a long time since I had been under the sun, and I just stood there and smiled, taking in the rays of the sun.  It was a warm and relaxing feeling.  Then, as I opened my eyes, I saw someone walking towards us.  The person had spiky gray hair, and blue green eyes.  He then stopped in front of me, and he looked at me.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Um…can I help you?” I asked, feeling a bit puzzled.

 

  “Yeah, what can we do for you?” Vanitas asked, eyeing the guy out.

 

  “So, you’re Roxas.” the mystery man said.

 

  “Yes, I’m Roxas Harada.  But how did you know that?” I asked him, not feeling a bit nervous.

 

  “Xion talks a lot about you.  It’s good to see that you’re back on your feet.  My name is Riku Kurosawa.” he said, introducing himself.

 

  “Oh, I see.  You know Xion?”  I asked Riku.  I could tell that Vanitas didn’t want to be near him, but I made sure to keep him from causing a scene.

 

  “Yeah,  I sometimes see her when I go visit my best friend Sora in school.  She’s a good person Roxas.  You’ve got a good friend there.”  he said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

 

  “Yes, she definitely is.” I replied.

 

  “Well then, I’d best be off Roxas.  It was nice meeting you.” Riku said, and then he shook my hand and Vanitas’ hand.

 

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” he said to my brother.

 

  “It’s Vanitas.  Vanitas Harada.” he said sharply.

 

  “Ah, I see.  You’re brothers then.  Well, I’ll be seeing you.” Riku said, and with that, he headed into the hospital.

 

  It was strange though.  Riku said that he knew Xion, but how did he know that I was me?  Well, Xion might’ve told him how I looked like, but I don’t think that was the case.  Still though, I knew one thing for sure.  Vanitas didn’t like him at all.  In fact, Vanitas seemed to have some sort of grudge against him.  I wanted to ask him about it, but I preferred not to, seeing as how he was now in a bad mood.  As we walked home, my legs started to feel like themselves again, and Vanitas cooled off when we were further away from the hospital, and we talked the rest of the way home.  I felt relaxed and happy that I was talking with my brother.  Seeing the sun high in the sky was refreshing, and everything felt good today.  My heart started pounding as we got closer to home.

 

  “So Roxas, how are you feeling?” Vanitas asked with a smile on his face.

 

  “Oh, I’m fine.  I just feel like my heart’s gonna rip out of my chest, but yeah, other than that, I’m just fine!” I answered nervously, a drop of sweat rolling down my brow.

 

  “Geez, it’s only home, it’s not like you’re getting married or anything!” Vanitas replied as he laughed and shook his head.

 

  “Well, I haven’t been home in a while, so I feel weird.” I said to him.

 

  “Yeah, yeah, I get you.  You’ve been away from home, so I can understand how you feel.” he said to me with a reassuring smile.  And with that, we arrived home.

 

  “Well then, ladies first.”  Vanitas said as he bowed mockingly.

 

  “Ha ha, very funny.” I said to him as I smacked his head.  As I opened the door, I stepped in, and…

(End Song Here)

 

  “Surprise!!!”  everyone shouted at once.

 

(Start Song Here)

  I stood there, shocked and frozen.  I had been completely taken by surprise!  There they were, Ven, Tidus, Claire, and Xion, all welcoming me back!  They shot out confetti all over me, and balloons covered the ceiling.  I was still shocked from the sudden surprise, and everyone started laughing, and at that, I joined in on the laughter.  It felt so good to see everyone again, and seeing the warm smiles on their faces brought warmth to my heart.  It had been so long since I had been home, and seeing everyone welcome me back like this just really made me get emotional.  Before I could even notice, tears were rolling down my face, and Tidus had dived in to give me a hug, and Claire put her hand on my shoulder, and Ven and Vanitas hugged me from behind, and Xion stood there, looking at me, with an angelic smile on her face.  I stared into her eyes, and she stared into mine.  No words were necessary to explain what was happening.  I smiled at her and nodded, and then signaled her to join the group hug, and so she did.  I was finally home again.

 

  “Gah, it was about time you had gotten out of that hospital!” Tidus exclaimed excitedly, and Claire nodded.

 

  “You should have seen him.  He was about to have a heart attack!” Claire said.

 

  “So, what do you think Roxas?” Ven asked, and I smiled and laughed.

 

  “Huh, what do I think?  Well, I think this was a very pleasantly unexpected surprise!” I answered him, and Vanitas held my head and rub his hand all over my hair, messing up my hairdo.

 

  “It’s good to have you back bro.  We even got a special treat!  We were considering getting a cake, but we got something even better.!”  Vanitas proclaimed.

 

  “And what would that be?” I asked.  Then, Vanitas went into the kitchen for a moment and then brought back a couple of frozen ice cream bars.

 

  “These, my brotherly brother, are Sea Salt Ice Cream bars.  I bought all these in the local supermarket.  Go ahead, try one!” Vanitas said as he handed one to me, and then he handed over the rest to the others.  I looked at the Sea Salt Ice Cream bar with great interest, and then I took a lick.

 

  “Mmm…it’s salty…but sweet!  No wonder it’s called Sea Salt Ice Cream!  I love it!” I said, as I took a few more licks.  It had such an addicting taste to it!

 

  “Well, I’m glad you like it, otherwise, I was gonna force one down on you!” Vanitas said with a smirk.

 

  At that, we all laughed and took our time with our Sea Salt Ice Cream bars.  Over the course of the day, we all talked and laughed and had a great time.  Tidus brought in a karaoke machine, and we all sung along to different songs.  Claire and Xion sung a duet, and they both sounded beautiful!  For a moment, I sat down as everyone else enjoyed themselves, and then I started to think of how lucky I was to have these people who care about me.  They stuck with me when I was in bad shape, and now here they were, welcoming me with open arms.  God, you don’t know how happy I felt!  For the rest of the day, we all kept enjoying ourselves.  Claire ordered two large pepperoni pizzas, and then Vanitas turned on the PS3 and went into Netflix and we sat down to watch a few movies.  We saw The Lone Ranger, Pirates Of The Caribbean, A Goofy Movie, Tangled, and others.  We even got popcorn and kept watching movies until it was dark!  Then, after watching the last movie, Tidus left and Claire went to her apartment, and Ven had already gone to sleep.  Vanitas and Xion were the only ones with me.

 

  “Well, today was a good day!” Vanitas said as he yawned and stretched his arms.  He then turned off the TV and the PS3, and then he came and hugged me.

 

  “Well, I’m gonna turn in for the night.  Good night bro, it’s good to have you back.” Vanitas said, and I smiled and hugged him back.

 

  “Thanks bro.  It’s good to be back.” I said, and with that, he went upstairs.  Now, only Xion and I were in the living room.  We sat there and remained silent for a bit.

 

  “So, um…” we both started to say, and then we laughed.

 

  “You go first.” I said, and with that, Xion nodded.

 

  “It’s good to have you back Roxas.  We all missed you very much, and I missed you even more…” she said silently while blushing, and I couldn’t help but blush myself.

 

  “It’s like I said, it’s good to be back.” I said, and then we both laughed again.

 

  We looked into each other’s eyes, and then Xion stood up and then sat down beside me, and her hand slowly made its way on top of mine.  I looked at her fingers slowly clutching to my hand, and my fingers met with hers, and she got closer.  I looked up at her and my God, I swear, I think I was about to die.  Her eyes looked so pure, her face so beautiful, her lips so seductive…seriously, this was really a hell of a moment!  I felt my body automatically lean closer to her, and I slowly leaned my head towards hers.  We then got mere inches away from each other’s lips, and we savored the moment.  We both wanted this.  We both needed this.  And so, we both leaned in and kissed each other passionately, like never before.  I think this was probably one of the best surprises I had gotten all day.

 

  “Roxas…” she whispered to me lustfully as she kissed me, and I blushed redder than I had ever blushed!

 

  “Xion…” I whispered back, and we both kissed each other long and lovingly.  I smiled through the kiss, and then we slowly pulled away.

 

  “T-that was my present for you…” she said in a shy tone.  She then blushed immensely and covered her face.  I smiled and uncovered her face.

 

  “There’s no need to hide your face.  You look beautiful.” I said to her as I held her hands in mine.

 

  “Roxas…I’ve realized just how much you mean to me over the past couple of days, a-and I don’t want to lose you.” Xion said, her face as red as mine.

 

  “Xion…what are you trying to say?” I asked her, my heart pounding rapidly with each passing second.

 

  “I-I’m saying that…that…I want to be your girlfriend!” she suddenly blurted out, and at that, I looked at her with shock!

 

  “What did you say!?” I asked her, just to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things.

 

  “I want to be your girlfriend Roxas…b-because I love you.  Can I be your girlfriend?” she asked shyly, and at that, I hugged her tight and started crying.

 

  “I love you too Xion!  And of course you can be my girlfriend!” I said, and with that, we gave each other another loving kiss, and we smiled and held each other’s hands.  Damn, this was really an unexpected surprise!

(End Song Here)

 

  After an hour or so, Xion left, and so I was the last one who remained in the living room. I then looked at the clock and noticed that it was 11:00pm.  Since there was no school tomorrow, I thought about sleeping a bit late, so I turned on the TV at low volume and surfed through the channels.  I then stopped at MTV, and there was a music video by Fall Out Boy, called Centuries.  The song was pretty catchy, and the video was pretty cool.  I then thought about that amazing moment when Xion and I kissed each other.  I smiled and laughed to myself in disbelief.  This all seemed too good to be true.  Xion and I were finally a couple now, and I was happier than ever!  My heart pounded just thinking about her!  I smiled and closed my eyes and thanked God for making this day an amazing day.

 

  As I kept surfing through the channels, I continually thought about Xion, and about that wonderful kiss.  God, I would never forget that kiss.  I smiled and then looked at the clock and noticed it was 12:00am, so I decided to turn off the TV and head upstairs to take a shower before heading into bed.  I yawned and stretched my arms and legs, and then I looked all around the living room and kitchen.  It had been a while since I had been home, and I was so happy to be back.  I closed my eyes and smiled, and then I headed upstairs and into the bathroom.  I quickly went into the shower, and once I got in, I turned on the water, and let me say that this was probably one of the most refreshing showers I had ever taken!  The water poured down on me, and it was cold, making me get cold, but I didn’t mind the extra chill.  After a few minutes, I got out of the shower, and then dried myself up and put on my pajamas, and then I headed towards my bedroom, and the first thing I did was throw myself on my bed.  God, my bed felt so cozy!

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Well, glad to see that you’re enjoying being in your bed again.” Vanitas suddenly blurted out as he stood on my doorway.  I almost screamed!  He scared the crap out of me!

 

  “Geez, Vanitas, would it kill you to knock!?” I asked him.

 

  “Why’s that?  It’s not like you’re doing any fishy business…or are you?” he asked with a teasing smirk, and I quickly shook my head.

 

  “No, are you crazy!?” I replied to him, and at that, he laughed and stroked my hair and then sat beside me.

 

  “My God, I’m just joking!  Geez Roxas, learn how to take a joke!” Vanitas said while chuckling to himself.  I smiled and rolled my eyes.

 

  “So, what’s up?” I asked him.  He pointed out towards the hallway.

 

  “You left the bathroom lights on, and it was bothering me, so I came to the bathroom and turned the lights off.  Turn them off next time please.” he explained, and at that, I rolled my eyes and nodded.

 

  “Yeah, yeah, anything for the beauty queen!” I said to him mockingly, and at that, Vanitas punched my shoulder.

 

  “Hey, a guy needs his beauty sleep!  Why do you think the ladies are crazy about me?” Vanitas said gloatingly, and I smiled and punched his arm.

 

  “Aw, shut up!” I replied, and we both laughed.

 

  “Anyways Roxas, it’s good to have you back.  I can’t tell you how much Ven and I missed you, believe me, the house felt really empty without you around.  Well, even though you didn’t do much around here, the house still felt empty.  Anyways, my point is, it’s good to have you back bro.  But remember that you’re still recovering, so don’t strain yourself or try to do any stupid things, because if I recall, it was because of a stupid thing that you got in the hospital in the first place!  Granted, it was a noble stupid thing, but still, you shouldn’t risk your life like that so easily.  You have to always stay alert, you hear me?  Anyways, all I want you to do for now is lay low and keep on recovering.  Ven will let the professors know of your condition, so you don’t have to go to school right away.  Okay, I think that’s all I was gonna say, so yeah, you got all that Roxas?”  Vanitas asked me.  He was looking at me seriously with his arms crossed, like if he was giving me a lecture for behaving badly.  I just wanted to laugh out loud, but he was so sincere that I just smiled and nodded.

 

  “Yeah, I get it.” I said to him, and he smiled and nodded.

 

  “Yeah, you better get it.  Anyways, good night Roxas.” he said to me as he hugged me, and I hugged him back.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Good night Vanitas.” I said to him, and as he left, he closed the door, and now I was alone in my room.  I then sighed and laid on my bed, looking at the ceiling.

 

  “So, I’m finally back.” I said to myself quietly, letting it sink in.

 

  “Back home where I belong.” I said, and I smiled and closed my eyes.

 

  Everything was peaceful until my thoughts shifted towards the vision I had about Xion and Tidus appearing dead before my eyes.  I felt uneasy for a few seconds, trying to think about something else to make these bad thoughts get out of my head, but I couldn’t stop thinking about these thoughts now.  Damn it, just when I had finished a perfect day, now these thoughts had to come to torment me, right when I’m about to sleep, of all times!  Feeling frustrated, I sat on my bed and sighed, and I shook my head, questioning myself about these thoughts.  But, since I couldn’t avoid these thoughts, I had no other choice than to endure this.  That’s all I could do for now.  Suddenly, I felt as if someone was watching me.  Normally, I’m not the kind of person that gets paranoid, but I had the nagging sensation that someone was in my room.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Who’s there…?” I asked softly, as to not wake up Ven or Vanitas.  There was no answer.  I then stood up and walked around my bedroom cautiously.

 

  “Whoever you are, show yourself…” I said, this time a little bit louder.  Still nothing.  Then, after a few seconds, I went back to my bed.  Maybe I was just imagining things.  But then I heard the faint sound of laughter.

 

  “Roxas…it won’t be long until it all begins to go downhill…” the voice said, a voice I recognized.

 

  “Wait a moment, I know you!  You’re the silhouette from my dream!” I said, and with that, the voice remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

 

  “Ha, well look who has a good memory…enjoy the short time of happiness you have now Roxas…it won’t last…” the voice said.

 

  “Get the hell away from me!” I growled, and at that, the voice stopped.

 

  I swear, anyone would think that I’ve lost my mind, and I was actually starting to question myself if I did.  Why was I always having these weird dreams and visions?  God, this was irritating!  That stupid silhouette had managed to ruin a perfect day!  But, since I could no longer hear the voice around, I figured that there was no point in worrying about that anymore.  With that being said, I sighed and laid on my bed and tucked myself up, nice and cozy.  In a moment’s notice, I forgot all about what had just happened.  Or at least, I wanted to forget, but there was no way I could.  Even though I was scared out of my mind, I had to be strong, especially now that Xion had become my girlfriend!  I relaxed and closed my eyes and tried to think positive thoughts.

 

  “Tomorrow will be a new day…” I said to myself, and with that, I felt much more relaxed.

 

  Now things were going to change.  Things in my life were going to take a dramatic turn.  Never in my life did I expect to have a girlfriend, and never did I expect to go through everything I’ve been going through.  This has been a hell of a ride so far, and well, there have been bumps on the road, but that hasn’t stopped me from pushing onward.  I wanted to go back to school already and hang out with Xion and Tidus, and I wanted to live out my high school life as best as possible.  I decided that I was going to do my best to live my life, and that’s exactly what I set in my mind.  Whatever challenges await me and Xion, I’m sure we can take them head on, because as long as we have the strength to be able to face any situation, I know we’ll be okay.  That’s what I kept telling to myself anyway.  That’s what I wanted to believe.  But the truth of the matter is that I was scared.  Scared that things would just crumble down, and that my world would shatter before my eyes.  The bright side of all this was that I had come back home.  The bad side?  It was bittersweet…

(End Song Here)

-----------------------------------------

 

“Did you hear, a new student came in today!”

“I wonder who he is?”

“He’s a real troublemaker, that guy!”

“A new student?”

 

Be prepared for Chapter Twenty: “The Transfer Student.”

 

Okay everyone, that was the chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it!  And well, let me just say that I’ve already got my next story planned, but I won’t share details about it yet, and after I write my next story, work on The Keyblade War Chapter III shall take place, since I know that all of you are looking forward to that one!  Anyways, I just want to thank you all for taking the time to read my stories!  I just love showing my literary creations to the world, and the fact that you all follow my stories and comment on them means a lot to me, so thank you all for your support!  So yeah, until next time, stay tuned for the next chapter everyone!

This is quite interesting.

Great chapter. I'm glad that Roxas is finally home.  and FINALLY Roxas and Xion are official!  :biggrin:  And that ending was a bit creepy. I can't wait for the next chapter.

Hey there everyone, how’s it going?  I hope you’ve all been doing okay!  So then, here is the next chapter of the story!  It’ll be from Roxas’ perspective!  Just 30 more chapters and this story will reach its conclusion!  In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the ride!  Now then, without further ado, here’s the next chapter!  Enjoy!

 

Chapter Twenty: The Transfer Student.

(Start Song Here)

  One week passed, and finally, I was able to go back to school.  I had been so desperate to go back that the wait had been killing me!  Don’t get me wrong, the free time was relaxing and all, but I missed being with Tidus and Xion, and well, now I was finally back in school!  And now that Xion and I were a couple, I was even more excited!  Xion hadn’t taken the bus today, so I thought that maybe she wasn’t coming today, but luckily enough, she was in school, and I was more than happy because of that.  Tidus was beside her, and they looked like they were staring at something.  I was about to shout hello, but since they looked so distracted, I decided instead to just walk towards them.  I wanted to know what they were seeing.  And so, with that, I walked towards them, and as I got closer to them, I noticed a small group of students gathered near the entrance, almost as if they were expecting someone.  I swear, this school was really weird.  As soon as I stopped and stood next to Tidus and Xion, they noticed my presence, and Tidus in particular lunged toward me in excitement.  He hugged me tight and I laughed and hugged him back.

 

  “Welcome back to school Roxas!  It was about time that you showed up!  I was beginning to think that you wanted to slack off!” Tidus said while laughing, and I shook my head.

 

  “No, no, it’s not like that at all!  I was just recovering, nothing more!  Although I did enjoy all those days of doing nothing but sleeping.” I said to Tidus, and at that, he pointed his finger at me.

 

  “Aha, so you were slacking off!  Well that’s not going to happen anymore!” Tidus proclaimed, and we all laughed, and then Xion walked towards me and gave me a tender kiss on my lips.

 

  “Good morning, slacker.” she said to me teasingly, and at that, Tidus laughed mockingly at me.

 

  “Ha, see?  Even Xion thinks you’re a slacker!” Tidus said as he laughed, and then I rolled my eyes and smiled.  I then looked towards the entrance again.

 

  “So guys, what’s this all about?” I asked. Tidus then stood in front of us and crossed his arms.

 

  “Well you see, word on the street is that there’s a new transfer student coming in today, some people say that he’s from another town!”  he explained.

 

  “I wonder who he is?” a nearby student asked.

 

  “He’s a real troublemaker, that guy!” another student replied.

 

  At that, I nodded in understanding.  So that’s why everyone was so huddled up today.  Although I gotta say, they were making a big deal out of nothing.  Sure, there was a new transfer student coming here, but was that really a reason to get everyone so hyped?  I really didn’t see the point in it.  But for whatever reason, Tidus and Xion were curious about the newcomer, so I couldn’t help but feel curious too.  We walked closer to the group of students and tried to overhear their conversations, but all that could be heard was a mess of comments, so we couldn’t hear anything clearly enough, so we just decided to stand in a corner and see if the newcomer would pass us by.  Unfortunately though, the bell rang, so we weren’t able to stay at the entrance much longer, or else the principal would scold us.  We then all went to our respective classrooms.

 

  “Well guys, it looks like we won’t be seeing the transfer student right now!  Let’s see if we can catch a glimpse later!” Tidus said as he ran off.

 

  “Well Roxas, I’ll see you later then.” Xion said as she smiled at me.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Yeah, sure thing!” I said to her as I smiled back, and with that, we went to our classrooms.  Luckily, I was on time for Watanabe’s class, so I quickly took my seat and took out my notebook.  The professor then came front and center and urged us to be quiet.

 

  “Attention students, today we’ll have a new student joining us, so I want you all to treat him well and help him adjust to our school.” the professor said as she looked towards the door, where the new transfer student came in.

 

  “Now then, introduce yourself.” the professor said.

 

  “Right.  So then, the name’s Lea Mizuchi.  Got it memorized?” the new student said with an unusually cocky grin.  At that, some of the girls in the classroom giggled, while the guys were just silent.

 

  Lea was pretty tall, I’d say at least six foot nine, more or less.  He had flaming red hair and green eyes, and he had a red scarf around his neck.  It actually matched pretty well with the uniform he was wearing.  He had broad shoulders and looked like if he was a celebrity.  I couldn’t help but feel like I had seen him sometime before.  I knew I was just imagining things, but I could have sworn that I had seen him somewhere before.  Anyways, the point is that Lea was the new kid in town, so to speak, and he was going to be part of our class.  He looked like he was a cool enough person.  I just hoped that he wouldn’t be a troublemaker or anything like that.  Lea looked at me for a moment as if he had recognized me.  Apparently, he must have seen me somewhere at some other time too.  A weird sense of déjà vu indeed.

 

  “Alright then Mr. Mizuchi, you’ll sit next to Mr. Harada.” Professor Watanabe pointed out.

 

  “Will do professor.” Lea said as he made his way towards the seat next to mine, and then he smiled at me.

 

  “Hey there, how ya doing?” he asked.

 

  “Not too bad, can’t complain.  I see you’re doing okay.” I answered him.  At that, he nodded.

 

  “Yep, just taking in the sights of this new school.  What’s your name?” he asked me.

 

  “I’m Roxas. Roxas Harada.” I answered him, and then he nodded.

 

  “Got it.  I’ll be sure to keep it memorized.” he said as he pointed his finger to his head.

 

  “Yeah, thanks.” I said with a chuckle.

 

  “You know something Roxas?  I think you and I will end up becoming good friends.” he said, and with that, class was in session, and the professor began writing on the blackboard.  So, I had just made another friend.  Go figure.

 

  As the minutes passed, Lea and I talked to each other whenever the professor wasn’t looking, and we got to know each other a little bit more.  It turns out that he had been living near Akihabara, but due to family issues, they had to move here to Fukuoka.  He said that he was used to this type of lifestyle of never settling in at one specific place.  I found him to be an interesting character, and well, he did seem to be friendly enough, and yet he also seemed to be a mischievous kind of guy.  I don’t know, I just felt that way about him.  We talked for a bit more before the professor scolded us, and then we got back to writing down the professor’s notes.  As I kept writing, I thought of letting Lea join me and Tidus and Xion for lunch.  I’m pretty sure that he had nothing else to do, and besides, he was new to the school after all, so I’d have to show him around.  And so, it was decided.  I would invite Lea to lunch!  For the rest of the morning, we took the rest of our morning classes, and then, the bell rang, signaling lunchtime.  At that, I put away my things and then I stood up in front of Lea’s seat and then looked at him.  He looked at me and crossed his arms.

 

  “Yeah, what do you want?” he asked, waiting for me to talk, and then I nodded.

 

  “Well, I was wondering if you’d want to come have lunch with me and my friends!” I explained to him, and at that, he closed his eyes, as if he had gone deep in thought, and then he stood up.

 

  “Sure, I don’t see why not.  Let’s get going, shall we?” he answered, and with that, the two of us went out of the classroom and towards the lunchroom.

 

  “So, these friends of yours, I’m guessing you get along with them, don’t you?” he asked, and I nodded in agreement.

 

  “Yep, we’re all very close, especially Xion.  You see, Xion and I are a couple.” I explained to him, and at that, he stroked his hair and looked ahead.

 

  “I see.  Well, based on your tone, I can tell these friends of yours mean a lot to you.  That’s good.  Having true friends is good, especially when bad times come around.” he said.

 

  Lea was right.  I’m really grateful for having friends like Tidus and Xion with me, they were people I knew I could always count on, and well, that thought alone made me feel relaxed.  And even though I had just barely met Lea, I could feel that the two of us were going to get along pretty well.  He seemed to be the kind of person that cherished friendship.  Anyways, we kept talking as we made our way to the lunchroom, and some of the passerby students stopped to see Lea, and Lea was more than happy to say hello to all the wandering students.  I then tried thinking about where I might have possibly seen him before, because I still had that feeling that I had met him somewhere before, but I just don’t know where.  After Lea was done talking to the other students, we kept walking towards the lunchroom, and it wasn’t long before we arrived, but we didn’t see Xion or Tidus anywhere.  Either they had already eaten, or they were looking for us.  Either way, we went inside and took our trays and served ourselves our food.  We then sat down at the nearest table, and it wasn’t long before Xion and Tidus found us.  I made sure to save their seats.

 

  “Ah, those must be your friends, I assume?” Lea asked.

 

  “Yep, that’s them!” I answered him, and so, Tidus and Xion got their trays and served their lunches and sat down beside us.  Tidus eyed out Lea excitedly as he started eating, and then he looked at Xion.

 

  “Well Xion, it looks like your boyfriend got to meet the new student first!  Hey there, my name’s Tidus!  So then, tell us newbie, how are you liking our school so far?” Tidus asked, turning his attention from Xion to Lea.

 

  “Ha, newbie?  Well aren’t you something?  Anyways, yeah, I am liking this school so far.  Pretty nice place.” Lea answered while laughing.

 

  “Well, I hope you feel right at home Lea.  And well, if you need anything, you know you can count on us.” Xion said, and Tidus and I nodded in agreement.

 

  “Thanks guys.  Truly, you really know how to make a guy feel welcome!” he said, and at that, we all kept eating.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “So guys, are you excited for the school festival?” Tidus asked with his mouth full.

 

  “School Festival?” Xion, Lea and I asked in unison.

 

  “Well, duh, the school festival!  Don’t tell me that you guys don’t even know about this kind of stuff?  What’s wrong with you people?  You know, school festivals, where there’s lots of activities and food kiosks and people coming around from all parts of town and even from outta town?  It’s a pretty big event that happens annually, you guys should have been aware of that by now.  Anyways, I’m so psyched for the festival, rumor has it that the Spira Girls will be performing that day!  I can’t wait to see Yuna again!  God, that girl has never left my mind since the first day I saw her!  So yeah, now that all of you are in the know about the school festival, I think it’s right for me to say that you guys will be preparing yourselves, right?” Tidus asked while still talking with his mouth full.  We all looked at each other and shrugged.

 

  “Aw, come on guys, this is a big event, the least you should do is at least prepare yourselves!!!” Tidus yelled, slamming his tray on the table and standing on his chair.

 

  “Okay, we get it, calm down Tidus!” I said to him, but Tidus was now in his moment.

 

  “No, you’re the ones who don’t get it!  The School Festival is a fun event that every student should have the privilege of experiencing!!!  So whether you like it or not, I’m going to get you all to participate in one of the festival’s activities!!!” Tidus proclaimed, and at that, we all opened our eyes wide.

 

  “B-but what could we possibly do?” Xion asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

 

  “Well, you can do all kinds of things, like a food kiosk, or maybe some kind of cool, giant drawing, or maybe a musical performance!” Tidus suggested, and at that, we all looked at each other and refused the musical idea.  Lea then stood up and put his hands to his hips.

 

  “Well, you know what?  I say we go with crazy kid’s idea of participating in the school festival!  That way I can get more acquainted with how things work around here!” Lea said, encouraging Tidus.  Xion and I were about to express our say in the matter, but Tidus interrupted us.

 

  “Right, then it’s settled, we’ll all participate in the School Festival!” Tidus proclaimed happily.

 

  And so, from that moment onward, as if by some unforeseen, predetermined fate, we were all now getting involved with the School Festival.  I wasn’t really up to it, but hey, it seemed like something fun, so why not give it a try?  And well, Lea seemed really enthusiastic about it, so I’m sure he’d enjoy it.  After we finished eating lunch, we went to the courtyard and sat near a bench and basically hung out.  Tidus was going on and on about a movie he had watched last night, and Lea was talking about another movie.  All the while, Xion and I listened, and then she laid her head on my shoulder and smiled and looked at me with bright eyes.  God, I swear, she looked insanely adorable!  I’m not even kidding, she looked like the kind of girl you’d only find in your dreams!  I couldn’t help but blush, and Xion noticed and laughed.

 

  “Haha, what are you blushing about?” Xion asked while poking my cheek.

 

  “N-nothing, it’s just that the weather’s hot, that’s all!” I said nervously.

 

  “Are you sure it’s the weather?” she asked teasingly, and at that, I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

  “You are cruel, Xion.” I said to her, and with that, we kissed lovingly, and then turned our attention towards Tidus and Lea.

 

  “Well, I gotta say that this school’s a pretty neat place.  I might just get used to being here after all.” Lea said, and with that, Tidus gave him a satisfied look.

 

  “That’s good, I’m glad you feel that way!  Welcome to Fukuoka Daiichi High School!” Tidus said in a dramatic tone, and at that, we all laughed.

 

  For the rest of our lunch break, we remained in the courtyard, and we discussed a bit more about the School Festival, and then we shifted through various topics such as TV shows, books, celebrities, and all other kinds of things.  It was a pretty fun and varied conversation, and I felt so happy to be experiencing this again.  After having been hospitalized for so long, I had been so desperate to come back to school for this.  I loved spending time with Tidus and Xion, and now Lea.  Moments like these really made me appreciate life.  Everything was relaxing and nice.  Xion cuddled up to me and she fell asleep quickly, and at the moment, I considered waking her up, but since there were still twenty minutes left for classes to begin, I decided to let her be, and so I kept talking with Tidus and Lea.  Tidus then began to fanboy about the Spira Girls possibly appearing at the School Festival to perform, and well, he was pretty much desperate to see Yuna again.  Lea teased Tidus about Yuna, and Tidus, while denying at first, couldn’t hide his smile.  We then all laughed, and before we knew it, the bell had already rung, and I woke up Xion.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Come on Xion, time to go to class.” I said to her, and at that, she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

 

  “Huh, I don’t know what came over me…I was just fine, and then I suddenly fell asleep like that…huh, weird.” Xion said drowsily.

 

  “Well, see ya guys, I’m off to class!” Tidus said, and with that, he ran off, and Xion went to her classroom as well, and Lea and I walked towards our classroom.

 

  “Ha, those two are certainly fun people.” Lea said as he walked by my side.  I smiled and nodded.

 

  “Yeah.  They really are something else.” I said, and with that, we made our way to the classroom.

 

  After school, Lea and I walked towards the bus stop.  Xion wasn’t there, and neither were Ven or Vanitas.  Quietly, we sat down and looked at the sky.  Oh, you should have seen how the sky looked like.  It was like a beautiful, painted canvas, with the sun hiding in the hills and the sky changing color from orange to red.  The clouds looked soft and soothing, and there was a cool breeze blowing from the left.  It was one of those sunsets that were really breathtaking.  It was certainly a sight to see.  I then peeked my head out of the bus stop to see if Xion was around, but she wasn’t.  She must’ve probably already left.  I then turned my attention to Lea, who was reading a book. Since he looked so focused on the book he was reading, I didn’t disturb him.  He even had his own reading glasses on!  I tilted my head a bit to see the title of the book, and it was called “The Best Of Me” by Nicholas Sparks.  Lea then put a bookmark over the page and then closed the book and looked at the sky for a good, long while.  He seemed to be focused on something, as if he was trying to remember something.  I stayed quiet, and then suddenly, Lea looked at me and pointed to the sky.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Hey Roxas.  Bet you don’t know why the sun sets red?  Well, let me tell you.  You see, light is made up of lots of colors, and out of all the colors, red’s the one that travels the farthest.” he said, sounding like an inspired poet.  I then laughed and rolled my eyes.

 

  “Like I asked, know it all!” I said to him mockingly, and at that, he laughed.

 

  “That I am.” he said, and we both laughed and then sighed.

 

  “Well Roxas, it really looks like things will turn out okay here.  I already made friends with you, Tidus and Xion.  Now all that’s left is to see what happens next, don’t you agree?” he asked, sounding more serious.  At that, I nodded.

 

  “Yeah.  Don’t worry, if you need anything, you can count on me.” I said to him, and at that, he put his hand on my shoulder.

 

  “Roxas, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.” he said, stretching out his hand for me to shake it.

 

  “Yeah.  I think so too!” I said, and with that, I shook his hand.

 

  Just then, the bus came and we got on it, and Lea introduced himself to Cid, and then we went on our way home.  Not many students were in the bus, and Ven and Vanitas hadn’t come, which meant that they would probably come home late.  Lea and I talked about the school festival, and as much as we had tried to stay out of it, Tidus found a way to make us feel enthusiastic about it!  After a while, we stopped talking, and then I looked out the window, and the sun was almost gone completely, hiding far over the hills.  The night lights of the city started to turn on, and it started to rain slightly.  It would be a refreshing night tonight, that was for sure.  And so, after a few more minutes, we arrived at my home, and then I got off the bus.  As I got off the bus, Lea stood at the front of the bus doors and he waved at me.

 

  “Well Roxas, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then.” Lea said.

 

  “Right, see you tomorrow!” I replied, and I waved goodbye at him, and then the bus kept going away until it was out of sight.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Well hey there, bro!” Vanitas shouted as I entered through the living room.

 

  “Yo Vanitas.  I thought you were at school.” I told him as I took off my sneakers and left them by the door.  I then stretched my arms and legs and saw Vanitas laying on the couch.

 

  “Me?  In school?  Please.  I ditched classes in the afternoon and came by home.  I really didn’t feel in an academic mood today.” Vanitas said lazily as he yawned.

 

  “Geez, you’re never in an academic mood.” I said to him while rolling my eyes and laughing.

 

  “Well, you know me.  It’s not my style!” he said while shrugging and smiling.

 

  “Yeah, yeah.  So, where’s Ven?” I asked him.

 

  “Oh, you mean the bookworm?  He’s probably still at school, either at the library or in a club or some nonsense or another.  You know how he is, always loving the academics.  He’s always been the smart guy out of the three of us.  Anyways, I’m sure he’ll be home pretty soon.  In the meantime, I’ll enjoy sleeping here on the couch before he comes home and scolds me to get off of the couch.  You know how he is.  If he sees either one of us sleeping on the couch, he’d beat us up and drag us to our bedrooms!  Haha, anyways, there’s some French Fries and Tuna Salad in the kitchen, so suit yourself to however much you want, I already had my fill.  Heck, I don’t think I’ll eat again for the rest of the night, so the rest is yours.  I already put Ven’s food in another bowl.” Vanitas explained as he yawned and started falling asleep.

 

  “Alright, roger that.” I replied.

 

  And so, I went to the kitchen and searched for a bowl to serve myself the French Fries and Tuna Salad.  After serving myself, I went to the living room and sat down on the couch and took away the remote from Vanitas, who was already sound asleep.  I flipped through the channels and stopped at ABC, where Toy Story was being broadcasted.  I loved those movies, and well, every time I saw them, I’d always get a smile on my face.  I calmly ate my dinner as I watched the movie, and Vanitas occasionally snored, and when he did, it was hilarious.  After a few minutes, I finished eating my dinner and put the empty bowl on the floor and kept watching the movie.  All the while, I was thinking about the school festival again.  I was actually getting excited for it!  And well, getting the chance to work together with my friends to do something unique was sounding like a great idea!  A few more minutes passed, and I started to get drowsy.  Realizing this, I turned off the TV and put a blanket over Vanitas, and then I put my empty bowl into the dishwasher and then I went and took a quick shower and then fell on my bed.  I fell asleep instantly.

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

“Let the preparations begin!”

“Where should we start?”

“Decisions, decisions…”

“I’ve got an idea!”

 

Stay tuned for Chapter Twenty One: “Countdown To The School Festival.”

 

Well then everyone, that was the chapter, I hope that you all found it to your enjoyment!  Forgive me for the super long delay on posting this chapter! D:  I really hate having to take so long posting chapters, but due to work and my limited time, I’m not able to write as often, but worry not, I always post my chapters sooner or later!  Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it, and please make sure to leave your thoughts on what you thought about this chapter!  Until next time, stay tuned!

This was great to read. This, and my pre-ordering of the Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Collector's Edition from the Gamestop website were great.

I love this chapter, and we're finally introduced to LEA!!! FINALLY!!! I LOVE LEA!!!  :biggrin:

Edited December 18, 201410 yr by Keyblade101

Hey there everyone, and good evening!  I hope that you’ve all been doing okay!  Now then, here’s the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy it, and I hope you’re all enjoying the holidays!  The year shall soon come to a close, and well, I just have to say that I’m looking forward to the new year!  So then, without further ado, read on, my loyal followers, for this chapter shall be from Xion’s perspective!

 

Chapter Twenty One: Countdown To The School Festival

 

  And so, over the next week, preparations for the school festival were in full swing, with students starting their work on the kiosks and activities.  The professors were hard at work helping the students pick out which activity they would do.  Some of the students were going to do a play, others were going to come up with a talent show, and others were going to prepare an assortment of games.  This all seemed to be more for a fair than for a school festival.  I was in awe at the many things the students were coming up with so far, and someone had drawn a beautifully illustrated picture of a Final Fantasy character!  I then made my way to the classroom, and all the students were busy with their own separate activities, and that’s when I saw Namine, standing out from the rest, sitting on her desk and drawing on her sketchbook.  She didn’t seem to be all that interested in the school festival.  Curious about what she was drawing, I decided to get closer to her.  As usual, she was so focused on her drawing that she didn’t notice my presence, but I didn’t want to interrupt her, so I just kept silent and continued to watch.

 

  “I bet you’re wondering what I’m drawing, aren’t you?” Namine asked all of a sudden with a giggle.  I gasped in surprised and rubbed my head.

 

  “Oh, sorry about that.  You just seemed so concentrated on your work that I didn’t want to interrupt you.” I answered her apologetically.

 

  “It’s okay, there’s no need for you to apologize.” Namine said with a bright smile.  I then looked at her drawing and saw that she was halfway done.

 

  “Okay then.  So then, what are you doing?” I asked her.

 

  “Well, I’m trying to come up with a pretty design for this year’s school festival, but I don’t know what would fit.  Right now I’m trying to see if I can make some kind of emblem.” she explained.

 

  “Ah, I see.” I replied, and at that, a student came towards me.

 

  “Um, excuse me, there’s a Roxas Harada looking for you.” the student said, and as I looked towards the door, there he was, waving at me and smiling, and then he came in and kissed me in the lips.

 

  “Hey Xion, good morning.” he said.

 

  “Good morning.” I replied to him.

 

  When I turned around, I could see Namine’s face had changed expression.  She now seemed to be distant and hurt.  Before I could ask what was wrong with her, that’s when it had hit me.  Of course, how could I be so stupid?  She had asked me the other day if Roxas was single…and well, seeing him kiss me probably gave her the answer she was wondering for.  I felt so bad, seeing her like this, but Roxas was my boyfriend, so I had no reason to feel guilty, but still, I just couldn’t help but feel sorry for hurting her like that.  Namine probably wouldn’t talk to me now for a while, not with the face she was wearing now.  It was best for me not to say anything, so I just stayed quiet.  God, this moment seemed to stretch on forever, and it felt so awkward, and it had only been for a few seconds!  Namine then stood up and bowed.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Excuse me…” she said, and with that, she ran off from the classroom.

 

  “Namine!” I shouted, but she didn’t hear me.  She was already probably halfway down the hallway.

 

  “What’s that all about?” Roxas asked, feeling confused.

 

  “Sorry Roxas, but we’ll have to talk later, bye!” I said to him as I kissed his lips, and then I ran off in search of Namine.

 

  “Excuse me, but have you seen a blue eyed blonde girl with a sketchbook?” I asked to the students around me.  One of them pointed towards the back of the school.  I then ran off, and after a few minutes, I found her, nestled near a bush, drawing in her sketchbook.  Only this time, she was crying…

 

  “Namine…” I started to say, but remained silent, for I didn’t know what to say.

 

  “No, it’s okay…I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s very sweet of you, but please, you don’t have to say anything.  I understand that you and Roxas are together, and I have no right coming in between that…I guess now I know why you wouldn’t answer me the other day.  Even then, I could tell that you loved him, but I never knew you two had become a couple.  I’m so sorry if I put pressure on you, that wasn’t my intention.  I had just wanted to know if he was single, that was all.  You don’t have to feel guilty…I just...please, don’t feel the need to be guilty.  I’ll get over this, just please make sure that you’re both happy, because relationships can be complicated things…be sure that you two are ready to overcome whatever situations come your way.” Namine said while shedding tears.  She then wiped off her tears and sighed and closed her sketchbook and put her knees up to her chest.

 

  “Namine…I’m truly sorry that I didn’t answer you the other day…I guess I didn’t know what I was feeling back then, but I know what I’m feeling now, and I promise you that Roxas and I will stick together no matter the obstacles that come toward us.” I said to her with confidence.

 

  “That’s good to hear.” Namine said, managing a smile.

 

  “Well, just know that you can always count on me to be your friend.” I said to her, and at that, she smiled and nodded.

 

  “Yes, of course.” she replied. 

 

  “Hey, I can even introduce you to Roxas, Tidus, Ven, Lea and Vanitas, and you can join our group!” I suggested to her, and she smiled at the idea.

 

  “Sure.  I’d like that.  Now then, let’s head back.” she said, and with that, we stood up.

(End Song Here)

 

  And so, for the rest of the morning, the professor assigned us to help the other students to prepare different kiosks and decorations for the festival, and while doing so, Namine and I kept thinking of what design would be used for the festival’s poster.  Namine drew different emblems, but none seemed to satisfy her, although they were all pretty good designs.  A part of our group had already constructed half of a Baymax suit out of cardboard!  Baymax was that adorable robot from Disney’s latest movie, Big Hero 6, and I had to say that it was looking great so far!  Another part of our group made some nifty decorations out of wood and glitter.  The decorations were all so pretty!  And then another part of our group decided they would rehearse an instrumental song to play.  After about three hours, Namine came up to me and showed me a design, and I think this one was the most amazing out of all the ones she had made.  It was simple enough yet charming, attractive, yet heartfelt.  It was a pretty awesome looking emblem, and the professor, along with the whole group, agreed that this emblem would be perfect.  The emblem looked like this:

 

  “That’s a pretty great emblem, Namine!” I said to her, and at that, she smiled.

 

  “Thanks! I like it too!  It’ll look beautiful along with the rest of the festival.” she said, and before we knew it, the bell for lunch break had already rung.

 

  “Well, I’m going to eat lunch.  Do you want to come with me, Namine?” I asked her, and just at that moment, a red haired student was standing at the doorway of the classroom, waving at Namine.

 

  “Oh, I’d love to Xion, but I’m going to have to pass for today.” she politely declined, and then she stood up and walked towards the red haired girl and then they walked away together.

 

  “Well then, time to go to the lunchroom.” I said to myself, and with that, I went out of the classroom and headed for the lunchroom.

 

  As I headed towards the lunchroom, I saw students here and there, preparing their own kiosks for the festival, and the hallways were a little more crowded than usual.  And then, all of a sudden, I start to feel dizzy, almost as if I’m going to collapse to the ground!  I then feel as if my body is shaking back and forth and wobbling left and right, and then my vision gets blurry.  I start to feel heavy and I feel my body drop to the floor, and my head starts pounding violently, as if I was having an electrical surge going up through my brain!  My vision is then restored, but when I’m able to see clearly again, there’s no one around, as if I had entered some kind of empty space.  There were no objects or students or anything, just a blinding white emptiness surrounding me.  I was panicking, and I felt as if my life was being squeezed out of me.  I wanted to scream, but no noise would come out of my mouth, and I felt so hopeless and weak at the moment.  Then, all of a sudden, I snapped out of it, and I found myself at the entrance of the lunchroom, and I was perfectly fine.  Everything happened so suddenly, and now it felt as if it didn’t happen.  What had happened to me just now?  Just then, Roxas saw me and waved at me.

 

  “Hey Xion, over here, I saved you a spot!” he said, and I nodded and took my food tray and served myself my lunch.  Whatever just happened to me right now, I’d have to think about it some other time.  And so, I walked over to Roxas, who was with Ven and Lea.

 

  “Afternoon guys, how’s everything?” I asked them, and they all nodded in unison.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Can’t complain, but I just wish I could catch some z’s.” Lea said, yawning and stretching his arms lazily.

 

  “Well Lea, from the looks of things, you always want to doze off.” Ven said teasingly, and at that, Lea scoffed.

 

  “Oh come on, give me a break, schoolwork can be tiring stuff!” he said, and at that, Roxas nodded and smiled.

 

  “You got that right.” Roxas said while chewing his food.  I noticed that Tidus and Vanitas weren’t here, and then I decided to ask where they were.

 

  “Hey guys, where’s Tidus and Vanitas?” I asked them.

 

  “Well, according to what Tidus had told me this morning, apparently he and Vanitas were going to be working on something for the festival, but he wouldn’t tell us what the whole deal was about.  But knowing those two, they’ll probably be doing something to impress everyone, especially the ladies.  You know how it goes with those two.  We tried asking them about what they were going to do, but they didn’t answer us again.  Apparently, they want to keep whatever it is they’re doing under wraps for now.  So they’re off doing their thing, and we’re here eating.  We don’t even know what we’ll be doing for the festival, but I’m sure something will come into our minds eventually.  Decisions, decisions.  But for now, we’re just relaxing.” Ventus explained, as he calmly continued to eat his lunch little by little.  For being such a studious and organized student, Ven really seemed to be just as lazy as Lea and Roxas were.

 

  “So, they’re off doing who knows what, eh?  Well, we could think something up ourselves!” I said.  At that, Lea yawned.

 

  “Okay, sure, let the preparations begin! We’ll get to what you want to do…after I get myself some sleep.” Lea said lazily, and Ven and Roxas laughed, and I rolled my eyes, and then I finished my lunch and grabbed Roxas’ hand and yanked him out of the table.

 

  “You’re coming with me!” I said to him.

 

  “But wait, where should we start?  Can’t we save this for tomorrow?  There’s still plenty of time left till the festival comes around!” Roxas replied.

 

  “Oh no, you aren’t going to be lazy, not on my watch, so come on mister!” I scolded him, and then he laughed and shook his head.

 

  “Okay, okay, I get it ma’am.  So then, what’s the plan?” Roxas asked, but I didn’t say anything until we reached the far side of the school, and then I sat down, and he sat down beside me.

 

  “Well, I was thinking, what if we try to come up with something unique for the festival?  You know, something that’ll impress everyone, but at the same time, something that doesn’t go overboard.  We could try making some kind of float, since I imagine there’ll be a parade involved with the festival, so we could try something like that.  We have to try and see if we can get Ven and Lea into this too, since Tidus and Vanitas are off doing their thing.  If we’re going to pull something off, we have to start immediately, because if we doze off and leave this for the last minute, we won’t be able to do anything.  So then, do you have any suggestions on what we could try out, anything at all?”  I asked him.  For a moment, Roxas went deep in thought, as if he was carefully thinking what he was going to say.  He then snapped his fingers and opened his eyes.

 

  “I’ve got an idea!” he said, and with that, he whispered his suggestion into my ear, and then I smiled and nodded.

 

  “Yeah.  I think that’s a very good idea!” I said to him, and with that, we went searching for Lea and Ven.  They had probably already left the lunchroom.

(End Song Here)

 

  As I walked through the hallways with Roxas, feeling my hand enveloped by his, I couldn’t help but blush.  Roxas and I were a couple, but I wasn’t too sure about what couples were supposed to do, but just feeling Roxas’ warm hand was enough to make me smile.  I could feel his nervousness.  I then looked at him, and he looked at me, and our eyes met, and we held each other’s gaze for a while, and then we smiled and laughed softly and then continued walking.  Our silence was enough to describe what was happening.  All the time we walked together, it felt like eternity, and I just wanted this moment to last just a little bit longer.  I felt so happy and so safe with Roxas, and I felt at ease.  My heart pounded with each passing second, and I thought to myself at how strange this all was.  But don’t worry, it was the good kind of strange.  We then reached Ven and Lea, who were sitting near the entrance, looking towards the outside.  It had started to rain, and some of the rain drizzled toward us since there was a small breeze blowing.  We sat down as well, and we all enjoyed this calm, silent and lazy moment.  I then giggled to myself and smiled.

 

  “Gee, it’s no wonder you guys want to doze off.” I said suddenly, and at that, we all laughed.

 

  “Well yeah, with weather like this, all you’d want to do is sleep.” Lea declared with a smirk.

 

  “Do you think it’ll rain like this for the rest of the day?” Ven asked.

 

  “I’m not sure.  All I know is that the rain feels so relaxing today.” Roxas said as he closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly.

 

  “It is relaxing, isn’t it?” I thought to myself, and I closed my eyes as well.

 

(Start Song Here)

  And so, when the bell rang, we all went to our respective classrooms, and when I got into my classroom, Namine was already there, but instead of drawing, she seemed heavily focused on the rain that was falling outside.  She seemed as if though all her focus had to be on the rain.  She looked like she was at peace, almost as if the rain was some kind of relaxing medicine for her.  Some of the students continued working on their respective things for the festival, while some of the other students were ditching this hour, and others were just being lazy.  In general, at this time of day, everybody felt lazy.  I sat down beside Namine, but I didn’t speak a word to her.  She seemed to be enjoying the rain, so I didn’t want to break her focus, so instead, I looked out the window as well, watching the rain fall slowly.  It reminded me of Professor Sugoi’s question a long time back about what the rain symbolized.  I smiled as I remembered that moment, where Roxas explained his answer, and I explained mine.  I closed my eyes and felt relaxed, listening to the sound of the rain against the window.  The rain really was a relaxing thing.

 

  “I see that you enjoy the rain as well.” Namine suddenly said, and at that, I opened my eyes and looked at her and nodded.

 

  “Yeah, I do.  It’s soothing.” I said to her, and she nodded in agreement with me.

 

  “The rain can help ease a person’s mind.  That’s why, whenever it rains, I tend to pay close attention to the sound of the rain falling.  It’s something that makes me feel happy.” she said, looking out towards the window again.

 

  “I see.” I replied.  She really seemed to be relaxed, and I felt relieved that she wasn’t depressed.

 

  “Well then, let’s get back to work.” Namine said, and so, we both went and helped the other students out with their things for the festival.

 

  It rained for the rest of the day, and we all just kept focusing on our things for the festival.  Then, the bell rang, and it was time to go home.  Namine had left, and all the other students were either leaving or about to leave.  I walked towards the bus stop and saw Roxas, Ven, Vanitas, Lea, and Tidus, and they all looked tired.  I smiled and went towards them, and we talked for a bit, and when the bus arrived, we got in, and no sooner than we had gotten in, they had already fallen fast asleep.  Roxas had fallen asleep and laid his head on my lap, and I smiled and stroked his hair as he slept.  I felt tired as well, but for some reason, I didn’t feel drowsy.  Well, I’m sure that by the time I’d arrive home, my drowsiness would start to kick in.  And so, the trip home continued, and all the while, it had continued to rain endlessly.  Then, the bus arrived at my home.  Since I didn’t want to wake Roxas up, I kissed his lips gently and then walked outside.

 

  “Well, here you go missy, safe and sound!” Cid said while smiling, and I smiled back at him and bowed.

 

  “Thank you very much Cid.  As always, you never let us down.  Be sure to get all those lazy bums safe and sound to their homes too, you hear?” I replied, and at that, Cid laughed.

 

  “Oh don’t worry, I’ll get these bozos back safe and sound, it’s a promise.” he said, and with that, he waved goodbye and drove off.  I quickly went inside my house since it was still raining, and then I locked the door as soon as I got in.

 

  The entire house was pitch-black dark, and for some reason, I wanted it to stay like that.  Now is when I started feeling tired.  I went to the kitchen for a moment and turned the lights on to see if my father had eaten anything, and when I saw his dish cleaned in the dishwasher, that’s how I knew he had eaten something.  He was probably busy, as usual, so I didn’t bother checking up on him and instead went directly up to the bathroom.  I then took a long, relaxing shower, and after I got out and dried myself, I put on my pajamas and headed immediately to bed.  I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t bother eating any dinner.  I stretched my arms and legs and snuggled myself in my blanket, and then I yawned and rubbed my eyes.  Geez, festival stuff really could tucker a person out.  There was still a lot of work to do, so I had to get as much rest as possible.

(End Song Here)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Nothing better than Saturdays!”

“What should we do today?”

“Ice Cream!”

“You guys are weird!”

 

Stay tuned for Chapter Twenty Two: “A Lazy Afternoon.”

 

Okay everyone, that was the chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it!  Wow, it’s almost Christmas everybody, I hope that you’ve all had a great vacation, and that you’re all having a great time with your friends and families!  And well, as you can see, this story will take me well into the new year, so it’s obvious for me to say that there will be no more stories from me for what’s left of this year, because I’m working on this story, but worry not, I’ll come up with new stories next year!  Anyways, let me know what you all thought of tonight’s chapter, and as always, stay tuned for the next one!  Until next time!

Edited December 22, 201410 yr by Shigehiko

This was great.

Great chapter. I can't wait for the festival.

Hey there everyone, good evening!  I hope you’re all doing okay!  Now then, here’s the next chapter!  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  I hope you all enjoyed the day with your friends and family! God bless you all!  Now then, onward with the chapter!  It’ll be from Roxas’ perspective!  Enjoy!

 

Chapter Twenty Two: A Lazy Afternoon

(Start Song Here)

  And so, a week passed and all of us made preparations for the festival, and things have been running along smoothly.  I’d probably say like about a fifty percent of the preparations are complete.  Anyways, Saturday came, and the day before, we talked about hanging out, and so, we all decided we’d walk around town and maybe go to the mall, and everyone agreed to it.  Today I woke up at about 8:00am, and after brushing my teeth and changing my clothes and eating breakfast with Ven and Vanitas, we all went outside.  It was a beautiful morning, and just by looking at the clouds, you could tell that it was going to be a great day.  It was going to be a fun day, of that much I was sure, and I wanted to make sure that all of us would have fun.  And so, the three of us walked for a little while until we reached the town’s plaza, and that’s where we saw Tidus, Lea, and Xion, who were on a bench waiting for us.  I smiled and waved at them, and then they noticed us and waved back, and we walked towards them and sat down on the bench nearby.  I sat next to Xion and smiled and gave her a loving, passionate kiss.

 

  “Ah, there’s nothing better than Saturdays, don’t you think?” Lea asked as he stretched his arms and smiled and looked up at the sky.

 

  “You said it.” Vanitas agreed as he smirked.

 

  “That, I have to agree with as well.” Ven replied.

 

  “Who doesn’t love Saturdays?” Tidus asked.

 

  “I know, right?” Xion and I asked at the same time, and at that moment, we both looked at each other and laughed.

 

  “So then, what are we gonna do today?” Tidus asked cheerfully, and at that, we all stopped to think.

 

  “Well, how about we go to the far side of town?  I heard there’s this amusement park that’s being built, so we should go see it!  It’s probably still in the early stages of construction, but it should be something worthwhile to check out.” Lea suggested.

 

  “That’s a great idea!  Let’s do that!” Xion said.

 

  And so, it was decided.  Our journey to the far side of town began, and it was filled with fun little diversions.  On our way to the construction site for the amusement park, we all stumbled upon street performers performing different songs, and it was fun to watch!  Even Vanitas and Lea got in on it and joined the street performers and gave quite the stellar performances themselves!  After that little diversion, we went to a video game arcade and had a blast playing through the different game machines.  Tidus in particular beat the high score for Pac-Man, and no matter how hard any of us tried, we couldn’t beat his high score.  We then played some Dance Dance Revolution, and then some Time Crisis.  Overall, our time at the arcade was good fun.  Then came the funniest part, where Xion and I tried our hands at Fruit Ninja.

 

  “Get the white banana!  It’ll freeze and slow down time so that you can be able to nail more combos!” Tidus shouted out desperately.

 

  “Don’t forget the blue banana, that one doubles your points!” Ven pointed out.

 

  “You have to aim for the orange banana, it’ll make even more fruit come on screen, so dish out all the combos you can!” Vanitas yelled out.

 

  “I got it, I got it, stop making me lose my concentration!” I shouted back at them, and Xion giggled the entire time.  This game was brutal!  If I didn’t keep my eyes on the screen, I’d lose tons of opportunities for combos!

 

  “You still got thirty seconds, combo like there’s no tomorrow!” Lea said, and with that, Xion and I got ever faster at making combos, and by the time there were ten seconds left, we were all tuckered out.

 

  “Only ten seconds!  You guys are too tired, come on, switch with me and Tidus!” Lea suggested, and we did exactly that and let Lea and Tidus take over the last few seconds.

 

  “Aand…there we go!” Tidus shouted as he grabbed the white banana.

 

  I swear, I think these guys had just gotten their stroke of luck just in the nick of time, because those ten seconds turned into minutes, because Tidus had managed to get three white bananas while Lea got three blue ones and three orange ones, producing an infinite amount of combos, practically making the digits increase with each second that passed. These guys were practically owning this game!  As they continued to defy the countdown clock, a few more people gathered around and watched these two crazy guys play.  They looked unstoppable!  Everyone was impressed.  Heck, Xion, Ven, Vanitas and I were speechless!  No soon after, everyone in the arcade was cheering for Lea and Tidus, because these two guys just wouldn’t give up!  Then, time ran out, and they ended the game with an outstanding ten thousand points, and just then, a flood of tickets came out!

 

  “Holy smokes, look at all those tickets!” Vanitas said in awe.

 

  “Agreed.  That is an impressive amount of tickets.” Ven said as he shook his head in disbelief.  Tidus and Lea smiled gleefully.

 

  “Well my friends, it’s merely called skill.” Lea said in a sly tone.

 

  “That’s right!  No game is too challenging for me and Lea, isn’t that right?” Tidus asked.

 

  “How right you are!” Lea answered, and they both gave each other a high five and then looked at us and smiled.

 

  “So then guys, whatever shall we use these tickets for?” Tidus asked as he waved the tickets around tentatively.

  There were a ton of things to choose from.  There was a board game, a collection of movie posters, some album books with sticker packs, movie tickets, you name it!  It was a tough choice to make since there were so many cool things to choose from!  Eventually, we all agreed on a set of Marvel necklaces that contained Spider-Man, Thor, Black Widow, Wolverine, Hulk and Black Panther.  Lea picked Wolverine, Tidus picked Thor, Vanitas picked Hulk, Ven picked Spider-Man, Xion picked Black Widow, and I picked Black Panther.  The necklaces looked really badass, and we wore them proudly, Tidus and Lea in particular, since they had won the Fruit Ninja game.  And so, with that, we walked out of the arcade and once again made way for the far side of town, but again, we were sidetracked, for this time, we happened to come upon an anime/manga store.  We all split up and went towards the different sections of the store.  Xion and I eventually wound up on the thriller aisle.  We smiled and blushed and decided to look at the different anime/manga in said aisle together.  We then stumbled upon a curious looking anime.

 

  “Death Note?  Hmm, I think I’ve heard of this one before.” I said to Xion.

 

  “Oh yes, I’ve heard about it too, but I haven’t actually seen it yet, to be honest.” Xion explained.

 

  “Well, it does seem interesting enough, what with shinigami and magical notebooks and whatnot.” I said as I eyed the box set of said anime.

 

  “Haha, I bet it’d be something that we’d like!” Xion said, and with that, we headed down the aisle and then moved on to where Lea, Tidus, Ven and Vanitas were.

 

  “Ah yes, Bleach, one of the big ones!” Tidus proclaimed.

 

  And so we continued observing all the different anime and manga that the store contained, and after a few minutes, we went out and then kept walking towards the far side of town.  Then, we stumbled upon a roadblock.  Apparently, there was a small ditch in the road and repairmen were already called for to fix up the mess, so we couldn’t head that way for now, so instead, we took the long way around.  As we continued to walk, we started singing some random songs, and whenever one of us was done with one song, another one of us would start another song, and so on and so forth.  It was fun, and it was a good time!  We then went down a steep pathway, making sure to watch our step, and then we passed through a field of cherry blossom trees.  God, you should have seen those trees, it was really a sight to behold.  We all stopped to admire the falling cherry blossoms, and then we kept walking until we stopped at a nearby intersection to rest.  Our feet were killing us!  And that’s when our eyes met with a nearby ice cream shop.  That’s when we saw heaven.  Before I could even say anything, Tidus was the first to stand.

 

  “Ice cream!” he exclaimed, and he quickly ran over towards the ice cream shop.  All of us quickly followed.

 

  “Oh yes, we definitely needed an ice cream break.” Lea said, sounding all tuckered out.

 

  “Excellent, let’s all take a seat!” Ven said as we went inside, and then Vanitas proceeded to get a table for us.

 

  “Come on everyone, right this way.” Vanitas said as he courteously bowed.  We then all sat down near the window.

 

  “Good afternoon, how may I be of service?” said a nearby waitress who had just finished taking an order from another table.

 

  “Hmm, well, we’ll have six orders of Sea Salt Ice Cream, and a phone number to top it all off.” Vanitas said in a flirting tone, and the waitress blushed and shook her head.

 

  “Alright, and um, sorry sir, but I already have a boyfriend.” the waitress explained as she left to leave the orders at the counter.  The rest of us had to hold in our laughter.

 

  “Well, that was a missed opportunity.” Vanitas said halfheartedly.

 

  “Heh, well, isn’t this great?  I, for one, am enjoying this Saturday very much.” Lea said as he laid his back on his seat and put his legs up on the table.

 

  I agreed with Lea.  Today was turning out to be a pretty awesome Saturday.  I was here with my brothers, friends and girlfriend, so what wasn’t awesome about that?  As we all waited for our ice cream to come, we all stayed silent momentarily as we watched the cars outside pass by the store.  The day had become a bit cloudy, but it didn’t look like it was going to rain.  I then thought to myself about how things would be like after high school ended.  I know it was still too early for me to be thinking about stuff like this, but it’s a thought that came to my head regardless.  Would things change?  Would we all still be hanging out like this?  Would we go our separate ways and never see each other again?  Why was I thinking these thoughts?  As the waitress came back to us with our Sea Salt Ice Cream, I shook my head and dismissed my thoughts.

 

  “Ah, finally!” Vanitas exclaimed, as he was the first one to take a Sea Salt Ice Cream, smelling it before licking it.

 

  “Oh sweet!” Tidus gleefully replied.  Then Lea stood up with his Sea Salt Ice Cream in hand and held it high like a sword.

 

  “Haha, you guys are so weird.” Xion said as she giggled.

 

  “Hey guys…I have a few words I’d like to say, if that’s okay with you.” he said, and his serious eyes indicated this wasn’t a laughing matter, and we all nodded.

 

  “Of course, tell us, what is it?” Xion asked.

 

  “Well, even though I’ve only known you guys for a short time, I have to thank you all for making me feel comfortable.  You all greeted me without question and got me into your group, and I have to say that these have been the best days of my life.  I have only one other friend whom I’ve had such a close bond with, and well, I’m proud to say that over the time I’ve been here, I’ve made many new friends.  So I’d like to thank you all, and let’s all make a promise.  Let’s promise that no matter what path we end up walking in life, we’ll never lose sight of who we are, and we’ll never let our bond be broken.  No matter how much time passes, we won’t let time distance us.  No matter what, we’ll always be friends, until the very end.” Lea said with a serious tone, and all of us remained silent, pondering his words, and reflecting upon the meaning of those words.

 

  “That’s right.  It’s a promise!” I said as I stood up and raised my Sea Salt Ice Cream while holding Xion’s hand, as she stood up beside me.

 

  “Agreed.” Xion said, as she raised her Sea Salt Ice Cream as well.  Then, Vanitas, Ven and Tidus all stood up and held their Sea Salt Ice Creams high as well.

 

  “It’s a promise.” the three said in unison.

 

  “Then it’s settled.  No matter what happens, we’ll always have each other’s backs.” Lea said with confidence, and after that, we all dug in to our Sea Salt Ice Cream.

(End Song Here)

 

  And so, after eating our Sea Salt Ice Cream, we headed out of the shop and then continued our journey towards the far side of town.  I smiled as I walked with everyone, excited and wondering what diversion would come around next.  This was a great day, and I wanted this day to keep on going.  As we kept walking, we stumbled upon the commercial district of town, and there were lots of stores and restaurants, and we window shopped through various clothing stores.  We then went to a movie theater and considered watching a movie, but since most of the movies had late screening times, we decided to leave the movie watching for another day.  We then passed through the commercial district and reached the suburbs, and from there on out the streets were quieter and there were less people.  The sun was now perfectly nestled in the horizon, just in the direction we were going.  The day was now ending, and we knew that we’d soon have to head back to our homes.  But, there was still enough time to get to the far side of town.  And so, we kept on walking, enjoying the time we were being given on this day.

 

  “Wow guys, it looks like today there’ll be a beautiful sunset.” Tidus said as he put his arms over his head. 

 

  “Yeah, it sure does look like it.  Sunsets are always so beautiful, I’ve always loved watching the sunset.  It’s soothing.” Lea said, and then I looked at Xion, who was looking at the horizon, and I held her hand and she then looked at me and smiled.

 

  “Beautiful, like you.” I said to Xion, and at that, she blushed and giggled softly.

 

  “Oh, stop it, you.” Xion replied as she tried covering her face.

 

  “What?  It’s true!” I proclaimed as I laughed and felt her hand slightly tighten mine.

 

  “Roxas…we have to keep that promise we made…about always being there for each other, no matter what.  Lea’s words really had a deep meaning, and I want those words to ring true for you and me.” Xion said almost in a whisper, as she blushed and looked away.

 

  “Of course.  It’s a promise.” I said to her, and with that, we both held each other’s hands tightly.

 

  We then all reached the end of the suburbs, and now we were almost on the far side of town.  We came upon a series of small hills, and we walked down those hills one by one, taking our time and enjoying the scenery.  I think that this was the first time I had come upon these hills ever since Ven, Vanitas and I had moved here into Fukuoka City.  The hills were a light green, and the grass was trimmed short, although there were some areas where the grass was a bit larger, and there were also some trees scattered here and there, dotting the landscape.  I looked at the surrounding scenery and marveled at nature’s little things.  It was amazing how such simple things like these were so mysterious in their origins.  We then all commented on the delicious Sea Salt Ice Cream we had eaten at the shop earlier today, and we all smiled while talking about the topic.  Then, we finally came to the far side of town, and as we walked further, we came upon the construction site that Lea had been talking about.  And that’s when we saw bits and pieces of the amusement park that was being built, and we had come just in the nick of time!  If we had been a little bit later, it’d have been too dark to see.

 

  “And voila.  As I told you all, there’s an amusement park being built here.  It looks like they haven’t come up with a name yet though.” Lea said, as he tried searching for a billboard detailing the amusement park that was being built.

 

  “Wow, it looks like it’s going to be one big amusement park!  Just look at the size of the construction space!” Tidus said as he eyed out the landscape.

 

  “Yep, and it looks like the construction workers are just about done for the day.” Vanitas said as he pointed out a group of construction workers leaving the site and heading to their homes.

 

  “I wonder how much time it’ll take for this amusement park to be built?”  Ven asked, feeling curious.

 

  “My guess is that with all this construction space, odds are it’ll take a good six or eight months to build, that’s not counting free days or bad weather.” Lea explained, as he looked at the construction site.

 

  “Well guys, it looks like there’s nothing more we can do here, so let’s head back before it gets any darker.” Tidus said, and with that, we all left the construction site.

 

  As we started the journey back to our homes, I smiled and remembered all of today’s events.  Today had been one, big, fun experience, and I was blessed to be experiencing it with my friends, and with Xion.  Today was a very blissful day.  It was the kind of day you didn’t want to end, but knew that it had to end sometime.  Still, it was a great day, and I felt satisfied enough, so I welcomed the end of the day calmly.  A few more minutes passed and we were already back in the commercial district, and in no time flat, we had already arrived at the crossroads where we all headed to our homes.  Now it was only me, Ven, Vanitas and Xion left, but Ven and Vanitas had decided to go ahead without me, a gesture which I appreciated, because now I was alone with Xion.  She blushed and held my hand tightly, and I blushed as well, and we both looked at each other, under the moonlight.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Today was a great day, don’t you think?” Xion asked shyly, and I nodded and smiled.

 

  “Yeah.  It was a great day indeed.  Probably one of the best Saturdays I’ve ever lived through.” I answered her, and at that, we both smiled and walked slowly, with no big hurry to get to our homes.

 

  “I just hope we can all do this again.  It was a very fun experience, one I can’t wait to try again!” Xion said excitedly, and I nodded.

 

  “Yep, I feel the same way!  I’m sure we’ll get to have more days like this, I’m positive.” I proclaimed, and at that, Xion leant her head on my shoulder and sighed.

 

  “I hope so.” she said drowsily, as she snuggled her head on my shoulder, and I smiled and blushed.

 

  I felt so happy and so relieved that we were spending such a good time together.  Nothing bad had happened, and everything was so relaxing.  I just wanted time to freeze so that Xion and I could keep on walking forever, without a care in the world, but yeah, the possibility of that happening was very slim.  Still, I enjoyed the moment, and I could tell that Xion was enjoying herself as well.  Then, the breeze picked up slightly, and it became a bit more colder, and it was a little darker now.  Now, I realized, was time for me to be heading home, but before that, I wanted to walk Xion home.  And so, we headed towards her home, silently enjoying our walk and feeling the cold, night breeze.  Then, we came at a stop once we reached her house.  She then walked in front of me and stopped before going in and then she smiled at me.

 

  “Well, it looks like this is it for today.” Xion said, and she held my hands and then leant into me and kissed me tenderly, and I kissed her back lovingly.  We then pulled away.

 

  “Yeah, it looks like it.  I had a great time with you, and with everyone else.” I said.

 

  “Hehe, that’s right.  Well Roxas, I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” she said, and at that, I nodded and kissed her once more.

 

  “Okay, will do.  Have a good night Xion.  I love you.” I said to her, and with that, she smiled and blushed.

 

  “I love you too, Roxas.” she replied back, and with that, I turned around and started walking away, my heart pounding with happiness.

 

  God, I just didn’t know how things could get so much better than this.  I think this was probably one of the happiest times of my life.  Everything seemed so perfect, and it seemed like nothing could go wrong.  I closed my eyes and felt such a warm feeling in my heart, a feeling of happiness and comfort.  I thanked God thousands of times for giving me such a happy feeling.  I then opened my eyes and looked at the moon, as it was shining bright tonight.  Suddenly, there was a distant noise, and at first, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but then, I suddenly heard Xion screaming.

 

  “Roxas!!!” she yelled out as loud as possible.

 

  As I looked back, everything seemed to play out in slow motion.  I saw Xion outstretching her hand towards me, and then, just feet away from her side, was a car going straight towards her!  I felt as if my heart had suddenly picked up a boost of speed, for I ran unspeakably fast towards her, but by the time I had reached her, it was already too late…all I could hear was a sickening, crashing noise.  When the smoke cleared, Xion lay on the floor, almost pinned to the doorway of her home, a pool of blood surrounding her body.  My heart stopped…my entire world crumbled before my eyes…

 

  “Xion!!!!!”

(End Song Here)

---------------------------------------------

 

“Why did this have to happen…?

“Is this what my vision was telling me about?”

“Xion…”

“Oh God…don’t let her die!”

 

Be prepared for Chapter Twenty Three: “Life, A Cruel And Unmerciful Mistress.”

 

Yes, I know that I ended this chapter very cruelly, but well, the story has a life of its own, so I never expected this to happen!  Okay, I may be lying a little.  I had already planned for this to happen, but the way it happened was definitely unexpected, even to me!  With that said, let me know what you all thought of tonight’s chapter, and as always, thank you for your support and patience!  This will probably be the final chapter of this year, but worry not, I won’t take too long to post the next chapter!  Until next time, stay tuned!

Edited December 28, 201410 yr by Shigehiko

Wow, just wow...

Oh, man. How could such a great day turn so awful that quickly? Please, Xion, don't die!!!

Hey there everyone, good evening, and Happy New Year!  Wow, can you all believe that we’ve arrived at 2015???   Time sure does fly fast!  So then, I bid you all a warm welcome to the new year, and I introduce you to the first chapter of Bokutachi No Hibi of 2015!  My hope is that I’m able to finish this story as soon as possible and give you all two more stories for this year!  Let’s see what the future will hold!  God willing, I’ll be able to make ends meet with my planned stories!  Anyways, without further ado, here is the chapter!  It’ll be from Roxas’ perspective!  Enjoy!

 

Chapter Twenty Three: Life, A Cruel And Unmerciful Mistress

(Start Song Here)

 

  “Why did this have to happen…?”

 

  Those were the words that echoed through my mind over and over, reverberating through every single fiber of my heart and soul.  The question gnawed and ate my mind, and I felt lifeless and numb.  How could such a perfect day have ended in such tragedy?  Never in my life would I have expected for something like this to happen.  And yet, it did happen.  Xion was run over by a reckless driver  that hit the entryway of her house.  In all the commotion, some people that were passing by saw what happened, and they immediately called the ambulance, and within just minutes, the paramedics came and took Xion away.  They said that Xion wasn’t dead, but she was in critical condition.  They had to analyze her in the hospital to see if there was any further damage.  I was pleading, desperate to accompany them to the hospital, but they wouldn’t let me.  Then they analyzed the driver who committed the accident, and it turned out to be a woman, and within minutes, she was confirmed to be dead.  Afterwards, they left.  My mind was in a blur, reliving the moment Xion got run over again and again.  My heart pounded and felt like it would explode, and all I wanted to do was scream.

 

  “Roxas!!!” Lea shouted from a distance, mounted on what seemed to be a motorcycle, a panicked look on his face.  I couldn’t even look at him.  My body felt too heavy to move.

 

  “Roxas!  Roxas, stay with me!  I heard some people saying an accident had occurred!” Lea said, shaking me.  I still wouldn’t move.

 

  “Xion…” was all I could utter.

 

  “What?  What about Xion!?  Wait…no.  Oh God, please don’t tell me it’s what I’m thinking!” Lea slowly said as he stood there, speechless, and then I slowly stood up.

 

  “Yes…she was run over…I saw it with my own eyes…” I said to him, my voice almost nothing but a whisper.

 

  “Please don’t tell me she’s dead!” Lea exclaimed, his eyes ablaze with concern.  I shook my head and slowly lifted my head.

 

  “No…but she’s in critical condition…” I explained to him, and at that, Lea quickly took out his cell phone and dialed it.  Within seconds, whoever he was calling picked up.

 

  “Ven, Xion’s been taken to the hospital, tell Vanitas and bring Tidus!” Lea said desperately, and with that, he hung up immediately and put his hand on my shoulder.

 

  “We’re going to the hospital, come on!” Lea said, and with that, we got on his motorcycle.

 

  As we blazed through the road at high speed, we could see the ambulance, far off in the distance, a flickering light in a sea of darkness.  There weren’t that many cars around, so all we could see was the light of the ambulance.  I prayed countless times for Xion not to die.  It just wasn’t fair!  It couldn’t end like this!  My heart pounded with desperation and worry, and all I could do was stay silent, tears rolling down my face, discouraged, feeling broken.  Lea drove faster, and the wind blew on my face harder.  I could feel Lea’s desperation too.  Even though it had been a short time since we’d met, I could tell Lea was just as concerned as I was about Xion.  And soon after, Ven, Vanitas and Tidus would show up too, of that much I knew.  As we kept going through the road, I felt Lea slightly move, and then he glanced momentarily over his shoulder at me and then turned back to face the road.

 

  “Hey, she’ll be okay…” Lea said, clenching his fists on the motorcycle bars.

 

  “But…what if she doesn’t make it?” I asked, my heart heavy with sorrow.

 

  “Hey, don’t you dare think like that!  You have to be strong for her!” Lea exclaimed, and at that, I remained silent.

 

  “Roxas…right now something terrible has happened, and I can understand how you feel, because believe me, I feel the same way, but you have to keep your composure.  You need to have faith that she’ll be okay, you hear me?” he asked.  I then nodded and shed another tear.

 

  “Yes.  I’ll be strong for her.  She’ll be okay…she has to be okay…” I uttered, and Lea nodded.

 

  “She will be.  Just you wait and see.” Lea said, and with that, we arrived at the hospital, and Lea made sure to park the motorcycle at a safe enough spot before heading in.

 

  As we headed into the hospital, everyone inside was in a rush.  Many cases were coming in, some people with minimum injuries, some with grave injuries, and some who were sick.  We went over to the receptionist, and Lea made it his duty to talk to said receptionist.  I remained a few feet behind him, and I could see he was desperate to know about Xion’s condition.  The receptionist looked distressed, so clearly something was wrong.  Oh God…please don’t let Xion die!  I closed my eyes and started praying again.  I felt so helpless and desperate, and all I wanted to do was be by Xion’s side.  A few more minutes, and then Lea came over to me, his face looking pale, and his eyes showing desperation.  He looked at me and shook his head, and then I feared for the worst.  A momentary silence loomed between us.

 

  “She’s not responding…” Lea said slowly.

 

  “What do you mean, not responding!?” I asked, my heart sinking as I heard his voice.

 

  “The receptionist told me that they’ve been trying to bring her back…but the shock of the impact must have been too much for her…the doctors are still working on her.” Lea explained, and I didn’t even know what to think.

 

  “They have to save her Lea…they just have to save her!” I yelled, tears rolling down my face anew, and Lea nodded, holding back his tears.

 

  “I know…all we can do now is wait for the doctors to tell us what’s up.” Lea said.

 

  “Then we’ll wait.  As long as it takes!  I don’t care how long it takes, but I have to know if Xion will be okay!” I exclaimed, and Lea nodded in agreement.

 

  “That’s right, we’ll stay here.” Lea said, and so, we sat down in the waiting room, time ticking by agonizingly slow.

 

  It wasn’t long before Ven, Vanitas and Tidus showed up, and as soon as they did, Lea explained everything to them, and after the explanation, they all stood there, grim and silent, the expressions on their faces those of concern and dread.  We all remained in the waiting room, and no matter our hopes, no matter the comforting words, the pain was still there, and it was a pain that strongly showed.  This had all happened so quickly and so unexpectedly, that it was just too hard to accept.  Xion was probably dying…that’s a thought I wanted to eliminate from my mind, but it was a strong possibility, but one I didn’t want to come true.  I lowered my head and looked at the floor, remaining silent and lost within my sorrow.  The others remained silent as well, and time continued going agonizingly slow, every second feeling like minutes, and every minute feeling like hours.  At one point, it felt like we had been waiting in here for all eternity, as if time had purposefully slowed down to prolong our suffering.  Then, the door suddenly opened, and a doctor came and closed the door and stood there, looking at each one of us silently.

 

  “Well?  What is it doctor?” Lea asked, the doctor remaining silent, and after a few seconds, the doctor took off his glasses and sighed.

 

  “We’ve tried everything within our reach, but she’s not reacting.  She was in critical condition, but now she’s stable, but…unfortunately…” the doctor said as he began to trail off.

 

  “What?  Unfortunately what!?” Tidus asked, his face awash with concern.

 

  “She’s in a comatose state…we don’t know when she’ll wake up.  She could recover in a few days time, or it could take years…or she might stay like this for the rest of her life.  It’s unclear for now…I’m sorry.” the doctor explained as he lowered his head.

 

  “Thank you for your report…you did all that you could…” Lea said as he clenched his fists.

 

  “We’ll keep doing our best to treat her, and hopefully she’ll wake up soon.” the doctor replied, and with that, he left us alone.  All of us remained deadly silent.

 

  At that moment, I didn’t know what to think.  It’s like my mind had completely blacked out, and I was frozen, paralyzed, broken.  I was still trying to come to terms with what the doctor had said just now.  Xion is in a comatose state…and she might never awaken.  I knelt on the ground and tears started to roll down my face again. This time, I couldn’t control myself, and I screamed and pounded the floor in desperation and sorrow.  Why?  Why did this have to happen!?  Why did Xion have to go through this!?  I kept crying and pounding the floor until my fists got bruised, and Lea and the others let me.  They knew the pain I was feeling, so they didn’t approach me.  Instead, they shared my grieve, and they all started to cry.  I felt so clueless and lost now, and all I wanted to do was just close my eyes and pretend this was all nothing but a horrifying nightmare, but unfortunately, life never worked that way, no matter how much I tried.  Then, my thoughts drifted towards the dreams, the visions I used to have.  Was this what the silhouette had warned me about?  Was this it?  If so, it had come to sudden and unexpectedly.  After a few minutes, I wiped off my tears and took a deep breath, my heart heavy with sadness.

 

  “Guys…this is just…unbelievable…” Ven said, trying to keep himself together.

 

  “I’m finding it rather hard to believe this myself.  It’s just so unexpected…” Vanitas said as he crossed his arms and lowered his head.

 

  “Who would’ve thought that something so horrible could have happened so fast?” Tidus asked, pacing back and forth slowly.

 

  “It’s terrible news, that’s for sure.  But we have to do what we can to stay strong.” Lea said, sighing while looking at us.  I then took a deep breath and stepped forward.

 

  “Lea’s right guys, we have to stay strong!  We need to keep it together and be there for Xion!  I know that it’s rough, but we can make it.  We’ll be there when Xion wakes up!” I said to everyone with determination, and everyone nodded in agreement.

 

  “That’s right, we’ll definitely be there for her when she wakes up!” Tidus agreed.

 

  Even though we were all determined to stay strong for Xion, we knew it’d be difficult.  Xion is such an important person in our lives, and well, seeing her laid in bed, perpetually sleeping, is a hard thing to take in.  But, we were all determined to stick through this situation until the end, because we had hopeful hearts, believing that Xion would wake up soon.  And so, we decided that since there were five of us, each of us would take turns every day to stay the night in the hospital, but as for tonight, the doctors wouldn’t allow anyone to stay since they still had to run some diagnostics, so we all headed to our homes.  When Ven, Vanitas and I got home, I bid goodnight to them and hugged them, thanking them for their support, and then I headed upstairs and took a shower and then went straight to my room, and I laid on my bed, looking at the ceiling.

 

  “Xion…” I said to myself, as I closed my eyes and again pretended that this was all nothing but a nightmare.  But when I opened my eyes, nothing changed.

 

  “Xion…I swear that I’ll be there for you until the very moment you wake up…of that much I’m certain.  I love you Xion…” I whispered as I made my vow.  And I’d stick with my vow to the very end.  Then, as I slowly closed my eyes, I fell deep into slumber.

(End Song Here)

 

  “Roxas……Roxas!!!” a voice called out to me.  The voice was far away and muffled, and I struggled to open my eyes, but they remained shut.

 

  “Roxas, wake up!” the voice said again, and then I finally opened my eyes and found none other than Ven, standing on the side of my bed.

 

  “Good morning.” Ven said, and I nodded.

 

  “Good morning.” I replied back as I yawned.

 

  “Come on, Vanitas and I already ate breakfast, so hurry and eat up, or we’ll be late for school.” Ven explained, and with that, I quickly changed into my uniform and I headed downstairs to eat breakfast.

 

  As I went downstairs, my breakfast was already served.  It was a ham and cheese sandwich with some orange juice on the side.  I quickly sat down and started eating, and I noticed that Vanitas wasn’t around.  He was probably outside.  Ven sat down beside me and took out his notebook, apparently studying for some test he was going to take today.  Everything seemed so grim and silent.  As I kept eating, my thoughts came back to Xion once more.  My heart ached, burning in pain for her.  When I finished eating my breakfast, Ven and I went outside, where Vanitas was waiting for us, and then we headed towards the bus stop.  We remained silent, and when the bus came, we got on board.  Cid had already found out about what happened, and he was silent as well.  Almost no one was in the bus today, only me, my brothers, and about two or three students.  Oddly enough, Lea wasn’t in the bus.

 

  “Hey, she’ll be okay, you hear?  You gotta be strong.” Cid said, breaking the long silence that had been looming during our trip to school.

 

  “Yeah, you’re right.” I replied, and I smiled as I looked at Ven and Vanitas, who nodded in agreement.

 

  “She’ll be better before we know it.” I said determingly, and Cid smiled and offered an enthusiastic thumbs up.

 

  “Now that’s the spirit!  Good of you to think positive!” Cid replied.  Then, after a few more minutes, we arrived at school.

 

  When we got down the bus, we headed our separate ways to our separate classrooms, and everything seemed so unreal.  As I walked by the other students, everything seemed slower, and the world seemed black and white, like if I had fazed out of this world and into another one.  I kept my head lowered, trying to make sure that no one would notice me.  I didn’t feel like talking about this whole situation with anybody.  All I wanted to do was to be left alone with my thoughts.  As I sat through the classes, the professors offered their condolences for Xion, and I thanked them kindly.  Even during lunch break, things weren’t the way they were meant to be.  All of us were silent, saddened, spaced out.  Even Tidus, who was the more optimistic one of us, was out of it.  And none of us could be blamed.  Some of the students came by and also offered their condolences.  We appreciated it, and then, classes resumed, but one of the professors had taken the day off, so I was free, but the others weren’t, so I was alone in the hallway, thinking to myself.  I sighed and then sat down in a corner of the hallway, and I closed my eyes and drifted off into my own thoughts.

 

  “Um…excuse me, Roxas?” a voice said, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a blue eyed blonde girl with a sketchbook, looking at me.  I knew this girl.  I had seen her talking to Xion the other day.

 

  “Oh, hey…you’re uh…Namine, right?” I asked, hoping I was correct.

 

  “Yes, that’s right, I’m Namine.  Namine Megumi.” she said, introducing herself, and then I reciprocated the introduction.

 

  “Nice to meet you Namine.  I’m Roxas Harada.” I said, and then I fell silent.  Namine walked a little bit closer and she put a strand of her hair behind her ear.

 

  “Is it okay if I sit down with you?” she asked shyly, and at that, I schooched over.

 

  “Oh, no, not at all…” I said, and then she sat down beside me, and she held her sketchbook to her chest.

 

  “Listen Roxas…I know that I barely know you…but I heard about Xion, and well, I just wanted to say how sorry I am about what happened.” she said in a sincere tone, and I smiled weakly and nodded.

 

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.” I said, and I looked at the floor.  I knew I was being rude, but I wasn’t in the mood for a conversation.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Look…Roxas, I want to tell you something.  And you don’t have to say anything, just listen.  Anyways…I know that right now you’re going thorugh a painfully difficult time, and I know that this is a trial you are facing head on.  I know that you feel sorrow, but I just want to tell you that you can’t give up.  You have to keep on going, and keep on living.  Live on with the hope that Xion will come back soon.  And when she does, you’ll be there to welcome her with open arms.  I think that’s the best thing you can do right now.  I’ve known Xion for a while, and I can understand why you feel so sad…she really is a wonderful person, and I know that you both love each other very much.  She’d always get shy whenever you were the topic of conversation.  But anywyas, Roxas…I’m sure that the love you both have for each other will be strong enough to get through this situation.  Just…don’t lose faith, and keep a strong heart.” Namine said.  She sounded so sincere and heartfelt.  I looked at her for a long time, and she smiled sadly, and then I leant in and hugged her tightly.  She really made me feel a little bit better.  I felt more at ease.

 

  “Thanks Namine…I needed to hear that…” I said to her, and with that, she stood up and bowed her head, holding her sketchbook.

 

  “You’re welcome Roxas.  Well then, my work here is done.  I’ll be going now.” she said, and with that, she took her leave.  Soon after, the bell rang, and I headed for my final class, and after that, I went out towards the bus stop to wait for the bus to arrive.  Lea was already there.

 

  “Hey Roxas.  How you holding up?” he said as he put his hand on my shoulder.  I smiled and took a deep breath.

 

  “I’m holding up good.  What about you?” I asked, noticing his tired face.

 

  “Me?  I’ve been feeling okay, but everything about this has just kept me thinking a lot.” he said, and shortly after, the bus came.  Ven, Vanitas and Tidus hadn’t shown up, and it looked like they wouldn’t take the bus today, so Lea and I got on board and left.

 

  “Hey Lea, can you take me to the hospital today?  I want to stay the night with Xion.” I said to him, and he nodded.

 

  “Of course, you don’t even have to ask.” Lea said, and then we remained silent for the rest of the trip.

 

  When Cid dropped me off at my home, Lea said that he’d pick me up in about two hours time, so he told me to be ready by then.  I nodded and then headed inside my home, and I made myself some Ramen Noodle Soup and served myself a glass of water, and I turned on the TV so there’d at least be some noise in the apartment.  When I finished eating my soup, I went upstairs and changed my clothes and then got a small backpack and packed a thick blanket, some snacks, and a pair of socks for the night, because it’d be cold in the hospital.  I then went back downstairs and kept watching the TV, and after a few minutes, Ven and Vanitas arrived, and they asked me about my day and also asked me if I had already eaten.  Then, they headed upstairs, and before I knew it, it was already time for Lea to come pick me up, and as expected, he came just in time.

 

  “Hey guys, I’m going to stay the night at the hospital!  Love you guys, and good night!” I shouted out to Ven and Vanitas.

 

  “Did you make sure to take a thick blanket and some socks with you?” Ven asked from upstairs.

 

  “Yeah, I’m all good on that!” I answered.

 

  “And did you take some snacks to eat?” Vanitas asked from upstairs as well.

 

  “Yes, I brought snacks with me!  Love you guys, and good night!” I shouted out.

 

  “Good night!” the both of them said in unison, and then I closed the door and locked it and went towards Lea, who was waiting for me.

 

  I got on the motorcycle, and then we made our way towards the hospital.  We remained silent during the trip, and it was best that way.  We knew the pain we were suffering, and we knew that there would be more time for words.  The night sky beamed brightly, and as we sped through the road, the stars seemed like a legion of fireflies, following behind us, the moon nowhere to be seen.  Like the night before, there weren’t many cars on the road, so Lea was able to pick up some speed.  I closed my eyes and felt the wind blow through my face.  It was a comforting feeling.  Then, we arrived to the hospital, and Lea dropped me off right in front of the entrance.  I then got off the motorcycle and made sure I had all my things with me, and then I bowed my head to him in appreciation, and then I looked at him and took a deep breath.

 

  “Thanks for bringing me here Lea.  I appreciate it.” I said to him, and he nodded and looked at the sky.

 

  “Don’t mention it.  And hey, if anything happens, let me know, okay?” Lea asked.

 

  “Of course.  You can count on it.  If anything happens, I’ll keep all you guys updated.” I said to him, and then Lea turned on his motorcycle.

 

  “Okay then.  Good night Roxas.” Lea said as he rode off into the darkness of the night.  I waved goodbye and stood there for a moment.

 

  “Good night, Lea.” I whispered back, and then I headed inside.

 

  After signing some paperwork in the lobby, I headed upstairs and into the room Xion was being kept.  Ironically, it was in the same room I had been kept in when I had been hospitalized.  Room 358.  As I went in, I closed the door and then put my backpack nearby the chair that was on the side of the bed where Xion lay in sleep.  I couldn’t hold back my tears, and I cried silently.  Seeing her like this was not easy.  I was half expecting that she’d wake up right then and there to wipe off my tears, but sadly, no such thing happened.  I sat down beside her and I held her hand in mine, and I sighed as I saw her there, sleeping.  I kissed her hand and smiled weakly.  I then remembered the words Namine had said to me today at school.  The love Xion and I share would hopefully be enough to help us get through this situation.  Thinking of the words Namine said to me, I felt much more confident, and much more hopeful, and with that, I squeezed her hand gently, and I smiled and kissed her hand anew, rubbing it gently.  I looked at her beautiful face, and then I closed my eyes and bowed my head down, my heart pounding.

 

  “We’ll make it through this…of that much I’m sure.”

(End Song Here)

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

“What is the solution?”

“There’s always hope.”

“We’ll help you through it, together!”

“Thank you all…”

 

Be prepared for Chapter Twenty Four: “There Is Always Hope.”

 

Well then everyone, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of the new year!  Hopefully I’ll be able to keep posting chapters frequently, and well, I hope you all keep on following my story!  Well then, as always, please make sure to post your thoughts on what you thought about tonight’s chapter, and until the next time, stay tuned!

Good work.

Oh My Gosh. PLEASE WAKE UP SOON, XION!!!

Hey everyone, how’s it going!?  I hope that you’ve all been enjoying the new year so far!  Okay then, so here is another chapter of the story!  I hope that you all find it to your enjoyment!  This chapter will be from Roxas’ perspective!  So then, without further ado, enjoy!

 

Chapter Twenty Four:  There Is Always Hope

(Start Song Here)

  When I woke up, I felt so drowsy that all I wanted to do was keep my eyes shut.  Still, I fought through my drowsiness and eventually woke up.  The air conditioner in the hospital was ridiculously cold, and I found myself clinging to my blanket instinctively.  I then looked at Xion, who remained immobile.  Before going to sleep last night, I had asked one of the doctors to bring a thick blanket to cover up Xion.  Even though she was in a comatose state, not feeling a thing, I still wanted her to be as warm as possible.  I had slept by her side during the whole night, and I half expected her to wake up, but sadly, nothing happened.  I sighed and then stood up, stretching my arms and keeping my blanket on me at all times.  I then headed towards the window to move the curtains, and when I did, a radiant beam of sunlight pierced through, lightening up the darkened room.  I then breathed in deeply, and then breathed out.  I went towards Xion and gently kissed her forehead and then her lips, and I held her hand firmly in mine.  I looked at her for a long time, and then I managed myself a smile.  I then kissed her forehead once more.

 

  “Don’t worry Xion.  I’ll be right here when you wake up.” I whispered to her, and just then, I heard a knock on the door.

 

  “Excuse me, may I come in?” the voice said, and I stood up.

 

  “Yes, the door’s open.” I said, and when the door opened, it was none other than Aerith who came inside, and she greeted me with a warm smile.

 

  “Good morning Roxas.  Were you able to sleep well?” she asked me as she headed towards Xion and checked her to make sure she had all the injections she needed.

 

  “More or less…is there any update on her condition?” I asked hopefully.

 

  “She is perfectly stable…but unfortunately, she doesn’t show any signs of waking up anytime soon.  I’m sorry…” she answered, a frown in her face as she bowed her head to me in apology.

 

  “No, please don’t apologize.  I know you people are doing the best you can.  Just, please take care of her.” I said to her, and at that, Aerith nodded and offered a comforting smile.

 

  “Of course.  We’ll do all in our power to ensure her well-being.  You can count on that.” she said.

 

  “Thank you.” I replied, giving an appreciative bow.

(End Song Here)

 

  And so, due to checkup procedures, Aerith asked me to leave the room, and so I decided that I’d head back home.  I just wanted to walk home, so I didn’t call Lea to pick me up.  He was probably at school, and I didn’t want to disturb him.  As I walked through town, I looked up at the sky.  It was a clear, canvas blue, and some clouds were scattered out, looking more like pieces of cotton.  The sun beamed through town, and I closed my eyes, bathing in the warmth of the sunlight.  I then saw someone who looked a lot like Namine, but when I went in to take a closer look, I saw that it was a redhead.  She was buying what looked like a Sea Salt Ice Cream bar.  I recognized this girl.  I saw her sometimes in school with Namine.  Apparently, they were very close.  Out of sheer curiosity, I decided that I’d go towards the readhead.  She had sat herself down and started reading a newspaper.  I then moved in closer.

 

  “Um, excuse me.  Sorry to interrupt, but haven’t I seen you at school before?” I asked her.  She put down her newspaper and she eyed me out, as if she was examining me.

 

  “Yes, I believe I’ve seen you a few times from a distance.  Namine’s told me about you a few times too.  You’re Roxas, aren’t you?” she asked, putting her hands together as she held her Sea Salt Ice Cream bar.

 

  “That’s right.  Roxas Harada.  Nice to meet you.” I said politely, and at that, the redhead smiled and nodded.

 

  “Well, hello then Roxas Harada, I’m Kairi Okayasu.  It’s nice to meet you too.” she said politely, and we both smiled, and then she took a lick of her Sea Salt Ice Cream.

 

  “Oh, Namine told me about what happened to your girlfriend Xion.  I’m truly sorry.” she said in a sincere tone, and I bowed my head appreciatively to her.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “Thanks…it’s been rough, but I’m hanging in there.” I said, my heart aching for Xion.

 

  “I know how you feel.  The same thing happened to me when my grandmother got sick.  It was a very rough time for all of us, especially for me, since my grandmother and I shared such a close bond.  I was always with her all the time when I was a kid.  When she got diagnosed with lung cancer, it was a hard blow.  At first, she was well, and she was receiving her treatments, but then her body started failing her.  She was very old, so there was no stopping it.  I remained with her every minute until she passed away.  God, you don’t know how hard that was.  I cried for many days and nights.  Anyways…what I want to get with this is that you have to have hope, even if things seem dire.  Grandma died peacefully in the end, and in the end, that’s all one wishes.  A peaceful death.” Kairi said, a tear escaping her eye and a sob escaping her mouth.

 

  “Wow…that must have been really hard on you…” I said to her.

 

  “Yes…but never give up hope.  Xion may still recover from this, but you have to be prepared for the worst.  I’m sorry if I sound heartless, but it’s the truth.” Kairi said, and I realized she was just speaking from experience.

 

  “No, don’t be sorry.  You’re right after all.  I have to be ready for whatever comes next.” I said to her, and she then finished up her Sea Salt Ice Cream and stood up.

 

  “Well Roxas, I have to get going back to school.  I have to make it in time before my next class starts.  I hope Xion recovers soon.  Remember that there’s always hope.” Kairi said sincerely, and I bowed appreciatively.

 

  “Thanks Kairi.” I said to her, and with that, she took her leave.

(End Song Here)

 

  I stood there for a moment, thinking about the words that Kairi had spoken to me.  I knew that she was talking from experience, and she was right.  Even though I had the hopes that Xion would recover, I also had to be prepared in case she didn’t.  I breathed in deeply and then looked up at the sky and sighed.  I wondered if Xion was dreaming.  Could people dream in a comatose state?  After a few more seconds, I continued my walk towards home.  I passed by my school and I kept trudging through.  Then, along the way, I thought about going to the park, so I decided I’d head for the park first, and then I’d go home.  When I arrived at the park, I noticed that it was mostly empty.  There were some kids here and there, playing with their friends or parents, but for the most part, the park seemed lonely, as if life had drawn itself away from it.  I then sat down on a bench and clasped my hands together, bending my back slightly and my eyes traveled through the park.  I saw some of the kids playing, and seeing them be so carefree helped me feel at peace for a moment.  I then sighed and twirled my fingers, feeling a sudden emptiness.

 

  “What is the solution?” I asked aloud, hoping an answer would come to me.

 

  “The solution should be obvious.”  a mature sounding voice answered.  I got startled for a moment and then I looked behind me, where a man in about his late fifties was standing.

 

  “How would it be obvious?” I asked, feeling curious to know the answer.  The man then walked in front of me.

 

  “Would you mind if I sate beside you?” the man asked, and I moved to the side.

 

  “Not at all.” I replied, and with that, the man sat down, a half smile forming on his face.  He had the same expression I had.

 

  “Just moments ago you asked what is the solution.  From what I can tell, you seem to be going through a rough time.” the man said in a wise tone, and I nodded sadly.

 

  “Yeah…that’s right.” I replied.

 

(Start Song Here)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU5j8S1OveY

  “Well, being strangers as we are, I won’t go into asking what ails you, but from what I’ve experienced in my life, I can tell you a thing or two.  You see, when situations you least expect occur, normally, you do not understand why these things happen.  At first, your mind is clouded in confusion and strife.  But, as time begins to pass, you start seeing a clearer picture of things.  Concepts that were incomprehensible at one time begin to feel more understandable.  You start viewing things differently, and you start taking into consideration what life really is and what it does.  I remember, many years ago, a woman came, with baby in hand, knocking at my door.  When I opened the door, I saw that the woman was desperate.  She seemed to be running away from an incredible danger, and she implored me to take her child and raise him.  She was desperate, and I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was concerned about her child’s safety, so I took the child without question.  And to this day, I continue raising that child, hoping he can one day reunite himself with his mother.  You see, in life, you must always endure the hardships you are dealt with, to see what awaits beyond the horizon.” the man explained.

 

  “That’s incredible, sir.” was all I could manage to say.  The man smiled at me and he looked towards the children who were playing.

 

  “On the contrary, young man, I am nothing but a normal man.  But I appreciate your compliment.” the man said.

 

  “Um, sir, can I ask you something?” I asked him, and the man nodded.

 

  “Yes, what is it?” the man asked.

 

  “When you face a situation you think you can’t handle by yourself, how do you deal with that?” I asked him, and at that, he closed his eyes and pondered at my question, and then he opened his eyes.

 

  “As long as your heart is with your friends and the ones you love, you will never have to handle situations like those alone.” the man said confidently.  I thought about his answer, and then the man stood up.

 

  “Come Ienzo, we must get going now.” the man called out, and seconds later, a child with silver hair came running towards him.

 

  “Well, I hope you have a nice day sir.  I’m Roxas Harada by the way.” I said to him, and at that, the man nodded.

 

  “Thank you young man, the same to you.  And my name is Ansem Hisagi.” he said, and with that, he and Ienzo left.

(End Song Here)

 

  I remained seated on the bench, and I thought about Ansem’s words, and then I smiled to myself.  It’s like God was sending me these people to slowly increase my confidence and faith.  A few minutes later, most of the kids left with their parents, and now the park was really empty, and the sky was now overcast.  I wanted to stay for a bit longer, but I realized it might soon rain, so I decided it was best to take my leave and go home.  I then stood up and started walking home, feeling much better and much more lighter, as if a huge worry had been removed from my mind.  Just like Ansem said, as long as my heart was with my friends and those I love, I’d never have to face tough situations alone.  I smiled and sighed of relief, and after a few short minutes, I arrived home.  It was still early, but I somehow felt rather drowsy, so I decided I’d take a nap, and after going inside, I did precisely just that.

 

  “Roxas!!!  Roxas!!!” I heard a voice calling out to me, and as I opened my eyes, I realized three hours had passed since I had fallen asleep.  I rubbed my eyes and yawned and shook my head.  I then approached my window and opened it.

 

  “Tidus, is that you?” I asked, my vision still blurry.

 

  “No, it’s a palm tree, of course it’s me!  Roxas, how’s Xion doing!!!???” Tidus asked.  I was going to answer him, but since it looked like it was going to rain hard, I instead shook my head.

 

  “Come on in and we’ll talk.” I said to him, and a few seconds later, Tidus was in the living room, and he looked at me to see if I was doing okay.

 

  “So, tell me, how’s Xion?” he asked.

 

  “Well, Aerith says that she’s stable, but she still doesn’t show any signs of waking up any time soon.” I explained, and at that, Tidus frowned.

 

  “Aw, rats!  I just hope that she wakes up soon!  Don’t worry Roxas, she’ll make it, we have to pull through for her!” he said determinigly, and I agreed with him.

 

  For the next three hours or so, Tidus and I watched TV together and then we stood outside on the porch and looked at the sky as it was raining.  For some reason, Tidus always seemed to be at his calmest whenever a downpour happened.  He looked like he loved the rain.  I looked at the rain and closed my eyes, feeling relaxed as well.  The good thing about the rain is that the sound of the water landing on the pavement, roof, or anywhere it landed provided a sense of eerie calm.  It was a kind of melancholic but soothing calm, one that you’d like to feel for a little while.  I again felt drowsy, but I shook myself awake a few times so I wouldn’t fall asleep right in front of Tidus, because that would be rude.  We stood there, watching the rain for what seemed to be forever, and then the rain stopped, and Tidus took a deep breath.

 

  “Well, that was a nice downpour, don’t you think?” Tidus asked while looking at me.

 

  “Yeah, it was.  It was really relaxing.” I answered, and Tidus nodded and looked at the sky and smiled.

 

  “It’s good that you thought of it that way.  You have to stay relaxed.  Keep your cool and you’ll be okay.” Tidus replied, and I looked at him and nodded.

 

  “That’s right.” I said, and then I heard a knock on the door.

 

  “That’s probably Ven and Vanitas.  Come on, Tidus.” I said to him, and then I went towards the door and when I opened it, Ven, Vanitas and Lea were at the door, along with the spiky brown haired boy I’d talked to the other day.

 

  “Oh, hey guys!” I replied in surprise.

 

  I greeted everyone and they made their way inside.  They brought in a few boxes of pizza and put them on the table in the living room, and then they all sat down.  I went towards the kitchen and got some plastic plates along with some handkerchiefs and brought them to the living room, and so we each took the slices we were going to eat and began eating.  I didn’t expect Lea to come, much less the spiky brown haired boy.  What was his name again?

 

  “Say, what’s your name again?” I asked him.  The boy smiled and waved his pizza high.

 

  “Oh, it’s Sora!  Sora Yamaguchi!” he said.

 

  Sora Yamaguchi.  I remembered having talked to him the time I had been searching for Xion.  Sora looked like a very friendly person, and very energetic at that.  And so, for the next few minutes, we kept eating pizza until there were only about four and a half slices left, but by then, we were already too full to eat another bite.  My stomach about to burst, I put down my plate and rubbed my stomach.  God, I felt so full!

 

  “That was some delicious pizza.” I said.

 

  “Yeah.  Thank Lea and Sora for that.  They’re the ones that took care of buying the pizzas.” Vanitas said as he burped.

 

  “Thanks guys.” I said to them.

 

  “No problem at all.” Lea and Sora replied in unison.  Then Sora stood up and walked towards me and knelt in front of me.

 

  “Hey Roxas, I have something to tell you.” he said, and I looked at him questionably.

 

  “Uh, what is it?” I asked.

 

(Start Song Here)

  “I heard about what happened to Xion from Lea and the guys here, and well, I want to say that I’m truly sorry for what happened, and I hope that things get better.  I know that right now you’re going through a rough time, so I understand that.  But always know that you’ll have your brothers and your friends to help you, to be by your side when things get tougher, and well, I’ll be there too.  Whenever you need my help, you can count on me to help you as best as I can.  I know that I’ve only really met you just now, but I can tell you’re an honest guy, so I feel for you.  Just be sure to hang in there for your girl, and I’m sure that when she wakes up and sees you, she’ll hold you tight and she won’t let you go!  Until that day, we’ll help you go through this situation!  We’ll help you through this, together!  So don’t worry about a thing Roxas, and rest easy, because this situation won’t be yours alone to handle.  We’ll help you every step of the way.” Sora proclaimed, in a triumphant and encouraging tone.  I couldn’t help but feel empowered by the raw power of Sora’s words.  I smiled and nodded and looked at Sora, who smiled at me determinigly.

 

  “Thank you so much Sora…thank you all…” I said, as I looked at everyone, tears starting to roll down my face.

 

  “Hey, hey, no crying now!” Lea said while smiling.  The others gave off encouraging smiles.  How could I not cry?  I had the support of all the people I cared about!

 

  “Roxas, come with me, I want to show you something.” Sora said, and with that, I went outside with him, and then he urged me to follow him, and so I did.

 

  “So, what is it that you want to show me?” I asked him, as I noticed we were heading for the coastline.

 

  “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.” Sora said encouragingly.  After a few more minutes, we arrived to the beach.  Sora then sat down near the shore, and he looked at the sun, which was starting to set.

 

  “Wow, this is the first time I’ve actually been here.” I said to Sora, and he looked at me and smiled.

 

  “Well, that’s good.  You know, I’d always come here whenever I was sad, whenever I was going through a tough situation, or generally when I just wanted to be away from the ruckus of the city.  This place has always been a calm place for me.  There’s something about the beach that feels warm and welcoming, and looking at the sunset is a soothing thing.  Anyways, I wanted to bring you here so that whenever you feel at your breaking point, all you need to do is just come here and sit down and look at the sunset.  And if you hadn’t noticed, there are lots of beautiful seashells here in the shore.  Just by putting your ear to them, you can hear the sound of the ocean.” Sora explained, and as I saw him put a seashell to his ear, he reminded me of the memento I had gotten for Xion shortly after we had met.  Then, an idea came to me.

 

  “Hey Sora.  I have an idea!” I said to him.

 

  “Oh really?  And what would that be?” Sora asked, laying down on the sand.  I then picked up a seashell and showed it to him.

 

  “Look at these seashells!  They’re unique!  What I’m going to do is leave one seashell at Xion’s bedside every day, to count the days she’s asleep.  That way, when she wakes up, she’ll have a collection of seashells, plus, she’ll know how long she was asleep.” I explained to him, and at that, he smiled.

 

  “Well, that’s a pretty sweet idea!  Go for it!” Sora cheered on.

 

  “Don’t worry, I will!” I replied, and with that, I picked up a beautiful emerald seashell, and I quickly stood up and signaled Sora to follow me back home.

 

  After getting home, I talked about my idea to the others, and they agreed that my idea was a good one, and so, I asked Lea to take me to the hospital for a moment so that I could leave the emerald seashell at Xion’s bedside, and Lea agreed to take me.  The minutes flew by as I arrived to the hospital, and since I came in during visiting hours, I was allowed to go in.  Lea and I stayed for a while, and then, when we were ready to leave, I placed the emerald seashell at Xion’s bedside, and I smiled, my heart filled with renewed hope and confidence.  Day one, I thought to myself.  After placing the seashell by her pillow, Lea and I left the hospital, and then he dropped me off at home, and then I spent time with my brothers, and afterwads, I took a shower and went to my bedroom.  Tidus was going to be staying at the hospital today.

 

  Good night, Xion.

(End Song Here)

--------------------------------------------------------

 

“What’s this?”

“The festival’s drawing nearer!”

“If only you were here now, Xion…”

“Roxas?”

 

Stay tuned for Chapter Twenty Five: “Spoken Words.”

 

Well everyone, that was the chapter, I hope that you all found it to your enjoyment!  I never thought of putting Ansem into this story, but he just kinda automatically spawned in at the moment of writing this chapter, so to speak.  I’m really glad with how this chapter ended up, and well, I hope you all liked it as well!  As always, tell me what you thought of tonight’s chapter, and until next time, stay tuned for the next one!

Awesome Chapter.