and now you're back at square one
Oh, I'm going to have fun writing this.
Memento
Chapter Title: Square One
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Word Count: 2,719.
Rating: PG-13 for a couple swear words in this chapter. However, might get bumped up to R later due to content.
Summary: Images of places he's never seen, memories of people he doesn't know... when the line between reality and fantasy begins to falter, Roxas' world begins to crumble.
“Are you still dreaming?”
“It wasn’t a dream! …or was it? I dunno. What was that place? So bizarre…”
“Yeah, sure.”
“A paopu fruit…?”
“If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it.”
“What are you talking -“
“So, this is called a Keyblade?”
“Oh, and guess what! … the Keyblade Master! Who would’ve thought it?”
“Really? Well, what do you know? I never would’ve guessed.”
“Let’s take the raft and go… just the two of us.”
“Kairi… Kairi! Open your eyes!”
“It’s no use. That girl has lost her heart.”
“This world has been connected.”
“… give him back his heart!”
“But first, you must give the princess back her heart!”
“Tied to the darkness.”
“Don’t you see yet?”
“It reminds me of the secret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?”
“Soon to be completely eclipsed.”
“Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back! But this may be our only chance… we can’t let fear stop us!”
“There is… so very much to learn.”
“I’m not afraid of the darkness!”
“The princess’ heart is responding; it has been there all along! Her heart rests within you!”
“All for one and one for all!”
“Yet… you understand so little.”
“This time, I’ll protect you.”
“One who knows nothing can understand nothing.”
“Wherever you go, I’ll be with you.”
“Let the Keyblade choose… its true master.”
“You are the one who will open the door to the light.”
As the images of people and places bombarded him relentlessly, Roxas woke up screaming.
------------
Memento
By Tetra Seleno
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts - it belongs to Square Enix, Disney, and Tetsuya Nomura. Please refer to this disclaimer in all future chapters when pertaining to this fanfic.
File 01: Square One
------------
In the middle of the night, his room was dark, illuminated only by the pale light from the eternally-twilit sky. Twilight Town was famous for its sky - it was its main attraction, because how many cities out there don’t fully experience night and day? The sky here was always filled with beautiful reds, golds, oranges, violets, and yellows that stretched on for miles and miles. The only way one could tell the difference of time in Twilight Town was the color of the sky - pastel colors meant dawn, or daytime. Deeper, more regal colors meant dusk, or nighttime.
The boy sighed, his eyes staring wistfully at the pale yellows and pinks that painted their way across the sky. Morning already? It didn’t seem that long ago he set himself to bed. But then, of course, he wasn’t getting much sleep anyway.
Three nights, now, he’d gone without a decent night’s rest.
He ran a hand through his unkempt blonde hair. He was turning into a wreck, he was sure of it. He was bound to have dark rings under his eyes, and lately he’d been feeling incredibly tired and drained from his sleeping issues.
Yes, his dreams. The boy sighed again and collapsed against his pillow. For three nights, he’d been having the most intense dreams he’d ever experienced. Yet, when he woke up the next day, he could barely remember them. But he still woke up shaking and dripping with cold sweat.
This was definitely not a normal occurrence.
The boy shut his eyes and tried to think. What was he dreaming about? Why did he wake up in so much pain? He couldn’t exactly remember his dreams, only bits and pieces - and what he could remember were things he didn’t want to. Horrible images of black monsters with chilling, glowing eyes haunted his thoughts. He shuddered at the memory of them.
The boy opened his eyes and looked out his window. More colors spread across the sky, and below he could hear residents of Twilight Town stepping out of their apartments and heading off to work.
There would be no point in hiding it from the others - he suspected he looked like a wreck today. He shook his head at the very thought of his friends. Hayner would get upset and demand just what the hell was wrong with him, accusing him of not taking better care of himself. Orette and Pence would take a different approach, however - expressing concern through compassion rather than shock. Either way, his friends would end up treating him gently for the rest of the day, and that was something he did not want.
Roxas shrugged, and climbed out of bed. It was going to be a long, long day.
“Pence! Catch!”
Pence, a chubby boy with black eyes and equally dark hair that was held back by a red headband ( and said headband had the amusing habit of pushing Pence’s up to near gravity-defying heights ), looked sharp as Hayner grinned like a madman and tossed a ball into the air. In an instant, and with a loud crack, Hayner smacked the ball with his trusted bat and sent it flying towards the stockier boy.
Pence gulped as he reached out to catch the speeding ball with both hands, and just barely managed to catch it - but not before being knocked down to the ground. “Nice shot,” Pence wheezed.
Hayner cackled wildly. “Oh yeah! Did you see that? Did you guys see that?” He jogged over to his wheezing friend with a wide grin on his face. Hayner looked older than Pence, and his slicked-back blonde hair amplified his older appearance. He was lithe and lanky, dressed in camo pants, a black tank-top, and a green flak vest.
“I saw it alright,” Pence laughed. “But did you have to hit it that hard, bro?”
“Sorry,” Hayner grinned, a bit sheepish, “guess I don’t know my own strength, yeah?”
“You should if you’re going to knock Pence around like that,” said a feminine voice. Hayner turned around to face Orette, a girl around Pence’s age. While Hayner’s and Pence’s eyes were brown or black, hers were bright green, and her hair was a lovely dark red. She didn’t dress like Hayner did, either - Orette was comfortable in just about anything, as long as it was comfortable.
In their little group, if Hayner was the leader, and Pence was the resident funny guy, then Orette was the bleeding heart of the group. She could never stand to see anyone or anything be bullied or tossed around like they were some old toy. She knelt down and looked at Pence with concern. “Are you okay?”
Hayner shrugged. “Hey, Pence knows I’m sorry, right?” Orette ignored him and kept her attention focused on Pence.
Pence laughed, smiling at Orette. “Don’t worry about me, Orette, I’m always happy to be Hayner’s favorite punching bag.”
“See, now that’s the spirit.”
“Hayner!” Orette said in a mock-reprimanding tone, but she ended up laughing herself at Pence’s joke. Content with himself, Pence folded his hands behind his head and sat up.
“Just promise you won’t give me a concussion next time, okay?” Pence teased, winking at his friend.
“Deal,” Hayner agreed, nodding back. “You’ve got my word, buddy.”
“Why are you taking it out on Pence, anyway?” Orette asked curiously, standing up. She folded her arms over her chest and watched Hayner closely. “I mean, Pence’s not even entering the competition, is he?”
“Well, obviously!” Hayner grumbled, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. “I’d practice with Roxas or something, but I haven’t seen him all day.”
“So, naturally,” Pence interjected, “I get to be his punching bag.”
“Can’t beat up Roxas all the time,” Hayner smirked.”
Orette rolled her eyes. “Did you try calling him or anything?”
“Nope. Couldn’t reach him, actually. I called him this morning but he didn’t answer, so I left a message. Told him we’d be in the park practicing for The Struggle.” Hayner shrugged and scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten here sooner - it’s almost noon.”
The girl frowned, expressing her concern. “That’s weird… it’s not like Roxas to be late.”
“Or to ditch us altogether,” Pence added. “I mean, sure, he doesn’t talk a lot, but Roxas would never do anything to let any of us down - especially you, Hayner.”
Hayner glowered at the stocky boy. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Pence opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the look Orette was giving him, shut his mouth within an instant. “Er, nothing.”
“Sure doesn’t seem like nothing.” Hayner lightly smacked Pence upside the head, shaking his head. “Man, it’s hard to find good help these days.”
“You sound like Seifer,” Pence retorted.
Hayner spun around to face Pence, and if looks could kill, well, Pence would’ve been dead on the spot. “Don’t you dare compare me to that bastard,” Hayner growled.
Pence gulped, and nodded nervously, desperately inching away from Hayner. Orette winced and sighed. Pence had brought that upon himself, even if Hayner was wrong in treating him like that.
Hayner and Seifer’s mutual bond of hatred was legendary. No one really knew why - Seifer and his gang antagonized a lot of kids for years, Orette and Pence included among them. You could feel it in the air whenever the two walked into the same room as each other, which made school just a little challenging for the teenagers in Twilight Town. As far as she knew, Hayner was, for a long time, the only one who ever stood up to Seifer. After all, that was how Pence and Orette came to know Hayner in the first place.
“Hayner, please,” she murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder. “He didn’t mean it like that.”
Hayner shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah,” he sighed, visibly calming down. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Pence.” He smiled weakly at his friend, gingerly extending a hand towards him.
Pence shook his head, smiling back. “It’s alright. I know how you get around that guy.” He gratuitously accepted Hayner’s hand and allowed the older boy to lift him up off the ground.
“Doesn’t excuse me being an ass,” Hayner said, offering Pence a small smile.
“Dude, it’s okay, chill.” The stocky boy held up his hands in a pacifying manner, grinning. “What’s done is done, you know? Besides, like I said, I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”
“You sure about that?” Hayner frowned, folding his arms. “I mean, I could make it up to you if you wanted.”
“Nah, that’s okay.”
“No, really! I’ll buy you ice cream or something - my treat.”
“I said it was okay, Hayner!”
”Damn it, Pence, don’t you know when to accept when someone’s offering?”
Orette shook her head. “You guys’ll never change, will you?” The silly grins on her two friends faces seemed to answer her question. Orette shook her head again and couldn’t help but break out into smiles, too.
“Well, looks like you guys’ve been having fun without me.”
All three heads turned to face Roxas, a boy dressed in baggy gray sweatpants, a black shirt covered by a white jacket, unkempt blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He smiled at his three friends and waved.
At once, Hayner, Pence, and Orette tackled the poor boy.
“There you are!”
“Took you long enough, slowass!”
“Man, am I glad you’re here. Now I don’t have to worry about a concussion!”
Roxas laughed, trying his best to push himself away from the tangled mess his friends had put him in. “Hey, guys, c’mon, knock it off!”
One by one, the other children removed themselves from Roxas, big smiles on their faces. “And here I was thinking you weren’t going to show up,” Hayner teased.
“Better late than never, I guess,” Roxas shrugged.
“That’s what they all say,” Hayner teased again, clapping a hand on Roxas’ shoulder. “So, where’ve you been?”
“I got stuck doing chores for some of my neighbors in the Residential District,” Roxas said hesitantly, fidgeting slightly. “It took a lot longer than I thought it would.”
“Hey, as long as you’re here now, it doesn’t matter much to me. Did you bring your bat?” Hayner eagerly picked his up off the ground and entered his battle pose. “Because I’m ready to take you down, Roxas.”
Roxas laughed lightly. Good old Hayner. “I was thinking we could do that later, actually.”
Hayner looked like he’d been shot. “Later?” he whined. “I’ve been waiting all day for this!”
“I know you have,” Roxas assured, “but I was thinking we could go out to lunch, or something. I mean, after all…” he reached into his pocket and produced a handful of munny coins, “I did get a rather nice paycheck for doing all those chores.” He watched the expression on Hayner and Pence’s faces as he placed the coins back into his pocket and grinned. “And there’s more where that came from.”
“Lunch sounds heavenly,” Orette giggled. “Count me in.”
“Seconded!” Pence agreed, raising his hand within an instant.
Hayner looked torn. “But… I wanted to play…” His eyes darted between his bat and the munny in Roxas’ pocket.
“We can come back after we’ve eaten, Hayner,” Pence assured. “C’mon, you’ve gotta be pretty hungry after what we’ve done all morning.”
Reluctantly, Hayner sighed. “Fine,” he shrugged, “you win. Let’s go get something to eat.”
Roxas grinned. “Cool. C’mon, guys, follow me,” he said, gesturing towards the park’s exit, “I know just the place where we can get a bite to eat.” He sprinted off, and if Roxas knew his friends as well as he did, he knew Hayner would be at his feet in no time, because Hayner never passed on a challenge. Orette and Pence followed close behind, laughing all the way.
Roxas was just happy no one said anything about his appearance. His hair was more disheveled than usual and his eyes still had dark rings under them, but so far no one didn’t say anything - or cared to notice. Either way, Roxas was happy to be with his friends.
“Hello, Roxas.”
The blonde boy skidded to a halt, tilting his head from side to side. “Hello?” he asked. “Anyone there? Guys?” He turned around to look at his friends, then Roxas gasped.
All three of his friends seemed to be frozen in time. They weren’t moving or breathing or anything - they stood in the positions they were in before Roxas heard that voice.
“Guys?” Roxas incredulously asked. “Guys, this isn’t funny!”
He took a few steps back, his heart pounding. Was he dreaming again? He stared at his hands in horror. What in the world was happening to him?
“Hey, Roxas!”
He spun around in alarm. Before him stood a short girl with long, blonde hair and expressive blue eyes - eyes that sent chills down Roxas’ very spine. She was dressed in a simple white sundress and wore sandals in the same color.
“Um…” Roxas stammered, scratching the back of his head. What the hell was going on here? “Hi?”
The strange girl giggled, somehow finding Roxas’ situation funny. Roxas, however, saw no humor in what was happening and could only watch the girl in confusion.
When she stopped giggling to herself, she observed Roxas carefully. “Don’t be afraid, Roxas,” she said quietly, smiling peacefully at him. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Don’t be afraid of what?” Roxas asked.
The strange girl smiled at him again, and disappeared within the blink of an eye.
“Hey, Roxas, what’s wrong?”
Roxas turned around once more. His eyes widened - when would things start making sense again? Just as soon as they had turn into living statues, Hayner, Pence, and Orette were moving again, and so was the world around him.
He took a deep breath and sighed. “Um, nothing,” he lied. “I was just… distracted.”
Well, here I am, writing Kingdom Hearts fanfic again. Despite the similarity to the Twilight Town scenario from Kingdom Hearts 2, this fic is definitely going to be AU. However, expect to see plenty of similarities between the canon scenario in this.
This fic will be predominately Roxas-centric, but keep your eyes open for any other characters that choose to pop up during this little adventure.
And, as always, please be kind and leave a review.
Memento
Chapter Title: Square One
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Word Count: 2,719.
Rating: PG-13 for a couple swear words in this chapter. However, might get bumped up to R later due to content.
Summary: Images of places he's never seen, memories of people he doesn't know... when the line between reality and fantasy begins to falter, Roxas' world begins to crumble.
“Are you still dreaming?”
“It wasn’t a dream! …or was it? I dunno. What was that place? So bizarre…”
“Yeah, sure.”
“A paopu fruit…?”
“If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it.”
“What are you talking -“
“So, this is called a Keyblade?”
“Oh, and guess what! … the Keyblade Master! Who would’ve thought it?”
“Really? Well, what do you know? I never would’ve guessed.”
“Let’s take the raft and go… just the two of us.”
“Kairi… Kairi! Open your eyes!”
“It’s no use. That girl has lost her heart.”
“This world has been connected.”
“… give him back his heart!”
“But first, you must give the princess back her heart!”
“Tied to the darkness.”
“Don’t you see yet?”
“It reminds me of the secret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?”
“Soon to be completely eclipsed.”
“Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back! But this may be our only chance… we can’t let fear stop us!”
“There is… so very much to learn.”
“I’m not afraid of the darkness!”
“The princess’ heart is responding; it has been there all along! Her heart rests within you!”
“All for one and one for all!”
“Yet… you understand so little.”
“This time, I’ll protect you.”
“One who knows nothing can understand nothing.”
“Wherever you go, I’ll be with you.”
“Let the Keyblade choose… its true master.”
“You are the one who will open the door to the light.”
As the images of people and places bombarded him relentlessly, Roxas woke up screaming.
------------
Memento
By Tetra Seleno
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts - it belongs to Square Enix, Disney, and Tetsuya Nomura. Please refer to this disclaimer in all future chapters when pertaining to this fanfic.
File 01: Square One
------------
In the middle of the night, his room was dark, illuminated only by the pale light from the eternally-twilit sky. Twilight Town was famous for its sky - it was its main attraction, because how many cities out there don’t fully experience night and day? The sky here was always filled with beautiful reds, golds, oranges, violets, and yellows that stretched on for miles and miles. The only way one could tell the difference of time in Twilight Town was the color of the sky - pastel colors meant dawn, or daytime. Deeper, more regal colors meant dusk, or nighttime.
The boy sighed, his eyes staring wistfully at the pale yellows and pinks that painted their way across the sky. Morning already? It didn’t seem that long ago he set himself to bed. But then, of course, he wasn’t getting much sleep anyway.
Three nights, now, he’d gone without a decent night’s rest.
He ran a hand through his unkempt blonde hair. He was turning into a wreck, he was sure of it. He was bound to have dark rings under his eyes, and lately he’d been feeling incredibly tired and drained from his sleeping issues.
Yes, his dreams. The boy sighed again and collapsed against his pillow. For three nights, he’d been having the most intense dreams he’d ever experienced. Yet, when he woke up the next day, he could barely remember them. But he still woke up shaking and dripping with cold sweat.
This was definitely not a normal occurrence.
The boy shut his eyes and tried to think. What was he dreaming about? Why did he wake up in so much pain? He couldn’t exactly remember his dreams, only bits and pieces - and what he could remember were things he didn’t want to. Horrible images of black monsters with chilling, glowing eyes haunted his thoughts. He shuddered at the memory of them.
The boy opened his eyes and looked out his window. More colors spread across the sky, and below he could hear residents of Twilight Town stepping out of their apartments and heading off to work.
There would be no point in hiding it from the others - he suspected he looked like a wreck today. He shook his head at the very thought of his friends. Hayner would get upset and demand just what the hell was wrong with him, accusing him of not taking better care of himself. Orette and Pence would take a different approach, however - expressing concern through compassion rather than shock. Either way, his friends would end up treating him gently for the rest of the day, and that was something he did not want.
Roxas shrugged, and climbed out of bed. It was going to be a long, long day.
“Pence! Catch!”
Pence, a chubby boy with black eyes and equally dark hair that was held back by a red headband ( and said headband had the amusing habit of pushing Pence’s up to near gravity-defying heights ), looked sharp as Hayner grinned like a madman and tossed a ball into the air. In an instant, and with a loud crack, Hayner smacked the ball with his trusted bat and sent it flying towards the stockier boy.
Pence gulped as he reached out to catch the speeding ball with both hands, and just barely managed to catch it - but not before being knocked down to the ground. “Nice shot,” Pence wheezed.
Hayner cackled wildly. “Oh yeah! Did you see that? Did you guys see that?” He jogged over to his wheezing friend with a wide grin on his face. Hayner looked older than Pence, and his slicked-back blonde hair amplified his older appearance. He was lithe and lanky, dressed in camo pants, a black tank-top, and a green flak vest.
“I saw it alright,” Pence laughed. “But did you have to hit it that hard, bro?”
“Sorry,” Hayner grinned, a bit sheepish, “guess I don’t know my own strength, yeah?”
“You should if you’re going to knock Pence around like that,” said a feminine voice. Hayner turned around to face Orette, a girl around Pence’s age. While Hayner’s and Pence’s eyes were brown or black, hers were bright green, and her hair was a lovely dark red. She didn’t dress like Hayner did, either - Orette was comfortable in just about anything, as long as it was comfortable.
In their little group, if Hayner was the leader, and Pence was the resident funny guy, then Orette was the bleeding heart of the group. She could never stand to see anyone or anything be bullied or tossed around like they were some old toy. She knelt down and looked at Pence with concern. “Are you okay?”
Hayner shrugged. “Hey, Pence knows I’m sorry, right?” Orette ignored him and kept her attention focused on Pence.
Pence laughed, smiling at Orette. “Don’t worry about me, Orette, I’m always happy to be Hayner’s favorite punching bag.”
“See, now that’s the spirit.”
“Hayner!” Orette said in a mock-reprimanding tone, but she ended up laughing herself at Pence’s joke. Content with himself, Pence folded his hands behind his head and sat up.
“Just promise you won’t give me a concussion next time, okay?” Pence teased, winking at his friend.
“Deal,” Hayner agreed, nodding back. “You’ve got my word, buddy.”
“Why are you taking it out on Pence, anyway?” Orette asked curiously, standing up. She folded her arms over her chest and watched Hayner closely. “I mean, Pence’s not even entering the competition, is he?”
“Well, obviously!” Hayner grumbled, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. “I’d practice with Roxas or something, but I haven’t seen him all day.”
“So, naturally,” Pence interjected, “I get to be his punching bag.”
“Can’t beat up Roxas all the time,” Hayner smirked.”
Orette rolled her eyes. “Did you try calling him or anything?”
“Nope. Couldn’t reach him, actually. I called him this morning but he didn’t answer, so I left a message. Told him we’d be in the park practicing for The Struggle.” Hayner shrugged and scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten here sooner - it’s almost noon.”
The girl frowned, expressing her concern. “That’s weird… it’s not like Roxas to be late.”
“Or to ditch us altogether,” Pence added. “I mean, sure, he doesn’t talk a lot, but Roxas would never do anything to let any of us down - especially you, Hayner.”
Hayner glowered at the stocky boy. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Pence opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the look Orette was giving him, shut his mouth within an instant. “Er, nothing.”
“Sure doesn’t seem like nothing.” Hayner lightly smacked Pence upside the head, shaking his head. “Man, it’s hard to find good help these days.”
“You sound like Seifer,” Pence retorted.
Hayner spun around to face Pence, and if looks could kill, well, Pence would’ve been dead on the spot. “Don’t you dare compare me to that bastard,” Hayner growled.
Pence gulped, and nodded nervously, desperately inching away from Hayner. Orette winced and sighed. Pence had brought that upon himself, even if Hayner was wrong in treating him like that.
Hayner and Seifer’s mutual bond of hatred was legendary. No one really knew why - Seifer and his gang antagonized a lot of kids for years, Orette and Pence included among them. You could feel it in the air whenever the two walked into the same room as each other, which made school just a little challenging for the teenagers in Twilight Town. As far as she knew, Hayner was, for a long time, the only one who ever stood up to Seifer. After all, that was how Pence and Orette came to know Hayner in the first place.
“Hayner, please,” she murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder. “He didn’t mean it like that.”
Hayner shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah,” he sighed, visibly calming down. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Pence.” He smiled weakly at his friend, gingerly extending a hand towards him.
Pence shook his head, smiling back. “It’s alright. I know how you get around that guy.” He gratuitously accepted Hayner’s hand and allowed the older boy to lift him up off the ground.
“Doesn’t excuse me being an ass,” Hayner said, offering Pence a small smile.
“Dude, it’s okay, chill.” The stocky boy held up his hands in a pacifying manner, grinning. “What’s done is done, you know? Besides, like I said, I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”
“You sure about that?” Hayner frowned, folding his arms. “I mean, I could make it up to you if you wanted.”
“Nah, that’s okay.”
“No, really! I’ll buy you ice cream or something - my treat.”
“I said it was okay, Hayner!”
”Damn it, Pence, don’t you know when to accept when someone’s offering?”
Orette shook her head. “You guys’ll never change, will you?” The silly grins on her two friends faces seemed to answer her question. Orette shook her head again and couldn’t help but break out into smiles, too.
“Well, looks like you guys’ve been having fun without me.”
All three heads turned to face Roxas, a boy dressed in baggy gray sweatpants, a black shirt covered by a white jacket, unkempt blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He smiled at his three friends and waved.
At once, Hayner, Pence, and Orette tackled the poor boy.
“There you are!”
“Took you long enough, slowass!”
“Man, am I glad you’re here. Now I don’t have to worry about a concussion!”
Roxas laughed, trying his best to push himself away from the tangled mess his friends had put him in. “Hey, guys, c’mon, knock it off!”
One by one, the other children removed themselves from Roxas, big smiles on their faces. “And here I was thinking you weren’t going to show up,” Hayner teased.
“Better late than never, I guess,” Roxas shrugged.
“That’s what they all say,” Hayner teased again, clapping a hand on Roxas’ shoulder. “So, where’ve you been?”
“I got stuck doing chores for some of my neighbors in the Residential District,” Roxas said hesitantly, fidgeting slightly. “It took a lot longer than I thought it would.”
“Hey, as long as you’re here now, it doesn’t matter much to me. Did you bring your bat?” Hayner eagerly picked his up off the ground and entered his battle pose. “Because I’m ready to take you down, Roxas.”
Roxas laughed lightly. Good old Hayner. “I was thinking we could do that later, actually.”
Hayner looked like he’d been shot. “Later?” he whined. “I’ve been waiting all day for this!”
“I know you have,” Roxas assured, “but I was thinking we could go out to lunch, or something. I mean, after all…” he reached into his pocket and produced a handful of munny coins, “I did get a rather nice paycheck for doing all those chores.” He watched the expression on Hayner and Pence’s faces as he placed the coins back into his pocket and grinned. “And there’s more where that came from.”
“Lunch sounds heavenly,” Orette giggled. “Count me in.”
“Seconded!” Pence agreed, raising his hand within an instant.
Hayner looked torn. “But… I wanted to play…” His eyes darted between his bat and the munny in Roxas’ pocket.
“We can come back after we’ve eaten, Hayner,” Pence assured. “C’mon, you’ve gotta be pretty hungry after what we’ve done all morning.”
Reluctantly, Hayner sighed. “Fine,” he shrugged, “you win. Let’s go get something to eat.”
Roxas grinned. “Cool. C’mon, guys, follow me,” he said, gesturing towards the park’s exit, “I know just the place where we can get a bite to eat.” He sprinted off, and if Roxas knew his friends as well as he did, he knew Hayner would be at his feet in no time, because Hayner never passed on a challenge. Orette and Pence followed close behind, laughing all the way.
Roxas was just happy no one said anything about his appearance. His hair was more disheveled than usual and his eyes still had dark rings under them, but so far no one didn’t say anything - or cared to notice. Either way, Roxas was happy to be with his friends.
“Hello, Roxas.”
The blonde boy skidded to a halt, tilting his head from side to side. “Hello?” he asked. “Anyone there? Guys?” He turned around to look at his friends, then Roxas gasped.
All three of his friends seemed to be frozen in time. They weren’t moving or breathing or anything - they stood in the positions they were in before Roxas heard that voice.
“Guys?” Roxas incredulously asked. “Guys, this isn’t funny!”
He took a few steps back, his heart pounding. Was he dreaming again? He stared at his hands in horror. What in the world was happening to him?
“Hey, Roxas!”
He spun around in alarm. Before him stood a short girl with long, blonde hair and expressive blue eyes - eyes that sent chills down Roxas’ very spine. She was dressed in a simple white sundress and wore sandals in the same color.
“Um…” Roxas stammered, scratching the back of his head. What the hell was going on here? “Hi?”
The strange girl giggled, somehow finding Roxas’ situation funny. Roxas, however, saw no humor in what was happening and could only watch the girl in confusion.
When she stopped giggling to herself, she observed Roxas carefully. “Don’t be afraid, Roxas,” she said quietly, smiling peacefully at him. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Don’t be afraid of what?” Roxas asked.
The strange girl smiled at him again, and disappeared within the blink of an eye.
“Hey, Roxas, what’s wrong?”
Roxas turned around once more. His eyes widened - when would things start making sense again? Just as soon as they had turn into living statues, Hayner, Pence, and Orette were moving again, and so was the world around him.
He took a deep breath and sighed. “Um, nothing,” he lied. “I was just… distracted.”
Well, here I am, writing Kingdom Hearts fanfic again. Despite the similarity to the Twilight Town scenario from Kingdom Hearts 2, this fic is definitely going to be AU. However, expect to see plenty of similarities between the canon scenario in this.
This fic will be predominately Roxas-centric, but keep your eyes open for any other characters that choose to pop up during this little adventure.
And, as always, please be kind and leave a review.