fic: How Everyone Started Sleeping Together (4/5)
How Everyone Started Sleeping Together (4/5)
Summary: Sora didn't mean for things to get so complicated so fast. Mostly, he blames Roxas. Post-KH2, ignores KH3D.
Pairings: Sora/Riku/Kairi + Sora/Riku/Roxas + Roxas/Axel + and all subsets thereof.
Warnings: Weird consent issues arising from people sharing bodies (no actual dubcon or noncon in my opinion, but read at your own risk).
Previous part can be found here. First part here.
Sora found out that Axel was back- and alive- when he woke up some time late in the morning to find himself pinned to his bed with Axel making out with him and Roxas moaning. Both of them were shirtless.
Ahem, he said, and wondered if Roxas was going to make a habit of making out with guys while Sora was sleeping. Hadn't once been enough?
Roxas' only response was to moan again, and to kiss harder. Axel moaned, too, and this was all just a bit too much for Sora to take.
Sora took over and pulled back.
"Um," he said.
Roxas buzzed angrily in the back of his head, like some sort of sexually frustrated bee.
Axel looked confused. "What's the matter, Roxas?"
"Er- Sora, actually," Sora said.
Axel's eyebrows shot up to at least an inch. "Oh," he said. He rolled off of Sora, which made it a lot easier to breathe but was also kind of a mixed blessing because Roxas' annoyed buzzing got a lot louder and at least one part of Sora's anatomy was in full agreement with him.
"So," Sora said, cursing his hormonal alter ego. "You're alive."
Axel grinned.
"And you- and Roxas- is this a new thing, or..."
He's Axel, Roxas said, as though that were enough of an answer on its own. And with the warm wash of affection that leaked over to Sora's side of their heart, it sort of was.
He actually felt a little stupid for not figuring it out sooner.
Axel just grinned again.
Can I have the body back now? Roxas asked.
"No," Sora said.
"Huh?"
"Sorry- I wasn't talking to you," Sora said.
Axel was not wearing a shirt, and he was still really close, and Sora was suddenly very, very aware of this fact. He got off the bed, found his own shirt lying on the ground, and said: "I'm late for school, aren't I?"
"Yeah," Axel said, not seeming very concerned. "But don't worry. I called you in sick."
Sora wasn't sure if that was actually considerate or not. "Uh- Riku and Kairi will still worry about me. I'd better go."
Axel grabbed his wrist. "Do you have to?"
Roxas was fighting for control of the body, but Sora had had enough of this. "Yeah, I really do. You and Roxas can hang out later. Uh. Glad to see you're alive."
He took a cold shower first. That was a necessity. And then he ran to school, in time for lunch although not for any of his morning classes.
"Where were you?" Riku asked, and Sora just collapsed onto the table.
Being accosted in my bed, he would have said, but Roxas took over before he had a chance.
"Axel is back."
He said it a lot more warmly than Sora would have. Because, yeah, Axel had sacrificed himself at the end, but he'd also kidnapped Kairi and done a lot of bad things.
"He is?" Kairi said. "That's... good news. Right?"
She smiled, but it was lukewarm. Sora made an effort to take control of his body, but Roxas was holding a little too tightly to the reins for it to be easy.
"It's great," Roxas said. He grinned.
"So... how is he alive, then?" Riku asked. "I mean last you told us, he was toast. Burned up. Dead."
Roxas shrugged. "He doesn't know, either. He just woke up, alive and well. And with a heart."
"Huh," Riku said. He looked suspicious. Sora thought he was probably right to be. Hearts didn't just come back. Not in his experience, anyway. If it were that easy, Organization XIII wouldn't have existed. Besides, Axel was supposed to be dead. How was he back?
Normally Sora wouldn't worry about this kind of stuff. Or, at least, before he'd gotten home again, he wouldn't have worried about this kind of stuff. Trying to save all the known worlds had a way of straightening out your priorities. But now, at home, with nothing bigger to worry about, it seemed really important to know.
Even more pressing, though, was another issue.
Roxas? Sora said, during Chemistry, which was boring today. I just wanted you to know- it was really... uncomfortable... for me, when you were making out with Axel while I was sleeping.
Oh, said Roxas. God, I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry.
Just- Sora paused. It's your body, too. I mean, I don't want to forbid you to do things with it. But- warn me, next time?
Yeah, Roxas said. Sorry. I wasn't thinking.
Then there was another pause.
What about sex? Roxas asked.
Huh?
I mean, of course I'll warn you first. No surprises this time.
Oh. Um. Yeah. Just- what did you have in mind?
Roxas told Sora. In great detail and with no apparent shame. It wasn't anything Sora hadn't been planning on himself, eventually. It was just- he'd been planning on it eventually. Not yet. He and Riku and Kairi weren't exactly taking things slow, but the way Sora thought of it, they had a lot of basics to master before they tried... other things.
Um. Can you wait until I've tried some of that stuff myself? Sora asked. I mean, you've already done things with Axel, right?
Yeah, we can hold off. I'll explain things to Axel. He'll understand.
Sora sighed in relief, earning him weird looks from Wakka and Selphie. He was pretty sure he was earning a reputation as really strange at school, between the dating-two-people thing and the staring-into-space-while-he-and-Roxas-talked thing, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"Sora!"
Roxas turned. He and Sora were making the trip to the beach after school. Axel was staying on the play island for now, since he had no money for a hotel and no one had extra space to put him up, even if any of them had been able to explain to their parents who Axel was or why he was there. Sora had offered him some munny- he had plenty- but Axel had refused.
"Not at the moment," Roxas said.
"Sorry, Roxas," Riku said, amiably. "I just wanted to let you guys know that Kairi invited us over for dinner tonight. Her dad is out of town and we're going to make spaghetti and watch old horror films. It'll be great. You coming?"
"Is Axel invited?"
Riku looked a little uncomfortable. "I guess."
"He's a good person," Roxas said. "He sacrificed himself to save Sora, remember? I mean, he did some bad things for the Organization, but that was before he had his heart back. You'll see."
He was so utterly earnest that Sora hoped it was true, just to make Roxas happy.
"Maybe you're right," Riku said. "I mean, it can't hurt to give him a chance, right?"
Roxas broke out into a huge smile. "Thanks."
"But - doesn't this change everything? I thought you and Axel-"
"Yeah," Roxas said. He paused. "About that-"
"I don't want to get in your way," Riku said.
Roxas' mouth fell open a little.
Sora felt sick, like he was the one being broken up with. Logically, he wasn't. Logically, Roxas would want to be with Axel more. It still stung a little.
"It's going to be hard for you," Riku said. "I mean- he's been dead, and you've mourned him, and now he's back. I don't think it's going to be easy to get back in the swing of things. I would just make it harder. So I'll spare you the pain of breaking up with me. I'll do it first."
"Let's call it mutual," Roxas said, a little quietly. "I mean- I like you, you're a good friend- but it's always been pretty obvious that Sora and Kairi and you belong together, and I'm just... extra."
"That's not true," Riku said, looking legitimately angry for the first time in the conversation. "I mean, the two of us- we were different. It was more... physical. That doesn't mean it didn't ever count. It was still real."
"Real," Roxas echoed bitterly. Sora knew he had problems with that word.
Then he shook his head. "Thank you," he said, after a moment. "For everything."
"Friends?" Riku asked. "I don't want this to be awkward. I mean, I'm not breaking up with Sora, so we're still going to be hanging out."
"Friends," Roxas said. "But I'm still dragging Axel over to your spaghetti party."
Riku's smile was lukewarm at best. "Great," he said.
Sora shared Riku's concern. But he didn't say anything. Roxas had just gotten Axel back. It wasn't the right time to get upset that Axel had done bad things. They should all be happy for Roxas. And while Sora was happy for Roxas, he was concerned, too.
Sometimes, Sora dreamed Roxas' memories. It was a two-way street- Roxas had complained about Sora's memories before. And while dreams weren't enough to grasp the full picture of what had happened between Roxas and Axel while Sora had been out of the picture, it was enough to know that Axel had betrayed Roxas at least once. Tried to kill him for the Organization. Sora was all for forgiveness- Axel had sacrificed himself, or, well, tried to, to save Sora- but that didn't mean they shouldn't be careful. Axel hadn't been possessed or anything when he'd betrayed Roxas, as far as Sora knew. He'd made his choices all on his own. And that meant that he could do it again.
Then he shook his head. 'Again?' They'd saved the worlds. There wasn't going to be an 'again.' The Organization was gone. Xehanort's Heartless and Nobody were gone. Everything was safe now. Axel didn't have any reason to betray Roxas. The worst Axel could do now was to break Roxas' heart. Metaphorically, that was. And now that Axel had a heart of his own, maybe it wouldn't come to that.
Sora still couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something really important. But he couldn't think what it was, so he let it go for now.
Axel showed up to dinner late, and wearing his Organization coat. Sora already had a bad feeling about this night, and seeing him in that outfit made it worse.
"Roxas," Axel said, totally ignoring the others. "Looking good."
Roxas shoved Sora to the back of their mind with more force than was strictly necessary.
"Axel," he said, putting more feeling into that word than most people did into entire paragraphs of talking.
They kissed. Like Riku, Axel had to stoop over to kiss Roxas. He kissed Roxas tenderly, biting gently at his lower lip.
This wasn't for Sora. This wasn't meant to be shared. But Sora was there anyway. If kissing Riku had once been like Roxas and Sora were the same person, kissing Axel was exactly the opposite. There was a small amount of bleed-through- Sora could tell Roxas was really, really happy- but it was easy to separate out his own feelings from Roxas'. He didn't like Axel. At least, he didn't like him the same way he liked Riku and Kairi.
Was that even possible? 'You feel what I feel,' Roxas had said, once before. Was that not true? Had it been a coincidence, that Roxas and Sora both liked Riku? After all, Roxas had never cared about Kairi the same way that Sora did. He liked her, but he wasn't in love with her. In fact, he'd said he didn't like girls at all.
Then again, Sora had never really liked anyone other than Riku and Kairi, so maybe he wasn't one to talk. Even after he'd started dating them, he hadn't stopped to think if that made him gay or bi or whatever. Whatever his orientation, it was one that let him love both of them. And that was enough.
He knew this, too: kissing Axel was nothing special. It was just lips. But Roxas kissing Axel was something else entirely. Roxas kissing back, Roxas running his hands through Axel's hair- it wasn't Axel that made this exciting. It was that Roxas was using Sora's body in ways Sora never would on his own. It was the lack of control. It was bizarre, and weird, and Sora wasn't sure what to make of it.
Sora was suddenly glad that he wasn't in control of the body for other reasons- he would probably have a really obvious boner right now, and he'd never be able to explain to anyone why.
The kiss went on for way too long, ending only when Riku coughed. Roxas broke it off with a sheepish smile.
"Well," Roxas said, "Um. This is Kairi's house, obviously. We're making spaghetti in the kitchen. We should probably check on that now," he added, almost apologetically. "It might be done now."
So they all moved to the kitchen.
Riku, Sora noticed, was obviously trying really hard not to glare at Axel. He was kind of failing.
Well. That was a boner-killer, at least. Sora hated to see Riku angry. He hated to see anyone angry.
You need to talk to Riku, Sora told Roxas.
Huh? Oh. Yeah.
"Hey," Roxas said to Riku.
Riku's expression softened a little as his gaze moved to Roxas.
"I need to talk to you," Roxas said, jerking his head toward the hallway. "Come on. It'll just take a minute."
"Okay," Riku said with a carefully casual shrug.
Axel said nothing, but looked between them as though he wasn't sure what was going on. Kairi gently roped him into helping with the spaghetti sauce, and as Roxas and Riku walked down the hall to the living room, Sora could hear her asking "So are you good at chopping onions? I always cry..."
"I'm sorry," Riku said, as soon as they were out of earshot of the others. "I'm really trying to be nice, but it's hard."
"You're jealous," Sora observed.
Roxas started at that. Had he really not noticed?
"I don't mind sharing Sora with Kairi," Riku said. "Because- well, I'm sharing him with Kairi, and we're not so much a couple as we are a... a..."
"A trio?" Roxas suggested. "A trinity?"
"Something like that, anyway. It's hard, though, seeing you kiss Axel. Even if it's not Sora doing it, it still looks like him."
"It's not me," Sora said. "It's Roxas. You're just going to have to get better at making that distinction, I guess. And just keep remembering, I guess, that love isn't in limited supply here? I mean, even if I were kissing Axel, that wouldn't mean that I loved you any less."
This did seem to cheer Riku up somewhat. They went back to the kitchen in good spirits, in time to help with the rest of the meal. Axel gave Roxas a curious look when they walked back in, but didn't say anything.
Riku did a better job of not glaring at Axel during the meal, even when Axel kissed a bit of spaghetti sauce off the corner of Roxas' mouth. Sora wondered if Axel had ever had a chance to be openly affectionate with Roxas before. He couldn't see the Organization being really okay with romance between its members. He could imagine kisses stolen in passing, nights hidden in each other's rooms- but nothing open.
Sora, who kissed Kairi and Riku whenever he pleased- even in school, even if teachers scolded him, even if it made people give him strange looks and call him weird- felt kind of bad for them. Hiding was always hard. Love was meant to be out in the open.
But everything was okay now. Sure, they weren't together the whole day like Sora and Riku and Kairi were, but they could see each other after school, and on weekends, and no one that mattered really disapproved, even if Sora and Riku were still a little wary of Axel.
Eventually, after they'd washed up, Roxas said, "I think I'm going to head home now. You guys mind?"
"No problem," Kairi said with a smile.
"I'd better head out, too, then," Axel said, looking a little uncomfortable at the idea of hanging out with Kairi and Riku without Roxas as a buffer.
They left, stepping out into the humid, warm air of the islands.
"It's a little weird," Axel said. "I know they're Sora's friends, and you're sharing a body with him, but it's a little strange to hang out with them."
"They're my friends, too," Roxas said. "Though- they're not just Sora's friends."
Axel raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"They're his boyfriend and girlfriend," Roxas said.
"Huh," Axel said. "I guess... that kind of makes sense? Like, I wouldn't have guessed, but now that you say so, I'm not surprised."
"Yeah," Roxas said. "I wouldn't have expected it to work, but it seems to be. Sora is really happy." As an aside, almost speaking to Sora, he added, "it's sometimes really annoying how happy he is."
Axel laughed. Then he grew more serious. "How does that work out with you? I mean, if you're in the same body as Sora..."
"We take turns with the body," Roxas said. "He does what he wants with it when I'm sleeping. And mostly vice-versa, though Sora wants me to wait on some things for a while. He's practically a virgin, still."
Sora wanted to protest. He wasn't a virgin. But then, there was a lot he hadn't done, and he knew Roxas hadn't meant it as an insult, this time.
Axel nodded.
They arrived at Sora's house. The lights were all off. It wasn't that late- Sora's dad was probably still working, like usual, and his mom had apparently stepped out. They took off their shoes at the door, and walked up to Sora's room.
"I love you," Roxas said. "You know that, right?"
Axel smiled, then. "Good. I love you too, you know. Even more, now that I have a heart to feel it with."
Roxas nodded. And then his grin turned wicked. "I have an idea," he said.
You might want to take a nap, he told Sora, internally. Unless you feel like being a voyeur. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything you haven't done with Riku.
This whole conversation had felt a little bit like eavesdropping, and also Sora had a pretty good idea what was about to happen. So he just said, wake me up when you guys are done having your fun, and did his best to fade to the back of their mind.
The last thing that happened before he drifted off was Roxas unbuckling the belt on Axel's pants, saying, "I learned a lot more from Sora than you might think..."
He woke up only a minute later.
"SORA. WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!"
Considering Roxas' mouth was still sucking on Axel's cock, Sora thought that question was probably rhetorical.
Roxas removed himself from Axel and turned to face Sora's mother. He wiped off his mouth.
"Um," he said. "Hi?"
And then he abandoned Sora to face his mother's wrath without him. The coward.
Sora had never seen his mother so furious. She turned on Axel. "Out," she said.
Axel zipped up his pants, not at all fazed. "See you later," he said, nodding in Sora's direction. And then Sora was left to face his mother entirely alone.
It really wasn't fair. It wasn't like he'd been the one giving his boyfriend a blow job in his room. This time, anyway.
"I can't believe you," his mother said, practically hissing. "I was just starting to accept that you were dating two people- I wasn't okay with it, but I was thinking about it- and now... this."
Sora wasn't sure what to say.
"Who is he?" she asked. "Do you even know him?"
"Of course I do," Sora said. "He's Axel. I met him while I was gone. We're- er- good friends. I wouldn't- you know. With just anyone."
Sora's mother looked pained. "You aren't a very convincing liar. And even if you know him well- it's one thing to date Riku, or Kairi. They're at least the same age as you. How old is this Axel?"
Sora had no idea. He just set his jaw and tried to stare her down. This worked about as well as he expected, which was to say not at all.
Roxas finally took control. "He's older," he admitted.
"Can you give me a number?" Sora's mom asked. "A rough estimate? Or do you not even know him that well?"
"He's twenty-six," Roxas said, finally.
Sora's mom pursed her lips. "And you don't think that's a little old for you? You don't think that he might be taking advantage of you?"
"He tried to sacrifice his life for me," Roxas said, softly. "I wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for him. He's not the kind of person who would take advantage of someone else. If anything, it started out the other way around."
Sora's mom still didn't seem comforted. Sora thought that the chances of her accepting Axel were about as likely as Xehanort renouncing darkness and taking up polka dancing.
"I can't lock you up or ground you," she said. "You've made that much clear. But I'm not happy, Sora. I thought you were better than this. I want to support you, but I can't support what you're doing."
She took a breath. "I can't control you. But I can control what happens under my roof. And if I catch any more of this sort of thing here, you won't be welcome to stay here anymore. You said you have other places to go, where people would accept you. Maybe it would be better if you went to one of those other places."
Sora felt like his heart had dropped to the bottom of his stomach.
"You don't mean that," he said.
Her expression didn't change at all. "I do. The son I had was an innocent young boy. He was sweet, and respectful, and he didn't- he didn't know how to be cruel. You aren't that boy. And unless you can show me that you still are, I don't know what to do with you."
"Well-" Sora said, and then stopped because he couldn't trust himself to say anything else to say.
"Maybe you didn't know me as well as you thought you did," Roxas supplied.
Sora wasn't sure if that made things better or worse. Certainly it made his mother look like she was about to cry. Part of him felt bad about that. But mostly, he just felt glad. She was being completely unreasonable, and she deserved to feel bad about it.
He wondered how much of that was him, and how much of it was Roxas. But he found that he just didn't care.
He couldn't be who she wanted him to be. She wanted him to be a kid, when he'd saved the worlds twice. You didn't come back from that the same. In his case, he'd come back as two people, and neither of them were really kids anymore.
Maybe he should be somewhere else. He didn't belong here anymore.
He started packing up his bags without another word.
"What are you doing?" his mother asked shrilly.
"What you told me to," he said. "Leaving."
He could stay at Riku's house. Riku's parents didn't suspect a thing about his and Sora's relationship, mostly because they were gone all the time. Sora could stay there for days before they even realized he was there. And when they did, he could move on. To the Secret Place, or to the Gummi Ship. It wasn't like he hadn't spent days and days on the Gummi ship before, after all. And school was only for another couple of months, and then it would be summer and he could go somewhere else.
"Just like that?" his mother asked. "You're just leaving?"
Sora looked up at her, confused. "You just said to."
"I meant if you didn't fix your behavior," she said. "Not right now."
"There's nothing in my behavior to fix," Sora said, setting his jaw.
They stood there for a moment, eyes locked together. And then Sora's mom did cry, and Sora watched helplessly, not even really angry any more. Just- confused.
After a moment, she said: "Stay." And then she seemed too choked up to continue.
"I love you," she added, after another moment.
Sora didn't know what to say, so he just stood there, silent.
She hugged him then, and he stood stiffly, not returning it. The past few minutes had been a rollercoaster, and he wasn't sure what he felt about his mother.
"You're so stubborn," she said, into his shoulder, still hugging him too tightly. "You've always been too stubborn. Someday it's going to get you in trouble."
Sora thought of years searching for his friends, of battle after battle after battle. It would have been less trouble to give up. But the worlds would all have sunk into darkness if he did.
"Yeah," he said, after a moment. "But I wouldn't be me if I ever gave up."
She let go of him, finally. "Date whoever you want," she said. "I can't stop you. But- bring them home first. Let me meet them. I can't promise that I won't get upset at you again, or that I'll approve. But let me meet them before I walk in on- that."
Tentative, Sora said, "Okay."
Sora's mom smiled through the tears.
And so it came to pass that Sora invited Axel, Riku, and Kairi to dinner that weekend. Sora wasn't sure how it was going to work out.
Axel was first to arrive, so Roxas took over for a while.
"Axel!" he said. He turned to Sora's mom.
"Pleased to meet you. Again," Sora's mom said, with a frown.
Axel had the grace to look sheepish. "Yeah. Sorry about that."
There was an awkward silence for a moment.
"Well, don't just stand in the doorway," Sora's mom said. "Come on in."
Axel took his shoes off at the door, and took Roxas' hand.
Roxas froze, smile still plastered on his face. Sora sort of understood why; Axel and Roxas weren't affectionate the same way that Sora and Riku and Kairi were. They kissed, sure, but they were never the gentle kinds of kisses. They were hungry, as though Roxas and Axel were sure they would be forcibly separated. The hand-holding thing had probably never happened before.
Sora's mom seemed to approve of the gesture, though. Her lips curved into a soft smile.
Maybe that was the whole point?
A moment later, Riku and Kairi showed up, and Sora took control back.
"Hi, guys!"
Riku smiled, and Kairi beamed.
Then they both caught sight of Axel. Sora watched them closely, sure that this was going to be a disaster.
Their smiles didn't seem to be forced, though. Kairi just beamed wider. "Hello!"
Axel shot her a grin.
As soon as their shoes were off, Kairi tackled Sora and gave him an enthusiastic hug. Sora hugged her back with his free arm- Axel still had hold of his other hand. Riku seemed a little too embarrassed to follow suit, probably because Sora's mom was right there.
"It's good to see you two," Sora's mom said, a little more warmly than she'd greeted Axel. "How have you been? Is school going well?"
So Riku and Kairi talked a little about their latest chemistry test, which had been really difficult for Sora even with Roxas' help, and had been even harder for everyone else, since they didn't have anyone to help them out.
Everyone seemed to be getting along well, which was a relief. But someone was missing.
"Where's dad?" Sora asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be here tonight?"
"He had to go to work suddenly," Sora's mom said. "You know how it is."
"On a Saturday?"
She shrugged apologetically. Then she smiled brightly- her best hostess smile, which Sora had seen her pull out a few times before during parties and dinners. "Well, let's eat, since everyone is here!"
Sora and the others sat around the table. It was a small table, more of a breakfast nook than a real table, and they had to crowd around it. Sora found himself squashed between Riku and Axel, Kairi sitting serenely on the other side of the table on her own.
Sora was kind of glad. It meant that his mother wouldn't be sitting next to him. Kairi would handle her better.
Maybe, if he were lucky, they would get out of this without anything seriously awkward happening.
Sora's mom brought out the plates of food. For the next few moments, they all busied themselves serving up and trying the food.
"This is really good," Riku said, after trying a few bites.
It was. Sora and Roxas were having a little internal scuffle about who got to control their mouth while they ate, and the strange faces they were making as they did were apparently obvious enough that Kairi let out a giggle.
"Chew with your mouth closed, dear," Sora's mom said.
Sora made another face, but then let Roxas do the eating. It wasn't worth looking like an idiot when he got to taste it either way.
After a little while eating, Sora's mom smiled brightly at them all again. "So," she said, "Sora has never explained to me how all of this happened. How did all of you end up together?"
Everyone looked at Sora.
"Um," he said.
There was a long, painful silence while he tried to work out a version of the story that didn't involve Roxas.
Riku interrupted, luckily. "Sora and I walk to school together every day. So one day, he's really quiet. I asked him why, and he said he was thinking. Well, the next day the same thing happened. And the day after that, same thing. So on the fourth day, I don't accept that as an answer. I refuse to keep walking until he tells me what's wrong. And then he gets this completely panicked look on his face, pulls me down to his height, and kisses me. It took me completely by surprise, because I never thought he felt that way about me."
"That," Roxas said, "is because you are oblivious. Which is no fault of mine."
Riku frowned at him. "Whatever."
"Anyway," Roxas added, "we didn't really tell anyone we were dating right away, and the next week, Kairi asked me out. And I was really confused, but it turned out that Riku and Kairi both liked each other, too. So... you know. It just made sense for all of us to date, because otherwise someone would be left out."
Sora's mother's lips went a little thin. But she didn't voice her opinions right then, saying only: "And what about you, Axel?"
"I was dating Axel first, actually," Roxas said. "But we were separated. I didn't think we'd get to see each other again."
"But how did you meet in the first place?" Sora's mother asked, unwilling to be put off the subject. "It's not like you met at school or anything."
"Well, I can tell you my side of the story," Axel said.
Sora tensed up.
"So," Axel says. "This was about two years ago. Ro- Sora shows up in a world called Twilight Town, with no memories at all. As a kind, gentle soul-"
(Roxas was not in control anymore, or he would have let out an indelicate snort)
"- I decided to take him under my wing and-"
"Sora lost his memories?" Sora's mom asked, suddenly alarmed. "Sora, you never told me about this."
There was another one of those long pauses.
"I may have left out some of the details of my adventures," Sora said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly and cursing Axel in his head loudly enough to annoy Roxas.
"It's sort of my fault," Kairi said. "He lost his heart trying to rescue me. It took a while to put him back together again. But we managed."
Sora's mom blinked.
"Anyway," Axel said, clearly excited to get back to his mangled Roxas-free story of how he and Roxas had met. "We were both part of this organization to get back our hearts. Which was more difficult than it sounds. And we grew closer and closer, and then one day the midget decides to up and kiss me. And after that, well- things just sort of happened."
"The organization you were a part of," Sora's mom said. "That's not the same one that Sora ended up fighting? The one that nearly killed him and Riku?"
Axel's mouth opened. Axel's mouth shut. "Uh," he said. "Yeah, that happened too. But that was later, after R- Sora had left. They were kind of pissed off about that. The leaving."
"You didn't leave, though?" Sora's mom asked, eyes like lasers.
"Not right away," Axel said. "I was dumb. And I thought that Rox...Sora, wouldn't be the same person, once he had his heart back. So it took me too long to follow him. I mean, I did. But... I should have done it sooner."
"And then you saved him," Sora's mom said, clearly trying to put all the pieces together.
"Yeah," Axel said. "There was a huge swarm of Nobodies after him. So I just used up all the power I had left. Killed me, but it was worth it."
Yet another silence.
"You don't look dead," Sora's mom pointed out.
"I got better," Axel said, and then took a large bite of food. With his mouth full of food, he continued. "Woke up in my old home world with a nasty headache and my heart back where it belonged. Also some memories that I guess came from my Heartless, though those are really fuzzy."
Of course Axel had had a Heartless. Sora had never thought about it before, but it only made sense.
"What kind of heartless did you have?" Sora asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Just a Shadow," Axel said. "Guess I didn't have all that much darkness to start with. Just like you, Sora." He gave Sora a weird grin. Riku scowled, and Sora frowned at him. Riku was still a little too touchy about darkness, even though he said he'd accepted that his own darkness was a part of him.
Sora's mom looked back and forth between all of them, confused.
"So you woke up as a regular person," Kairi said, suddenly looking worried. "After your Nobody was killed. And your Heartless, too, I suppose. I'd never thought about it before, but does that mean that... others... could come back, too?"
Sora was confused for a moment. Then he understood what she was saying.
"Xehanort," Roxas said, before Sora got a chance. "He could come back, too."
"Who is Xehanort?" Sora's mom asked.
"The one who put the universe in danger, twice," Riku said. "If he's back, we have to stop him." He grimaced. "I told you guys this peace wouldn't last."
"Well, let's finish dinner before we go gallivanting off to save the world," Axel said, taking another huge bite.
"Who said you were coming?" Riku asked. "You don't even have a keyblade. You'll just get in the way."
And yeah, this was exactly what Sora had been afraid was going to happen.
"I still have my chakrums," Axel said, a dangerous edge in his voice. "And you aren't leaving without me. Roxas wouldn't let you. Where he goes, I go."
"You keep calling Sora that," Sora's mom said. "Would someone please tell me what on Earth is going on?"
Riku and Axel both settled back down in their seats, though their glares didn't quite subside.
Sora thought about trying to explain, but Roxas kept their mouth pressed tightly shut.
"Can I tell her?" Kairi asked Sora. Or maybe she was really asking Roxas. Roxas stared at her for a minute, and then nodded jerkily.
Kairi gave him a reassuring smile.
"When I said Sora lost his heart," Kairi said softly to Sora's mother, "that was... technically true. But it's more complicated than that. It's more like Sora was split in two. One half had his heart and his memories, and the other half had his body and willpower. That's when Roxas was created. Riku helped to bring the two of them back together again, but by then... it was a year later. They weren't the same person anymore. They'd both had too many different experiences. So now, they share a body and a heart, but they're still separate people."
Sora's mom looked at Sora. "Is this true?"
Roxas nodded.
"And can... can Roxas hear me right now?"
Roxas nodded again, not bothering to hide his distrust. "Yeah, I can."
"Oh," she said. "Have we spoken before?"
"Yeah," he said. "A couple of times."
"Oh," she said again. "I think- I need a moment. Excuse me."
She walked out of the kitchen.
"That could have gone worse," Axel said cheerily.
"It could have gone better," Riku countered. "If you'd just kept your mouth shut."
"Would you guys just knock it off?" Roxas said. "Both of you, just... try to get along."
They both looked ready to argue, so Sora said: "I second that. We have more important things to worry about right now."
That shut both of them up.
"Look," Roxas said. "If Xehanort is back- and I really hope he isn't- we need to be prepared. We need to train hard. And we need to let the King know, so that he can help us track Xehanort down. If we're careful, and quick, we might be able to defeat him before he causes any real trouble. After all, we've beaten his Nobody, and Sora beat his Heartless. How much tougher can he be? I mean, we have three keyblade masters plus Axel, now. Uh- four keyblade masters if you count me, I guess. And none of us are pushovers."
"We can do it," Riku agreed, nodding.
"Together," Kairi said. "You aren't going to get away without me. This time, I fight too."
Sora smiled. "We wouldn't dream of it."
They all looked expectantly at Axel. He shrugged. "Well, if Roxas is leaving, I guess I have no choice but to follow you guys, do I?" But his tone was warm.
Roxas took Axel's hand, and Sora knew that that meant thank you.
"We have time to prepare," Kairi said. "We won't be caught by surprise."
"I knew the worlds would need saving again," Riku said, grim satisfaction in his voice. "Didn't I tell you? This was just a temporary break."
Sora nodded. "Well," he said. "I need to go tell my mom what's happening. I think you guys should tell your parents, too," he added. "It's not fair of us to disappear without telling them." Again, he didn't add, because they all knew well enough what had happened last time.
"We need to grab all our potions and munny and key chains, too," Kairi said. "I say we all meet at the Gummi ship first thing in the morning. We all need a good night's rest." She glanced over at the doorway Sora's mother had gone through. "Good luck, Sora, Roxas."
With that, they disbursed. Sora went upstairs to his room, and began packing.
His mom needed time. He could give her an hour or two.
He finished packing, sat down on his bed, and waited.
A/N: Just the epilogue to go! Thank you for sticking with me through another long wait.
Thanks as usual to my beta, british_spy. Any remaining mistakes are my own.