[[Roxas and Sora || Closing In]]

[vacationisalie]

Who? vacationisalie and lockandkeyblade
Where? Castle Oblivion, the Chamber of Waking
When? After Aventure times, Chats at Memory Skyscraper, Hopeless Bargains and The Day of Reckoning
Warnings? NEVER ENDING FLUFF- THE END OF A GODDAMN SAGA.

Comments

[lockandkeyblade]

[And the orb, despite the voice calling out to it, bidding it react and change, asking it to wake... it remains as is. It stays there in his hands unchanging and unresponsive. If Roxas is expecting some sort of change in the light cradled in his trembling fingers, he will be sorely disappointed.]

[The only perceptible change comes not in his hands but in Roxas's own chest. There's a faint beat where there was none before, barely felt and easily mistaken for a trick of the mind. It could be nothing at all.]

[vacationisalie]

[Silence. He's so focused on what's in front of him that Roxas takes no notice of his own internal workings. The tentative, almost half formed smile at the corner of Roxas' lips drops, and he looks up frantically, seeking guidance-]

[But for this, there isn't any. His hands begin to shake. This isn't how it's supposed to go. What can he do; what does he need to do to make things right again?]

[He's so close...]

Sora, its Roxas. You have to wake up, okay? You have to. Ansem's gone. Riku's waiting outside, and he really wants to know you're okay.

I need you here too. C'mon, Sora- I'm right here.

Just wake up.

[lockandkeyblade]

[Still, Roxas's words don't seem to reach it. The orb remains as is, warm, but still unchanging in his hands.]

[The beat is there again, a little stronger this time, but still easily mistaken for something else. That too may escape his notice.]

[But maybe, just maybe, Roxas will realize that there's another tentative stirring in his own chest. Not once. or even twice. But three times. The space between them is long. Uneven and unpredictable.

But it's there.]

[vacationisalie]

[He's beginning to despair. There's no change, just a feel, here and there, and he's that desperate that Roxas is sure he's just making it up to feel better. He doesn't even take into account that some bodily reactions- the tightness of his throat, the pitfall in his stomach- only happen when he's feeling something.]

Sora, I know you're mad at me. I'd be really mad too, I would. But I couldn't just let that happen to you- no way.

W-when you told me that you knew I could defeat him...you were right in a way. I did beat him. I didn't mean to; I don't really know what happened. but if that had been you? Your body, even if it was hidden under his face?

I'm not brave like you are. I couldn't strike you down, I couldn't be as strong as you were for Riku. I would have doomed everyone, just because I'd know you were still there.

I still hurt you. I know I did, Sora, but I wanted to keep you safe. That's all I ever wanted to do- facing down Ansem was nothing compared to what it would have been like if I'd lost you for good.

[The only