Chapter 2

"Roxas."

Someone was saying his name, shaking him, fingers digging into his upper arms. He was so tired, his eyelids felt glued shut, his head hurt, and all he wanted was sleep, tell whoever it was to leave him alone.

"Roxas!"

The grip tightened, the shaking grew harder, the voice more frantic. He tried to shift away, tried to say something but all he managed was a groan.

"Dammit Roxas wake up."

He realized there was a stinging ache at the back of his neck and shoulders as he felt himself being moved, propped up against something hard, his head limply rolling backwards but at least the shaking had stopped. He forced his eyes open, seeing nothing but a whirlpool of obscured color, the pain, the trembling, and nausea hitting all at once.

He was confused, didn't understand what was going on but he could tell he was outside, the sky was dark by now, and even though there was a warm nighttime breeze , he was freezing cold. He wanted to let his head fall onto his knees, wrap his arms around his legs until everything just went away but then he caught a flash of silver chains. Someone was kneeled beside him with a black jacket, and a mass of red hair, followed by the all too familiar scent of leather and lighter fluid. Everything came rushing back.

"Axel?" He choked out weakly.

Axel sighed. "Hey kid, it's me."

"I didn't think you were coming back." His throat still felt dry and his words came out slurred. He gritted his teeth against the sour taste in his mouth.

"I told you I would," Axel said offhandedly. "What are you even doing out here?" He paused, smirking. "Getting drunk again?"

"Drunk?" Roxas repeated slowly, wondering why Axel would be asking him that. It was so hard to think. Everything felt hazy, far away. "No…"

Axel snorted. "I was joking."

Roxas rubbed at his eyes, trying to focus himself more, make his voice stop wavering. "I don't know. I think I passed out."

"Passed out?" Axel frowned, reaching one hand out, gripping Roxas's jaw, turning his head, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "You just don't pass out Rox."

"Maybe it was because of the flu?"

Axel let his hand fall away, seeming to consider it, before looking off to the side. "No the flu wouldn't…"

It took Roxas a minute to realize Axel wasn't talking to him and he followed the redhead's gaze until his eyes landed on Larxene, standing a few feet away. He winced, not being able to completely cover up his uneasiness around her, wondering why he hadn't even noticed her until now. She looked somewhere between board and frustrated, her arms crossed, quickly scowling at Axel. "Don't look at me."

Axel didn't comment, turning back to him. "Rox, what exactly happened?"

"I was…" Roxas trailed off, remembering what he'd wanted to tell Axel. "I think it's because I'm not taking enough pills."

"Pills?" Axel asked skeptically. "You mean the ones from earlier?"

Roxas nodded, pulling the capsule out from his pocket, placing it in Axel's hand. "These were all I could get before we left. I thought you might know where to get some more."

Axel undid the lid, letting the pills roll onto his palm. "What is this?"

"Heart medication," Roxas answered. "Or at least that's what Cl-" Axel jerked his head up, making Roxas just catch the slip. "My brother always said and that our parents died because of heart failure but I was the only who inherited the defect so he doesn't have to take them."

"Of course he doesn't. This isn't heart medication." Axel said abruptly, recapping them, throwing the tube to Larxene. "Here, you're better at this stuff."

Larxene fingered them, holding them up to eye level. "Strange, There isn't a brand name or anything else on this and it's not…" She trailed a finger against her bottom lip. "I don't know what it is."

"Roxas," Axel's attention was completely focused on him, voice low and hard. "How many of these do you take?"

"Five a day, but I've been trying to ration them, skipping days."

"How long have you been taking them?"

"I'm not sure, since I was about eight I think."

Axel cursed before moving away from him, fisting a hand against his forehead, pacing the narrow strip of the parking lot. "This is NOT what I need right now."

Larxene just laughed. "The flu Axel? You sure had that one figured out."

Roxas's eyes flickered between Axel and Larxene. They had obviously gotten something he hadn't and he only found himself growing irritated that he was being left out. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"You're not sick Rox." Axel paused, tearing the capsule back out of Larxene's hands. "You're addicted to whatever the hell this is. You're going through withdrawal."

"What's withdrawal?"

Larxene choked back her laughter. "It's when you've taken something for so long like a drug that you become dependent on it and when it's suddenly taken away your body has a hard time coping." Larxene rubbed her arm, looking sympathetic before smiling again. "Then you end up going through these types of symptoms but you shouldn't worry as you can only die from it in the most extreme cases." She suddenly gasped, voice brimming with mock concern "But then I've never seen anyone suffer from it this badly so maybe-"

"Larxene shut up!" Axel snapped.

Roxas was beginning to feel lightheaded. The haze was building, thickening, black spots forming at the edge of his vision. He fought it, trying to stay conscience, trying to think. For everything Cloud kept from him or was capable of, Roxas had a hard time believing his older brother would do something that could potentially poison him but with everything that had happened, he could feel the doubt building. "No you don't understand," He said mostly to reassure himself. "Cloud wouldn't-"

"Cloud, you mean Cloud Strife?" Laxene rose an eyebrow in sudden realization, snapping her fingers. "The delivery boy, who owns the I do everything business? I knew you looked familiar."

"Familiar?" Roxas forced himself to stand, feeling uneasy while on the ground. It left everything spinning again, as the black spots threatened to over take him. He leaned entirely back against the wall to remain upright.

"There was an article about you in the front page of the newspaper cutie," Larxene continued. "Along with some blurred photograph. They had this huge reward out for any information."

"No!" Roxas's legs failed to support his weight anymore and he collapsed to the ground, his whole body convulsing, feeling as it wanted to turn inside out. He clutched at his arms, fingernails digging into his skin, trying to keep from sobbing, trying to find his voice. "You can't…you can't tell anyone."

"Oh" Larxene's eyes were shinning, a small smile tugging at her lips as if she was enjoying watching him like this. "And why couldn't I?"

"Because you wouldn't Larxene," Axel said irritably, walking back over to Roxas and kneeling. "Unless you want to break our deal and everything else that goes along with it."

Larxene turned her head away, impatiently walking back to the car. "I was only saying."

Roxas glanced up at Axel as soon as Larxene's footsteps faded. "She wouldn't… she wouldn't right?"

"No, don't worry, Larxene and I have know each other since we were just kids. She wouldn't try anything and even if she did I have too much hanging over her head for her to get away with it."

Roxas could hear himself breathing. It felt suddenly hard to even hold his own head up, everything only a swirl of color. "She said…she said that withdrawal…that you can…" It was hard to continue and he had to swallow, his mouth and throat dry and burring, hoping Axel had understood him.

"You're going to be fine Rox," Axel said with a slight trace of humor in his voice. "Larxene likes to screw with anyone she can. Don't listen to her."

Roxas barely registered Axel putting his hand on his shoulder, the redhead trying to get his attention, make him think about something else. "Hey, want to know where I was?"

"Where?"

"We went to see this guy Larxene knows. His name's Marluxia. He's got connections and anyway I was able to get us a motel room for the night. What do you think about that huh? Be able to sleep in a real bed for once."

Roxas forced a smile. "Sounds good."

Axel's arm came around his back, shifting him. "I'm going to lift you up okay?"

Roxas couldn't even form a reply before Axel rose easily with him. He clamped his mouth shut against the onslaught of nausea and staggering pain, refusing to let himself make a sound. It passed after a few agonizing seconds, leaving his body limp and heavy, his head falling against Axel's shoulder. He didn't think he could move even if he had wanted too so he didn't even try, letting Axel take them wherever.

He vaguely recalled being placed in the backseat, everything fading in and out of black. He thought he might have felt the car moving but he wasn't sure.

0o0o0o0

Anything could happen…

Roxas could still hear those three words echo through his head, in a strong and deep voice. They made him twist with rage, made his heart leap into his throat. He knew the voice, heard it somewhere before, could nearly see an aged and tired face, somehow knowing he hated, loathed even whoever it was. They had hurt him, ripped him open until there was nothing left.

Roxas, I doubt you can hear me but… I am sorry.

Then all he knew was he was in some strange white room, the ceiling and walls nearly non existent, standing over Kairi as she laid sprawled on the floor, a glinting, metallic, and rainbow colored key beside her from where it had rolled away from her limp fingers. Her eyes were partially open, glazed over, her mouth open as if she'd been screaming. Blood was matted through her hair, smeared across her face, her neck broken. All he could do was stare. He didn't know how she'd gotten that way, what had happened. All he knew was that she wasn't dead because Kairi couldn't die. Monsters from other worlds could die, heartless and nobodies could fade away, But never the heroes, never Kairi.

Roxas had woken up gasping, throwing the covers off. He couldn't get back to sleep, couldn't shake the dream. It was like he'd been watching through someone else's eyes but it had felt real, more real then anything. He pressed his hand against the cool glass of his window. It was pitch black outside but if he concentrated he could see the faint outline of stars. This was nothing more then a prison he couldn't escape from. He hated his life, he hated Cloud. There had to be something more then this, more then feeling like he was only half alive. Cloud was keeping something from him. He could feel it, feel the truth, longing for it and dreading it at the same time.

Roxas thudded his head against the window, drained and frustrated. He wanted to scream, to break the glass, wanted to cry, and he squeezed his eyes shut, instead turning his bedside lamp on, roughly grabbing a book he'd been reading earlier, nearly ripping it open. Anything to get his mind off things, off the dream, concentrate on something else.

His door flew open only minutes later and Roxas didn't even have to look up to know who it was. Cloud, Tifa, and Naminé always knocked first. Kairi was the only one who barged through. "Roxas you'll never guess who showed up at track practice!"

Roxas glanced up at her. Kairi had either hand on the side of the doorway, leaning forward on her toes. He had to remind himself that she wasn't covered in her own blood, her eyes weren't dull and lifeless, her body wasn't broken and twisted. She was very much alive, standing in front of him. "Kairi it's the middle of the night."

"Yeah, I know," Kairi said carelessly, glancing at Roxas's window and back to him again. "But that's not important right now. Anyway guess."

"Marlene." He said automatically.

"No, it's no one you would have met and Marlene doesn't even like track."

He sighed. "Selphie."

"No."

"Penelo."

"No."

"Rikku."

"Getting closer."

"I don't know Kairi."

"Yuna! She just showed up and the coach paired us up together. I never know how fast she was. She almost beat me. Then when we were back in the locker room she told me she only tried out to get Tidus to notice her."

"So?"

"So, Yuna likes Tidus!" Kairi blurted, "And remember when I told you how I would always see Tidus looking at her when he thought no one was watching? So I had to tell Tidus what Yuna said…"

Roxas had learned long ago how to tune Kairi out and he focused his attention back on his book, turning a page. Kairi did this often, describing in detail what her day had been like, what her friends had done. Until Roxas felt like he was apart of their lives. He knew everyone she hung out with, their names, what color their hair was, their favorite thing to do on the weekends but he'd never meet any one of them. Marlene was the exception but Roxas was still trapped when Kairi and Naminé weren't.

Kairi was never home, getting back this late was routine for her. Roxas knew a large part of it was because she wanted to distance herself from what was going on right in front of her eyes, what Cloud was doing to him, when she was virtually powerless to stop it. He could see the regret shinning in her eyes each time she talked to him like this, each time she searched her mind, giving him every last detail she could think of, acting as his window to the outside world. Roxas couldn't fault her for any of it. She was his friend, his best friend, they had always just clicked, and he couldn't imagine what his life would be like without her.

"Tidus was so excited," Kairi continued. "So he told me to invite Yuna to this party he's throwing tonight…" Kairi crossed her arms and frowned. "Only I don't want to go. I hate Tidus's parties. Half the guys always end up getting drunk and even then someone always spikes something until it turns out to be nothing more then a complete waste of time."

"So don't go." Roxas replied tiredly.

Kairi looked as if she was considering it, biting her lip in thought. "I would but I have to make sure Tidus and Yuna at least talk to each other." She rolled her eyes. "You know I've told you how completely hopeless Tidus can be."

"So go."

"Thanks for the help Roxas," Kairi mocked scowled, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm really sure what I should do now."

Roxas shrugged. "The party has to be at least half over by now anyway. You should probably just stay out of it. What about Cloud? Does he know?"

"Actually," Kairi said absently. "I told Dad I might not even get home at all tonight and he said…and I quote," She lifted her hands up, wagging her fingers. "Fine, just don't get too hammered and don't bring this up to your mother. You're still under aged." Kairi turned her head away a bit bitterly. "I really don't get him at all. All my friend's dads want them to be home by at least ten, mine waves and hands me the car keys."

Roxas could see her stiffen and she suddenly looked far away. He kept silent, not knowing what to say to her and preferring to stay out of anything Cloud did. But when Kairi turned back to him she was smiling, her blue-violet eyes glinting in the dim light of the room. "Hey Roxas, come with me."

He froze, feeling his mouth go dry. She had said it so casually as if she was commenting on her favorite movie, not breaking years of carefully guarded rules, not suggesting something that wasn't supposed to happen. Roxas wondered if it really was that easy. He'd never thought about just sanding up and leaving and as much as he wanted it he was still in shock. Confinement was almost all he knew and to finally break out made a pressure well up in his chest, leaving him struggling to breathe. Kairi didn't seem to notice, watching him expectantly, waiting for an answer. "Cloud would never let me." He stated the obvious.

"Dad's not even here. Not like he's ever here, doing top secret motorcycle stuff or whatever."

"What about Mom she-"

"She doesn't get home until really late," Kairi countered. "And when she does she's usually so drained she goes straight to bed. Just lock your door in case she decides to check on you. She probably wouldn't think anything of it. There's no one that…well, I think the ice princess is upstairs but she's so oblivious and she'd never say anything anyway."

Ice princess was how Kairi always refereed to Naminé. Even though the two were twins they weren't close and completely opposite. Kairi was the athlete, outgoing, popular, loud, staying out to all hours of the night but somehow still managing to be at the top of her class. If Kairi shut herself out then Naminé shut herself in, preferring to stay in her own private studio, drawing and hardly speaking to anyone. She was delicate like some princess in a tower.

He remembered once when he and Kairi were running through the hallways and he had stopped breathlessly by Naminé's door. "Hey Naminé want to play Mario Kart with us?"

She turned from her painting. She had the strangest eyes, pastel blue that could speak without words, brimming with emotion and pain, standing out against her washed out appearance. Roxas always felt as if she were looking right through him. "You were never supposed to exist, Roxas."

He had just stood there, too hurt to say anything but it had struck something in him, a sense of truth and denial, as if he knew she'd once said the same thing to him before. He'd been trapped then too, in a world that wasn't real with phantom friends he couldn't remember the names of. It went along with the voice, the voice he hated and three words that sent chills down his spine. Anything could happen… His thoughts went hazy, it was so hard to think, to remember. Then Kairi had gotten his attention again and Roxas since then had avoided Naminé whenever he could. Naminé hadn't seemed to care.

I can introduce you to everyone." Kairi's voice rose with excitement and defiance. "Or we don't even have to go to the party. We can do whatever you want. Just come with me."

"Kairi I…"

"Scared?" Kairi smirked.

Roxas felt like throwing something at her.

"I'll hold your hand." She taunted.

This time he did throw something, the first thing he could reach which happened to be his pillow. Kairi shirked barely dodging out of the way.

Roxas fisted his hands, taking a sharp breath, irritated that Kairi had brought all this up in the first place. He didn't know what to do, he felt completely torn, lost, and at the same a rush of cold excitement.

Roxas felt his mattress dip and looked up. Kairi was perched on the edge of his bed on her hands and knees, leaning forward, grinning. "They'll never find out I promise and even if they do you know Dad will just blame it on me. Although he probably wouldn't do anything anyway." He was momentarily startled when she placed her cool hand on top his, gripping tightly. "I was being serious you know. I really will hold your hand."

He gripped back, returning her grin, not needing to think about it any further. "Let's go."

That had started everything.

He still hadn't been able to shake the dream and only a few days later, Kairi's voice still echoing through his head. "Hey Roxas, have you ever heard of the Jenova project?"

0o0o0o0

The next thing Roxas knew, he was staring at the water stained ceiling of a motel. A comforter had been thrown over him and he could feel the metal springs of the bed he was laying on digging into his back The place wasn't bad, it smelled musty and the gray paint from the walls was starting to flake apart but it wasn't bad.

It felt as if something had been lodged inside his chest, it was so hard to breathe, hard to move, he was burning hot, his hair matted with sweat, sticking to his forehead. He turned his head to the side, his eyes scanning everywhere in the room. "Axel…?" There was no answer, everything was silent. He was alone again.

He tried to push himself to sit up but his entire body was numb, his limbs feeling like lead and failing to respond. By the time he managed it he was gasping for air and his eyes were shut tightly to keep tears from leaking down his face. He nearly jumped when the door opened, letting in a cool burst of air then slamming shut. Axel's hand was clenched around a small paper bag that he threw onto a small T.V. stand. "You're awake." He stated, sounding somewhat surprised but Roxas could tell he was on edge.

"Seven," Axel said sharply, nearly shouting but he was mainly talking to himself, pacing the small expanse of the room. "I've been to seven pharmacies and none of them have a clue," Axel held up the capsule. "What this is."

Axel grabbed something out of the bag, making his way to the bathroom. There was the sound of the faucet running and then Axel was back, sitting on the edge of Roxas's bed, handing him the two remaining pills, "Take the rest of these."

Roxas placed them in his mouth as Axel held up a small paper cup of water, helping him hold it to keep it from spilling. He was able to swallow them without too much difficultly but immediately broke out into a coughing fit.

"You alright?" Axel asked. "There's a trashcan by the bed if…"

"I'm-I'm alright," Roxas said, swallowing back thick saliva, fighting the need to gag, and clutching at his shoulder until at last his breathing evened out. "I'm alright," He repeated.

"Good," Axel placed the cup somewhere out of his line of sight. "Open."

A thermometer was shoved into his mouth and Axel turned slightly away from him, resting his head in his hand. "Are you sure Cloud never said anything about what the pills were? He never let anything slip?"

"No, nothing." Roxas moved the thermometer more securely under his tongue, so it was easier to talk around it, then a sudden thought struck him like an electric jolt. "I used to hear voices."

Axel gave him a weary look."Voices?"

"They were like whispering and they…they kept running through my head. There were a few times I remember just laying awake with my hands over my ears. It didn't take my mom and Cloud long to figure out what was going on and that's when they stared giving me the pills. They made the voices stop."

"This is just…" Axel paused as if not knowing how to continue. "Really screwed up," He finished, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Did you ever try to stop taking them."

"Once when I was ten," Roxas answered. "Cloud or my mom always watched to make sure I took them but Kairi wanted to find out what would happen if I didn't. She told me to pretend to swallow them so I did. I didn't even make it through the night and I told my mom everything."

He remembered standing at Tifa's and Cloud's door at three in the morning, he couldn't fall asleep and his hand was involuntary jerking on the doorknob. He opened it to discover Cloud wasn't there, meaning he either hadn't come home or was sleeping on the couch. Roxas was glad but not surprised. He focused solely on Tifa, curled onto her side, her hair fanned out on the pillow, looking lost in the too large bed and as if she was only a kid herself. She had worked a double shift at the bar and needed to get up in few hours to open, also saying something about an AVALANCHE meeting.

"Mom." He called. Her eyes twitched but she didn't awaken, which was strange since she always slept like she was on guard, she could awake from the slightest sound, becoming fully alert at a moment's notice.

"Mom." He called again, louder.

She groaned, sitting up, blinking groggily at him for a few seconds and then rubbing at her eyes. "What is it sweetie? Can't sleep?"

He had nodded, told her what happened although he left Kairi's name out and then asked her if he was going to die.

She looked halfway between shocked and guilty, extending an arm out to him. He'd climbed up on the bed laying his head on her shoulder, her arm coming around his back. "Why do you think you're going to die?"

"Because Cloud said" Roxas stated awkwardly. "That our parents died of heart failure and I've been taking the pills for so long and now everything feels strange so I thought since I didn't take them…"

Tifa shook her head, quick to reassure him. "Honey, you're not dying. The pills are just for extra safety. Even if you'd stopped taking them altogether…well it probably wouldn't be the best idea but you'd still be fine okay?"

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Tifa smiled, making her voice sound cheery when she was obviously fighting to keep her eyes open. "You know what I feel like?"

"What?"

"A banana split."

"Now?"

Tifa got up from off the bed. "Sure, why not. C'mon we'll make the girls jealous."

Two hours later, they were sitting at the kitchen table with discarded ice cream bowls and in their fifth game of checkers when Cloud came back, heading toward the cabinet to pull out a granola bar. He just raised an eyebrow at them. "What-"

"I need to talk to you." Tifa cut him off evenly, pointing to the next room.

Cloud nodded, followed her and Roxas tapped absently at a checker, preparing himself for the arguing that would follow or it really wasn't arguing so much as Tifa going off on Cloud for not calling and other things that made little sense to Roxas. Cloud would either take it or brush her off completely, then Tifa would later apologize for everything. It was like a routine that happened nearly every night, when they thought he was asleep, only he was wasn't, he and Kairi never were. Naminé he wasn't sure. A few times he had even woken up to Cloud's low and stifled screaming as if he was in pain. He hadn't heard it so much recently, more when he was younger. He'd been afraid to ask about it but Kairi hadn't been and she told him Tifa said it was from nightmares. Roxas never wanted to know anything more.

Only there was near silence except for the soft buzz of voices and Cloud came back a few minutes later without Tifa. Roxas blinked up at him. "Where's mom?"

"She went back to bed."

Roxas instantly felt guilty. "Oh."

Cloud crossed his arms, leaning against the counter. "Tired yet?"

Roxas glanced back down at the checker, spinning it across the table. "Not really."

"Want to go for a ride?"

"Ride?"

"On the motorcycle," Cloud clarified. "There should be something opened by now."

Roxas smiled faintly. "Yeah, I guess."

They drove around for awhile, gotten breakfast, and drove back. It really wasn't that exciting but he'd finally been able to fall asleep.

"What did she say?" Axel's voice pulled him out of the memory.

"Nothing, much. She said I didn't have to worry about it. I think she lied." Roxas's eyes widened, a new thought forming in his head. "Hey wait! Cloud went through something like this. He was missing for a long time. The first time I met him I was five before then it was only Mom, Kairi, Naminé, and me. Mom would talk about him constantly, say he was always going to come back. Then one day he just showed up out of nowhere. I didn't really know enough to think it was strange at the time but I guess…it was strange, okay really strange and Cloud was sick for awhile afterwards. I think Mom said it was because he was getting over Mako poisoning."

"Mako poisoning? Where was he?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even think Mom knows all of it." Roxas bit down on his lip, trying to keep his voice from hitching. "Do you think maybe I have Mako-"

"If you did Rox," Axel said dismissively. "You'd be in a coma."

Roxas winced, feeling a wave of heat tear through his muscles, felt them begin to twitch again as they refused to hold him up any longer. He let himself fall back down onto the bed. He curled onto his side as much as he was able, trying to focus on breathing. The weight in chest felt as if it had just twisted. "Right."

"Here." Axel held his hand out for the thermometer.

Roxas handed it to him, watching as Axel turned it over, scrunching his eyes together, frowning. "Is it bad?"

"Yeah…" Axel trailed off. "It's bad."

Roxas wasn't able to form a reply, pain shooting to every nerve in his body, he fisted his hands, needing some sort of anchor, fighting for breath, gagging at the same time and when it finally subsided it felt like gravity had knotted around him. He wasn't even sure if could move a finger. He shut his eyes against hot tears and the pounding in his skull, desperately wanting to pass out. "Axel wha-what's wrong with me."

Axel didn't answer him, turning his head to stare at a wall. His face was blank and his eyes void, looking miserably defeated, just sitting there, silent, his hand curling into his torn jeans before he turned back to him, taking in a deep breath. "Roxas, I'm going to take you to a hospital."

"You can't!" Roxas shouted, pure terror momentarily overriding the pain. "No hospitals. He'll find me. Everything we've done, everything we've been through it will all be for nothing!"

"It's just for over night he won't find-"

"You don't know Cloud!"

"Than what do you want me to do Roxas?!" Axel lashed out. "Whatever's wrong with you is beyond me. I can't deal with it and we can't keep going like this!" He took a breath, placing a hand on Roxas's shoulder, continuing softer. "Listen to me, I'll check you in for the night and we'll leave first thing in the morning. He won't be able to find us from one night. Nothing will happen I promise."

Roxas looked up at him through hollowed eyes. "I want to talk to Kairi."

"Alright, sure" Axel agreed without hesitation. "As soon as we leave in the morning."

Roxas expected Axel to say no. He'd forgotten how many times he asked and each time the redhead had replied it was too dangerous. There had to be a reason for the change, something more then just trying to get him to go to the hospital, something Roxas was missing but his head was nothing more then a jumbled mess. He wanted to talk to Kairi badly, to make sure she was okay, to hear her voice, they'd never been separated before and he knew Axel was right, they couldn't keep going like this. Roxas told himself he could hang on and he knew he could, do whatever it took, but he was desperate to make the pain stop. He could trust Axel the redhead had came back for him at the restaurant just like he said he would and it was for one night, only for one night. He nodded. "Okay, but just for the night."

Axel didn't say anything, taking his arm, shifting him, lifting him painfully back into his arms. Roxas's head resting lifeless against Axel's collarbone.

"There's something I've been wondering." Axel said as he slowly made his way toward the door. Roxas could feel the low vibrating on his voice underneath his ear. "Who actually went through with taking the one hundred grand, you or Kairi?"

"Kairi," Roxas answered. "But I covered for her. It was a lot easier then I thought it would be. We were just there and she went inside and when she came back she had it. No one even knew we did anything. Then we just ran."

Really everything had been Kairi's idea. They had planned to run together and Kairi had done research, made outline after outline that they spent weeks in her room going over. Then when it finally happened Kairi had reversed everything, introduced him to Axel, gave Axel the money. She said it would be easier this way, less risky, but don't worry because they were still meeting outside of Midgar. "You know the rest."

"Yeah," Axel opened the door, shifting Roxas closer against his chest, his voice oddly somber. "Guess I do."

Roxas closed his eyes, everything falling into blissful unconsciousness.

0o0o0o0

Roxas woke up to the sound of a steady beeping, his eyes slowly focusing. He was in a nearly all white room. The air tasted stale and there was a smell of something between cough syrup and window cleaner. Becoming more aware, he could feel needles tapped against his skin, something in his nose. He lifted a hand to his face before a fat grubby hand caught his own. "Don't touch it. It's a breathing tube."

A small women was before him, Roxas guessed must have been a nurse. "Someone just arrived here a few minutes ago for you." She said swiftly before leaving. "I'll go get them. Hang tight."

Roxas soon realized he wasn't in anymore pain. Everything was gone, the nausea, the headache, the burning fever, everything. He experimentally flexed his arms and legs, finding his muscles were still a little bit stiff and sore, and there was a slight sting from the needles, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. In fact he felt better then alright, his vision seemed strangely sharper and clearer, he could breathe easier, he wanted to get up, wanted to move. They needed to leave soon anyway, he and Axel were only wasting time like this.

With a rush of relief and excitement Roxas turned his head to side, trying to get a better feel for the room he was in, what he saw made him freeze, made him stop breathing altogether. A boy who looked about the same age he was, was lying in the next bed, partially hidden by a white curtain, with spiky brown hair that looked to go in every direction. There weren't any tubes attached to him or any medical equipment at all that he could see, his breathing was soft, eyes shut lightly.

Roxas felt a sickening sense of familiarity, leaving him cold and shaken. "Sora…" He whispered. He didn't know where the name had come from, he'd never seen the boy before in his life. He shouldn't have known it and yet somehow he did. An image flashed behind his eyes.

He was in a glowing blue and white room over looking a pod, the brown haired boy floating peacefully inside. Roxas didn't want to be there, he didn't want to die but things had happened and now they both couldn't exist at the same time. As much as he wanted to run he couldn't turn away. He took a step forward because this was fate and you couldn't outrun fate. "You're lucky. Looks like my summer vacation is…over."

Before Roxas even knew what happened he found himself staring back at a sheet on the hospital bed, the image broken by the sound of heavy footsteps, someone coming into the room. He looked up, toward the doorway. He froze in sheer panic, his stomach twisting, his heart jumping into his throat. "Cloud…"

0o0o0o0

Sorry for the wait guys. I'm still working on this and on Inseparable too if anyone's reading that. Thank you so so much for the reviews. I have a better idea of where I want to go with this story and I went back and changed some things in chapter one. Like I'm using FFVII geography and Roxas is sixteen not fifteen because if he was fifteen the rest of the story wouldn't make any sense. And sorry for all the flashback scenes but there's still going to be a lot more coming.

Thanks for reading.