Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the characters or places. I do not make profit from the free online publication of this piece of fiction.

Hey everybody! After forever and a half, I've got this bitch revised. Be warned, it's a bit wordy; since Silence began, my style has been influenced by Nathaniel Hawthorne and F. Scott Fitzgerald, two amazing dead guys introduced to me by my American Lit teacher. Please don't worry about it, though, because the basic story hasn't changed, just the style! It feels...fancier. Like not totally fancy, but about as fancy as a kid can make it, amirite?

Anyway, I really hope you enjoy my revision. I feel less iffy about it now; hopefully I won't feel the need to put you guys through this shit again! Rofls and a half. So now I'm just going to state ahead of time that all descriptions of sign language are half-assedly researched. I have only one website that I like to use [and I'm just lazy] so some things may be incorrect or I may resolve to spelling words out instead of using full signs. That being said, leave the drama with your llama! If you have a problem, address me politely and we'll work out a solution like civilized human beings. I don't like being rude or mean, so please give me the same respect that I will do my damnedest to give you all. HEARTSN'LOVE!

Onward!

Existence was silent. A mélange of colors and shapes, everything interesting, but frighteningly quiet. It was a surreal experience, like a dream, to be suddenly deafened; to have to learn how to communicate all over again. To live in silence was to live in an almost entirely different world, and this undeniable truth would strike one particularly unfortunate family, quite unexpectedly and quite tragically, as fate would have it.

Life had always been pleasant for a boy named Sora and his brother, Roxas. The first few years of the twins' lives were perfect. They had a loving, beautiful mother, and a strong, protecting father. While the woman was mild-mannered and sweet, her husband matched her perfectly in manner, but being a military man, he was stern and tried to teach his boys discipline and respect.

Sora and Roxas loved and respected their father - a man by the name of Cloud Strife Highwind - for they knew that he had been through quite a bit of hardship. He had never known his mother, who had died soon following his birth due to a lifelong heart condition. His father worked hard to support him, and because of this he couldn't pay much attention to young Cloud. The blond had been half on his own for most of his life, and - knowing his story - his sons appreciated that he could be there for them; that he would all too willingly give them what he could never have.

In his youth, Cloud had a friend named Sephiroth. The pair had been in high school together and had both taken part in varsity lacrosse; their involvement in the sport was how the two had met. They had never been an argumentative pair of boys, with never a serious nor long lasting dispute - until a girl named Aerith Gainsborough came into their lives.

Aerith was a quiet girl with an endearing affinity for flowers. She had befriended the pair on a class trip, and immediately Sephiroth was infatuated with her; however, she gravitated almost naturally to Cloud, who possessed a less intimidating - maybe even needy; desperate for that feminine comfort that the lack of a mother had always denied him – air about him while Sephiroth practically radiated strength, power, and a natural beauty; he seemed almost Godly. Aerith seemed to prefer Cloud's simple appearance, pleasant company, and the flaws that kept his essence within the realm of humanity, and so they became sweethearts.

The rejection frustrated Sephiroth, but he and Cloud remained friends. They had to. He had to hand it to Cloud; if he could lure such a wonderful girl away from the promising allure of the platinum-haired Adonis, he deserved her. Underneath the commendation, however, he figured that she would get bored and eventually leave the blond for him. He thought she would come to him with desire for someone stronger and more secure. Someone more masculine. Someone better.

Sephiroth's hopes were crushed. Aerith and Cloud remained together, and even when Cloud was serving in the military as a Marine, she was faithful to the man. Later, they were married and soon after had two beautiful children together, for whom Sephiroth was the godfather. But he continued to wait for Aerith. His obsession for her drove other potential partners away until he could no longer have a healthy relationship with anyone, and as he began to realize his mistake, he grew angry and bitter. He eventually came to hate Aerith for not realizing that she could do so much better than the troubled blond. For making a great man with so much promise as Sephiroth to waste his life pining for her.

One day, he just killed her. He had no prior psychopathic fits, no deep depression; just bottled-up anger. All he did was invite her out to lunch, and strangle her in his car. He drove the corpse to his home where a noose hung in the garage; waiting to embrace his own neck. It had been strange to everyone, that - although the man had still been close to the couple as a trusted family friend, even though he was their sons' "Uncle Sephie" who had watched them so that Cloud an Aerith could could have some time to themselves – he would do something so odd, as a respectable and well-loved man, as to just up and kill his best friend's wife.

Cloud knew that Sephiroth had wanted Aerith. He knew that his friend thought him an inadequate match for her, and he knew that Sephiroth had been waiting with false hopes all these years for Aerith to realize it, and in one fell swoop she was taken; his sons were without a mother, like he had been. He felt as inadequate as his friend had seen him; he could no longer give his sons everything.

The boys were ten when Aerith was killed. Cloud took to drinking after the fact, trying to rid himself of the overwhelming feeling of inadequacy following the deaths that plagued him. He couldn't help but feel that it was all his fault; if only he had let Sephiroth have Aerith, they would both still be alive - his beloved friends.

He had never much liked alcohol or taken to drinking before then, but soon Sora and Roxas discovered a good reason as to why he never should have.

Despite being deaf, Sora could clearly remember the noise. Oh, how his father would holler and screech, and batter Sora and Roxas. The boys didn't know how he was feeling or why he was feeling it; they only knew that he was hurting them, and it was because of their mother's death.

One night, the year the boys turned eleven, Sora was home alone. Roxas had been invited to a sleepover at a friend's house, but Sora hadn't. The boys would hardly separate from each other then, but Sora did not want to be rude and invite himself along with his brother, or deny Roxas a personal life with his own friends and his own happiness. He was terrified of his father's return, but dutifully he stayed home and allowed his brother to have one night of solace, despite the blond's protests and offers to call his friend and ask if the brunet could come along. No; he would stay home. It wouldn't be a big deal.

"Ill go to bed early." he said. "I'll be okay for one night."

While he sat at the table doing his homework, Sora imagined his brother at the sleepover; smiling, playing video games, eating dinner, all without fear of when – oh, how he hated never knowing when – their father would come home and whip them sore with his leather belt before eating the dinner they had so carefully prepared for him – one burned dish and he would go wild - before stumbling off to bed.

That night, Sora had just finished making dinner to leave out for his father. He wasn't hungry; his appetite had been ruined by the anxiety of waiting for his father's drunken return. As he had promised his brother, he wanted to turn in early, hoping that if he wasn't in the immediate vicinity upon Cloud's arrival home, the man wouldn't be bothered to look for him – especially in a drunken stupor.

Homework seemed to take forever, and it was ten o'clock by the time the brunet was finished with it. All the while, he kept an eye on his father's dinner – he was making the man's favorite: spaghetti.

As he was setting the bowl of pasta and sauce on the table, his father stormed into the house, rampaging as usual. He spotted Sora as he was trying to nonchalantly retreat to his bedroom and, although terrified, the boy tried not to provoke his father by running. Cloud scrambled after him anyway, and grabbed him roughly by the back of his neck. Cloud's grip was strong, and the pain of being grabbed so harshly blurred the boy's vision for a moment. When his vision cleared, he sincerely wished that he had been knocked unconscious on sight.

The next two hours were a terror the likes of which Sora had never thought he would experience alone. This was the aftermath of his mother's death; this beating was affiliated with that, he knew, and it must have been something he had done. He and Roxas must have been the reason their mother had died; they must have had something to do with it somehow. They must have done something terrible for their father to hate them so much. Though the man never said it aloud, the truth rang crystal clear in his actions. He hated his sons.

"He hates me..."

Cloud shook him about like a rag doll, punching and shouting at him. He threw Sora onto the glass coffee table, shattering it. The boy landed in a way that had his entire body in burning agony, and because he could not lift himself from the floor, he curled up amongst the sea of shattered glass and splintered wood, allowing himself to be kicked and beaten mercilessly, winded by each blow until he no longer had the breath to cry out. Cloud lifted him by the shirt and threw him across the room, and his body was followed by a chair, then a beating with the man's belt. By midnight, Sora could no longer find the strength to even keep his eyes open, and Cloud was beginning to sober up. However, the commotion had the neighbors worried, and they called the police, fearing the worst once silence had finally settled over the street.

The police arrived at the house to find a destroyed living room and Sora unconscious a the far corner of the living room, shattered glass protruding from his flesh and blanketed by splintered wood from a kitchen chair. Cloud sat unmoving on the floor amongst the remains of the coffee table, staring at the wall before him, cheeks wet and stained with the tracks of tears, looking like a tragic painting with his injured son and the chaotic state of the room an appropriate background for his trembling form. He could only imagine that adding his own blood would make it a more fitting picture to express his state of mind.

"God damn it," he said feverishly, "Just shoot me."

Instead, Cloud was arrested.

The ambulance arrived soon after the police, and Sora was taken to the hospital. He was treated in the E.R. for a broken leg, a fractured clavicle, three broken ribs, and shallow lacerations all over his body. Thankfully, there was no further damage – no internal bleeding, no ruptures, nothing that could cause long-term damage to his body - as far as the doctors knew.

Sora slept through the night and most of the next day. When he woke, his brother and grandfather were by his side, both of their faces tearful and worried. Roxas climbed onto the bed with him and began to whisper in his ear, but Sora could not hear him. His brother's mouth was moving, Sora could feel the blond's breath on his ear, but no sound came out. Grandpa Cid was saying something, wrapping his arms around the two boys, yet still no sound fell from their lips. Sora could feel their chests hum with vibrations and he could feel their breath ghosting over his ears and cheeks, but that was the only way he could even tell they were speaking if he wasn't watching them.

He began to panic. The terror that gripped him upon the discovery of this silence had him feeling nauseous. He trembled and began to sweat, and he felt dizzy. An overwhelming sense of dread overcame him, and breathing suddenly became difficult. He threw his arms around his grandfather and began to sob in fearful hysteria. He didn't know what was wrong, nor did anyone else. He then let go of his grandfather and began to hit himself in the head, and bang his head against the plastic head of the hospital bed, tearing at his hair and ears, screaming. Cid himself began to panic when he couldn't console his grandson so to cease the violent panic attack, the attending nurse had to sedate him until the doctors took him away to run some tests and find out what was wrong

When he awoke, the doctors informed him that he was deaf, and they had him write down exactly what he remembered of the previous night. They then told him that due to the extensive trauma to his head, his loss of hearing could be permanent.

This upset Sora. He cried for hours, unable to control his volume, and once again he was an inconsolable mess. His sobs haunted the his brother and grandfather as he called desperately for his father.

"Dad!" He wailed, "Daddy! ...I want my dad!"

However, Cloud was not allowed to see either of his sons after what he had done. Not long after Sora was released from the hospital, Cloud was brought to court. He was sentenced to four years in prison, and custody of the boys was handed over to his father, Cid Highwind.

"Sora has suffered some trauma to his head, which in turn caused some inner-ear trauma to either his cochlea or his auditory nerve." Sora's doctor informed Cid. "Trauma to either of these can cause sensorineural hearing loss, which seems to be the case with Sora." he continued. Cid frowned.

"Well, now what does that mean? Is it permanent?" he asked.

"Sensorineural hearing loss can be either permanent or temporary, but due to the extent of Sora's injuries, I wouldn't count on the latter. In fact, he may never hear again." the doctor replied solemnly, placing a hand on Cid's shoulder. "All you can do is either accept it, or hope and pray that the damage will heal itself. In the meantime, I've prepared a list of schools in the area for disabled children; I strongly advise enrolling him. He'll learn how to sign, which means that you and Roxas should also take classes. The guidance department at the boys' current school should provide such classes for Roxas, and classes for adults are also provided at some of the listed schools."

"Thank you kindly." Cid thanked him, shaking the doctor's hand. "I'll 'git him in that new school right away. Now...I know this might be an odd question, but what 'bout my son? Can he...ever see the boys again?" he asked tentatively. The doctor's expression turned grim.

"As long as he conforms to the terms of his parole and receives therapy as well as anger management, within a few years he can regain custody of his sons." the doctor said.

"Well...I dun' want my son out of jail with nowhere to go, so I'm askin' 'cause I'd like to take 'im in when he 'gits outta' the pen." Cid explained. The doctor arched an eyebrow.

"Well, if that's the case, then he won't be allowed to be alone with the boys, I hope you realize."

"Mos' definitely." Cid replied. "I care 'bout my son, but I care 'bout my grandbabies, too." he replied.

Within the week, Sora was enrolled in a school for disabled children called the Lady Maleficent Memorial Rehabilitation Center for Disabled and Handicapped Youth. Sora picked up signs as if it were a natural skill; both of the twins learned them quickly. Cid's progress was slow, but he and the boys appreciated how much closer Sora's new disability and their own silent little language had brought them.

After the initial shock of hearing loss had worn off, life was pleasant for Sora for the first time in a long time. This new silent world he lived in wasn't so bad, albeit still rather lonely. Almost nobody could communicate with him except for Roxas – their grandfather's slow learning being a bit of a setback - and he had to use Roxas to communicate for him outside of school. Because he had known how to speak beforehand, he could still speak properly and clearly, relying heavily on vibration for volume and tone, however it was an unreliable method, so he was mostly quiet and didn't much like to speak aloud.

Roxas, of course, loved his brother so much that he didn't mind not having an average social life, and made it evident to Sora every day. The brunet was all the social life he needed, which was what he would tell anyone who asked, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Baww, Grandpa Cid. = w=

You probably noticed, but I totally gave up on Cid's dialect. I toned it down a dickload, hope y'all don't mind. Also, I gave a specific cause to Sora's hearing loss, which makes me feel heaps better about the whole situation.