13 Days

Post -Kingdom Hearts 2

Summary: A stranger shows up on the doorsteps of Twilight Town... and the town seemingly has sprung to life. But what if... he only has 13 days to live as himself before he has to become one with someone else again? And the only way to stop it is to tell someone that he loves her? KH 2; Roxette

Author's Note: Hey, guys! Name's Star Ribbon, and I've come to bring you a Roxette fic that you'll hopefully like. (If it isn't new, don't be surprised – this story was originally posted on the Roxette community over at Livejournal) If you have any comments or concerns, please tell me, okay?

--------------------------

Day Zero

Seifer didn't like it very much when strangers came to town. For some reason, he was concerned that the stranger would act like he owned the town. (Of course, it really never did turn out that way, so I don't know why he would be so worried in the first place. But as Hayner says, we are talking about Seifer.)

So, when a blonde boy appeared on our town's doorsteps (he was just lying there, and seemed to have lost all signs of conscious), it was no wonder that the self-proclaimed leader of the Disciplinary Committee was acting up.

"Strangers bring nothing but trouble."

Even though my attention was on the stranger, I could glimpse the beginnings of a fight out of the corner of my eye.

"It's not like he brought anything with him, though. He seems pretty safe for now…" Pence glanced over in my direction, as if wanting me to nod in agreement and say that I certainly thought so too.

I nodded, not sure if I should cooperate with this current turn of events. "Yeah, Seifer. He certainly seems fine to me."

Seifer let a sigh escape his lips. He surely didn't like the fact that a stranger was in our town, and he certainly wouldn't like a stranger who seemed to be… well, different from the rest of us.

"Trouble."

Fuu crossed her arms, taking a seat in an empty chair. Rai stood nearby, leaning against a wall. They seemed to be taking this pretty well, but then again – who really knew with Fuu?

"L-let's not f-fight, everyone…"

Everybody glanced over in Vivi's direction. The child tugged on his hat, looking down at the floor below him.

Hayner pressed his lips together. Like any decent person around these parts, he seemed to want to keep the peace, but how would that be possible with the two clashing gangs in the same room?

"Look, Seifer. If we keep this one under our wing, will you back off?"

"Yeah. You can blame it on us and everything." Pence added in, though he seemed nervous about even speaking up.

None of us expected Seifer to laugh. The haughty blonde took one last arrogant look at Roxas, before motioning the others to follow him.

"You have thirteen days to keep him under your wing. If he's still trouble, then we'll… just have to kick him out." He smirked, opening the door as he spoke.

As the four of them left, I could've sworn that I heard Fuu speak of 'banishment', but I could've been wrong.

The door closed behind them, and Hayner looked over at our newest member.

"Well, that was harsh. Geez… the guy isn't even injured. Just looks like he woke up on the wrong side of bed." He ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head lightly afterwards.

Pence nodded in agreement. "….Look, guys! He's waking up!"

"…..W-where am I?"

He rose from his position on the bed, placing a hand to his forehead. Muttering something about how his forehead was hurting, he glanced up at the three of us. His eyes… they seemed to light up upon seeing our faces.

Did he know us?

He couldn't have. I've never seen him in my life.

"Hey, man. You okay? You just appeared in our town like… I don't know, magic, I guess." You could tell that Pence was really worried about our new member just by the way he spoke. I guess we were all worried, to be honest.

As the stranger nodded, he smiled. It wasn't quite your average smile, though. He didn't seem to be truly smiling – just smiling because he seemed to think it would lighten the mood, if only a little.

"I'm fine. Thanks for bringing me here, I guess."

He seemed so unsure of himself. As he tried to jump out of bed, his legs began to shake. The rest of his body followed suit, shaking uncontrollably until… he collapsed before he even left the bed.

"Woah, easy there. We don't want you to spend forever in here." Hayner took the other boy's hand, easing the stranger back into bed as gently as someone like him could.

He laughed slightly, as if he knew that Hayner would try to help him out. It was starting to creep me out, to be honest, but… at the same time, something was telling me that he wasn't a newcomer to this town, either.

"My name's Roxas. Thanks for helping me out back there…"

Roxas? That name… was extremely familiar. I brushed back my bangs, bowing slightly as I rose from my seat.

"I'm Olette. Pleased to meet you, Roxas."

"Name's Hayner. Be careful with your landings from now on, man." Hayner extended his hand out, not noticing the smile that was slowly coming across his face.

"I'm Pence. You seem to be doing fine now." As Roxas took Hayner's hand to shake it, Pence came in with his, and shook theirs.

Roxas nodded, brushing back loose bangs with his free hand. "Hayner… Pence… and Olette, right? It's nice to meet you."

He took one look at his dangling foot, letting a grin slowly come across his face as he realized that it was no longer shaking.

In the few seconds that it took him to get out of the bed and walking with the rest of us, I could've sworn that I heard him say 'again' after his final introduction.

But I must be mistaken, right? After all, we've never seen Roxas before in our lives.

13 Days Left.