Summary: It's been nine months. Nine months since Roxas left. Sometimes I still wonder if he's alright. I wonder if he managed to find his way to his next life. I wonder if he managed to find his friend...
Pairings: AkuRoku, RikuxSora (Yes, that means this will be a shounen-ai story, in case you wondered. Don't like, don't read! Do like? All the better!)
Disclaimer: Yeah suuuuuuuuuure, now that it's complete I suddenly own Kingdom Hearts? Well, no! Duh!
Thanks to: OMFG EVERYBODY WHO READ THIS!! Guys, you are so awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Unbelievable, but there are some new reviewers again... Oh, but Kat, you don't count. Even though you stole review # 100. As much as I love you, I already knew your opinion on the chapter. Hehe. Yeah, more than hundred reviews, can you believe it? Oh, yeah, the new ones... bunny500 (I feel so guilty, you should have been mentioned in the last chapter already! Sorry!), KH and Summon Night Otaku, and Kiki Lelsissia. Thank youuuuuuu!
Oh, yeah, this is the last part.
... Whaddaya mean I already said that last time?
Oh, anyway. Enjoy!
Child Again
Epilogue - Sora:
For a short moment I'm close to panicking when the door closes behind them, not opening again when Riku and I try to open it. I still can hear them talk, but I don't understand what they are saying… Oh no, now it sounds like Roxas is crying, but I'm not sure…
"Sora," Riku says quietly. He sounds quite amused. "Why don't we give them a little time for themselves, hm?"
"But what if…" I start, but I trail off again, not knowing how to finish that sentence. The room was empty, as far as I could see it… And even if there were Nobodies hidden in there, the boys would easily get rid of them, now that they remember their abilities. It's just…
"So-ra," Riku repeats, still smirking. "Leave them alone! Don't you think they deserve some privacy?"
"But…" I stop myself, listening again. "Do you hear that? They've stopped talking! What if…"
"They are fine," Riku interrupts me, still smiling so strangely. Why does he still grin like that? I hate it when he does that, it always makes me think he knows something I don't, and I…
I try to reply again, but this time my mouth falls open when I notice the noises coming out of the room. I feel hot blood rushing to my cheeks, staring at the unmoving door indignantly, while Riku chuckles amusedly behind me. There! There it was again! That was Roxas' voice, and he… he… he…
"No need to act so shocked, my dear," Riku laughs, smirking mischievously when I glare at him annoyed. I hate it when he calls me like that. He puts an arm around my shoulders, pulling me away from the door. "That's just the same thing we do almost every night since they were born after all, isn't it?"
Oh, oh, oh my GOD, he did not just imply that they… That's my little brother we're talking about!
"There's no reason to be embarrassed, Sora," Riku adds, smiling innocently. "You know how boys their age are… Their hormones run riot, and their bodies change… they develop certain… urges…"
"Shut up," I cry out, shaking his arm off. I don't even want to think about what they are doing in there… right now… with each other… Oh, crap! Bad, bad, bad mental images! "W-We can't just leave them here all alone…"
"If you want your sweet, little, soon not-so-innocent-anymore brother to talk to you again anytime in the near future, we should do just that," I immediately get the amused reply. I glare at that silver haired bastard again, and again he just smiles sweetly. "Leave them alone, I mean." He pulls me away from the door a bit further. "Come on, I'm sure Axel is taking good care of him."
"That's what I'm scared of!" I shriek, blushing harder when I hear another loud moan coming from that damned closed door. Oh, in the name of… Was that Axel?
Oh. Must've been him, because this was definitely Roxas screaming his name…
Damn… Those two really waste no time…
… And I won't get rid of those mental images ever again! Frick! And Riku is still smirking, damn that silver haired son of a…
"Do you want to eavesdrop some more, or can we go now?" he asks teasingly, not even flinching when I punch his shoulder none too lightly.
"Bastard," I mutter sulkily, walking away at a brisk pace. He follows me quickly.
But despite my embarrassment I have to smile. I don't think they will forget anything again now. I have to think of the 'conversation' I had with Roxas years ago, just before he left to search for Axel. Has it really been so long already? And now, finally, they've found each other… and they won't forget again.
"Took them long enough," I murmur smiling, and the teasing smirk on Riku's face softens to a real smile.
"Yeah," he agrees quietly, raising a hand to open another dark portal. "Long enough."
Kairi and Namine await us impatiently already, Kairi staring at the portal with wide eyes when we emerge from it right in our back porch. Riku closes it hurriedly.
"What happened?" Namine asks us, ignoring the portal, running over to us and grabbing my hand. "Where's Roxas? Is he alright? Axel didn't hurt him, did he?"
"Oh no, he…"
"Well, you know it hurts the first time," Riku interrupts me gleefully, clamping both hands over his mouth, his bright eyes watering as he tries to hold back laughter when all three of us stare at him, Kairi and Namine confused, me plain shocked.
He's barely able to dodge the stone I quickly pick up and throw at him. I do miss him on purpose of course. I'm not that mean, even if he acts this childish! Hell, he never acted like that when we were kids! How immature! That's so not like him…
"Would you cut it out already?" I yell at him, but he knows I'm not really angry. He shrugs, still snickering quietly.
"Sorry," he apologizes choked, wiping his eyes. Then he turns to look at Namine. "No, we butted in before things got out of control," he adds, now calm again. Hu? Now how the fuck did he calm down this fast? I don't get it; he's acting too strange today…
"Okay…" Namine says confused, her big blue eyes travelling back and forth between us. "Aaaaaand… where are they?"
I exchange a look with Riku, and he bites his lip to keep another grin from his face.
"Uhm… they are… busy?" I reply, shrugging helplessly.
"Do they finally remember?" she inquires, narrowing her eyes at me. I open my mouth to answer, nodding happily… then I freeze. Kairi tears her shocked gaze from Riku to stare at the blonde girl, and even Riku seems surprised now.
"W-… What?" I finally breathe. I hope I didn't hear right, but the others' looks do indicate I did…
"Nami… Do you remember?" Kairi manages to ask her former Nobody, and my little sister smiles sweetly, closing her eyes.
"Of course I do," she chirps, playing with her ponytail. "Since about six months ago, when Roxas told me he might have a crush on Axel." She opens her eyes again, looking down to the ground, the smile on her lips growing sadder. "He told me almost the same before, you know? Back in the castle. When he told me he might have developed feelings." She sighs. "It really took them long enough to finally remember each other."
"Why didn't you tell us?" I blurt out. Damn, my head already starts to hurt… Why is everything happening so fast now? And there I thought they'd probably never remember anything… Now they all do at once!
"I don't know," she answers shrugging, fidgeting with the hem of her blouse. "I didn't want to make you worry, I guess." Then she looks up to me again, pouting defiantly. "I did give you some clues, you know? All my drawings…"
"You always hid them from us," Kairi says softly.
"Well… I didn't want to make it too obvious," Namine replies softly. "I was scared it could be too much for Roxas… He already went through this once, back when DiZ had erased his memory. It was painful to watch him struggle with his memories even back then. I didn't want to force him to go through this again, I thought…"
"You thought it wouldn't be as painful if he remembered on his own, without our help," Riku finishes for her.
"Back in Twilight Town I had to force him through it. He didn't have enough time back then," Namine continues, now averting her gaze again. "You and DiZ didn't want to give him more time. You feared he would try to escape."
"He did try to escape," Riku mutters, and now he's the one who can't hold her gaze for long. He crosses his arms defiantly, looking away. All of us stay silent for a moment, then Riku heaves a deep sigh, turning around and starting to walk away.
Kairi and Namine throw me concerned glances, but I can only shrug helplessly.
"We talk later, okay?" I say hurriedly. "When… when Roxas and Axel are back or something. I think… we have a lot to talk about…"
"We do," Kairi agrees gently, nodding in Riku's direction. "But we have all the time in the world to talk now. You go and find out why he's sulking now."
I nod relieved, but before I go I embrace my sister, gently kissing her forehead. Namine smiles at me, hugging me back briefly.
"Tell him he doesn't have to worry," she whispers to me, looking over my shoulder to Riku, who's walking along the shore further down the beach. "Darkness won't get hold of him again just because he got his powers back. He's older now; he's stronger, and he is able to control the Darkness residing in his heart. He has you." She smiles at me again. "He'll never lose himself as long as he has you." Oh dear. She's way too mature for her age… just like her twin.
"Thank you," I still whisper before I let go of her again. Kairi takes my place instead, hugging the younger girl gently. I turn around and start to run, catching up with Riku easily. He only throws me a glance, then he looks down to the ground again. He doesn't say a word.
"Hey," I say quietly, grabbing his arm to hold him back. He shakes my hand off. Wow. He hasn't done that in a long time… He must be really upset.
Oh dear.
"You should take care of Namine," he murmurs, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Don't worry about me."
"Nami is fine, and I always worry about you, even when I'm worried about the twins already. I'm always worried about the people I care about most," I reply gently, again trying to get hold of his arm. He pulls it away again.
"Sora," he whispers hoarsely, looking down so his silvery hair hides most of his pale face. "Didn't you see what I just did?"
"You opened a dark portal," I reply lightly, crossing my hands behind my head. "So what?"
"You don't get it, do you?" he asks sadly, turning around to walk away again.
Full sulky mode, it seems. Well. Then I'll have to take drastic measures!
Riku doesn't even have the time to react, let alone make a move to defend himself. He trips and falls into the white sand when I tackle him, but then he fights back and turns around under me to face me, aquamarine eyes blazing.
"What are you doing, Sora?" he asks dangerously quiet. I grab both of his hands and move around until I straddle him, effectively pinning him to the ground. His bright eyes narrow even more.
"Keeping you from running away," I reply cheekily. Silver brows quirking in that cute way of his.
"You do realize that you're already thirty-two years old, right?" Riku continues. "You're acting pretty immature, jumping me like that."
"Says the man who cracked dirty jokes in front of the girls and almost died holding back laughter," I counter, and he frowns. "Besides, you're not really more mature than me. You don't wear your reading glasses because you think they look stupid…"
"That doesn't make me immature…"
"No, it just makes you a conceited dolt," I interrupt him, rolling my eyes.
"Does not," he grumbles. Against my will I have to laugh.
"Talk about acting immature," I chuckle, still not moving.
"Sora…" he sighs, turning his head to the side.
"Sorry," I apologize too cheerful to make it sound honest. Then I lean down, smiling more softly. "Riku, don't worry so much. You opened a dark portal, so what? I managed to cast a Blizzard spell after all those years, but that doesn't make me Donald."
He blinks, then stares up to me dumbfounded. Then an amused grin spreads all over his face, and then he starts to chuckle.
"Now that's the spirit," I laugh and bend down to kiss him…
"Ho fuck, stop defiling Roxas' poor virgin eyes!" someone behind us shouts, making both Riku and me jump and look around.
"Stop being stupid, Axel," my brother replies gruffly, wrenching the other boy's hand from his eyes. "It's too late for that anyway. Remember when we walked in on them when I was four?"
"Oooooooh, yeah," the redhead answers thoughtfully, then he smirks evilly. "They were really getting it on back then, weren't they?"
Roxas pales a bit, and he smacks the back of his friend's head with a flat hand, while Riku and I exchange surprised looks. I finally get up and help Riku standing up as well.
"Weren't you two… busy?" I can't help but ask, even though I feel the very same heat rising to my face that seems to color Roxas' cheeks a healthy shade of red.
"Busy as in making out?" Axel clarifies innocently, chuckling when Roxas tries to hit him again. "Well, we were, but…"
"… I'm not ready for that… yet…" Roxas adds oddly shy, blushing even more when Axel smiles at him and gently embraces him from behind. He looks up to the older boy, pouting slightly. "Y-You really don't… mind?" he asks weakly, a small, insecure smile drawing the corners of his mouth upwards for a split second.
"'Course not," Axel replies, nuzzling Roxas' flushed cheek lovingly. "I can wait." Then he whispers something into Roxas' ear that makes my brother's face turn beet red. And no, I don't want to know what he said, thank you very much. Considering the angry scowl and the embarrassed blush Roxas is sporting now, it was probably something nasty.
All four of us fall silent for a while, until Riku decides to speak up again.
"So… What do you want to do?" he asks, and he also acts so strangely timidly, stepping closer to me as if he wanted to hide behind me. He still doesn't dare to meet Roxas' eyes.
"Well…" Roxas grimaces and rubs his hands together embarrassedly. "First of all I'm gonna take a shower…"
"Me too!" Axel chirps cheerily, and Roxas winces and blushes again. But then they smile at each other again, and then Roxas looks out to the sea thoughtfully, grasping one of Axel's hands and intertwining their fingers absentmindedly, as if he had done that very often already. "Then… talk… I guess." A smile brightens his whole face, makes his eyes shine. "And then I want to visit Hayner and Pence and Olette… I wanna know how they've been doing all those years… And I want to visit all the other worlds; I want to see everything again…"
"Later, Sweetheart," Axel chuckles and lifts Roxas up almost effortlessly, carrying him away bridal style, ignoring Roxas' protests and laughing freely. "It's about time we took a nice, long shower, right?" It's nice to watch them. I would say 'cute', but I doubt Roxas would appreciate that, so I'll settle on 'nice' instead. It's nice to see them smile like this, even though Roxas tries to hide it with a frown, hitting Axel's head once or twice before giving up struggling.
"Long enough, indeed," Riku whispers next to me, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me closer.
"Long enough," I agree, leaning on him and watch them smiling. "But they remember now. And right now… I'm pretty damn proud of them."
"I know what you mean," Riku replies smiling as well, then grabs my wrist. "Come on, there's a lot to talk about."
"Right," I agree and let myself be dragged back to the house where the others already await us.
Author's Note: YES!! DONE!!! Crap! When did the epilogue get longer than the first chapter? Weeeeeeird...
Hmmmmm, what else to say? Not much. I think I already said everything.
Well, one thing: Thank you all so much for reviewing! And faving, and for all the alerts, aaaaaand for reading this at all... Really, you guys are amazing! I enjoyed reading your reviews probably more than you enjoyed reading this story, especially since there were some pretty long ones... Wow. I never thought I'd get so many reviews on this as well.
But now I can finally concentrate on Perfect Match again! Hopefully. In between my exams. They just don't seem to stop... Oh, I can't wait for summer...
Ehem. Again, thank you all! I hope I'll 'see' you again at the next chapter of Perfect Match!
Did I mention I managed an 'A' on my final English exam this term? First time I ever got something better than a 'C'. :D