It had been three weeks. Three weeks since Roxas' life had been turned upside down and inside out and he – along with Naminé – were being released from the hospital. They were being sent home, with orders to not do anything too strenuous as they continued to heal, amongst a chorus of 'I'm sorry' and 'You're so strong' from the various staff members they'd seen around and about. Roxas' fractures in his arm were doing better, and he would be able to start physical therapy soon; that had been good news, according to Doctor King. But Roxas didn't feel like it was. He didn't feel much at all; he was so numb lately. Even when Axel came to visit him, to tell him all about how his and Demyx's attempt at dissection was going, in an effort to distract the blonde from the brunt of emotional turmoil he was still dealing with.

Naminé had another month in the cast on her arm, and had already been taken by Riku to a special area in the hospital that allowed for medical equipment to be purchased. They'd spoken to the person in charge over there, in accordance with the doctor's plans, to see about getting fit for a prosthetic leg when her arm was fully healed, so that she'd be able to learn how to walk again. However, Doctor King had told the blonde that she'd need to recover strength in her arm before she even attempted to try to stand. She'd need both arms to hold onto the rails on the walking track set up in one of the corners. So they talked about the arm exercises she'd need to work through to build strength back up and what kind of things she'd need to use to complete the exercises.

Cloud had finished doing his best to space things out in their home more, to make room for a wheelchair. Thankfully, the house was spacious enough that the furniture formations could be moved around so that there was room on all sides for a motorized wheelchair to move. Neither he nor Tifa had stepped foot into Ven's room since the accident – except to quickly grab the clothes he'd been buried in – because the pain was still too raw, too fresh, too much to deal with just yet.

The parents had talked about the financial burdens, hoping that maybe, if they talked with their bank, they could get a temporary reprieve from their mortgage payments, to hopefully build up enough money to purchase a vehicle that could operate a wheelchair lift. They knew if they didn't, Roxas would never be able to go anywhere with them, unless they could get a regular pushchair to take if they needed to leave the house. They didn't know, however, how things would progress with Roxas and the way his back was healing. He'd had another x-ray that morning, but there was nothing new to report, really. Not since his previous one two days ago.

"Cloud?"

"Yea, babe?" he responded.

"How are we gonna do this?" Tifa sighed heavily, sinking down onto their sectional, her husband coming to sit beside her. He opened his arms to her, and she leaned into him, taking comfort in the scent she breathed in. "How are we going to afford a lifetime of care for Roxas? I mean, the hospital bills are going to wipe out our entire life's savings and then some, and I know that if anything else happens, we won't be able to afford anything, and then there's the prescriptions and–" Cloud put his finger to her lips, stopping her from working herself up again.

"Look, Tifa, I know things are going to be hard, but it's nothing we can't handle. I mean, take a look at how far we've come. Do you remember when you first told me you were pregnant with Naminé? You were sixteen. And so was I. We were so scared of the future and what it entailed, but we had each other. We sacrificed everything to provide for our daughter and still somehow put ourselves through school to give her a better future. Everything we did though, we did together. And I know that as long as we have each other, for better or worse, we'll find a way to get through this, to deal with everything, just like how we did before." Cloud looked at his wife, his eyes still full of pain, but also showing a tiny glimmer of hope. "Right?"

Tifa nodded and Cloud removed his finger from her lips, covering them with his own. There was comfort being conveyed through this kiss, for both parties. The brunette responded to his kiss, pressing with a little more urgency, though without lust. This was a show of support, of love. When they both pulled away from each other, Tifa rested her forehead against Cloud's, moving herself to somewhat straddle his lap. "I love you Cloud."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her closely. "I love you too. 'Forever and ever, as long as we both shall live,' remember?" Tifa rested her head on Cloud's shoulder, her arms pressed between them.

"As long as we both shall live…" she repeated, closing her eyes. They sat that way for several long minutes, not quite ready to break the atmosphere that they'd created. Eventually though, Tifa sat back, looking into the deep blue eyes she'd fallen in love with so long ago. "Let's go get Naminé and Roxas."

Cloud nodded, pecking her lips once more before letting her up. Before they could get any further though, there was a knock at their front door. They looked at each other, each silently asking the other if they knew who it was. Confusion present in their expressions, they made their way to the door, opening it to see a rather short and skinny golden-haired girl in bright orange and yellow scrubs. Her hair was in a messy bun with some random braids mixed in, her eyes a lively green color.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Strife? My name's Rikku, I'm here on behalf of the hospital; Dr. Wise asked me to deliver the motorized chairs here," she explained. Sure enough, in the street just beside their driveway was a van with the hospital's logo. She brandished a clipboard with some documents on it, saying, "I just need some signatures on these, saying that you'll have the rental chair back to the hospital six weeks from today, and then we can get them unloaded." After handing the clipboard over to Cloud, she found a pen in her pocket, giving that to the other blonde as well.

The couple standing just inside the doorway read carefully over the documents, remembering the contract that Ansem had mentioned to them previously. The agreement was essentially as Rikku had explained. It gave them six weeks to use the chair for Naminé, until her arm could be fully healed, enough so that she could finally start to walk. It mentioned that they would be billed if it was late though, and the amount was not something easily replenished; the chair they were being loaned was four thousand dollars. Making sure there was nothing else they needed to know about the agreement, Cloud signed in the spots he saw marked with an x.

He handed the clipboard and pen back to Rikku, and she grinned at them, tucking the pen back into the pocket on her scrubs. She turned back towards the van. "Follow me, please," she said, leading them to the back doors of the hospital vehicle. She opened the outward facing doors, and the trio was faced with a metal lift that had been folded to fit inside the van. There was a small button just inside the doors to release the lift from its upward position. Rikku pressed the button and stepped back some as the lift began to lower itself to be level with the inside of the van where the chairs were strapped in.

Once it was, the petite blonde climbed onto it and into the back part of the van. She bent down to the floor of the vehicle, undoing the straps that held the first chair into place. There were handles on the back of the chair so it could be pushed if it needed to be, and she released the brakes on the chair. She maneuvered it to the lift and stepped on with it, pressing another button below the first to lower the lift to the ground. It moved slowly, but eventually let Rikku and the chair off on the asphalt.

The chair itself was a bright, shiny, sapphire blue and appeared to be brand new. Obviously, this was the chair for Roxas. There was a small steering device that looked like a joystick on the right arm, as well as some buttons. There was a power button as well, and down below the actual chair was an empty basket looking space, where some small belongings could be left, if need be. Tifa noticed a small square down by the wheels where the motor was held, though she didn't know what it was. In the time she'd spent studying the new chair, Rikku had brought the other out and onto the street.

"Alright," she said, "let's get these babies out of the street and I'll tell you how to work them." She pushed the hospital's chair up into the driveway, waiting for the couple to follow with the blue one. They did as she instructed and stopped it next to the plain gray chair.

"So, these chairs are from the same company, but that one," she pointed to the blue chair, "is a newer model, though not much has changed between the two. They have the same basic functions. This is the power button here, which obviously just turns the chair on and off. I'd recommend turning it off when it's not being used, like if you're at the dinner table or something, and especially at night.

"This is what controls the movements of the chair," Rikku touched lightly on the stick. "These chairs are designed to make full three hundred and sixty degree turns, and can be moved forward and backward, so mobility is awesome in these things. This," she showed them one of the buttons, "is a panic button. If there's something wrong, all you have to do is press that and a loud alarm will sound from the speaker hidden on the back side of the headrest." Bending down to the front of the chair, on the bottom, she motioned to a pair of lights that Cloud and Tifa hadn't noticed at first. "These are headlights so nighttime visibility won't be hampered, and can be turned on and off with this button here," the blonde pointed to a button adjacent to the panic button. "And lastly, we have manual brakes that can be engaged from the back of the chair here," she explained, showing them. The levers were actually built into the handlebars; all that had to be done to engage the brakes was unlocking the handles from the push position and moving them inwards, so that they lined up within the space between the backrest and the headrest. Once there, they would lock into place because of the piece resting against the back wheels that were otherwise hidden.

"Oh, and one other thing. This square down here above the wheel holds the charging cord for the chair, so all you have to do is press in on that square and it'll pop out and you can plug the cord in to charge the chair's battery. These batteries are designed to last a long time, but try not to push them to the limits if you can. They've been fully charged for you, and with only minimal use, you won't need to charge them again for three to five days. Now, with more moderate use, I would say charge them every other day. A great feature that was included in these models is that if you charge them overnight, and they fully recharge before anyone wakes up, they will automatically stop charging, which will save you money on your electric bill."

Rikku stayed silent for a moment, pensive, as though she was forgetting something. "Oh yea! I almost forgot to give you something." She went back to the still-open van, lifting a section of the flooring inside to reveal a storage area, with two folded standard wheelchairs laying on their sides. She pulled one out and set it next to her on the lift and then pulled the other out. She kept them folded for ease of pushing both at once and brought them over to the perplexed parents.

"Dr. Wise said he understands how much of a financial struggle you guys are in because of everything, and that if you had standard chairs, you wouldn't have to invest in a new vehicle with a chair lift. He said to tell you that these chairs are a gift from him and that you're not to argue, they've already been paid for in full. When you get to the point where you don't need one of them anymore, just send it with the chair on loan and it'll be donated to the hospital. Sound good?" Her words – or rather, Dr. Wise's words – shocked the both of them as they both felt the sense of Ansem's generosity and helpfulness.

Tears welled up in Tifa's eyes and she sobbed in relief. The tension left her frame and she smiled, truly smiled, for the first time since the accident. Cloud's mouth was left hanging open as he was left speechless. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that Dr. Wise had just up and purchased two wheelchairs for them out of nowhere. He looked like a fish out of water as he attempted to speak several times, opening and closing his mouth, with no sound coming out.

"You know, if you're not careful, you might start catching flies," Rikku giggled at Cloud's expression. She was pulled into a hug by the overly happy couple, and just grinned. She loved this part of her job.

"Thank you, Rikku. You don't know how much this is going to help us," Tifa said. The smaller woman hugged them both back fiercely, happy to have made some kind of difference.

"Don't thank me, I'm just the messenger. Ansem is the one you'll wanna thank. He's the one who pulled the strings to make this," she gestured to the standard chairs, "happen."

"Either way, we're thankful. This is going to make our lives so much easier."

"You're welcome, then. Now, I heard your kids are supposed to be discharged today, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Cloud replied.

"Well, what are you waiting for, now? Take those motorized chairs inside and get your car out here so we can load these ones into the trunk!"

The couple each took one of the newer chairs, pushing them inside the door and towards the living room. They exited the house through the door to the garage, where the car was parked. Cloud was driving, so Tifa got in on the passenger side. The garage door opened behind them and they backed out, careful to make sure that Rikku and the two chairs from Ansem were safely to the side of the driveway. The blonde popped open the trunk of the car and got out to load the second chair while Rikku took care of the first.

Once the trunk was closed, Cloud spoke to her again, "Thank you, again, Rikku."

"No probs, Mr. Strife. I'm happy to be of service!" She beamed at him. "I'll see you… whenever? Bye!" She strode off towards the hospital van, closing up the back once she got the ramp back inside. She hopped into the driver's seat and took off, waving to them.

When she was out of eyesight, Cloud got back in the car and headed in the direction of the hospital.

~o~

Naminé sat in the NICU, right arm in the sling against her still-bruised body. She looked adoringly at her son – still under three pounds. Joshua's doctor had told Naminé and Riku that they wanted Joshua to hit between six and a half and seven pounds by the time they sent him home with them. After his initial bit of weight gain – six ounces – it'd slowed down majorly. They'd assumed it was normal for babies to gain weight that fast, especially in the hospital where they were closely monitored throughout the day and night. But now, he was down to only gaining about a quarter of an ounce per day. The new mother sighed, hating that his weight gain was so slow, knowing that he'd be in the NICU for at least six months. But she knew it was for the better in the long run.

As she sat there, Naminé ran one finger gently up and down Joshua's right arm – the one closest to the hole where her hand could reach in. She was having a hard time dealing with not being able to hold her baby, not being able to do more than this. She wouldn't even be able to see his eyes until he was more developed. Although she'd heard that all babies were born with blue eyes and the color changed as the child grew older. It'd make sense if he had blue eyes though – Naminé did, and while Riku's were more of an aqua blue, they were still blue.

Naminé hoped Joshua would have his father's eyes.

Speaking of Riku, she heard him talking in the hallway, approaching the NICU, though it didn't sound like anyone was with him. She looked back a little bit, unable to see far due to the pain in her neck from the whiplash she'd suffered. She quickly turned back to her son, surmising that Riku was on the phone with someone.

"I just wanted to say thanks again for doing that for me," he said into the smartphone. He continued with, "I think she'll be thrilled to see." He was silent for another moment and moved closer. "I'll talk to you later, I'm in the NICU now," he spoke a little quietly. "Okay. Bye." Riku was standing to Naminé's left side now, and he leaned down to kiss her temple. "Sora says hi," he said, pocketing his phone.

"What were you guys talking about?" The blonde assumed they were talking about her, based on what she'd heard from Riku's conversation, but wanted to make sure.

"A surprise for you," he said. He failed to elaborate past that, and Naminé nudged him with her good arm.

"What did I tell you about spending money on me, Ri?" She scolded him lightly, but had a smile on her face, betraying what she thought.

"This kind of spending was necessary, Nam."

A few seconds of silence and then, "Baby furniture?"

"Maybe," Riku said, drawing out the 'a' in a mischievous manner. Which meant that yes, he'd bought baby furniture.

Having deduced that in her head, she asked him, "How much did you spend?"

"Ah-ah, you don't get to ask that. Not until you see it, at least." He'd been able to find the set that Naminé loved from Toys R Us, but much cheaper than the $1400 price tag the store offered for it. And the guy he'd bought it from had offered in a changing table as well, that was not part of the set but matched all the same.

"Riku, Naminé," was spoken from the doorway. Cloud was standing there, along with the brunette who'd shown Riku the way to the NICU that first time – Aerith. She made her way into the room, saying to the parents, "I just wanted to check Joshua's vitals real quick." As she made her way over, Naminé pulled her hand out of the incubator and allowed Riku to wheel her back, so Aerith could have room to work.

The nurse – noting that the indicator stripe on Joshua's diaper was showing up – made to open the incubator with gloved hands so that she could change the diaper, but also weigh it. There was a scale in a drawer in the shelving unit next to the incubator; each incubator had one next to it. On top of the shelving unit was a small computer that Aerith used to make notes for each of the babies. She'd logged into the system the hospital had in place and was ready to input Joshua's vitals.

She marked down the weight of the diaper and made a disapproving hum noise. Discarding of the soiled diaper, she reached for a hypo-allergenic wipe for the supremely sensitive skin of premature babies and cleaned him up, replacing his diaper with a new one. It still looked massive on him. But diapers were only so small, so until Joshua grew some more, they would look too big for his body. Aerith made a note in the computer of the temperature of the incubator and of Joshua's body temperature. She timed his pulse on the machine next to him, counting beats and after a minute was up, she made another disapproving hum. After all that, she turned on the scale used to weigh babies, zeroing out the sensor after she'd placed a blanket on it. Very carefully, she moved Joshua out of the incubator and onto the scale. His weight now read two pounds and eleven ounces. He'd lost an ounce.

"Oh that's not good…" Aerith spoke out loud.

Naminé was worried and Riku said, "What's not good?" The nurse jumped a bit, having forgotten the parents were in the room with her. She input his weight into the computer and moved the tiny baby back into the incubator so he could stay warm.

After putting everything back the way it was supposed to be and logging out of the computer and disposing of her gloves, Aerith looked back at the young couple. "I noticed when I weighed his diaper that Joshua's urine output didn't match what it should with the amount of fluid he's getting. Which means that he's losing water. His heart rate is also increased from what's normal. So he's dehydrated for sure, but I'm not certain what caused the weight loss. I want to talk to his doctor and find out what he wants to do." As the parents took in the information, Aerith excused herself from the room, heading back to the nurse station.

"Naminé," Cloud spoke up. "Are you ready to head home?" Her discharge papers had been signed, saying she was going home with her parents rather than with Riku for now, since the Strife house was a little roomier. The blonde looked at Joshua, knowing that she couldn't do anything for him right now. Her heart broke as she saw him – papery, translucent skin, hooked up to more machines than any child ever should be, wearing a small hat that probably wouldn't even cover Naminé's palm – and she nodded. Riku pushed her chair out from the NICU and back down the hall to the room she'd been in previously.

It was a mostly quiet affair as they rejoined Tifa and Roxas, personal items (including the same clothes they'd been in during the accident) collected in small duffel bags by the door. Tifa was standing behind her son as he tried to mostly transition himself from the bed to the wheelchair. He was being stubborn about getting help, but Cloud helped him anyway. He was pouting by the time he was situated, hating that he couldn't do much of anything for himself just yet.

"Roxas, you have to take it easy. Until we have the all-clear from Doctor King, you need to be asking us for help." Roxas mostly just sounded defeated when he said, "Yea, I know." It was easy to see how much he'd changed in the short time they'd been in the hospital. Roxas was not normally a sulking teenager, but he'd had a very dark mindset after the accident. Naminé reached over to his right arm with her left, grabbing his hand, and squeezing it, reminding him that she was there.

"Don't worry Roxas," Tifa said. "And don't be so glum about things as they are. I know it's a hard road we have to take now, but… I choose to believe things will get better for us than they are right now. And besides that, we have a surprise waiting for you at home." She and Cloud had forgotten to somehow break the news to him and Naminé that they had motorized chairs to use around the house and the standard chairs specifically for going places other than home. Tifa was sure that would somehow make Roxas' bleak outlook temporarily better. She hoped it would, anyway.

Cloud had bent down to pick up the duffel bags from the floor and Riku pulled Naminé's chair from the room, Tifa following behind with Roxas in tow. The eldest Strife picked up the rear, and the group made their way downstairs. Cloud told the rest to wait for him while he pulled the car up to the door from the parking spot, and Riku followed behind, because Naminé was riding with him over to the Strife household.

Cloud and Tifa helped Roxas get situated into the back seat, while he closed his eyes and tried to think about the fact that he wasn't in the same car, he was not driving, and this was not the same situation he'd been in when Naminé's car was crashed into.

Tears formed in the outer corners of his eyes and he was breathing deeply, all while Tifa stood silent, not knowing what to do to help him.

Meanwhile, Riku was busy helping Naminé get comfortable in his car. He tried not to jostle her too much while getting her buckled in, and he closed the door gently behind her. He wheeled the chair she'd been using back inside the automatic doors, where a nurse had just walked in to receive the chairs. Cloud maneuvered Roxas' chair back inside to the nurse as well, and hurrying back out to the car. He got in and told Roxas that it was okay, he wouldn't let anything happen to them.

After making sure everyone was properly fastened in, Cloud led the way back to the house, hoping Roxas would be okay after he was out of the vehicle. That wasn't a good sign and he should have seen it coming. Naminé was faring a little better, but still kept her eyes closed. At a stoplight, Riku reached over and stroked his thumb on her knee. She visibly relaxed and chanced a peek at him.

"We're almost there, babe. You're okay." His voice was hushed, so as not to startle her. Naminé nodded and kept her eyes open for the rest of the ride home. It stayed quiet in both cars.

Cloud had pulled into the driveway, not entering the garage just yet. Riku was left to park along the curb, partially blocking the driveway so that Naminé's door would open to the concrete instead of the grass in the yard. Neither Cloud nor Tifa had gotten out of the car yet, and both were turned around in their seats, talking to Roxas. He was visibly shaking and appeared panicked from the ride home.

Riku got out of his Torrent and walked over to the other vehicle, tapping on the window as if to ask what was wrong. Cloud turned back around in his seat properly and exited the car, closing the door to speak with Riku privately.

"Is he having a panic attack?" Riku asked.

"Yea," Cloud replied, "he started getting fidgety when we first got him in the car, before we even left the hospital, and it just went downhill from there. I'm not sure what to do, because he won't let us touch him, but I know it'd help to get him out of the car."

Naminé opened the passenger door of the Torrent, asking if she was getting out.

"Hold on, Nami, we've gotta take care of Roxas first," he called over. The blonde nodded, but left the door open, shutting the vehicle off since Riku forgot to. She watched with worry as Riku slowly opened the backseat door of the Strife vehicle, reaching in to try to get Roxas' attention.

"Roxas?" Riku spoke quietly. His hand lightly touched Roxas' shoulder and was immediately smacked away.

"Don't touch me!" Roxas shouted, curling in on himself. His free arm wrapped itself tightly around his torso as much as he could stand. Riku pulled back and asked Cloud to open the back door on the other side of the car, to give Roxas more space and make him realize he wasn't trapped, he wasn't in that car.

Nothing was working though, and Roxas was going to start hyperventilating if they couldn't calm him down some. Suddenly, Riku said, "What if we try calling Axel?" The parents looked at each other for a moment and nodded, Tifa pulling out her cell phone to call Yuffie.

It rang three times before the small, spunky woman answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Yuffie, I need a favor."

"Sure, what is it Tif?"

"I need you to put Axel on the phone. Roxas is having a panic attack and we don't know how to calm him down."

"Oh! Hang on, I'll get him." There was noise in the background as Yuffie was likely going upstairs to Axel's room. Hushed tones could be heard after a moment, and then Axel was talking.

"Mrs. Strife?"

"Axel, I need you to help me here. I'm gonna put you on speaker, and I need for you to talk to Roxas because we can't get through to him. Can you do that?"

Axel was nervous; he'd never had to bring someone down from panicking like that, and he wasn't sure of his ability to.

"I can try my best."

"That's all I can ask of you. Thank you, Axel," Tifa said sincerely. She pulled the phone away from her ear and pushed the speaker button when the screen lit up again.

"Okay. You're on speaker now."

It was quiet for a moment as Axel steeled his nerves. "Roxas?"

Immediately, Roxas froze and his eyes dilated just a little. "Roxas, are you there?"

"Ax… Axel?"

"I'm here, Roxas. Are you alright?"

"I… I don't…" Roxas realized his nails on his right arm were digging into his side and he relaxed his grip on himself. "I don't know what happened. I remember getting in the car at the hospital…"

"You were having a panic attack, Rox," Axel explained.

"I… was?" The blonde sat up a little straighter in his seat when he felt pain in his back from being hunched over.

"Are you okay?" Axel asked him again. "Do you need me to come over?"

Roxas' lungs were starting to ache and he realized he was holding his breath. He breathed in again and let it out slowly. "I-I think I'm… okay. But if… you wanna come over… I wouldn't mind."

"Okay, Rox. I'll be there as soon as I can." The phone was handed back to Yuffie as Axel clambered to get clothes on and brush his teeth. He'd been blissfully asleep when Tifa'd called asking for him.

Tifa took her phone off speaker and explained, in a low voice, what had happened in a little more detail. At some point, Riku had gotten back out of the backseat and walked over to his car again to explain to Naminé what was going on.

"Is he okay now?" She asked Riku.

"Yea, he seems to be fine now. I think Axel's voice calmed him down and broke through." They sat in silence, Naminé looking down at her lap and Riku at the ground. While Tifa had called Yuffie, Cloud had gone inside and gotten the two automatic chairs and brought them into the garage, where they were still out of sight for the moment.

He peeked his head into the backseat of his car, getting Roxas' attention. "Remember how your mother said we had a surprise, before we left the hospital?" Roxas looked at his father and nodded. "I have it," Cloud said, walking back into the shadow of the garage. He stepped forward a few seconds later, with the automatic chair in front of him.

Roxas' jaw dropped. He was stunned silent. How could his parents afford such a nice chair for him? It wasn't like they were poor by any means, but they didn't have a whole lot of money to spend after bills and Roxas knew that the hospital bills would take every bit of what they'd saved up.

"I know what you're thinking," Cloud said, "and this chair was purchased with money that was donated to us after the news outlets somehow found out about the severity of the accident." The eldest Strife reached in to unbuckle Roxas from his seat and shift him around so that his feet were outside of the car. He bent down to lift his son up out of the vehicle and maneuvered him to the chair, setting him down in the cushioned seat gently.

He gave Roxas a quick run-down of how the chair was operated, watching as Roxas would try everything to make sure it worked.

"Are you comfortable enough, Roxas?" Tifa asked him.

"Yea, I'm… okay. I'm just overwhelmed a little bit, I guess."

"Honey, that's normal, given what you've been through."

Roxas didn't say anything else as he adjusted to the chair and its controls. Naminé watched her brother, not noticed when Cloud started bringing over another chair similar to the blue one Roxas was sitting in.

"Naminé?" Her father spoke gently, making her tear her eyes from Roxas to look at him instead. "Do you want to get out of the car now?"

Before she could answer for herself, Riku spoke up. "Actually, Mr. Strife… if it's alright with you, I wanted to take Naminé over to my place to show her the baby furniture and the nursery." He continued, "I mean, I'll bring her right back, I just want her to see."

"That's fine with me, Riku. Just promise me you'll be careful, okay?"

"Yes sir," the new father replied.

"Before you go, though, you'll want this," Cloud said, opening the trunk of his car. He pulled one of the pushchairs out and Riku took it from him, loading it into the back trunk space of his car.

"We'll be back in a little while, then," Riku said, going back around to the passenger side and shutting the door. He walked to the driver's side and started the car again, taking off once he was buckled up.

"Are you ready to go inside now, Roxas?" Tifa asked her son. She'd given him a few minutes to get accustomed to controlling his new chair.

He nodded his head in affirmative and she walked ahead of him to open the door. He drove his chair slowly, having figured out that the harder he pushed on the stick that steered, the faster his chair would go. The blonde took in the re-arranged furniture and moved his chair around the groupings to make sure he would fit okay. He was glad when he didn't seem to have any trouble.

Cloud came in after another minute and informed Roxas that they'd had to re-arrange his bedroom some, so that he would be able to get his chair into the room. That meant downsizing his queen-sized mattress to a dorm-sized twin XL. Roxas was disappointed, but knew why it had to happen that way. With a queen-sized bed, he'd barely had any walking room.

He took in the sight of his bedroom now, with the new bed pushed close to the wall in one corner, his desk right next to it. His dresser had also been pushed to the wall, opposite his desk, right next to the closet. The room was set up very similarly to a dorm room and it threw him off a little bit. This meant that there was a large, open space in the middle of the room so that his chair would be able to maneuver around without trouble. The desk chair he'd had since childhood was also gone, since he wouldn't need it anymore.

The parents tried to ask him if his room was okay, but he didn't hear them, and eventually, they sighed and walked away, leaving him to adjust in peace. It was at this point that Axel finally arrived.

The redhead knocked his fingers on the door, alerting Roxas to his presence. "Rox?"

Roxas turned his chair around to face the doorway, glancing up to Axel's eyes and saying a very monotone, "Hey."

Axel crossed the threshold and bent down, hugging his best friend. "Sorry it took me so long to get here," he said.

"It's okay…" Roxas trailed off, unsure of how to act. He was still very cut off from everyone emotionally, but he was trying not to show it.

"Are you sure you're alright, Rox? You seem… distant." Axel was worried and Roxas could very easily tell. The redhead wore his heart on his sleeve.

"I guess. It's just… hard." Roxas broke eye contact and looked down at the floor. At that, Axel crouched down and forced Roxas to look at him.

"You know that I'm here for you if you need to talk, Roxas. You can tell me anything," the redhead said. Again, Roxas looked away. Axel sighed, not knowing how to make his best friend understand. "Roxas, please. Talk to me."

Roxas' heart was pounding in his ears as he said, "About what? About how I'm crippled for life and can't do anything for myself? About how I miss my brother so much, I'd readily trade my life to bring him back? About how I feel so guilty that I just want to die?" The blonde's voice cracked on the last word and he sobbed.

Axel's heart broke for Roxas. He knew it would be hard for Roxas to come to terms with living while his brother was no longer around, but he'd had no idea it was this bad already. He grabbed Roxas' hand and squeezed. While Roxas wept, Axel tried to come up with something to say to that. Immediately, his mind had gone to the worst.

"Roxas, are you…" Axel trailed off. He started again, "Do you really want to die that much?" He whispered the question, not really wanting to say it out loud.

"Yes!" Roxas half-screamed at him. "Between me, him, and Naminé, I'm the one who should have died! Not him!"

"You don't get to decide that!" Axel declared.

"Why not? No one would miss me!" Roxas shouted, tears streaming down his face.

"That's not true!" Axel countered. "…I would."

He squeezed the blonde's hand to remind him that he was there still, even though Roxas was still clearly feeling the sting of guilt.

"Roxas," he said quietly. "If you died, do you know what that would do to me? I would have absolutely zero interest in living a life without you in it. It would destroy me to carry on without you."

Roxas was digesting this information when Axel stood back up, only to lift the blonde's face with his hand. When Roxas closed his eyes to avoid looking at his best friend, Axel sighed. He leaned close to Roxas' face, so close that Roxas could feel his breath.

"You don't know the effect you have on me, kid." Axel knew he was taking a huge chance on this, but after realizing that he had romantic feelings for Roxas, he couldn't ignore the opportunity to act. He kissed the tears away and he felt Roxas tense up.

Roxas had opened his eyes when he felt lips on his cheeks and he was staring up at Axel, majorly confused. "Ax…el?" He rasped.

The redhead closed the space between them, kissing Roxas' lips gently. He pulled back after only a few seconds and said, "Please don't ever think that no one would miss you if you died, Roxas." He let go of the blonde's hand and walked out of the room, not wanting to stick around on the chance that Roxas was gonna yell at him for pulling that stunt. He left the Strife residence and Roxas couldn't even move. He felt paralyzed.

Axel had just kissed him.

A/N: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WAS NOWHERE NEAR WHERE I WANTED THIS CHAPTER TO END, BUT I JUST REALLY WANTED TO UPLOAD ON AKUROKU DAY KTHXBAI.

*clears throat*

Now then, with that out of the way. Let me start by apologizing profusely for the horrendously long wait on this chapter. I'm so sorry about that, guys, really. But let me explain because for once, I have a good reason for the long wait.

I accepted a new job at the end of March, doing housekeeping for one of the hospitals in the area. Now, at the time, I still had classes to get through for the spring semester of school, so it wasn't too bad doing that job and my other one, but I also had some very large group projects to work on throughout the ending of that semester, which meant I had little to no free time to write.

In addition to that, once the spring semester finished, my grandma's health took a very rapid decline. She got to see my brother graduate from his college, and we took a family trip to meet my newest baby cousin who was born on the first of June. But after we returned home from that trip, her health started failing. It got to the point where she could not be left alone, and my grandpa was helpless to take care of her, so it caused a lot of strain on my mom, who was providing basically 24/7 care. On July 12, my grandma passed away, and it took a horrendous toll on me; so much so that I had to take a week off of work to recoup.

I'm still not exactly over it, and it's been a month. I doubt I'll ever fully get over losing her, because she was such a HUGE part of my life. I miss her terribly every day.

So pardon the wait, but I think you can see why it took me so long.