Awakening

Twilight Town - Station Plaza

Day 01

Roxas

He opened his eyes and found himself gazing upward at a star-strewn sky warmed by the soft golden hue of sunset. Strange; he was certain that he had been seated in Yen Sid's chambers only moments before. It was a very uncomfortable sensation, though one with which Roxas not entirely unfamiliar; rather, this was becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence. Having been absorbed by Sora's heart, whether Sora himself had wished it or no, Roxas spent the majority of his waking hours as an ever-present audience to Sora's actions. It was, he had quickly discovered, a very odd feeling to share a body with another consciousness. As days turned into weeks, he had discovered that he could force thoughts and impulses upon Sora, though he had no say in whether Sora acted upon those feelings.

Recently, however, Roxas had begun experiencing lapses in his awareness. It always began as a sensation that he could only liken to drowning in darkness; his vision would begin to grow dim and hazy, all sound would fade, and then he would suddenly find himself in a different place. Sora, as far as Roxas was aware, had never noticed these episodes.

Though there's a lot that Sora doesn't notice, he mused, thinking of the shy looks that Kairi often cast in his direction when Sora was otherwise preoccupied.

Oblivious.

Roxas frowned at the stars hanging overhead; he couldn't have said from where it originated, but he was suddenly beset with the nagging suspicion that he was forgetting something important.

...

Extremely important.

The vague silhouette of a slender, frail figure cloaked in shadow swam to the forefront of Roxas' thoughts.

Xi...Xion?

Roxas felt a jolt somewhere deep within his stomach that wasn't entirely dissimilar to missing a step while walking down the stairs. He was surprised to find that his vision was suddenly becoming blurry; his bewilderment only grew when he felt a single tear winding its way down his cheek.

Xion? Who… is Xion? Why does that name make me feel so…

He tried to grasp the image as it floated past in his mind, but it merely twisted into a younger version of Kairi before dissolving completely.

Confused by the unfamiliar sensation, Roxas wiped at his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position. When he did so, he realized several things very quickly; first, that he was in Twilight Town. The clock tower where he had spent so many of his sunsets eating sea-salt ice cream with… with…

Axel. But he's… I saw it through Sora. And then we... we talked one last time before he disappeared. He's gone.

The knowledge was like a dagger in Roxas' heart.

Was there… someone else?

He felt as though there had been one other... someone else with whom he had built a relationship. He found himself wondering idly about the name that had come to him unbidden as he lay in the plaza gathering his thoughts.

Xion huh?... I wonder if we were friends.

Reluctantly, he pushed the matter to the back of his mind. He couldn't even begin to think of how he would go about verifying such a thing.

Roxas was brushing the fresh fall of tears from his eyes when he realized something of which he already been passively aware: somehow, he had been returned to his original body. A quick inspection confirmed it; the tail of the coat from his time in the Organization was pooled on the ground around his legs and he felt the familiar weight of the hood resting just below his neck. The rip just above the right knee from his brief skirmish with Riku was present as well. Roxas reached up and pulled a handful of stiff blonde hair down in front of his eyes.

Blonde, not brown. So I'm really…

No sooner had Roxas reached the conclusion that he was unquestionably back in his own body than he began to worry about Sora. He wasn't sure what this turn of events could mean. Was Sora alright? Had he been injured or even killed, thus freeing Roxas from his heart? And then there were the other presences that had dwelt in Sora's heart; if Roxas had somehow been returned to his physical form, then it stood to reason that the others had been set free as well.

Ventus… I wonder if he looks as much like me as he claims. And the other. I wonder if I'll know it when I see it, or if it'll know me.

The third presence residing within Sora's heart had been secretive and distant with both Roxas and Ventus; both had tried to engage it in conversation but it had always simply retreated into some deeper recess of Sora's heart. That game had grown old after the first few weeks, so Roxas and Ventus had given it up as nothing more than an interesting anomaly; the presence kept to itself and rarely seemed to try to exert any influence over Sora. Rather, it seemed to be content with spending all of its time absorbed in his memories. Both Roxas and Ventus found that to be vaguely worrying, but the presence seemed to harbor only innocent curiosity so they had left it to its own devices.

Deciding that there was nothing to be done but to find the others, as well as Sora, Roxas pushed himself to his feet and shook out his coat. He briefly considered making his way to his friends' old hangout to see if they were there – he wanted desperately to see the three of them again – but decided against it when he realized that, this being the real Twilight Town, they were unlikely to recognize him. Beset by an odd pang of loneliness and loss, Roxas entered Central Station alone. Having little information and no leads upon which to base his investigations, he was of a mind to speak with the one person who he thought might have some insights regarding what had happened. Truth be told, he had never stood before Yen Sid in person, and thus he was unsure that the wizened old sorcerer would recognize him, but...

I wish Axel was here.

AN: Hi there, and welcome to Ties that Bind. This story began roughly a year ago as a middling attempt to bring some closure to Roxas, Xion, Axel, and Ventus. If you're looking for a brief one-shot in which Roxas and Xion do little more than [censored] and [censored], this work might not be for you. Otherwise, feel free to dive in; I'd love to have you along for the ride.

Revision: 2.1 - (5/9/2016)