The (Other) End of the Road

Chapter One

A/N: Yes! You're reading that correctly. I am re-writing 'The End of the Road,' my Kingdom Hearts/Harvest Moon fiction featuring some Roxas and Axel love. While I adored the story, I feel like it ended up going completely off the rails to the point where I had absolutely no idea how to continue it! But not this time. This time I'm doing it right! There'll be some major changes to the story, but the town will stay the same. ...You'll see. Hope you like it!

...

You should go to your cousin's wedding, Mom said... You really should reconnect with that side of the family. ...Bullshit. I should have known that driving down to Destiny Township would result in some crazy, convoluted plan to get me to move out there.

I swear to God, my family were a bunch of mind ninjas. Because they actually managed to convince me, in the short 24 hours that I was in town, to give up my life in New York and take over my late grandfather's farm. Don't get me wrong, I loved gramps... but in no way did I really want to move out to the middle of nowhere and start a new life as a farmer.

But my brother and cousin had sweet talked me until I ended up signing the papers to take the farm, and now I really couldn't back out. Which was why I was currently unpacking the contents of my small New York apartment into a nice, yet ancient house on the west side of Destiny Township.

"Yo, Roxas! You ready to go say hi to everyone?"

I jumped out of my skin as my cousin Hayner suddenly appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, apparently not even bothering to knock first before just busting in. "Good God, Hayner... must you always just barge right in?"

"We're family, I don't have to knock," he grinned, leaning his shoulder against the door frame.

"Back in New York, you'd get shot for doing that," I reminded him that I wasn't used to such an open lifestyle. My apartment had three deadbolts and two chains on the door, and I slept with a gun under my mattress.

He just snorted and shrugged. "So? You ready? Everyone wants to say hi."

"I literally just saw them at your wedding, Hayner. Can't it wait until I unpack a little more?"

"...Roxas, the wedding was nearly six months ago. Come say hi to people! Besides, your brother wanted you to stop by the Cafe."

I set aside the box of dishes I was unwrapping and sighed heavily, running a hand through my thick, blond hair. It was a trait most of the Michaels men seemed to share, though it somehow skipped over my other set of cousins, Sora and Vanitas. "Right... I'll go see Ven. And Ven only," I stressed, leveling my blue eyes on him.

"Fine," he scoffed, rolling his eyes right back at me. "But you didn't even take the time to see the town when you were here last! Can't I at least show you around?"

I couldn't figure out a way to tell him that I honestly just didn't care, so I instead decided to change the subject. "So... there's nobody else that could take over grandpa's farm? It really has to be me?"

"Roxas, you already signed the papers. If you were going to back out, you should have done it months ago. You're kind of stuck here now," he told me, crossing his arms over his chest. "And anyways, there's really nobody else to run it in his absence. I've got my own farm, Ven has the Cafe, Sora and Van work the Carpentry Shop..."

"What about Uncle Cloud? Can't he take over?"

"No, Roxas, he can't. He's got a whole family to worry about without running a farm as well. Look," he narrowed his eyes on me, stepping forward to loom over my head. Damn him for having a good four inches of height on me. "We're not too keen on having a newbie take over the family farm either. But Gramps left it to you, Roxas. He specifically stated in his will that he wanted you to have first dibs on his land. Even though you literally never visited us until my wedding, he was always going on about how special he thought you were and how bad he felt that you didn't get to grow up here with everyone else. God knows why... he barely knew you, just like we barely know you."

I growled under my breath in frustration and sat down at the dining room table, sick of having him talk down to me like that. "Right. Like it was my fault that my mom and dad separated Ven and I when we were babies. He got to stay here with Dad while I got carted off to New York with Mom. It was the only life I knew, Hayner. And when she told me that I had a bunch of family here, I did want to come get to know my brother, along with everyone else. But New York was my home and ...I was scared. That's why I've stayed so distant."

"You didn't even come to your father's funeral, Roxas..." his jaw tensed a little as he brought up the bitter memory.

"I never knew my father, Hayner. Can't you understand that? I mean... I was just a kid. I'd literally just found out that I had a brother, let alone an actual father, and then to find out that he died? Just like that? ...Do you know how many nights I stayed awake wondering what my dad was like?"

He sat down across from me at the table, his face softening a bit. "I never really thought about it like that... I guess I've only ever heard one side of the story. But really, Roxas. The Michaels will always have your back. We're the closest knit family you'll ever find. So... come say hi to everyone? Try to make an effort?"

"I suppose I could... I guess I'm just not used to having a family to support me. It's always just been me and Mom against the world. But you're right, I need to make an effort to get to know everybody," I nodded, standing up and straightening my black t-shirt out.

"Great!" his attitude shifted as he plastered a grin on his face. Damned mind ninja... He'd somehow convinced me that I really did want to be social.

I headed outside with him, the bright sun blinding me for a moment. "So... where are we starting? The farm across the street from mine?"

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at me with absolute disgust. "No. We don't talk to them, we don't talk about them. You ignore them and pretend that they don't exist. Bastards..."

"Whoa..." I took a step back, throwing my hands up in innocence. "I won't mention it again. Calm down."

"Good. Their name isn't even worth saying," he hissed, setting off down the dirt path into town. In the stretch out here to the west, there were just the three farms. Hayner's, mine next door and then the mysterious farm across the street.

Heading into the town square, Hayner first dragged me towards the Town Hall. "Who on Earth could we possibly be visiting here, Hayner?" I wondered, looking around curiously.

"Uhm... the mayor?" he laughed, cupping his hands around his mouth and hollering, "Eraqus! Get your sorry ass out here and say hi to Roxas!"

I didn't know any kind of mayor that would be okay with someone speaking to them like that, but Eraqus rounded the corner with a smile on his face like that was just their norm. "Roxas! Oh, it's been so long since I've seen you... I wanted to say hi at the wedding, but you always seemed to disappear just before I could approach you."

Maybe because I was hiding from everyone... I thought to myself as I plastered a grin on my face and shook his outstretched hand. "Right... sorry about that. It was getting overwhelming to talk to everyone in town all at once."

"Completely understood. Hopefully tonight at the Cafe goes a lot better for you."

I turned a glare on Hayner, my pupils dilating in anger. "What's going on tonight at the Cafe?"

"Nothing special... don't worry about it," he shrugged, brushing off my question.

"Eraqus, what do they have planned for tonight?!" my voice cracked a little as a wave of anxiety washed over me.

The mayor let out a bellowing laugh, patting me on the shoulder. "Just a small welcome party, Roxas. Nothing to be afraid of. We just wanted to let you know that you're truly welcome here."

"I don't like parties..." I muttered, all of the color draining from my face as I thought about having to socialize with so many people at once.

"I'll stay with you the whole time, Rox. Calm down," Hayner tossed an arm over my shoulders, turning me and guiding me out the door. "See you tonight, Eraqus!"

My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach as he led me to the next shop, my brain frantically trying to supress a panic attack. This... was going to be hell.

...

A/N: So let me know, please! Better? Worse? I'm trying to flesh out my characters a lot more and give them some more detail and conflict. I know that this first chapter might have felt like a wall of information, but it'll clear up a lot of confusion in the future. And yes, the family structure is definitely different from the first version of the story. You'll see why later.

Love you guys! Remember to review and let me know what you think!

Simply Rexene