Reverse

Written by RamaLlama

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all related characters are the property of Square Enix and Disney. Elsewhere was written by Gabrielle Zevin.

Chapter One: In The End

As the creeping darkness slowly clouded his eyes and invaded his senses, Roxas had only one coherent thought: 'This is all Axel's fault.'

If Axel hadn't come over to his house today, he wouldn't have found Roxas's stash of sea-salt ice cream.

If he hadn't found his stash, he wouldn't have eaten the last popsicle.

If he hadn't eaten the last popsicle, Roxas wouldn't have bothered to skate to the store to get some more.

If he hadn't bothered to skate to the store, and if he wasn't so pissed off at somebody for taking the last sea-salt ice cream without even asking first, he probably would've seen that car coming.

If he saw that car coming, it probably wouldn't have hit him.

If that car didn't hit him, then Roxas Benjamin Gainsborough Strife probably wouldn't have died on a sunny Saturday morning at 2:35 PM.

But Axel did come over today.

Roxas picked himself off of the sidewalk with a groan. There wasn't any, "Oh my goodness! What happened here?" or, "Gee, I wonder who that is lying on the street who looks so much like me."

Roxas wasn't stupid.

He knew right away that he was dead.

He must've looked like a double exposure, like a picture where someone forgot to advance the film. There he was, facedown and motionless on the sidewalk, with the blood slowly pooling around his sides. Yet at the same time, he was standing on the sidewalk several feet away, watching.

"Roxas..."

Somebody had apparently called the police, because when they arrived, their ear-piercing sirens wailed and screamed and everyone around became restless.

"Roxas, whenever you cross the street, make sure an adult is with you..."

A crowd had already started to gather around his body. People were screaming and pointing and gathering round, and 'Oh, that poor child! What the hell happened here?'.

"...look both ways before you do anything..."

'There's blood everywhere!'

"...and most importantly, hold on to someone's hand."

Roxas just wanted the noise to stop. He knew that none of these people even knew who he was, and that by tomorrow they wouldn't give a damn. All they managed to do was give him a headache.

"Just hold Mommy's hand and don't let go, Roxas."

He used his ghost-like hands to cover his ears.

Sirens. Screaming. Panic. An ache.

An ache that pounded his thoughts and forced itself against his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

He just wanted the noise to stop.

"Don't ever let go."

Then, as quickly as the noise came, it stopped, and a strange calm washed over him.

Finally given some time to think, Roxas tried to analyze the situation. The scene before him had suddenly changed. The crowd had disappeared, and all he could see for miles and miles was the sky, which was as blue as a kid's crayon drawing. And yet, at the same time, he could sense the sweet scent of flowers in spring, and he could taste milk and honey on his tongue.

There were a lot of things Roxas wanted to, and felt he should, be right now: angry, sad, confused, or scared. But none of those things ever reached the front of his mind because the world was just so beautiful at the moment. It was as if all of the chaos from before had just melted away, along with everything else, leaving only the core of his being.

Then there was a Voice.

It was a nice Voice, calming and reassuring, and it seemed to come from all around him and from inside him.

"Hello Roxas." the Voice said, "Welcome Home."

Suddenly, a near-blinding light shone, causing him to instinctively shield his eyes. Only when it dimmed slightly, and he could open them again, did he see it.

The Gates of Heaven. Right in front of him and wide open.

A wide smile forced itself on his lips as happiness swelled up inside him. 'This is it!' he thought, 'After everything that I've been through, I finally get what I deserve.' It was all over now. There was nothing left for him to do. All he had to do was take a faithful step forward, and...!

...the Gates closed.

"What the hell?"

"I apologize." Roxas nearly jumped in shock. There was that damn Voice again. Its once soothing calmness now irritated the shit out of him. "However, I am afraid you may not enter...yet."

That got him nervous. "Wh-Why not?" he stuttered. He lived a good life, right? He helped people. He listened to his parents. He did...good stuff. Sometimes. But surely he never did anything bad enough to get sent there. Right?

Right?

"Do not worry, my child." Stupid calm, mind-reading Voice. "It is just that you are not yet prepared to enter...yet."

Roxas was about to ask just what the hell He meant, but when he tried to open his mouth, he couldn't. It was as if someone had zipped his mouth shut.

"Please let me finish explaining first," the Voice gently reprimanded. "You were not prepared to die when you did because you did not expect it to happen at that moment. It happens to a lot of young people your age. The not expecting part, I mean, not the dying part."

The Voice chuckled then, which seemed very out of character.

"Anyway," the Voice continued, "in order to prepare you for the Afterlife, the Second Sphere- that's the governing order of angels..."

'I know!' Roxas thought impatiently, even though he really had no idea what was going on.

"-and I have decided to sentence you to Reversal."

'What?' All of this just didn't make sense.

"In a nutshell, that means that you must now relive your entire life again, but backwards this time. By looking at your life with a fresh take, you will be able to see and realize everything that you missed the first time. This will be your Life Review."

'...Wait, huh?'

"Oh dear, it seems I have reached the time limit." The Voice was suddenly beginning to fade, getting harder and harder to hear. "Do not fret, though. I have assigned you a Guardian to explain the rest to you. Feel free to ask him anything you want."

It was very faint now. "I sincerely wish you the best of luck on your journey. Well, I'm off!"

Then it was gone.

"No, wait!" Roxas called out. He was able to open his mouth now. "What's going on?"

His eyes were frantically scanning the area, looking for something, anything, that would give him an answer, when a familiar mop of brown hair blocked his vision.

"Hey, Roxas!"

(...END OF CHAPTER...)

Author's Notes: Woot! My first story on Fanfiction! I know this chapter was short, but I just posted this to see what people would think about it. It might change depending on what people say. So go ahead, give criticism. :)

Don't expect this to be updated quickly. Also, don't expect Axel and Roxas to sex each other up in the first few chapters. Or any chapter.

I got the inspiration for this story after reading Elsewhere, so I included some concepts from the story. If you read Elsewhere, please know that this won't be exactly the same.

Most of this plot is my own.

You know what? I think this author's note is longer than the chapter.