[A few seconds later, a video request kicks in. Once accepted, the feed will reveal Roxas, dressed in his best (and only) jammies, sitting on top of whatever building he and Axel are living in. The phone is propped up to mostly show Roxas, but in the background there's a starry sky. It's a nice night.]
Maybe I'm just more used to it. I used to dream about you all the time.
[The request is answered and Sora appears on the screen, blinking owlishly into the light on his nightstand. He really does look like he's just woken up, there's a dried path of drool at the corner of his mouth, and more disturbingly than anything else, half of his normally buoyant hair is lying completely flat against the side of his head.
[It's a little strange to see Sora like that. Partly because his hair is almost always sticking everywhere, and partly because when it's not, Roxas can see even better how much they look alike.]
Uh-huh. [He nods.] When you were still asleep. Not that I knew why. Sometimes, I thought I was going crazy.
At first it was just pictures of you out in the worlds. Fighting Heartless where I fought Heartless, that kind of thing. Like it was triggering memories.
[He sits cross-legged under the night sky, mostly looking thoughtful. The strange visions and memories had grown more upsetting over time, but they aren't anymore. He knows who he is.]
Later on, I dreamed of people you knew, things that happened before... [He gestures toward his chest.] Once I dreamed of Riku tossing you a toy sword outside this huge castle. And when I was in that fake Twilight Town, I dreamed of you turning a Keyblade on yourself.
[The expression on Sora's face is almost wistful in thought as he thinks back on the events Roxas is describing. The toy sword, the fight with Riku that followed it... it's not a dream, it's a memory.
Especially that last part. Sora doesn't even realise his loose fist has wound up resting against his chest.]
Yeah, all of that happened. It was in Hollow Bastion, when I needed to save Kairi. You know her heart was inside me, right?
Yeah. I didn't dream all the details, but I know all the basics now. I think.
[He gives Sora a small smile. If there are any little pieces of the story he's lacking, well, Sora can keep them. They don't belong to Roxas, not like they would have, if things had been different.]
My dream tonight wasn't anything special, though. Just you guys running around and playing on the island. Running around on the beach. It was...it was really nice.
You know, if there's ever anything you wanna know about, you can just ask me, right? I mean, I know we know a whole bunch about each other but it's not the same, you know?
[He smiles and shifts where he sits, his hair finally appearing to spring back to something a bit more familiar.]
I dreamed about you guys hanging out in the secret place, eating ice cream. It was nice too.
[He does, and he means it. He might even take Sora up on the offer sometime. If he'd gotten it back when he was with the Organization, he wouldn't have hesitated to ask a thousand questions. But it's different now; Sora isn't just a source of information to him. Their connection is far more personal than that, and he's still feeling out how it works here.
Roxas' smile shifts in something softer and just a tiny bit sadder. It doesn't hurt the way it used to, but it'll never go completely away.]
It was. I mean, it didn't really happen. But it was real to me.
Hey, don't say that! Just because it happened in your Twilight Town and not the other one, it doesn't mean what you felt wasn't real. And you know, when we find a way to fix everything, I bet Hayner, Pence and Olette are really gonna want to get to know you.
[He shoots Roxas a big (if not slightly sleepy) grin]
[It's a little scary to think of trying to be friends with the real versions of Hayner, Pence and Olette. What if they don't like him? What if they only see him as that weird kid in the black coat who skulked around their town?
...but his heart tells him that Sora is right. He wants to believe it.]
[He sits up a bit straighter, adopting a more thoughtful pose.]
I mean... I kinda didn't really know what to think when I gave it up, I just knew I had to save Kairi and it didn't matter if I had to lose my heart to do it. I didn't really thing about what was gonna happen afterwards.
[Oof, that's - that's probably not the right way of putting it, he realises.]
Sorry. I didn't mean- I guess I woulda just stayed a Heartless and then maybe someone would put an end to me and that woulda been that. But it's weird, when I was a Heartless, I didn't really want to steal anyone's heart. I just wanted to make sure my friends were okay.
[It was an honest answer and besides, Roxas didn't have another one in mind that he wanted or expected. The question was probably silly, anyway. From Sora's perspective, he'd have stayed a dumb shadow or turned back into his regular self. It's probably hard for him to imagine his mind and memories continuing on as a Nobody, because if they had, then he'd be Roxas, except not the Roxas that exists now, another one.
That makes Roxas' head hurt a little.]
I think about it sometimes. Because if you think about it, we used to be the same person, but then you split yourself in two and I became someone completely different because I didn't have any of the memories Nobodies usually do.
If you hadn't come back, I'd still exist, but...I wouldn't exist, because I'd be more like you. Sort of.
Wow, wouldn't that be kinda weird? If you were like me, I mean. D'you think you woulda gone looking for Riku and Kairi and not been friends with Axel and-
[He catches himself before he says the other name he's only just learned is so important to his Nobody; Xion is a part of Roxas' story that he knows he doesn't have the answers for, not when he still has so many questions about her himself. It's not fair that neither Roxas nor Axel have even their memories of her, and it's not his place to try and explain someone he couldn't even begin to understand, not knowing her himself.]
-the others?
[He looks thoughtful.]
Man. I can't picture you acting like me. That'd be real weird.
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I dreamed about the Destiny Islands.
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Well that makes it even weirder.
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I mean... it doesn't seem the wrong way round to you?
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Maybe I'm just more used to it. I used to dream about you all the time.
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It just ain't right.]
You did?
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Uh-huh. [He nods.] When you were still asleep. Not that I knew why. Sometimes, I thought I was going crazy.
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Regardless, he reaches up and ruffles his hair as he thinks through what Roxas has says. It looks a little more normal but still somewhat deflated.]
What kinda stuff did you dream about?
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[He sits cross-legged under the night sky, mostly looking thoughtful. The strange visions and memories had grown more upsetting over time, but they aren't anymore. He knows who he is.]
Later on, I dreamed of people you knew, things that happened before... [He gestures toward his chest.] Once I dreamed of Riku tossing you a toy sword outside this huge castle. And when I was in that fake Twilight Town, I dreamed of you turning a Keyblade on yourself.
That's when I was born, wasn't it?
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Especially that last part. Sora doesn't even realise his loose fist has wound up resting against his chest.]
Yeah, all of that happened. It was in Hollow Bastion, when I needed to save Kairi. You know her heart was inside me, right?
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[He gives Sora a small smile. If there are any little pieces of the story he's lacking, well, Sora can keep them. They don't belong to Roxas, not like they would have, if things had been different.]
My dream tonight wasn't anything special, though. Just you guys running around and playing on the island. Running around on the beach. It was...it was really nice.
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[He smiles and shifts where he sits, his hair finally appearing to spring back to something a bit more familiar.]
I dreamed about you guys hanging out in the secret place, eating ice cream. It was nice too.
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[He does, and he means it. He might even take Sora up on the offer sometime. If he'd gotten it back when he was with the Organization, he wouldn't have hesitated to ask a thousand questions. But it's different now; Sora isn't just a source of information to him. Their connection is far more personal than that, and he's still feeling out how it works here.
Roxas' smile shifts in something softer and just a tiny bit sadder. It doesn't hurt the way it used to, but it'll never go completely away.]
It was. I mean, it didn't really happen. But it was real to me.
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[He shoots Roxas a big (if not slightly sleepy) grin]
Cuz you know what?
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...but his heart tells him that Sora is right. He wants to believe it.]
What?
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You're somebody who's really worth knowing, and having as a friend.
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You're a total sap, you know that?
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[See how not bothered he is by that? He almost wears it like a badge of honour.]
I can take it. There's worse things to be.
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[Roxas laughs. Yeah, there are definitely worse things to be. Besides...if he weren't a big sap, Sora wouldn't be himself.]
Hey, Sora... [He's quiet for a moment.] Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if you never got your heart back?
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[He sits up a bit straighter, adopting a more thoughtful pose.]
I mean... I kinda didn't really know what to think when I gave it up, I just knew I had to save Kairi and it didn't matter if I had to lose my heart to do it. I didn't really thing about what was gonna happen afterwards.
[Oof, that's - that's probably not the right way of putting it, he realises.]
Sorry. I didn't mean- I guess I woulda just stayed a Heartless and then maybe someone would put an end to me and that woulda been that. But it's weird, when I was a Heartless, I didn't really want to steal anyone's heart. I just wanted to make sure my friends were okay.
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[It was an honest answer and besides, Roxas didn't have another one in mind that he wanted or expected. The question was probably silly, anyway. From Sora's perspective, he'd have stayed a dumb shadow or turned back into his regular self. It's probably hard for him to imagine his mind and memories continuing on as a Nobody, because if they had, then he'd be Roxas, except not the Roxas that exists now, another one.
That makes Roxas' head hurt a little.]
I think about it sometimes. Because if you think about it, we used to be the same person, but then you split yourself in two and I became someone completely different because I didn't have any of the memories Nobodies usually do.
If you hadn't come back, I'd still exist, but...I wouldn't exist, because I'd be more like you. Sort of.
[That makes Roxas' head hurt a lot.]
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[He catches himself before he says the other name he's only just learned is so important to his Nobody; Xion is a part of Roxas' story that he knows he doesn't have the answers for, not when he still has so many questions about her himself. It's not fair that neither Roxas nor Axel have even their memories of her, and it's not his place to try and explain someone he couldn't even begin to understand, not knowing her himself.]
-the others?
[He looks thoughtful.]
Man. I can't picture you acting like me. That'd be real weird.
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