Work Text
Roxas jolted awake and took in his surroundings. Sitting up and leaning back on his hands, he looked at the familiar, yet unfamiliar faces that he had spent getting to know over the past few years he was in Sora’s heart.“Where am I?” he managed to get out, his heart racing. He clutched at his chest. This was a new feeling; having a heart beat in his chest. He looked up at the people in front of him and felt his eyes tear up.“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” A red haired girl said as she moved to give him a hug. He could feel the heat from her radiating on to his skin and the feeling of relaxation that came from the soothing hug.“Sorry, I’m just not used to this feeling of having a heart. It’s a weird sensation.” he said when the red head pulled away. She gave him a soft smile. “I understand, sort of. My name is Kairi, this is Riku and I’m sure you know Sora, since you were in his heart for so long.” Kairi explained, pointing to each person.Roxas looked at each person and nodded at them. “Yeah, I know Sora,” he said. Sora scratched the back of his head and gave him a small smile. “It was kind of my mission to help you be your own person. There are so many people that are excited to see you!” he said, holding his hand out to Roxas to help him up.Taking his hand, Roxas stood up and dusted himself off. He took in what he was wearing, recognizing the clothes he had worn during his mock Summer vacation. He recognized the room he was in and he started to look around, his curiosity getting to him.When he woke up, Roxas was in such shock he didn’t take the chance to look around. He recognized the drawings, memories flashing through his mind of when he first met Namine. His hands grazed over a picture of Axel and his heart hurt. Was this what it was like to miss your best friend? His eyes started to burn and he closed his eyes tight, tears forming, causing his eyes to hurt even more.“Axel.” he stated softly, tears forming more frequently and falling more freely. His last words rang through his head. “Just because you have another life…”He took a deep breath and leaned his head against the wall, his heart racing with hurt. His best friend, who he abandoned just to betray the Organization. Whom he watched from Sora’s heart sacrifice himself to save a random stranger. Sora stared at the boy standing in front of him, unsure how to comfort him. He knew how close Roxas and Axel had become during their short time together. Granted he wasn't really sure if Roxas would really recognize his friend anymore. He looked over at Kairi and Riku who both had similar looks on their faces. After a few moments of silence, Kairi’s face lit up as it was clear she had an idea.“Roxas, why don’t we head to the usual spot? Everyone’s waiting for us there.” she said. Roxas lifted his head up and turned to Kairi. The usual spot? Right, the place he and his friends met up every single day during mock-summer. It’d be nice to see it again– or at least see the real thing. “Okay.” he agreed.Before he followed the trio out of the room, he looked over at the drawing and grabbed it. He folded it neatly before sliding it into his pocket. He was sure Namine wouldn’t mind. As he followed Kairi, Riku and Sora through Twilight Town, memories flooded his mind of battles with Heartless and shared sea salt ice cream. Maybe he’d have some on the clock tower once he was reunited with everyone.His eyes fell on the struggle posters that hung half-heartedly on the wall and his mind filled with memories of his betrayal, seeing his friends he made during his mock-summer vacation. He reached out to touch the poster. “Hayner, Pence, Olette.” he whispered solemnly to himself.Roxas could feel eyes on him, so he turned slowly and saw the trio staring at him, gloomy expressions wearing on their faces. “Sorry,” he whispered, looking away.Sora’s eyes went wide and shook his head. “No worries Roxas. Please take as much time as you need. I imagine coming back here is hard, since you’ve been away for so long.” he said, giving Roxas a reassuring smile. “If it’s any consolation,” Sora started. Roxas looked at him, his hand still on the torn up poster. “When we left, after I woke up in the Old Mansion, I started crying. As if I was leaving friends behind. I think that was you.” he continued, scratching the back of his neck.“Sora…” Roxas chuckled out softly. It definitely made him feel better to know that Sora understood how he felt. “Thanks.” He followed the trio throughout Twilight Town more.He looked at the ally that led to the Sandlot. “Come on, you can say hi to Seifer and the others later.” Kairi said, grabbing Roxas’ hand and leading him away.Once they reached ‘The Usual Spot’ all eyes were on Roxas. Hayner, Pence and Ollette all looked at him before rushing their friend and engulfed him in a group hug. Shocked, Roxas eventually relaxed and laughed with his friends, who all seemed to be ecstatic to see him.“It’s been so long, we’ve missed you!” Olette said as they all parted and exchanged memories and pleasantries.As his friends talked, Roxas’ eyes wandered around the usual spot. Things hadn’t changed much. The torn sofa had been replaced with a newer used sofa and a new mini fridge had been installed. Pictures of his friends lined the walls, some pictures included Sora and Kairi.Roxas’ eyes spotted him in the back of the Usual Spot, his spiky, bright red hair, even bigger and spikier than he remembered. Axel had long since abandoned his Organization XIII coat and instead was sporting a simple black t-shirt, blue pants and a greenish-yellow scarf wrapped around his neck loosely, which brought out his green eyes. Roxas’ breath hitched in his throat when familiar green eyes landed on him and his name was spoked in an unbelieved whisper.“Axel.”He moved away from his friends and moved to his longtime friend. He reached out to touch his face, but retracted, not sure if that was appropriate. There was so much difference from the last time they had seen each other. The purple accents under his eyes were gone and the thick eyeliner he remembered Axel applying to defy Saix’s orders was almost non-existent.“Axel.” he repeated, reaching out and touching the older man’s face. “It’s not Axel anymore.” Lea said as he grabbed Roxas’ hand with his own. “It’s Lea; got it memorized?” he asked.Roxas looked at Lea and smiled. “Lea.” he said, the look of determination written all over his face as he processed his friend’s new name.“You always did have a hard time remembering things.” Lea chuckled. Roxas looked at Lea’s laughing face before joining in, hands on sides when they started to hurt.After the laughter died down, they looked at each other and before Lea had the chance to say anything, the wind was knocked out of him when Roxas lunged at him, wrapping his arms around him in a hug.“I missed you.”“I missed you too Roxas.”Lea wrapped his arms around Roxas and they stood there, holding each other while their friends watched. He buried his face into the blond’s hair and took a deep breath. He refused to let him go. There had been too much time to make up for.“Roxas.” He looked up at Lea confusion written on his face. Without a word, Lea leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth. A bit surprised, Roxas returned the kiss, his hand cupping the back of Lea’s neck.When they separated, Lea rested his forehead on Roxas and hummed contently.They stood in the back of the Usual spot, finally reunited.