Sorry I haven’t posted so much lately. My muse has, apparently, done a runner and left me alone. Not helpful at all. I’ll get back to A Darker Road asap!

Disclaimer: KH is the property of Square-Enix and Disney, meaning we’re all making them really rich. Still, at least we’re having fun right?

This story contains KHII spoilers!

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If there’s a lesson Sora never learnt, it’s compassion for the Nobodies. Maybe Roxas can finally show him the light.

Proof

Kairi was tugging Riku along, a finger held to her lips as she led him to the sight she wanted to show him. She had dragged him away from the coconut grove (despite knowing he was under orders from his mother to bring some home for tomorrow’s breakfast), and was now leading him under the bridge. As they turned the corner onto the beach, Kairi raised a hand and pointed to where Sora was resting on the sand. Sora was sleeping on his side, one hand held flat against the sand, the other twitching sporadically. However, Sora sleeping wasn’t what Kairi had to show and Riku knew it.

“Roxas,” he murmured.

Next to Sora sat Roxas, knees pulled up so his chin could rest on them. He was as still as Sora. His ghostly figure was watching the sea; his eyes still a brilliant blue as a small smile lifted his mouth. “It’s all right,” he suddenly said, well aware that he was being watched. “I’m just telling Sora a few things. It’s easier this way.”

“Telling him what?” Kairi asked.

Roxas looked at her, seeing Naminé. “About the Nobodies.”

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When Sora opened his eyes, he was confused to find himself lying on a cold metallic surface rather than sand. He could feel that the light wasn’t natural, the warmth of the sun missing from the white glow that hung around him now. He pushed himself up, realising where he was as soon as he was standing.

“Proof of Existence,” he murmured. “But… how?”

“I brought you here.”

“Roxas?”

He was standing on his Proof, the crumbled stone still glowing blue where all the others were crimson.

“Are you all right?” Sora asked as he approached his Nobody.

“I’m fine. But… how do you feel, seeing this place?”

Sora stopped at the bottom and turned to view the broken, empty chamber. As his eyes took in the sight, strange feelings began to arise. “I feel sad.” Sad enough to feel tears prickling his eyes. Sora frowned and blinked hard, because sadness was not all he felt. He walked over to Roxas, his eyes still picking out the ruined Proofs. “How am I here anyway?”

“It’s just a dream.”

Sora laughed a little. “That’s good, because I was pretty sure this place didn’t exist any more.”

“Is that really fair though?”

Sora met Roxas’ eyes. The blond Nobody wasn’t smiling. “They…we… touched worlds and lives just like you and your friends did. Why should we be forgotten, our lives just broken and left to nothingness?”

“I…”

“You always said Nobodies felt nothing.”

“I was wrong, I know that.”

“But you still think it.”

“About Xemnas.” Sora crossed his arms. “He was kinda… emotionless, besides the anger. He didn’t seem interested in anything else.”

Roxas took up an identical posture. “What about me?”

Sora’s hands went behind his head. “You’re me. I feel so you feel. You like Naminé, right?” He grinned at the sight of Roxas’ rosy blush.

“Fine,” the blond said in a hurried tone. “Then what about Axel?”

Sora lowered his arms and followed Roxas’ gaze to Axel’s broken Proof. “He said you made him feel like he had a heart.” He frowned, struggling to reconcile Roxas’ argument with everything he had been told about the Nobodies. “That means something, I know…”

“But you can’t figure out how people without hearts feel, when everything you feel comes from yours.”

A faint smile appeared on the other’s lips. “You’re good.”

Roxas sighed. “Are you never gonna get the whole ‘I am you’ deal?”

“Hey, I got it! It just takes a bit of getting used to. My inner voice has his own name and personality. It’s…”

“Different, I get that.”

“Okay, sorry, we’ve gone off track.”

Roxas nodded and resumed. “Nobodies can feel, whether you like it or not.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it! I just…” Sora waved a hand. “You already know.”

“Say it out loud. I like knowing I got all the brains when you turned back from being a Heartless.”

Sora stuck out his tongue. “Who said I had brains to begin with?”

“Sora.” Roxas’ tone wasn’t one to be messed with.

He sighed. “I don’t understand how.”

“Maybe the heart is just one place for things to be held. We’ve all got minds as well. None of the Nobodies lost their minds.”

“Not even Demyx?”

Roxas snorted. “Demyx was just a little… uh…” He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, unable to think of a fitting description.

“Demyx was just special all together huh?”

“He was a friend.”

“A musical friend. Watery too.”

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“…Sorry. But give me a break! Every Nobody I ever met, even you, fought me!” Sora was walking back and forth, his hands moving animatedly as his anger spilt over. “What else was I supposed to think? ‘Oh hey, these guys are all attacking me but I guess that makes them my best friends!’ And, everyone else said you guys were bad. I had no other proof…” Sora’s tirade trailed off.

“But something was making you wonder?”

“Whenever I defeated a Nobody, they were sad and desperate to live on. But I ended those lives and deep down I know that if I was the one about to fade, I’d be just the same as them – desperate to not go.” Sora sat down, taking care not to disturb the Proof he was near, and made a face. “All this thinking is confusing. It’s gotta be why I never did it before.”

“You should’ve given it a try. Maybe it would’ve been easier for all.”

“How do you mean?”

“Maybe you could’ve gotten their hearts back.”

Sora was silent. Roxas knew he’d given his other something huge to think about. Roxas paced around the broken Proofs, waiting for Sora to work through things by himself.

The silence went on for a long time. Sora didn’t notice Roxas’ pacing until he eventually came out of himself and said, “I don’t think I’d want all of them to have their hearts again.”

Roxas bristled, his sharp reply beaten by Sora’s next words.

“Xemnas… Xehanort with his heart… He’d be even more dangerous. All the Nobodies who were once Ansem the Wise’s apprentices chose their path ‘cause they wanted power or because they were greedy. But you and Axel and the others… maybe it was different.” There was a painful smile as Sora remembered. “It definitely was for us. I didn’t know anything about Nobodies or Organization XIII or power or…” Sora broke off with a laugh. “There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. So, for Axel, Demyx and the Nobodies Ansem the Wise never knew properly, Kingdom Hearts was the only hope they had. You know, hope that they’d get their hearts back… because I think that’s what they really wanted, more than anything.” Sora’s tone was one of realisation, like dawn was breaking through a tight web of confusion and doubt.

“See? Thinking isn’t so bad.”

“You’re not gonna convince me to like Xemnas, just so you know.”

Roxas just shrugged. “I got you thinking. That’s a step.”

“Not gonna make me like Xaldin either. Oh, and not Xigbar.”

Roxas sighed. “Anyone else?”

Sora made a thoughtful sound. “I’m still thinking about Luxord. Do you know how much it sucks to be on a ship that gets blown up? Sinking ships are not fun, no matter what anyone says. And the headache I got from that lasted for days.”

“You’re hopeless.”

Sora stood and went to a certain Proof. “I’m glad Axel was your friend. Now that I realise it, he was really desperate to look out for you. And if it was Riku who I had lost, maybe I’d do the same things he did.”

“Including kidnap?”

Sora pondered for only a moment. “I think I’m too nice for that.”

“DiZ told me to share my anger with you. Perhaps I did it too much.”

“Are you trying to blame yourself for my…um…”

“Ignorance? Intolerance?”

“Sure, both of those.”

“No, that’s all you. I’m just saying, maybe I should’ve held back a bit.”

Sora shrugged. “It wasn’t you. I made my own decisions and my own judgements.”

“And now?”

“I think sometimes I was wrong but other times I had a right to be angry.”

Roxas paused for a breath before his next question. “Do you still think Nobodies shouldn’t exist?”

“Of course I do.”

“You what?” Roxas’ tone was deadly calm, the anger written across his face.

“No, I don’t mean it nastily. I mean, no one should ever lose their heart. It’s a terrible thing.” Sora shivered at the memory of the darkness taking everything from his heart and mind. “I know I was wrong to think that Nobodies didn’t feel but, for some of them, their existence pained them, right?”

Roxas felt himself loosen, the anger draining away. “It did, you’re right. But they did exist.”

“I know. Maybe if I’d been able to do my job better, I could’ve stopped it.”

“Huh? How?”

“If I’d been faster with the Keyblade, and not let so many people lose their hearts, the Nobodies wouldn’t have had to exist.”

“Could you have stopped Naminé and I from existing?”

There was no hesitation when Sora said, “It was for Kairi.”

“And you’d do anything for her.”

It was Sora’s turn to blush brightly.

Roxas laughed. “It’s okay. I’d do the same if it were Naminé.”

Sora sighed. “There’s just no easy answer, is there?”

“Life’s not like that. Haven’t you realised yet?”

“Sure I have,” Sora said, walking over so he could stand over Roxas’ Proof. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t try and make it easy.”

“That’s pretty immature.”

“So?”

“So, that attitude’s not gonna get you anywhere.”

Sora’s voice was tight with old anger. “Maybe I’m tired of trying to act like an adult. I’m fifteen. Someone else can take charge for a while.”

“You’re not gonna be fifteen forever you know…”

“Roxas.” Sora’s tone was sharp. He didn’t want to hear any more.

For a long while, they sat in stilted silence; both knowing the other had thoughts whirling through his mind. Sora’s eyes kept wandering over the crumbled stones, Roxas’ words echoing in his mind. Organization XIII wouldn’t be forgotten, Sora knew. Even if many people remembered them for the wrong reasons, at least their existence hadn’t been for nothing.

Eventually, Sora spoke. “You’re still here,” he told Roxas. “You can remember the Organization as they should be remembered. And if you tell me, I can tell other people and the truth will spread.”

“I like that.”

Sora breathed out. “Thank you.”

Roxas nodded. “Yeah, thank you too.”

Sora looked at him. “Did I do something?”

“I think you’re helping me with the thing Axel always told me I needed to do.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Roxas grinned. “I think I’m lightening up.”

And Sora awoke with a laugh. He looked up and saw Kairi who told him he must’ve had a funny dream.

Roxas awoke with a smile, one mirrored by Naminé.

“Everything all right?” Kairi and Naminé asked.

Sora and Roxas nodded. “Yeah, things are better.”

Riku held out a hand and helped Sora to his feet. “Been talking to yourself again?”

Sora grinned and Roxas’ laughter could be heard in his head. “At least my inner voice has his own name.”

End