Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Riku felt a proud smirk barely make an appearance against his lips as he looked at his best friend. Sora was finally going to take control. That was good, but Riku still had Way to Dawn in his grasp in case something didn't go according to plan.

 

Leon stepped off to the side, standing by a rock wall. His eyes stayed on Sora know, the man having no choice but to trust that the teen was as strong as he believed he was. Whether he showed it or not, Leon had a tremendous amount of faith in Sora, and he was hoping that faith was well placed.

Sora exhaled a heavy breath from his nose, fighting against the magic the Heartless was trying to put on him. He shut his eyes, his free hand clenched in a fist as he focused on the strength of the light in his heart, all the while sending an electric charge through his Keyblade. Whether he saw that thing as Kairi or as the thing it really was, he would be attacking. It was time to conquer this.

 

Riku spotted the electricity flowing through Sora's Keyblade and instantly started to step back, finding his own place against a wall opposite Leon. Whatever Sora was going to do, he had hope that it would work.

 

Sora opened his eyes after a few seconds, his eyes landing on the enemy in front of him. A faint smirk appeared on his lips when he saw it for the ugly Heartless that it really was. And this time, the illusion didn't return. He pulled back his blade and chucked it forward, the Keyblade spinning vertically as it went through the Heartless. While it was on its way back, he flexed his left hand, Oblivion appearing. He would have preferred Oathkeeper, but since the charm was broken..well, he couldn't focus on that. He ran forward, bright blue on the surprised yellows in front of him.

 

Riku watched with intent eyes, trailing his friend's moves. He finally pushed through the illusion and attacked. It was about time.

 

The Kingdom Key spun back around in the direction it came from, going right through the Heartless before it landed in Sora's right hand. He swung both his blades at the Heartless repeatedly, not letting up. This thing had caused him a lot of grief, but he was going to be sure to never let it happen again. After dealing a few more strong, quick blows, the Heartless faded away, its heart floating up into the sky.

Leon summoned his blade away, a "hmph" of approval leaving his lips. Sora really hadn't let up, and Leon believed that the renewed strength of Sora's light allowed him to beat the obstacle without running away. He was extremely proud of the kid, knowing how easy it was to run away due to past experience himself.

 

Riku summoned Way to Dawn from his hand and started forward, toward his best friend. Riku knew how hard it was to conquer the illusion, because he had to do it himself not that long ago. But now that Sora had succeeded, he deserved to be proud. After all, it wasn't an easy task.

 

Leon started over towards Sora at the same time Riku did, though he was a few steps further away than the silver haired teen. He was glad Sora had overcome this; somehow, he just seemed healthier. Hopefully he really was done running away, since that was a terribly unhealthy habit.

Sora looked up at the heart for a few moments before his Keyblades both disappeared and he looked back down, seeing both Leon and Riku coming over towards him. He had finally overcome this. It had been a long, hard, painful fight, but he knew that he would never fall for the illusions again.

 

Riku reached his best friend and stopped, lifting a hand and setting it on his shoulder. "Good job, buddy," he congratulated softly, the faintest smile on his lips. The Heartless were more difficult than other breeds, and just like the rest of them, Sora defeated it.

 

Sora looked over at Riku and felt a small smile appear on his lips at Riku's. "Thanks," he said with a faint nod. "I'm sure we won't have issues with them in the future." Somehow he had overcome the illusion, and it had made him strong enough to withstand any of the spells that it had been laying on him just a minute ago. He could face them easily now; he was sure of it.

Leon stopped by Sora, overhearing the brief conversation between the boys. He could tell by the look in Sora's eyes that he was proud of his accomplishment, and Leon felt Sora had a right to that pride. He had worked hard, so he deserved to feel pleased.

Sora shifted his gaze from Riku to Leon, seeing that the man had joined the group. "To Ansem's computer?" he asked, the smile fading some as he returned to business. He watched as Leon nodded and took a few steps forward, past him and down the path. After a second, he turned and followed, his eyes calmer as he thought over his accomplishment.

 

Roxas had his hands shoved in his coat pockets, one of them brushing against his mp3 player. His headphones were in his ears, blocking out any other noise as he walked around the dark neighborhood. The last week had been pretty quiet, and miserable. He felt like an idiot for what he said to Namine, and he tried calling her and text messaging her constantly, but he never got a reply back. It was official--Namine was ignoring him, and he couldn't really blame her.

 

Namine sat in the middle seat of her parent's van, eyes shut as she slept without dreams. Even in her dreams, though, she couldn't stop thinking about everything. Over the course of the week, Roxas had sent over twenty text messages and tried to call her two or three times a day. However, she only turned on her phone for a short period of time each day, when it was two or three AM and she couldn't sleep. She listened to the messages and read the texts, but she couldn't bring herself to get in contact with him. In fact, it took a lot of strength to not "accidentally" lose her phone to the ocean.

 

Roxas continued along the sidewalk, staring at the ground. As much as he loved being outside, nothing really caught his eye anymore, not with all that was on his mind. Yeah, the snow was a nice sight, but it was also annoying, making his walks lately a pain. Regardless, he was on another tonight, even when it was so late. His "parents" were sleeping, which left him alone in his house. But then again, he had removed himself from the face of the earth for the last week, just as Namine did.

 

Namine didn't know what she wanted out of her relationship with Roxas anymore. Things used to be much more simple, when they knew each other better. During the week, Namine had talked to her mom about a few things, her mom making the conclusion that Namine needed to know what she deserved and not settle for less. And, though she didn't admit it at the time, Namine agreed.

 

Roxas talked to Kairi over the week, but only once or twice. He called her once to see if she had heard from Namine, but that was a no. And then she called him a few days later to see if he wanted to hang out with her and Nathan. Yeah, like Roxas wanted to hang out with the guy that had practically replaced Sora over the last two-and-a-half months. Roxas closed his eyes for a brief moment as he walked, just letting the sound of his music enter his ears and calm him.

 

Namine exhaled a silent breath in her sleep, unaware that she was quickly approaching home. It was only a minute away now, and she was a little glad she was going home. Glad, but sad at the same time. Hawaii had been good in a strange sort of way, giving her time to play her guitar and not worry about distractions. But putting the problem on hold put a certain strain on her, a strain that wouldn't go away until everything was fixed.

 

Roxas opened his eyes and found himself cutting across the street. When he got on the other side, he recognized that for the past few minutes, he had been traveling on the same street he always found himself on these days--Namine's street. He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as he continued on. He always somehow passed her house when he went on walks, not really meaning to. His feet just took him there. There was no point, though; she hadn't been home for the last seven days.

 

Namine's car was the only one on the street, the area being empty since it was past ten 'o clock at night. The van pulled up to the curb in front of her house, her father being in the driver's seat. He turned off the car and then opened his door, he and his wife getting out at the same time. Now that they had reached their home, it was time to get everything inside and then get some sleep.

 

Roxas's eyes had been locked on the sidewalk, watching his feet step through the snow. But after a moment he looked up, and stopped. His music played in his ears, but he didn't really pay attention, seeing that the family that had been gone for a week returned home. Since it was dark, he was sure they couldn't see him from where he stood, so he observed in silence.

 

Namine's father walked over to Namine's side of the van, opening her door quietly. "Nami?" he called softly, his eyes gentle when he noticed the girl asleep in her seat. "Hun, can you get the door?" he asked his wife, whispering because he didn't want to wake his adopted daughter. As his wife went to unlock the front door, he leaned in the car slightly, unbuckling Namine and then sliding one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. Though he was a business man, he was in good physical shape, and carrying in Namine wouldn't be a difficult task.