Kingdom Hearts- FFM V3!

Sora wasn't mad at Namine at all. After all, this whole thing involved her more than anyone else in a lot of ways, so she had the right to tell Roxas whatever she wanted. But now Sora wasn't sure where to go with this conversation. After all, Roxas just put it out in the open that he was ready to give his life for Namine. How was he supposed to respond to that? He thought of only one thing to say, and as simple as it was, it fit the conversation. "I did what I had to do."

 

Roxas nodded a little, letting his eyes lift to Sora again. "Yeah...and I'm grateful for that," he admitted. "Like I said, I owe you one." Roxas had to admit, this conversation had taken a different turn. It had gone from his apology to the gratitude part of it all, but he guessed that was part of it...and it was bound to come anyway.

 

Sora shrugged slightly, running his hand over the back of his head one time. "You don't owe me anything," he said. "After all, if you hadn't come in at that one point, Smith would have killed me." After Roxas had been knocked unconcious for a little while, Sora had gone in to fight Smith on his own. But in the end, Smith had proved more powerful, and he had almost killed Sora with a strong choke-hold. But thankfully Roxas came in just in time to end that whole thing.

 

"Oh. Right." Roxas had forgotten that part, not that he wanted to remember it. Unfortunately he had been knocked unconscious by Smith after hitting the wall too hard. That still made him feel weak, but there wasn't much he could do about it at the time or now. He didn't know that it was going to happen then, and the only thing he could be proud of now was that Smith was dead.

 

"So I'd prefer to call it even," Sora continued, finally lifting his eyes and looking up at Roxas. Sora had saved Namine, and Roxas had saved him. That sounded pretty fair to him. However, there was one important thing that he hadn't brought up yet. And that was the fact that Roxas would never owe him anything. Friends didn't keep track of each other's faults or mistakes. They were just there for each other...no matter what. And he knew that was true for him and Roxas.

 

Roxas let his eyes rest on Sora again, and he nodded in agreement. That sounded fair. They both did what they had to in order to do what was right, though Sora shouldn't have been involved anyway. Neither was Kairi...but Roxas guessed he could blame himself for that.

 

Sora held Roxas' gaze for a moment, silence hanging in the air between them. He really couldn't think of anything else to say, so he didn't say anything at all. If anything, it was better to say nothing than to blurt something stupid and ruin everything. He wasn't about to take that risk, not when so much was riding on this conversation.

 

Roxas broke the eye contact first, looking down at his black sneakers. There was still some stuff he needed to say, but he wasn't sure what words would be right to express it.

 

When Roxas broke eye contact, Sora did the same, his eyes falling to the ground. Though the silence was a little lighter between the two boys, Sora still sensed some tension hanging in the air. However, he couldn't tell if it was from himself or from Roxas.

 

Roxas inhaled the fresh air but then released it softly, his eyes still on his shoes. "Look. I know you're still mad, and I wouldn't blame you. But to be honest, it's been hard without you guys. It's not the same..." he confessed, the words spilling out of him. "I know I'm to blame for that...for everything, really." And it was true, because he was. "You shouldn't have been involved...and I shouldn't have gotten Kairi mixed up in that mess, either. Stabbing you in the back and taking Kairi away weren't my best decisions..." Roxas stuck his hands in his jean pockets, only having glanced up at Sora a few times while he spoke. But now his eyes remained downcast.

 

Sora stayed silent for a moment, shaking his head in a soft motion. "No," he started, tucking a hand in his jeans pocket as he spoke. "You're wrong about one key thing. And that's the fact that you think you're to blame. You're not. Smith is the one who set this all in motion, not you. He's responsible for all the heartache and pain that resulted from this. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened." When he was finally done speaking, he looked up at Roxas again despite the fact that the blond wasn't returning his gaze at that moment.

 

Roxas's eyes darted up to Sora once the brunette was done speaking, the blond's eyes a little wide as he took in those words. After a brief moment of absorbing Sora's words, he spoke. "Yeah...you're right," he agreed, but Roxas had to force Smith's name out of his mind in order to speak again. "But he's gone now, luckily. He won't hurt Namine anymore," Roxas said, automatically looking to the side at the girl sitting on the bench as he spoke her name. "He won't come after Kairi again...and he won't cause us pain in the process."

 

"Mmm," Sora hummed his agreement, nodding slightly. Smith was finally defeated, rotting in Oblivion for the rest of eternity. That man deserved it. He had caused them so much pain, and Sora was sure he had hurt many others in his lifetime as well. But now that he was gone, his reign of terror had ended. For now, everyone was safe.

 

Roxas kept his eyes on the blonde girl not that far away from him, his blue orbs on her form. She was safe from harm for now. No. She was safe from harm always, because he would be there for her every second. Roxas was her guardian angel, and he was going to stick by her for the rest of his life. And he had no problem with that, at all. A soft breeze blew by, brushing through Roxas's blond spikes. He turned his gaze from Namine and back to Sora, his eyes finding the piercing blue orbs that were practically clones of his own.

 

The first thing Sora noticed in Roxas' eyes was the look of fierce determination and care. Considering that he was just looking at Namine, Sora knew that those emotions were directed toward her. After everything that had happened, Roxas was probably over-the-edge protective. But knowing Namine, she probably liked it that way. Those two really were a perfect match for each other. Just like he and Kairi were perfect for each other.

 

"Anyway," Roxas started again, blinking once and letting his eyes fall again. Why was it so hard to keep eye contact? Roxas ignored his own question, and continued. "Now that the girls have us here, and we've talked a few things over, I just want you to know that I'm really sorry for what I did. It definitely wasn't fair to you...or Kairi, for that matter." Roxas lifted his gaze to Sora again. "You guys shouldn't have had to deal with any of that."

 

Sora nodded faintly, holding Roxas' gaze. He could clearly see that his friend was sorry for his actions. "I forgive you," Sora said honestly, bringing a hand out of his pocket and holding it out in front of him. "We both made a lot of mistakes that night...I think it's about time we made things right again."

 

Roxas shifted his eyes to look at the hand Sora held out to him. He felt a small smile pull at the corners of his lips as he started to pull his hand out of his pocket. "Couldn't agree more," he said softly as he let his hand grab Sora's, his eyes meeting the matching piercing blue.

 

Sora felt a faint smile start to appear on his lips when he saw Roxas accept his gesture. It felt good, knowing they were on the same page again. The brunette gripped the hand a little tighter, his eyes never leaving Roxas'.

 

Roxas felt the corners of his lips turn upward, the boy realizing that he and Sora were on good terms again. They were both willing to set things right again, and that was definitely a good thing. Roxas gave Sora's hand one solid shake as he looked at his brotherly friend in front of him.