Entry tags:
- asuka,
- aw verse,
- evangelion,
- fanfic,
- gundam wing,
- kairi,
- kingdom hearts,
- naminé,
- roxas,
- shinji,
- sora,
- writing
Fic: Awakenings (Chapter 3)
Title: Awakenings
Author:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
way2dawn
Characters/Pairing: Shinji, Roxas, Quatre, ensemble. Various pairings.
Rating: PG
Summary: Post-KH2. Crossover with Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam Wing, and FF7: Advent Children; familiarity with all source media is not necessary. Post-End of Evangelion, anime timeline, but with some elements from the manga. Post-series Gundam Wing, no-movie AU. When Shinji Ikari met the three strange teens with mysterious weapons called Keyblades, he didn’t expect that he would be able to wield one as well, nor did he expect to be taken on a journey to various worlds, stopping the threat of the Heartless and finding the Awakened. For a boy who only wants to be at peace, how will he deal with this strange new set of circumstances? When the threads of the past interweave with the events of the present, what future will he make?
A/N: Many thanks to my two lovely betas,myth and cozzybob. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a very long time. This is the Kingdom Hearts universe told from an outsider’s point of view, so familiarity with the games is not necessary, although there will be spoilers for at least KH1 and KH2. This entire fic was plotted out before BBS or coded came out in Japan.
Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Interlude 1
Awakenings
Chapter 3
When Shinji awoke, he found himself in a very fluffy and very pink bed. Sunlight was streaming in the window, and there was a vase of flowers on the bedside table, the soft fragrance drifting through the air and into his nose. He slowly became more aware of a woman sitting on a chair next to the bed, reading a book, and turned his head to look at her. The rustling seemed to pull her from her book, and she put it down to look at him.
“Oh, Shinji, you’re finally awake!” she said happily, green eyes smiling kindly, framed by warm, brown bangs. “Everyone was quite worried about you, but it seems you’ve finally recovered.” Shinji began to sit up, though he still felt a bit lightheaded. Looking down at that arm, he saw that instead of the four deep, bloody gashes, the skin there had been completely healed.
“Did you… fix my arm?” Shinji asked, incredulous, voice still somewhat raspy from sleep. “I…” He looked at her, confused. “Thank you?” Her smile only seemed to brighten, and even the pink bow in her long, brown hair seemed to perk up. Shinji looked back down, cheeks coloring the same light pink as everything else in the room.
“You’re very welcome,” she said. “I’m Aerith, by the way.” Shinji was about to respond, but was interrupted when the door opened, spilling four teenagers into the room; Sora, Riku, and Kairi seemed more upbeat, followed shortly by a slightly reluctant Asuka.
“You’re awake!” Sora said brightly. “We were all really worried when you passed out, but we managed to keep you well enough in time to get you to Aerith.” Shinji felt somewhat overwhelmed with all these people in what he guessed was Aerith’s somewhat small room, but glancing at Asuka, he saw that she looked just as uncomfortable.
“Well…” Asuka said, avoiding his gaze, “you’d be pretty useless if you just dropped dead the first time we had to fight those things. Not that you aren’t useless already, of course.” She glared at Shinji, then, as if daring him to say otherwise. Strangely, this actually made him feel less lost; if killing Heartless and traveling to strange worlds had reignited Asuka so suddenly, then maybe this sudden, strange turn his life had suddenly taken wasn’t so bad, after all.
“I’m sure everyone’s glad that you’re alright,” Kairi said pleasantly, before turning slightly more serious. “We do have to fill you in on all the details, though.” Aerith looked a little put-out by this.
“Shouldn’t you let him rest a bit more?” she asked, turning sorrowful green eyes in Sora’s direction. “He’s still recovering from the blood loss, after all.” Sora hesitated, and almost seemed about to cave when Riku stepped in.
“You can’t always go around adopting everyone you see, Aerith,” Riku said, a hint of exasperation in his voice. What was almost a pout on Aerith’s face quickly changed to a knowing smile.
“I can try though, can’t I?” she answered, looking calmly into Riku’s eyes, smiling. The two of them just gazed at each other for a few seconds, but Riku looked away first, the barest hint of a blush on his cheeks. “But I’ll let you talk to him,” she continued, “because he does need to know, sooner or later.” Humming, she glided out of the room, leaving Shinji alone with the other four teens.
“The first order of business,” Sora said, after Aerith had left, “is probably to introduce you to Roxas and Naminé.” Shinji blinked.
“Who are Roxas and Naminé?” he asked. Sora looked at Kairi, who nodded, and then the two of them changed before Shinji’s eyes.
Where Kairi once stood was a girl with ash-blonde hair, part of which was draped over one shoulder, and a short, sleeveless, white dress. She was similar to Kairi, almost identical in some aspects, but at the same time very different, more reserved and feminine where Kairi was outspoken and a bit tomboyish. In the space where Sora had been was a boy with spiky, windswept blond hair and a tan collared jacket with tan pants, tight black shirt underneath and a checkered wristband. He was also similar to Sora, enough to be his twin, but had a more serious, cautious air, seeming to share something with the blonde girl that neither shared with Sora or Kairi. So those were the people with Sora and Kairi on the stained glass.
“It’s nice to finally talk to you, Shinji,” the blonde girl said, smiling softly. “I’m Naminé.” Shinji was only able to nod in response, as he was still trying to grasp the fact that Sora and Kairi had changed into two entirely different people. “And this is Roxas,” she continued, gesturing to the blond boy.
“Are you…?” Shinji began unsteadily, trying to remember his last conscious moments on the beach, “Are you the one who caught me when I…?” And the blond boy, Roxas, smiled.
“When you passed out?” he answered, raising an eyebrow, but keeping his smile friendly. “Yeah, that was me.” Roxas had his hands in his pockets, but Shinji didn’t get the feeling he was being rude.
“Thank you, then,” Shinji replied, somewhat surprised to find a smile on his face, but relieved when Roxas’s smile became more earnest as well.
“It’s not like I was gonna let you fall and hit your head or something,” Roxas said, which caused Naminé to let out a light laugh. Shinji chose to ignore Asuka’s rolling eyes for the moment.
“Well, now that we’re all introduced,” Riku began, earning a flat stare from Roxas, which quickly and impossibly turned into a pout from Sora as Naminé simply closed her eyes and turned back into Kairi, “we need to tell you everything we didn’t have time to before.” Asuka seemed to perk up at this, though she was probably the only one.
“Naminé and Roxas used to be what we call Nobodies,” Kairi said. “When a person with a strong heart and will loses their heart, a Nobody is also created, and very strong Nobodies can keep a human appearance with only minor changes.” She was about to continue, but was interrupted by Asuka.
“Wait a minute,” Asuka said, “doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to be a Heartless? And how did you get back to normal?” Riku seemed like he was about to say something, but Kairi silenced him with a look and continued.
“I’m actually what’s called a Princess of Heart,” she explained, smiling, “which means I have no darkness in my heart to create a Heartless. Due to some prior events,” though she did not elaborate, “my heart ended up in Sora’s body. He had to release both our hearts and turned into a Heartless for a short period of time, but I was able to change him back. This is when Roxas and Naminé were born, but like all other Nobodies, they did not have hearts.”
“They didn’t have hearts?” Shinji boggled, wondering how many laws of biology that broke. But Aerith had just broken dozens of other laws by healing his arm, and he couldn’t ignore the almost… magic properties of the Keyblade. “How do you live without a heart?” Kairi frowned and looked downwards, the paleness of Naminé bleeding back into her skin.
“You don’t,” Naminé responded, “not really.” Did she mean that they were not actually alive? “If you don’t have a heart, you’re missing what you need to exist. You’re empty, and it’s the most horrible thing in all the worlds. The Organization, they-” Roxas emerged back out of Sora, almost defiantly.
“Organization XIII was made up of thirteen powerful Nobodies,” Roxas interrupted. Naminé didn’t seem to mind, however, and Shinji thought that she might actually have been glad to let someone else talk. “I was number XIII. The goal of the Organization was to collect hearts, in order to form Kingdom Hearts as the moon above our world. Once Kingdom Hearts was complete, we were told that we’d get our hearts back.” They were told that? It didn’t sound like that was what ended up happening, if Roxas’s serious mood was anything to go by. But if that was the case, then what had actually-
“So is that how you got back to Sora and Kairi?” Asuka asked. This was evidently the wrong question, though, and Roxas’s expression became troubled for a moment.
“No,” Roxas said, decisively. “Naminé was never a real part of the Organization, and I…” he paused for a moment, the same troubled expression crossing his face for a fleeting fraction of a second, “I left before Kingdom Hearts was able to be completed.” After this statement, he seemed to be unwilling to say any more, but Shinji had the sudden urge to ask Roxas exactly what had happened. He wasn’t sure what exactly about Roxas’s explanation sparked this, but Shinji definitely knew what it felt like to be told what to do by adults and not get the full story, in his time with NERV back on Tokyo-3. Maybe he was still feeling out of his depth, here on this strange world with battles against Heartless, but if there were other people who knew how he felt, then maybe he’d been thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe it was worth listening to what these people had to say. Shinji mulled all this over in the short silence that followed Roxas’s statement.
The silence, however, thankfully did not stretch long enough to become too awkward, as Naminé reluctantly continued.
“I was able to… help Roxas meet Sora,” she said, and Shinji got the feeling she wasn’t telling the whole story, either. “Once a Nobody really and truly meets their Somebody, they join and become one again.” After meeting Roxas’s eyes once again, she smiled and changed back into Kairi, Roxas following suit a moment or two later. Riku, who had refrained from explanations up until that point, took this as an opportunity to pick up where Naminé had left off.
“According to King Mickey,” he said, and Shinji wondered if that was the king of this world, “once a Somebody is reunited with their Nobody, that person is said to be Awakened. Sora and Kairi are two of these Awakened, and our goal is to find the remaining five Awakened.” There was a small pause as Riku allowed a moment for Shinji and Asuka to take this in.
“Why do we have to find these people?” Shinji asked slowly, trying to keep his mind focused on what the others were saying, rather than all the things they weren’t saying. “How will it get things back to normal?” There was so much that had gone wrong back home in Tokyo-3, but the thought that following these people might undo some of the damage made him feel slightly more hopeful.
“He wasn’t able to talk about it a lot in the letter he gave us,” Riku responded, “but we think that it has something to do with the process in which the Somebody and Nobody are reunited.” He looked back at Kairi as if to confirm this. Nodding back at him, she smiled and brought a hand to her chest.
“When you join together,” she said, closing her eyes, “it’s like traveling down a bright path and finding home at the end.” Opening her eyes again and glancing at Sora, he nodded as well. “That’s why I think we’ll be able to help the others, because if they’re in the same situation we were in, we can show them how to get back home.” Shinji wondered what it was like for Sora and Kairi, for Roxas and Naminé. What it felt like to have another person that was also yourself, and to call something like that home. It seemed, at first glance, like something too good to be true, but if these three were honestly trying to help, and if he could help as well, then…
“Alright,” Shinji said. “I’ll help you find these other five Awakened people.” Asuka was gaping at him.
“What, just like that?” she demanded, hands on her hips.
“I thought that you would want to decide for yourself what you were going to do,” Shinji replied, looking away. “I just said that I wanted to help all the people get back to normal.” He heard her huff loudly and looked back to see her staring determinedly at the wall.
“Like I’m gonna let you hog all the glory,” she scoffed. “Of course I’m gonna fight those things. And someone needs to be around to make sure you don’t get a big head with all this saving-worlds-talk.” Shinji was about to protest this, but stopped when Kairi laughed.
“It’s decided, then,” Kairi said happily, not seeming to be bothered by Asuka’s attitude in the slightest. “But while I’ll certainly be looking forward to getting to know you two better, we should probably let Shinji rest a little more.”
“Or at least enough so that Aerith doesn’t get mad at us,” Sora grinned. Kairi started guiding the others out of the room, and Shinji saw Asuka give him one last look before leaving the room, the other girl following shortly after. Sora and Riku were going to leave as well, but Shinji felt his mouth start moving before he really knew what he was saying.
“Wait,” Shinji started. Sora and Riku turned back to face him. “Um. I was wondering if I could – I mean, if it was possible…” He really hadn’t thought this through, had he? But he had started, and now the two boys were looking at him expectantly, so he might as well finish it. “Is it alright if I could… talk to Roxas for a minute? There are still a few questions that I have.” The other two seemed a bit surprised, but Sora just blinked and changed back into Roxas, skin glowing for a fraction of a second during the transformation.
“Sure, what is it?” Roxas asked, just the slightest bit cautious. Shinji tried to think of something to say.
“Umm…” His hands suddenly became extremely fascinating as they fidgeted with the comforter on Aerith’s bed. He wanted to ask Roxas about something he’d said earlier, but-
“I’ll go help Kairi finalize the equipment and supply list,” Riku said, and Shinji shifted his gaze back up to see the taller boy looking at him, an eyebrow raised, before he glanced briefly at Roxas. “He needs to be at full strength before we leave, so don’t keep him up too long.” Roxas frowned slightly.
“I know that, Riku,” The blond responded, tone a fraction on the clipped side. Shinji wondered absently why, when Sora and Riku seemed to be so close, Roxas didn’t appear to get along with Riku nearly as well.
“I know, just reminding you,” Riku shrugged, looking back at Shinji one more time with an unreadable expression, then turning and walking out of the room, pale hair floating in a curtain behind him as he left. The room was silent for a moment.
“So…” Roxas prompted. Shinji blinked, then remembered what he was going to say.
“I was… I was wondering,” Shinji said slowly, “if you used to be a Nobody… why would you leave that group, when they said they were going to give you your heart back?”
“You want to know why I left the Organization?” Roxas seemed shocked and a little pained by the question. “No one’s ever really asked me that; it’s kind of-”
“I-I’m sorry,” Shinji backpedaled quickly, “It was inappropriate, and I shouldn’t have-” He’d really done it this time. He had tried to know more about Roxas, and had only ended up hurting him instead.
“No, no,” the other boy said, voice stronger now that the shock was a bit less. “It’s okay, the whole thing is just… complicated.”
“Complicated?” Shinji echoed. It was something that both Roxas and Naminé had seemed to want to avoid talking about, but was it really only because it was hard to explain?
“Well, the first thing you have to understand,” Roxas began, “is that as Nobodies, we were told that we couldn’t feel anything, that because we didn’t have hearts, we didn’t have emotions, either;” He sat down in the chair Aerith had occupied earlier. “we were even told that we didn’t really exist.” The blond must have interpreted Shinji’s somewhat disturbed reaction correctly, because he tried to give a reassuring smile in return. “None of that is true anymore, of course, thanks to Sora and Kairi, but that was the situation at the time.”
“But Sora and Kairi were separate from the Organization, right?” He looked at Roxas for confirmation, and was rewarded with an introspective frown.
“I didn’t know about Sora when I was in the Organization,” Roxas continued, “because unlike other Nobodies, Naminé and I didn’t remember anything about having been Sora and Kairi. And the Organization took advantage of that and lied to me, just so that I would help them finish Kingdom Hearts.” Roxas seemed a little angry now, talking about his time in that group, and while Shinji knew the anger wasn’t directed at him, he again wondered if he should have even asked Roxas such a personal question in the first place.
“So you just left when you found out about Sora?” Shinji guessed, looking to Roxas for agreement and a simple way to end the conversation.
“Not exactly,” Roxas replied, looking away, a little somber. Shinji blinked, not having expected this kind of reaction at all. “A good deal of the Organization was bad news all around,” he said a little quietly, “but some of them weren’t so bad. And Axel…” He closed his eyes for a moment. “Axel was my best friend.” All of a sudden, Shinji felt as if he was walking on eggshells. “It was considerably more… difficult for me to leave, with Axel trying to stop me.”
“…What happened?” Shinji whispered, not daring to make his voice any louder.
“He was sent by the Organization to bring me back, dead or alive,” Roxas responded, gaze a little more on the blankets than on Shinji himself, “and when I joined with Sora instead, the Organization labeled us both traitors and started hunting us down.” He looked up at Shinji like he was trying to laugh at himself, but didn’t quite make it, once again frowning and staring at the blankets.
“I wasn’t really aware of what happened until directly after, but…” Roxas’s voice was still strong, but his hands were clutching the material of his pants; Shinji didn’t dare speak. “They… we – Sora and Axel, that is – got attacked by a lot of the lesser Nobodies, and…” the blond boy blinked a few times, “…and Axel ended up…exploding himself so that Sora and I could get out of there.” A short pause, and then the next part was said very quietly. “He said we made him feel like he had a heart.”
“…Oh,” was all Shinji could say. Their conversation had veered so strongly from his original question, and he had no idea what to say to someone who still seemed to be in a state of grief over this Axel person. Especially since he knew exactly how horrible Roxas must be feeling at that moment, how awful it was for someone you cared about to-
“You…understand what I’m trying to say, right?” Roxas asked, looking at him hopefully for some sign of agreement.
“Yeah, I actually-” Shinji only realized what he was saying as the words left his mouth, but now was not the time to take them back, “something very similar has also happened to me.” Roxas seemed both saddened and reassured by this at the same time. “One of the other EVA pilots, Kaworu-kun, he also…” Roxas was still looking at him, “he is also gone. When it happened, he told me that if he had a choice between either me or him surviving, he chose me.”
“Is he the one Riku reminds you of?” Roxas asked; Shinji nodded. He couldn’t look at Roxas anymore, though, the memories of Kaworu-kun’s face smiling up at him, surrounded by the EVA’s grip, causing him to stare at his own half-clenched hand.
“He was the first person I ever met to tell me that they loved me.” They were both silent for a long time.
“I… don’t really know what to say,” Roxas ventured cautiously, finally breaking the silence, “but before he faded for good, I was able to talk to Axel one last time.” Shinji looked back up and saw that Roxas was smiling a little. “We promised each other that we’d meet again in the next life, and I really believe that it’ll happen.” He looked back at Shinji confidently. "So maybe you’ll be able to meet Kaworu, too, eventually.” It pained Shinji to see Roxas smile like that.
“I don’t think I’ll be as lucky as you,” he replied, trying to keep the despair out of his voice. “I… they said Kaworu-kun wasn’t human. They said he was an Angel, and I-” Roxas’s face fell, and Shinji had to look away again. “I had to-” he cut himself off.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” he heard Roxas murmur. “I was trying to help, but… I’m so sorry.” Shinji tried to get his breathing under control.
“Thank you,” he said hoarsely. “You’re a good person.” Looking back up at Roxas’s apologetic face, he wasn’t sure which of them was making the blond’s eyes look so blurry. “I think you’ll get to meet Axel, too.”
“I- thanks,” Roxas responded, subdued. “I think you’re a good person, too.” He blinked again. “I know you should probably rest now, or at least until Aerith looks at you again, but…” Roxas’s face was a little hopeful again, “I know it’s hard to get thrown so suddenly into a situation like this, so if you ever want to talk, I… I’d like to talk with you again.”
“Thank you,” Shinji replied honestly, “I’d… like to…” his response was interrupted by a yawn, “…talk to you again, too.” And it was true. In all the strange things that had happened since Shinji and Asuka had met those visitors on the beach in Tokyo-3, he’d met someone he wouldn’t mind calling a friend. “Maybe after I rest some more, though.” Even if the blood loss hadn’t taken out Shinji’s strength, then the conversation he’d just had with Roxas, over such a painful topic, would have still exhausted him. Still, Shinji’s vision was finally clear once more, and he was almost elated to see Roxas smile a little more happily as well. “Is… do you think Aerith will be upset because I didn’t go right back to sleep?” he asked. Roxas looked a little surprised.
“I don’t know,” the blond said, “but Aerith is kind of scary when she’s mad.”
“How scary is that?” Shinji questioned. Roxas stood up.
“I’m not sure exactly, myself,” Roxas responded, eyes a little wider, “but Sora just tells me that it’s scary.” Shinji laid back down on the bed. “We can definitely talk later, okay?” Shinji nodded.
“Yeah,” he said, serious, when Roxas was at the door. “I- I’d really like that.”
“Yeah,” was the response, as a wide smile finally broke over the other’s face, and blond hair darkened into brown as the boy turned and left the room. Shinji pulled the covers over himself, closed his eyes, and went back to sleep once he heard the footsteps go all the way down the stairs.
Author:
way2dawnCharacters/Pairing: Shinji, Roxas, Quatre, ensemble. Various pairings.
Rating: PG
Summary: Post-KH2. Crossover with Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam Wing, and FF7: Advent Children; familiarity with all source media is not necessary. Post-End of Evangelion, anime timeline, but with some elements from the manga. Post-series Gundam Wing, no-movie AU. When Shinji Ikari met the three strange teens with mysterious weapons called Keyblades, he didn’t expect that he would be able to wield one as well, nor did he expect to be taken on a journey to various worlds, stopping the threat of the Heartless and finding the Awakened. For a boy who only wants to be at peace, how will he deal with this strange new set of circumstances? When the threads of the past interweave with the events of the present, what future will he make?
A/N: Many thanks to my two lovely betas,
myth and cozzybob. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a very long time. This is the Kingdom Hearts universe told from an outsider’s point of view, so familiarity with the games is not necessary, although there will be spoilers for at least KH1 and KH2. This entire fic was plotted out before BBS or coded came out in Japan.Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Interlude 1
Awakenings
Chapter 3
When Shinji awoke, he found himself in a very fluffy and very pink bed. Sunlight was streaming in the window, and there was a vase of flowers on the bedside table, the soft fragrance drifting through the air and into his nose. He slowly became more aware of a woman sitting on a chair next to the bed, reading a book, and turned his head to look at her. The rustling seemed to pull her from her book, and she put it down to look at him.
“Oh, Shinji, you’re finally awake!” she said happily, green eyes smiling kindly, framed by warm, brown bangs. “Everyone was quite worried about you, but it seems you’ve finally recovered.” Shinji began to sit up, though he still felt a bit lightheaded. Looking down at that arm, he saw that instead of the four deep, bloody gashes, the skin there had been completely healed.
“Did you… fix my arm?” Shinji asked, incredulous, voice still somewhat raspy from sleep. “I…” He looked at her, confused. “Thank you?” Her smile only seemed to brighten, and even the pink bow in her long, brown hair seemed to perk up. Shinji looked back down, cheeks coloring the same light pink as everything else in the room.
“You’re very welcome,” she said. “I’m Aerith, by the way.” Shinji was about to respond, but was interrupted when the door opened, spilling four teenagers into the room; Sora, Riku, and Kairi seemed more upbeat, followed shortly by a slightly reluctant Asuka.
“You’re awake!” Sora said brightly. “We were all really worried when you passed out, but we managed to keep you well enough in time to get you to Aerith.” Shinji felt somewhat overwhelmed with all these people in what he guessed was Aerith’s somewhat small room, but glancing at Asuka, he saw that she looked just as uncomfortable.
“Well…” Asuka said, avoiding his gaze, “you’d be pretty useless if you just dropped dead the first time we had to fight those things. Not that you aren’t useless already, of course.” She glared at Shinji, then, as if daring him to say otherwise. Strangely, this actually made him feel less lost; if killing Heartless and traveling to strange worlds had reignited Asuka so suddenly, then maybe this sudden, strange turn his life had suddenly taken wasn’t so bad, after all.
“I’m sure everyone’s glad that you’re alright,” Kairi said pleasantly, before turning slightly more serious. “We do have to fill you in on all the details, though.” Aerith looked a little put-out by this.
“Shouldn’t you let him rest a bit more?” she asked, turning sorrowful green eyes in Sora’s direction. “He’s still recovering from the blood loss, after all.” Sora hesitated, and almost seemed about to cave when Riku stepped in.
“You can’t always go around adopting everyone you see, Aerith,” Riku said, a hint of exasperation in his voice. What was almost a pout on Aerith’s face quickly changed to a knowing smile.
“I can try though, can’t I?” she answered, looking calmly into Riku’s eyes, smiling. The two of them just gazed at each other for a few seconds, but Riku looked away first, the barest hint of a blush on his cheeks. “But I’ll let you talk to him,” she continued, “because he does need to know, sooner or later.” Humming, she glided out of the room, leaving Shinji alone with the other four teens.
“The first order of business,” Sora said, after Aerith had left, “is probably to introduce you to Roxas and Naminé.” Shinji blinked.
“Who are Roxas and Naminé?” he asked. Sora looked at Kairi, who nodded, and then the two of them changed before Shinji’s eyes.
Where Kairi once stood was a girl with ash-blonde hair, part of which was draped over one shoulder, and a short, sleeveless, white dress. She was similar to Kairi, almost identical in some aspects, but at the same time very different, more reserved and feminine where Kairi was outspoken and a bit tomboyish. In the space where Sora had been was a boy with spiky, windswept blond hair and a tan collared jacket with tan pants, tight black shirt underneath and a checkered wristband. He was also similar to Sora, enough to be his twin, but had a more serious, cautious air, seeming to share something with the blonde girl that neither shared with Sora or Kairi. So those were the people with Sora and Kairi on the stained glass.
“It’s nice to finally talk to you, Shinji,” the blonde girl said, smiling softly. “I’m Naminé.” Shinji was only able to nod in response, as he was still trying to grasp the fact that Sora and Kairi had changed into two entirely different people. “And this is Roxas,” she continued, gesturing to the blond boy.
“Are you…?” Shinji began unsteadily, trying to remember his last conscious moments on the beach, “Are you the one who caught me when I…?” And the blond boy, Roxas, smiled.
“When you passed out?” he answered, raising an eyebrow, but keeping his smile friendly. “Yeah, that was me.” Roxas had his hands in his pockets, but Shinji didn’t get the feeling he was being rude.
“Thank you, then,” Shinji replied, somewhat surprised to find a smile on his face, but relieved when Roxas’s smile became more earnest as well.
“It’s not like I was gonna let you fall and hit your head or something,” Roxas said, which caused Naminé to let out a light laugh. Shinji chose to ignore Asuka’s rolling eyes for the moment.
“Well, now that we’re all introduced,” Riku began, earning a flat stare from Roxas, which quickly and impossibly turned into a pout from Sora as Naminé simply closed her eyes and turned back into Kairi, “we need to tell you everything we didn’t have time to before.” Asuka seemed to perk up at this, though she was probably the only one.
“Naminé and Roxas used to be what we call Nobodies,” Kairi said. “When a person with a strong heart and will loses their heart, a Nobody is also created, and very strong Nobodies can keep a human appearance with only minor changes.” She was about to continue, but was interrupted by Asuka.
“Wait a minute,” Asuka said, “doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to be a Heartless? And how did you get back to normal?” Riku seemed like he was about to say something, but Kairi silenced him with a look and continued.
“I’m actually what’s called a Princess of Heart,” she explained, smiling, “which means I have no darkness in my heart to create a Heartless. Due to some prior events,” though she did not elaborate, “my heart ended up in Sora’s body. He had to release both our hearts and turned into a Heartless for a short period of time, but I was able to change him back. This is when Roxas and Naminé were born, but like all other Nobodies, they did not have hearts.”
“They didn’t have hearts?” Shinji boggled, wondering how many laws of biology that broke. But Aerith had just broken dozens of other laws by healing his arm, and he couldn’t ignore the almost… magic properties of the Keyblade. “How do you live without a heart?” Kairi frowned and looked downwards, the paleness of Naminé bleeding back into her skin.
“You don’t,” Naminé responded, “not really.” Did she mean that they were not actually alive? “If you don’t have a heart, you’re missing what you need to exist. You’re empty, and it’s the most horrible thing in all the worlds. The Organization, they-” Roxas emerged back out of Sora, almost defiantly.
“Organization XIII was made up of thirteen powerful Nobodies,” Roxas interrupted. Naminé didn’t seem to mind, however, and Shinji thought that she might actually have been glad to let someone else talk. “I was number XIII. The goal of the Organization was to collect hearts, in order to form Kingdom Hearts as the moon above our world. Once Kingdom Hearts was complete, we were told that we’d get our hearts back.” They were told that? It didn’t sound like that was what ended up happening, if Roxas’s serious mood was anything to go by. But if that was the case, then what had actually-
“So is that how you got back to Sora and Kairi?” Asuka asked. This was evidently the wrong question, though, and Roxas’s expression became troubled for a moment.
“No,” Roxas said, decisively. “Naminé was never a real part of the Organization, and I…” he paused for a moment, the same troubled expression crossing his face for a fleeting fraction of a second, “I left before Kingdom Hearts was able to be completed.” After this statement, he seemed to be unwilling to say any more, but Shinji had the sudden urge to ask Roxas exactly what had happened. He wasn’t sure what exactly about Roxas’s explanation sparked this, but Shinji definitely knew what it felt like to be told what to do by adults and not get the full story, in his time with NERV back on Tokyo-3. Maybe he was still feeling out of his depth, here on this strange world with battles against Heartless, but if there were other people who knew how he felt, then maybe he’d been thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe it was worth listening to what these people had to say. Shinji mulled all this over in the short silence that followed Roxas’s statement.
The silence, however, thankfully did not stretch long enough to become too awkward, as Naminé reluctantly continued.
“I was able to… help Roxas meet Sora,” she said, and Shinji got the feeling she wasn’t telling the whole story, either. “Once a Nobody really and truly meets their Somebody, they join and become one again.” After meeting Roxas’s eyes once again, she smiled and changed back into Kairi, Roxas following suit a moment or two later. Riku, who had refrained from explanations up until that point, took this as an opportunity to pick up where Naminé had left off.
“According to King Mickey,” he said, and Shinji wondered if that was the king of this world, “once a Somebody is reunited with their Nobody, that person is said to be Awakened. Sora and Kairi are two of these Awakened, and our goal is to find the remaining five Awakened.” There was a small pause as Riku allowed a moment for Shinji and Asuka to take this in.
“Why do we have to find these people?” Shinji asked slowly, trying to keep his mind focused on what the others were saying, rather than all the things they weren’t saying. “How will it get things back to normal?” There was so much that had gone wrong back home in Tokyo-3, but the thought that following these people might undo some of the damage made him feel slightly more hopeful.
“He wasn’t able to talk about it a lot in the letter he gave us,” Riku responded, “but we think that it has something to do with the process in which the Somebody and Nobody are reunited.” He looked back at Kairi as if to confirm this. Nodding back at him, she smiled and brought a hand to her chest.
“When you join together,” she said, closing her eyes, “it’s like traveling down a bright path and finding home at the end.” Opening her eyes again and glancing at Sora, he nodded as well. “That’s why I think we’ll be able to help the others, because if they’re in the same situation we were in, we can show them how to get back home.” Shinji wondered what it was like for Sora and Kairi, for Roxas and Naminé. What it felt like to have another person that was also yourself, and to call something like that home. It seemed, at first glance, like something too good to be true, but if these three were honestly trying to help, and if he could help as well, then…
“Alright,” Shinji said. “I’ll help you find these other five Awakened people.” Asuka was gaping at him.
“What, just like that?” she demanded, hands on her hips.
“I thought that you would want to decide for yourself what you were going to do,” Shinji replied, looking away. “I just said that I wanted to help all the people get back to normal.” He heard her huff loudly and looked back to see her staring determinedly at the wall.
“Like I’m gonna let you hog all the glory,” she scoffed. “Of course I’m gonna fight those things. And someone needs to be around to make sure you don’t get a big head with all this saving-worlds-talk.” Shinji was about to protest this, but stopped when Kairi laughed.
“It’s decided, then,” Kairi said happily, not seeming to be bothered by Asuka’s attitude in the slightest. “But while I’ll certainly be looking forward to getting to know you two better, we should probably let Shinji rest a little more.”
“Or at least enough so that Aerith doesn’t get mad at us,” Sora grinned. Kairi started guiding the others out of the room, and Shinji saw Asuka give him one last look before leaving the room, the other girl following shortly after. Sora and Riku were going to leave as well, but Shinji felt his mouth start moving before he really knew what he was saying.
“Wait,” Shinji started. Sora and Riku turned back to face him. “Um. I was wondering if I could – I mean, if it was possible…” He really hadn’t thought this through, had he? But he had started, and now the two boys were looking at him expectantly, so he might as well finish it. “Is it alright if I could… talk to Roxas for a minute? There are still a few questions that I have.” The other two seemed a bit surprised, but Sora just blinked and changed back into Roxas, skin glowing for a fraction of a second during the transformation.
“Sure, what is it?” Roxas asked, just the slightest bit cautious. Shinji tried to think of something to say.
“Umm…” His hands suddenly became extremely fascinating as they fidgeted with the comforter on Aerith’s bed. He wanted to ask Roxas about something he’d said earlier, but-
“I’ll go help Kairi finalize the equipment and supply list,” Riku said, and Shinji shifted his gaze back up to see the taller boy looking at him, an eyebrow raised, before he glanced briefly at Roxas. “He needs to be at full strength before we leave, so don’t keep him up too long.” Roxas frowned slightly.
“I know that, Riku,” The blond responded, tone a fraction on the clipped side. Shinji wondered absently why, when Sora and Riku seemed to be so close, Roxas didn’t appear to get along with Riku nearly as well.
“I know, just reminding you,” Riku shrugged, looking back at Shinji one more time with an unreadable expression, then turning and walking out of the room, pale hair floating in a curtain behind him as he left. The room was silent for a moment.
“So…” Roxas prompted. Shinji blinked, then remembered what he was going to say.
“I was… I was wondering,” Shinji said slowly, “if you used to be a Nobody… why would you leave that group, when they said they were going to give you your heart back?”
“You want to know why I left the Organization?” Roxas seemed shocked and a little pained by the question. “No one’s ever really asked me that; it’s kind of-”
“I-I’m sorry,” Shinji backpedaled quickly, “It was inappropriate, and I shouldn’t have-” He’d really done it this time. He had tried to know more about Roxas, and had only ended up hurting him instead.
“No, no,” the other boy said, voice stronger now that the shock was a bit less. “It’s okay, the whole thing is just… complicated.”
“Complicated?” Shinji echoed. It was something that both Roxas and Naminé had seemed to want to avoid talking about, but was it really only because it was hard to explain?
“Well, the first thing you have to understand,” Roxas began, “is that as Nobodies, we were told that we couldn’t feel anything, that because we didn’t have hearts, we didn’t have emotions, either;” He sat down in the chair Aerith had occupied earlier. “we were even told that we didn’t really exist.” The blond must have interpreted Shinji’s somewhat disturbed reaction correctly, because he tried to give a reassuring smile in return. “None of that is true anymore, of course, thanks to Sora and Kairi, but that was the situation at the time.”
“But Sora and Kairi were separate from the Organization, right?” He looked at Roxas for confirmation, and was rewarded with an introspective frown.
“I didn’t know about Sora when I was in the Organization,” Roxas continued, “because unlike other Nobodies, Naminé and I didn’t remember anything about having been Sora and Kairi. And the Organization took advantage of that and lied to me, just so that I would help them finish Kingdom Hearts.” Roxas seemed a little angry now, talking about his time in that group, and while Shinji knew the anger wasn’t directed at him, he again wondered if he should have even asked Roxas such a personal question in the first place.
“So you just left when you found out about Sora?” Shinji guessed, looking to Roxas for agreement and a simple way to end the conversation.
“Not exactly,” Roxas replied, looking away, a little somber. Shinji blinked, not having expected this kind of reaction at all. “A good deal of the Organization was bad news all around,” he said a little quietly, “but some of them weren’t so bad. And Axel…” He closed his eyes for a moment. “Axel was my best friend.” All of a sudden, Shinji felt as if he was walking on eggshells. “It was considerably more… difficult for me to leave, with Axel trying to stop me.”
“…What happened?” Shinji whispered, not daring to make his voice any louder.
“He was sent by the Organization to bring me back, dead or alive,” Roxas responded, gaze a little more on the blankets than on Shinji himself, “and when I joined with Sora instead, the Organization labeled us both traitors and started hunting us down.” He looked up at Shinji like he was trying to laugh at himself, but didn’t quite make it, once again frowning and staring at the blankets.
“I wasn’t really aware of what happened until directly after, but…” Roxas’s voice was still strong, but his hands were clutching the material of his pants; Shinji didn’t dare speak. “They… we – Sora and Axel, that is – got attacked by a lot of the lesser Nobodies, and…” the blond boy blinked a few times, “…and Axel ended up…exploding himself so that Sora and I could get out of there.” A short pause, and then the next part was said very quietly. “He said we made him feel like he had a heart.”
“…Oh,” was all Shinji could say. Their conversation had veered so strongly from his original question, and he had no idea what to say to someone who still seemed to be in a state of grief over this Axel person. Especially since he knew exactly how horrible Roxas must be feeling at that moment, how awful it was for someone you cared about to-
“You…understand what I’m trying to say, right?” Roxas asked, looking at him hopefully for some sign of agreement.
“Yeah, I actually-” Shinji only realized what he was saying as the words left his mouth, but now was not the time to take them back, “something very similar has also happened to me.” Roxas seemed both saddened and reassured by this at the same time. “One of the other EVA pilots, Kaworu-kun, he also…” Roxas was still looking at him, “he is also gone. When it happened, he told me that if he had a choice between either me or him surviving, he chose me.”
“Is he the one Riku reminds you of?” Roxas asked; Shinji nodded. He couldn’t look at Roxas anymore, though, the memories of Kaworu-kun’s face smiling up at him, surrounded by the EVA’s grip, causing him to stare at his own half-clenched hand.
“He was the first person I ever met to tell me that they loved me.” They were both silent for a long time.
“I… don’t really know what to say,” Roxas ventured cautiously, finally breaking the silence, “but before he faded for good, I was able to talk to Axel one last time.” Shinji looked back up and saw that Roxas was smiling a little. “We promised each other that we’d meet again in the next life, and I really believe that it’ll happen.” He looked back at Shinji confidently. "So maybe you’ll be able to meet Kaworu, too, eventually.” It pained Shinji to see Roxas smile like that.
“I don’t think I’ll be as lucky as you,” he replied, trying to keep the despair out of his voice. “I… they said Kaworu-kun wasn’t human. They said he was an Angel, and I-” Roxas’s face fell, and Shinji had to look away again. “I had to-” he cut himself off.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” he heard Roxas murmur. “I was trying to help, but… I’m so sorry.” Shinji tried to get his breathing under control.
“Thank you,” he said hoarsely. “You’re a good person.” Looking back up at Roxas’s apologetic face, he wasn’t sure which of them was making the blond’s eyes look so blurry. “I think you’ll get to meet Axel, too.”
“I- thanks,” Roxas responded, subdued. “I think you’re a good person, too.” He blinked again. “I know you should probably rest now, or at least until Aerith looks at you again, but…” Roxas’s face was a little hopeful again, “I know it’s hard to get thrown so suddenly into a situation like this, so if you ever want to talk, I… I’d like to talk with you again.”
“Thank you,” Shinji replied honestly, “I’d… like to…” his response was interrupted by a yawn, “…talk to you again, too.” And it was true. In all the strange things that had happened since Shinji and Asuka had met those visitors on the beach in Tokyo-3, he’d met someone he wouldn’t mind calling a friend. “Maybe after I rest some more, though.” Even if the blood loss hadn’t taken out Shinji’s strength, then the conversation he’d just had with Roxas, over such a painful topic, would have still exhausted him. Still, Shinji’s vision was finally clear once more, and he was almost elated to see Roxas smile a little more happily as well. “Is… do you think Aerith will be upset because I didn’t go right back to sleep?” he asked. Roxas looked a little surprised.
“I don’t know,” the blond said, “but Aerith is kind of scary when she’s mad.”
“How scary is that?” Shinji questioned. Roxas stood up.
“I’m not sure exactly, myself,” Roxas responded, eyes a little wider, “but Sora just tells me that it’s scary.” Shinji laid back down on the bed. “We can definitely talk later, okay?” Shinji nodded.
“Yeah,” he said, serious, when Roxas was at the door. “I- I’d really like that.”
“Yeah,” was the response, as a wide smile finally broke over the other’s face, and blond hair darkened into brown as the boy turned and left the room. Shinji pulled the covers over himself, closed his eyes, and went back to sleep once he heard the footsteps go all the way down the stairs.