Until We Bleed

Old Faces, New Possibilities

The rain was cold, but Roxas doesn't dare move from the picnic table he's sitting on. A safe space, even after everything still. He just needs some time to think, away from everyone and everything. He knows Sora and Riku just want the best for him, and he knows Axel is trying to make up for what happened. But everything is just too damn confusing all of the time. He sighs, leaning back to look at the sky, watching the dark clouds move across the sky through blurry vision due to the rainstorm. A rumble of thunder far off makes him flinch, but still he won't move. He closes his eyes, just listening to the rain accompanied by his own breathing, attempting to clear his mind.

He sits in silence for awhile, shivering from the cold, but liking it, too. It gave him something else to focus on. When he no longer feels the rain on him, but can still hear it, he opens his eyes. His eyes widen as he's surprised to see a face staring back at him. He moves, jumping off the table and turning back to face the intruder of his safe space. Someone he hasn't seen in a very long time, someone he never expected to see again. He stares in utter shock and she smiles softly, "Hi, Roxas. Been awhile, huh?"

"Xion?" he breathes, almost like he expects her to disappear.

She shrugs, "What's up? You know you're going to get a cold if you keep sleeping in the rain, right?"

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he asks, ignoring what she just said. Her dark eyes hide so many secrets, but her smile is so welcoming, just as he remembered.

"Taking a walk, saving dumb boys from getting sick." she replies.

He frowns lightly, "That's not what I meant."

She walks over to him, shielding him from the rain with her umbrella once again, "I live here, I moved back about a week ago. I would have gotten in contact with you but last time we spoke, you declared I was dead to you because I was moving."

"I was a dumb kid." he scoffs, rolling his eyes.

She chuckles, "I know, looks like you still are."

He pushes her lightly and she pushes him back, "Hey, I'm the one saving you here."

"My knight in shining armor." he rolls his eyes again and she giggles, "Always."

He chuckles softly, "You haven't changed.."

"Neither have you." she states softly, almost endearingly. She shifts her hold on her umbrella, "Seriously though, we should get out of the rain. I'd like to catch up, though, so, is there somewhere you wanna go?"

"Not really.." Roxas shrugs, this isn't how he expected the night to go. Xion tilts her head lightly, "You can come back to my place if you want, it's not too far from here."

She then smirks and winks, "I'll even walk you home afterwards."

That makes him chuckle and she smiles with triumph, "So, what do you say?"

"Sure," he nods. She turns almost elegantly, glancing back to make sure he's following her. He steps up to her and she faces forward as he walks. Roxas moves around to walking beside her to take advantage of her umbrella, which she doesn't seem to mind. Surprisingly, they walk in silence. Roxas remembers Xion to be a very talkative girl, and expects her to start up a conversation again, but she remains silent the whole way there. This leaves Roxas feeling awkward, but he doesn't mind much. Once they get to her apartment, she unlocks the door and lets Roxas in ahead of her.

"Take your shoes off, I don't want to clean a muddy carpet right now." she says, stepping in behind him and doing just that herself. Roxas obeys her request, looking around what he can see from the entryway. It's a simple place, but scarcely decorated surprisingly. It's like he doesn't know Xion nearly as well as he thought he did, but then again, it's been several years since he's seen her, and back then she was only fourteen.

She hangs up her umbrella, taking off her jacket, "Go ahead and get comfy, I'll make some coffee. You still like coffee, yeah?"

"Yeah." he nods and she moves past him, almost moving too fast. The way she carries herself is different, too, it's so jarring. Is she really the girl he used to know? Or did he just not really know her at all? She was a meek, shy girl who talked a lot with only people she liked, but she was always secretive about her life. Roxas often wondered if she and he were one in the same in that way, but he's never asked. Her hair also used to be really long and always in a braid down her back, but now her hair's cut short, clearly done by herself with its unevenness. He sits on her couch, it's not nearly as comfortable as Sora and Riku's, clearly less quality, but then again, Sora and Riku have good jobs, Roxas has no idea what Xion's doing for a living.

She comes back, smiling pleasantly with a mug in each hand. She sits next to him, setting the cups down on the faded wooden coffee table in front of them. Roxas picks his cup up carefully, drinking the coffee slowly. He scrunches his nose up at the bitter taste and Xion giggles softly, "You don't like it?"

"No." he sets the cup back down, "Did you put any sugar in it?"

"Nope," she sips her drink, "That's how you used to drink it, isn't it? Just creamer?"

"Yeah.." Roxas stares at the cup, "Guess things change.."

"Sure," she nods, "It has been, like, what six, seven years?"

"Something like that." Roxas just feels awkward. He feels like Xion's a stranger rather than an old friend. He had said she was still the same, but he doubts that's actually true.

"I can fix your coffee," she offers and after a moment when he doesn't answer, she frowns lightly, "Are you okay..?"

"Not really.." he sighs softly, facing her with a soft smile, "But let's talk about you. How have you been? What have you been up to? Why on earth did you come back here?"

"Honestly?" she sighs, "I came back for you."

Roxas frowns, staring at her with surprise, "Me?"

She nods, "I felt bad about how we left things, and I know we were only children then, but I've always promised myself I'd come back here and make things right between us again if I ever got the chance. You were my best friend, and of course Axel, too and.. I just wanted that back, you know? Some good, real friends."

Roxas doesn't know what to say at first, he definitely wasn't expecting that answer. Nevertheless, he smiles back at her softly, "You know what? I'd like that, too. You can never have too many good friends."

She smiles, looking pleased, "I'm glad you think so."

She gets up and takes his mug back to the kitchen, returning once she's fixed it for him before taking her seat beside him once again. They spend hours just catching up, though both are still keeping some of their secrets, but it still makes Roxas feel good to talk with her again. They end up talking for so long that she offers to let him stay the night, and not particularly wanting to go back to Sora and Riku's yet, he takes her up on that offer.  Xion retires to her room for the night and Roxas sleeps on her couch, and at this moment, he doesn't mind so much that it's not as comfortable as what he's used to sleeping on. Maybe having Xion back in his life will be a good thing, at least he surely hopes so.