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Roxas went downstairs after getting dressed and stepped into the kitchen to find that only Isa was there. Usually in the morning they would all eat breakfast together, but then he remembered when he looked at his clock after waking up that he did in fact sleep in a little.
Isa was sitting at the table, doing his usual morning routine of drinking coffee while reading the newspaper. Sometimes he would be on his phone instead, but not often.
Roxas slowly stepped over to the table and wasn’t sure what to do. While it was true that he had forgiven Isa for all that he did as a nobody, even being one of the “chosen” to do what he could to bring back Roxas, it was also a fact that this didn’t mean the two were close. Yet. The blond did want them to be on comfortable good terms, he just didn’t know how to accomplish that.
“There’s some eggs left over for you on the stove. They still should be warm.”
The blond jumped a little at Isa’s voice and took a moment to process his words. “Oh, thanks,” he muttered, before stepping over to grab a plate and get the rest of the eggs gathered up on the pan.
“You’re lucky it’s Sunday. You usually don’t sleep in like that.” Isa noted as he turned a page.
Roxas shrugged as he grabbed a fork and stepped over to sit down at the table (opposite of Isa) and began eating some of his eggs. The dream he had flashed in his mind for a second and he said, “I was having a weird dream. That’s all.”
Isa paused in his reading, taking a sip of his coffee and finally looking over at the boy. Roxas shrunk a little bit in his seat and took another bite of eggs. Please don’t ask please don’t ask please-
“Would you like to talk about it?”
Roxas sighed and thought for a moment, mentally kicking himself for even mentioning the fact he had a dream. “Where did Axel and Xion go?” He didn’t care how obvious it was he was trying to change the subject, he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Shopping,” Isa said simply, folding up his newspaper and placing it on the table. “They did want to wait for you to get up, but you were busy sleeping in. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
Roxas stabbed the last cluster of eggs harshly, partially scrapping the metal fork on the plate. He was mostly angry at himself for mentioning it and that his attempt to change the subject, and hope the others were here somewhere to distract them, ended up failing. He took a deep breath, stuffing the rest of the eggs in his mouth.
“Usually your dreams don’t bother you or cause you to sleep in,” Isa continued, pausing to finish his coffee. “If you don’t want to share with me, I understand. I just wanted to see if I could help you get some things off your chest.”
.....well, when he puts it that way....
Roxas stared down at his plate and thought over how to explain what he could remember. “I was at Yen Sid’s tower. So was Xion, and Ventus. And.....and Sora.” The blond could feel the tiny sting of tears in his eyes from saying his name, but he continued. “We couldn’t sleep, because we were so used to being a part of his heart that being away from it felt...like something was missing. We went to his room, and we told him about how grateful we all were to him. He let us stay in his room for the night. And then I woke up.”
There was silence after he spoke and Roxas’ mind drifted to a part of the dream he didn’t mention. He remembered that before he woke up, he heard Sora’s voice, a fading whisper of “I’m with you.” It reminded his heart of when they temporarily connected while Sora was in San Fransokyo. Is it...was it possible that the dream was a sign from Sora somehow? A different type of connection between their hearts? Roxas wanted to hit himself for hoping for such a thing, it was only a dream after all.
“It sounds like this dream affected you, and I could understand why.”
He flinched and looked up at Isa. Roxas could see that he looked concerned, and it did surprise him a little. While Isa has shown actual emotion compared to when he was a nobody, it was clear he was still adjusting to being a person again and having to deal with feelings.
“It has been some time. And you’re far from the only one that misses him. I’m curious if Xion has had any similar dreams, perhaps you could try asking her. Or at least talking to her about it could help you feel better.”
Roxas thought for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, I could try asking her about it.” He stood up and picked up his plate, giving the man a smile. “Thanks, Isa.”
Isa was clearly surprised by the gesture, but nodded at him anyway.
The blond stepped over to the sink to put his plate away, and then he heard the front door opening. He smiled to himself at the sound of Axel and Xion talking as they entered the house and went into the kitchen.
“But that’s exactly why I should be in the struggle this summer! No one around here as seen me fight, it’d be great!”
“I said to let me think about it, ok? I just don’t- oh, hey there, Roxas!” Axel beamed at him as he put bags down on the counter and began putting things away.
“Now you’re up, Roxas! Where were you earlier?” Xion asked, stepping over to stand by him.
“Sleeping,” Roxas answered simply before adding, “I’ll tell you more about it later.”
Xion was clearly confused but before she could ask further, Axel spoke up again. “Alright, so we went and got the shopping done for the day, and I don’t know about you guys, but I would like to nap all day.”
“That’s unhealthy, Axel.” Isa pointed out, still sitting at the table.
Axel waved a hand in his direction. “Ah, whatever, I say naps are good for you.”
Roxas began washing the dishes and Xion started to help him by placing them on the drying rack. They glanced at each other and snickered. They secretly joked about the two adults in the house arguing like an old married couple (they heard that expression from Pence).
Isa stood up and placed his empty coffee cup next to the sink. “Did I ever tell you two that the night before the final battle, Axel was at the clock tower and he had bought three ice creams for himself?”
Roxas and Xion immediately stopped to stare at him. “...Wha-?”
“ISA!” Axel slammed the fridge door closed and waved his arms around in denial. “WHAT THE F- YOU- DON’T TELL THEM THAT!”
The two keyblade wielders started laughing.”I-it’s ok, Axel,” Roxas managed through snickers while trying to continue washing dishes. “We appreciate it, really.”
Xion nodded and carefully put down a plate before giggling some more. “Yeah, that was very nice of you.”
Axel huffed and muttered something, but Roxas couldn’t hear it clearly. Then he walked out of the kitchen and Isa followed. Roxas and Xion continued with the dishes until they were all done.
The blond took a moment to think about how his life was since that day. Everything just felt so....good. Normal. As if they had all done this before and managed to settle down again. But it just wasn’t enough. As much as he enjoyed it and as many good things had happened, his heart still felt a little heavy. He thought about the dream again, and decided that along with asking Xion, he would also ask Ventus. He wanted to know how they felt about it too. Whether or not he was alone in this feeling.
“Roxas?”
“Huh?” He jumped a bit at Xion’s voice and looked at her.
“You alright? Still tired?”
Roxas shook his head. “No, sorry, I just have a lot on my mind.” He lightly patted the gummiphone in his pocket. “I’ll talk to you later, ok? There’s something I want to do first.”
Xion gave him a look that said “you’re being weird today”, but she shrugged and walked out of the kitchen. “Alright, but you better tell me what this is all about.”
“I will,” Roxas pulled out his gummiphone and headed for the stairs. If he was going to do this, he’d do it in the privacy of his room. He really hoped that this would go well.