Fic: See You Through: 1/1

[soc_puppet]

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (II)
Summary: Roxas, and the things he doesn't remember. Also, a song, and appearances by Axel, Demyx, Sora and Jiminy Cricket.
Spoilers for: The first four hours of the game, and various Organization names and personalities/relationships.
Notes: Yeah, see, lazulisong made this comment here regarding this song (backup link here) and who Roxas' VA was, and how she would pay a dollar for someone to mention it in a fic. And at first I was like, "That's neat and all, but I don't exactly need the dollar," but then I was like, "OhShit, plunnied D:" And then it sat around for a couple of months, doing nothing, but today it decided it'd had enough and promptly took over my free time and five notecards. And that's why this is here. Still don't particularly want or need the dollar, but figured reasoning was due.
Fic: See You Through

2.
"This is your room," the redhead told him. VIII, Roxas thought, trying to keep numbers and faces straight, and then Axel, because he was one of the few interesting ones. "It's kinda sparse, but it's the only thing you'll get here that's ever really yours, so that makes up for a lot," VIII continued.

Roxas nodded absently. It was a very plain room, with a small dresser on one end (no doubt full of black robes) and a bed on the other, with a window set in the wall between them. Outside was the faintest outline of a large, luminous heart, which made Roxas frown. "Shouldn't there be stars or something?"

"You'd think that," VIII began, but Roxas didn't hear the explanation.

Stars flashed through his mind: falling, rising, shining, blinking out, growing on trees and shaped out of shells. All the while they were outlined by wisps of a melody and the simple words set to accompany it: When you wish upon a star...

Then everything was gone, save for the barest outline of a song, and someone was shaking his shoulder saying, "XIII! XIII! Roxas!"

Roxas peeled his eyes open and looked at VIII, who sighed. Slowly he unclenched his hands and lowered them, rising shakily to his feet.

"Didn't know stars were that important to you," VIII joked lightly. "Anyway, try not to do that again. It'd suck if you vanished as soon as you got here; you actually seem like decent company."

Roxas stared at the space in the sky where the stars weren't. "I'm not going anywhere," he said.

3.
It didn't sound so much like music as it did someone who'd heard a few CDs and was attempting to build the entire concept from that. It was much better from inside the Hall of Empty Melodies, too; when he'd first heard it in his room, Roxas had classified it as 'noise'. Here it was half-decent.

A few Dancers swayed around IX to the sometimes questionable beat of his sitar's melody. IX managed a few more awkward bars before stumbling loudly over a chord and crying out in frustration; the Dancers scattered in fear. Roxas found himself saying, "It wasn't that bad."

IX's head snapped up. For a moment he looked almost panicked, and then simply nervous. "Hey," he said, "You're the new guy, right? XIII."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, that's me." A thought struck him. "Mind playing something for me?"

IX seemed genuinely surprised now. "Sure, I guess. Tell me what it is and I'll give it a shot."

"...I don't actually know the name of it," Roxas admitted, "but it goes like this." He hummed the first verse for IX. "Think you can do that?"

IX nodded slowly. "I could probably manage that, yeah." He plucked the melody back to Roxas with only a little fumbling. "How's this?"

"That sounds right," Roxas told him. "Could you play it again?" IX plucked out the melody a second time, and Roxas joined in, voice gaining more confidence as he remembered the words. He was about to start on the counter-tune when they were interrupted by slow clapping from the doorway.

"Very nice. Very nice," VIII said. "Didn't know you could sing, XIII. And IX, you're practically in tune and everything! Sadly," and VIII's expression darkened like smoke and low-burning flames, "it only doesn't matter who you are if you actually are somebody. Got it memorized?"

IX seemed like he was either about to break down and whine or to protest loudly, so Roxas preempted him.

"What do you want, A-- VIII?"

VIII smirked. "Superior wants to see you. Something about getting into fights. Better get going before IV has a seizure."

Roxas sighed and got to his feet. "Tell him I'll be there as soon as I can."

VIII nodded. "Will do." With that, he turned and vanished through a portal.

"We'll work on the rest later," Roxas told IX.

IX had another moment of surprise, as if he had expected Roxas to abandon him completely. "Uh, sure. Sounds good to me."

When Roxas turned and walked out the doorway, the melody of the song they had been working on followed him.

1.
Sora stared up at the night sky, one hand curled behind his head; Donald and Goofy slumbered on either side of him, finishing each other's snores. Sora thought longingly of his other friends, who were far away, and how long it might be before he saw them again, and sighed. They might as well be as far off as the moon to him. He shifted and sat up when he heard someone singing.

"When you wish upon a star," Jiminy crooned, "makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you..."

Sora listened quietly for a few minutes, then spoke when Jiminy reached a stopping point. "I knew crickets could make music, but I didn't know they could sing."

"Oh, Sora." Jiminy seemed surprised to see him awake. Sora grinned at him. "It's not really that well known, no."

Sora nodded. "That was a nice song, too. Do you think you could teach it to me?"

"Certainly, my boy!" Jiminy replied. "Here's how it starts..."

Later, when Sora had learned all the notes and words, he leaned back and stared at the sky again. He fell asleep numbering the stars with wishes.

--Fin--

...I am so worried about Nobody characterization right now ;_; I think I might've gotten Roxas a little off in his interaction with Demyx, and maybe made Axel a little to mean to him. Hints on ways I can make this better would make me a happy fangirl.

Anyway, Roxas really shouldn't remember that song at all, but at least now I have a decent excuse for him (not) knowing it in the first place.

C&C much appreciated.