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There is Aqua’s warmth and her voice and her soft touch to his face. Then Aqua is gone and it’s cold and Ventus’ lucid mind can’t quite grasp why, but his heart feels heavy.
Then there is a light and a new voice. A young, curious voice. He asks him how he got here. Ventus tells him he doesn’t know, but he’s tired.
“Well, you can sleep here then!”
Ventus tells the child in order for him to sleep, he’ll have to keep it down. He thinks it’s a child. It sounds like a child. A boy. The boy apologizes, then encourages Ventus to lay down.
It’s warm here. As Ventus drifts into unconsciousness, he thanks the child.
“Anytime! I mean, anytime,” the boy whispers, making Ventus smile.
He’ll have a good dream, he thinks.
He hopes Terra and Aqua have good dreams too.
She’s drifting, the sound of the ocean in her ears. She? Her? At least, she thinks she’s still she. She still feels like she.
Yes, she is a she. Oops, she means she was a she. Her name was Xion. Right. Everyone forgot her, so she has to remember who and what she was.
Roxas. His tears were warm. She thinks perhaps it was good he forgot her as soon as she disappeared. Died. Whatever being here meant she was. It’d spared him the pain of knowing he’d lost her.
But not even Axel remembers. No one remembers. Except for her. She has to.
She’s a she. Her name is Xion. She likes seashells. She loves her best friends.
She’s tired though.
Then through the darkness breaks a voice, “Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m tired,” she tells him.
Warmth envelopes her and it’s comforting.
“You can rest here if you’d like.”
Xion’s already making herself comfortable when she remembers to ask, “Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you.”
“I’m sure. I was just resting too anyways.”
Xion’s mind starts to fade. “I think… I’ll just… close my eyes for a bit.”
“Go on.” The voice yawns. “I think I will too. I’m supposed to anyways…”
So Xion sleeps. And she dreams of collecting seashells on a nice, warm beach with Roxas and Axel.
Sleep’s never particularly come easy to Roxas. Not since he slept for so long, he worried… someone. Axel? It must’ve been.
There’s always been too much in him for him to sleep anyway. Anger, and confusion, and hurt, and sadness. Mostly anger… mostly sadness.
But now, all that’s gone because… he’s gone. He hadn’t even lived very long. He’s fought every day of his life for the right to exist. And now he didn’t. He’d had no choice but to accept fading away.
A small part of him’s still bitter at the unfairness, but mostly he’s just relieved he doesn’t have to fight anymore. It’s kinda nice to just be able to close his eyes.
“Hey. You seem tired. You looking for a place to sleep too?” a voice asks suddenly. It’s warbled. Roxas wonders if he’s hearing it from underwater.
It’s not like he needs to breathe.
“Too?” Roxas asks, “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend. And you’re not the only one to come here in search of rest,” the voice says, “You’re welcome to stay here. There’s plenty of room.”
Roxas doesn’t necessarily want to, but his tiredness outweighs his pride. “Maybe just for a little while,” he says and lets himself lean into the warmth.
“Stay as long as you want.”
Three lay, asleep, in a circle.
Ventus lays on his back with a hand over his stomach. Roxas lays at his head, on his side with an arm laid in front of him. In her slumber, Xion ‘mms’ and turns onto her other side, her hand landing on top of Roxas’.
Roxas’ fingers close gently around hers. The corners of Xion’s mouth turn up in a small, sleepy smile.