fourteen | oo24 [ voice // action for housemates ]

[ Xion sits down to make this post in her room, quietly unhappy about it, but knowing she has to persevere. He wouldn't want her to be sad, she knows it.

She'll have to find a new teacher.

But Xion finds she just can't sit still, and rises, speaking as she moves down the hall. ]

For anyone who knew him... Longshot has...

[ then she notices something. Sora's door is slightly ajar, and the inside of the room...

as if entranced, Xion slows, then moves towards it, giving a gentle push. ]

Gone ...

[ it's empty. the room is empty, completely bare of any sign that Sora was ever there. ]

... home.

[ and that's it. Xion has lowered her journal, giving an upside-down view of the wall through the journal's camera as she stares at this empty room.

it takes a moment -- a long, numb, endlessly empty moment that may go on for two or even three minutes -- for Xion to sink to her knees. only then does she finally, slightly, come back to her senses. she adds her final statement in a voice that, while even, is just barely above a whisper. ]

And ... and Sora ... Sora has also ... gone home.

[ if heartbreak had a sound, it would sound like her voice. for anyone who replies to her over the journals, it will be some time before she responds. housemates will likely get to her first. ]

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[Roxas heard Xion's announcement over the journal, and even in stereo seeing how he was about to enter her room. But no. No. He doesn't know who Longshot is, and at this point that thought's totally erased. It was the latter statement that rattled him.

Sora has also gone home. No way, not again. Sorry Xion, bffl will come back later but right now he's bolting out of the house, opening the front door with a loud bang and sprinting into the center of the village. He's going to hunt down Sora and bring him back, you'll see!]

[And...it's a very long time before Roxas comes back, much slower and quieter than before he left. It's assumed that Axel has already had a chance to speak to Xion, but Roxas again isn't focused on that. He's just going to head through the house and let himself into Xion's room, stopping in front of her and just staring with the same blank expression. Maybe words don't even need to be said just yet.]

[ She's there, sitting on the bed with her hands clasped in her lap. Almost like she was waiting.

In a way, she knew he was coming.

Xion looks up at him, and their expressions are perfectly mirror each other. Without a word she stands and crosses to him, gently taking both his hands in her own while resting her forehead against his, shutting her eyes.

They're both a part of him. They're supposed to be with him.

More than anyone else, Xion understands exactly how Roxas must feel. ]

[He's really not too surprised. They're alike, after all. He doesn't try to push her away when she takes his hands, his expression still mirroring hers.

To be frank, this sucks. This whole thing sucks, and Roxas knows it's not fair to either of them. There's too much uncertainty to the whole thing, too many unanswered questions, but he won't speak until Xion's ready. Chances are, he's not ready either.]

[ Even then, still, she is quiet for a while, just standing there with him. What are they going to do ... without Sora?

Probably a few minutes pass like that before she speaks. Her voice is still quiet, lacking in inflection. ]

Axel said he'd come back.

Axel says a lot of things. [The response was quicker than it should have been, and he stops again after that. Axel might be his best friend, but he's aware that Axel may have said that just to make Xion feel better. Hell, maybe just to make himself feel better, did they really know if Sora would come back this time? If the worlds needed him, Luceti couldn't keep him forever.]

But maybe he will. [But even his tone says he's not too sure anymore.]

[ if that startles her, she gives no sign. they both know Axel is a liar. she lied too, with the best of them, once upon a time.

funny, what happens when their guiding light leaves. all these little rifts so suddenly come back to light.

not that she moves. she stays right there, still holding his hands. ]

Then why doesn't it feel like he will?

[Yeah, he's aware. That's neither here not there though, and his grip on Xion's hands tightens ever so slightly.]

Because he wasn't supposed to leave without us in the first place. That's what it is, isn't it?

[ she makes a tiny, pained noise, her own grip tightening. ]

That's exactly what it is. Will he really be okay without us? We're supposed to be with him...

...I don't know. When Sora left last time before he came back, he seemed okay when I did see him again. But now that we're both here and he's not...[He shakes his head.] I don't know. There has to be a way to get him back here.

It's happened before, huh...? That should make it better, but... [ it really doesn't. she shakes her head. ] There isn't, you know that. And it'd be better if he wasn't stuck here with us, really... I just hope he's ... safe. [ okay. awake. ]

...this is the third time. [It doesn't make it much better at all, really. But Roxas continues anyway.] We don't know that. There's a way to get him out, there's a way to get him back. [But then he looks up and just gives her a long hard look.] No, Xion, it's not better if he wasn't stuck here with us. Without us, you know he can't...be safe. [Because yeah, he totally picked up on what she actually meant.]

[ it's too much. Xion finally releases him and steps away, visibly distressed. she doesn't want to argue with him about bringing Sora back -- she doesn't believe it at all, but she certainly doesn't want to go back to the sort of arguments they had about her death, either. so she just clasps her hands over her chest and hangs her head. ]

... I know. That's why I'm so worried.

[It's probably good that she backs off, seeing how Roxas is still in a fighting mood.]

...I wish there was a way we could know at least if he'd be okay on his own.

... we just have to believe in him. He's ... he's Sora. He'll be okay, somehow.

...you're going to worry about him too anyway, aren't you?

oo24 [ voice // action for housemates ]

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