Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora shook his head at Roxas' suggestion, turning his head to look at his friend. "Let me try to walk it off," he insisted. At some point he would have to get back up on his feet and fight again, so he figured the less time he had just sitting around, the better things would be.

 

Riku was about to object, but there was something in Sora's voice that told him it wouldn't make a difference. "At least let us help you to your feet," he said with narrowed eyes. He didn't approve of Sora pushing himself beyond his limits. Regardless, he stood up, offering his hand out to his best friend.

 

Sora nodded faintly, knowing that he couldn't refuse Riku's request even if he wanted to. Beside him, the lioness sat still, apparently being patient with the situation. He gave her one more pat on the back before he shifted his footing and accepted Riku's outstretched hand.

 

Riku gripped Sora's hand firmly, but was careful to help him from the ground. He wasn't sure what exactly was bothering so now, so he had to be cautious.

Roxas stood up silently, his eyes on the two friends. He brushed off his pants absently, straightening. What was to happen now, he wasn't sure. But Sora did insist on walking off his injury. He guessed he would have to wait and observe that first.

 

Sora stood up with Riku's help, his leg not bothering him any more severely than it had been before. But he supposed that may have been because it was already at its worse. Maybe he could walk it off...he would find out soon enough. He gave Riku a nod of gratitude and released his grip on him, standing upright on his own.

 

Riku pulled his arm back and nodded once in return, his eyes still on Sora. He said he wanted to walk it off, so he would stand by and wait. He and Roxas had to stay nearby, just in case Sora hurt himself again.

 

Sora turned his head in the direction of the main area, where the lionesses were still lying. That was the most level place here, so he would probably walk best there. He subconsciously gripped his left leg lightly and took a few steps forward, limping but not falling. He was aware that Riku and Roxas were watching, so that gave him even more incentive not to fall or give in to his pain.

 

Roxas followed Sora with his eyes, but then glanced at Riku, sharing a look with him. It was one of curiosity mixed with worry. They seemed to be thinking the same thing: Was Sora sure about this? He looked like he was in pretty bad shape. Roxas let his eyes fall on his Somebody again, watching him.

 

Sora slowed to a stop after a few steps, wincing faintly at the pain in his leg. He gripped it a little more tightly, but he didn't let it give out from underneath him like it had before. He was doing better; if Roxas and Riku didn't freak out that he was already in pain and stop him, maybe he really could walk off most of the pain.

 

Riku furrowed his eyebrows. "If it hurts too much, don't push it anymore," he said strictly. "We can't risk you getting any worse." Sora was one of the strongest fighters he knew, as was Roxas for obvious reasons. If he was injured too badly, this mission they were one would be even more difficult. Riku knew Sora was stubborn, so he believed that he would have Sora make the right choice here--be wise about his decisions. It was the only way he would really learn.

 

Sora furrowed his brows at the words and looked over his shoulder, his eyes landing on Riku. As much as he hated to admit it, Riku had a point. But he just knew that he could walk this off. Either that, or he was just being stubborn. At this point, he didn't care. He would keep walking. "I'm fine," he said, his voice a little tense because he wanted to shove off Riku's concern.

 

Riku shrugged. "If you insist," he replied, crossing his arms. As stern as he was acting, he still couldn't completely push his concern for Sora away. "Just...be cautious. Don't act like nothing hurts; that only makes it worse in the long run." He would know, for he had gone through things like this plenty of times. Riku either continued on because of a duty, or because he was in the middle of a brawl, so he ignored his pain. At the end, it all caught up with him and was even more extreme than before.

 

Sora nodded faintly, this time taking his friend's words to heart. Riku had a real point...at this rate, he would probably only make things worse. He took a step over toward the rocks that led up the path and set a hand against it, leaning his weight on his right side. He looked over his shoulder again at his friends before speaking his thoughts. "You're probably right," he confessed softly. "Maybe I should take a break." He wouldn't give up completely; instead he would wait until the pain subsided a little bit.

 

Roxas nodded, his face blank. A side of him was worried about Sora, but the other was questioning everything else up until this point, everything that somehow had ties to his memories. Was it all a lie? Was he living on a false personality? The blond boy simply blinked once, having no other answer but to continue pondering the thoughts running through his mind.

 

Sora lowered his head, his eyes shutting as he released a heavy, but quiet, breath. It was hurting all right...but he had been expecting that. Hopefully it would fade away fairly quickly; then he could walk it off and be fighting again tomorrow. He and his friends had a lot of work to get done, and the sooner they finished it, the sooner they could go home.

 

Riku briefly glanced at Roxas during the silence, seeing nothing but a glazed look in his eyes. Whatever. He didn't have time to worry about him right now; there had been enough of that. It was time to focus on Sora now since he was the one in trouble. Roxas's problem could wait, not that it was really that important to Riku. He hated all Nobodies...except for Namine. She had been different.

Roxas could only see the same memories, playing again and again in his mind. It was so bizarre, what his life was like then. But he felt connected to it, because he knew that was the real him, his past self. It was sudden, but he accepted it. After all, it was who he was.

 

Sora kept his head lowered, the thoughts continuing. And the sooner they got home, the sooner they could see the girls. Though Sora did miss Namine, since she was a good friend, he mostly yearned for Kairi. The love of his life...the person he fought for. He hadn't seen her in far too long, and his heart ached for her every day. Those thoughts motivated him, making him want to recover very quickly so that he could finish his job and return to her.

 

Namine had helped Sora. That was one of the things Riku was most grateful for. She had gone out of her way to reconnect Sora's memories while he slept. Though she offered the same to him, Riku didn't accept; he'd wanted to make sure everything went smoothly while Sora was asleep. If he had gotten into the pod, then he would have never encountered DiZ, or realized that Sora needed Roxas to wake up.

It was hard for Roxas to ignore the fact that there was already something different. He felt different as soon as the memories returned to him. He knew it was because his past life was affecting his current one, and he was becoming his old self again.

 

...But Sora wasn't sure if he was ready to see her at this point. He felt as if there was more he needed to get done, one of those things concerning the past. It had been brought up last night, and it hadn't really left his mind. Castle Oblivion. What was the place Castle Oblivion all about, anyway? He was sure he wasn't ever there, but the name brought enough curiosity up for him to want to look into things. However, he would do it alone, since Riku obviously had a bad past there. And Roxas, well, he had enough to deal with.

 

Riku ran a hand quickly through his hair, looking up from the ground over toward Sora. He seemed to be deep in thought, even if he couldn't directly see his friend's face. Riku didn't interrupt, though; everybody needed time to think once in a while. It didn't really matter when or where, as long as it wasn't in the face of danger.

Roxas lowered his head a little, exhaling a silent breath softly. It wasn't in sadness, but it was in confusion. He had gone a little over a year without knowing his own past, and who he truly had been. It made his heart leap at the thought that he had so much to learn about his old life, things he was sure he would discover as he looked into the depth of his memories.