Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora looked up at Roxas, a bit surprised to hear Roxas verbally stick up for him. He was grateful for it; Roxas seemed to be the only person in that room to understand that he didn't need anymore pressure, and he was already under enough stress.

Leon was surprised at Roxas' tone of voice. What has him so worked up? he thought to himself. He left that thought alone and spoke to Roxas, his voice still as calm as ever. "Because talking things out will help him sort out his thoughts."

Who are you to decide what helps me sort out my thoughts? Sora silently asked Leon, his stare back on the man across the room. I'll deal with them my own way. People need to stop forcing me into doing stuff; it's ticking me off more than they can possibly understand. The anger was boiling inside of Sora, and his friends were lucky that he hadn't had an outburst yet. Soon, though, it would come. It felt like he was going to snap, and he probably wouldn't be able to stop himself from lashing out at those he loved.

 

Roxas stood up straight, hands coming out of his pockets. "Yeah, and you thought him fighting one thousand Heartless by himself was a good way for him to recover," he countered, voice hard and snappy. "Look how that turned out." Leon obviously didn't know Sora as well as he thought he did.

 

Leon's gaze hardened at Roxas' tone, the man changing to a defensive tone of voice. "That's only because Sora is being stubborn," he said, his gaze staying on Sora now. "If he would just let us help him, then this wouldn't be so dramatic."

Though Sora was surprised at Roxas' tone, he couldn't focus on it for long, since Leon was staring at him again. His words...they really angered him. In a way, he knew that Leon was right, but he could only think of harsh words to say. Like for Leon to mind his own business and let Sora mope if he wanted to mope. To stop acting like he knew everything. To stop speaking about Sora as if he weren't there. But instead of saying those things, he bit down on his tongue and forced himself to be silent.

 

Roxas leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, lowering his head. "A good way to help is to let him sort through his thoughts, that way he can actually answer your questions," he replied, looking to the side at the computer in the room.

Riku looked at the pair against the wall in silence, wondering just what was bothering Roxas so much. Had the information on Ansem's computer really upset him that much? Regardless, he did understand the point Roxas was trying to make; a lot of things were complicated, and Sora had never really gotten the time to think about anything.

 

Though Leon was technically speaking to Roxas, he kept his eyes on Sora. "You're right," he started. "Except I don't think Sora is thinking over any of this. I think he's running from it. He's got to face it head on instead of being afraid of it."

"You don't have the right to say what I'm doing or what I'm not doing," Sora finally snapped, voice tense. "You don't know what's going on inside my head." He ground his teeth together to stop himself from yelling his frustrations, the brunet under enough stress that he just wanted to scream.

 

Roxas didn't say anything, but only stood there, leaning against the wall. Fine, nobody wanted to listen to him? He wouldn't put himself in the middle of this, when he was just trying to help Sora out. Whatever.

Riku's gaze fell to Sora and he eyed him carefully. Castle Oblivion changed him undoubtedly, but he wasn't sure anyone but him and Roxas knew that.

 

After a few moments of silence, Leon spoke again. "Fine," he started. "I don't know what's going on in your head. Why don't you tell me?" Sora was acting...different. He wasn't the same person he had known before, and though he wasn't sure he liked the change, he wasn't going to say anything about that.

"There's no way you could understand it," Sora said, his voice still hard. Leon had never gone though anything like this and hopefully he never would, for it was a very unpleasant situation. Even if Sora was upset with him for pressing this issue so much, he didn't hate his friend. He hated that he was right.

Leon arched a brow, leaning on his arms as he sat at the table. "Really?" he asked. "I don't know the situation, but I bet you anything that somebody else in the room has gone through something similar in the past." He said this completely unaware that Roxas had gone through a situation much like Sora's. The man was simply guessing that with all the experience everyone had in the room with life, somebody had to be able to comprehend what Sora was feeling.

 

Roxas closed his eyes at the mention, aware that he was the one Leon was referring to even though he was sure the man was unaware of the fact. He stood there, leaning against the wall. He had nothing to say. Not anymore.

 

Sora lowered his gaze to the floor, Leon being correct in his words. Yes, Roxas had gone through something much like this. "If somebody did, I wouldn't want to trouble them," he said softly, the anger momentarily gone from his voice. "I'm sure that they've got enough on their plate without my problems on top of their own."

 

Roxas's hands, though his arms were crossed, tightened into fists at Sora's words. He wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything outside of his anger. His disappointment. His confusion.

 

Leon silently watched Sora for a moment, not really knowing what to say to that. He didn't have to ponder his thoughts for long, though, since Sora was now rising to his feet.

When Sora was fully upright, he looked up at Leon. "Sometimes, you have to deal with it by yourself." With those words, Sora took a few steps over and opened the door, walking out of the home. He shut it behind him and just kept walking, not waiting for anybody to come after him. He didn't want anybody to come, but he had a feeling he couldn't get away from them that easily.

 

Roxas opened his eyes to see Sora's retreating figure, his gaze moving to the three people at the table. But he didn't say anything, not that there was anything he could say.

Riku watched Sora go in silence, something telling him not to follow. Yet. He turned his sight to Leon and Yuffie, arching an eyebrow at them as if asking, What're you guys gonna do now?

 

Leon turned his head to the side slighlty, seeing the question in Riku's expression. "We'll give him a five minute head start," he said simply. "Anybody wanna go get him after that?" He didn't care if he did it or not; if Riku, Roxas, or even Yuffie wanted to speak to Sora, it was fine with him.

Sora was so fired up by his anger and frustration that he hardly noticed his exhaustion as he took a right turn, following the path toward the stairs. His blood was boiling, not only in anger, but in sadness. And rage, there was a lot of rage, too. He wanted to scream out his frustrations. However, he feared he would be overheard, so he kept it inside, silently steaming as he went up the stairs.

 

Yuffie looked at Leon and shrugged. "Maybe you should go talk to him, Leon," she suggested, speaking for the first time in a while.

Roxas smirked slightly, giving off a "hmph" noise. "Yeah, you were the one throwing questions and orders at him to begin with," he agreed. "Maybe you should go explain your reasoning, or at least try to make things easier on him." He took in a breath, his blue eyes falling on the world just outside the door. "You obviously pressured him enough to make him leave."

 

"We're just trying to help, Roxas,' Leon stated, his voice calm despite his growing frustrations with Roxas. "Since you're so close to him, maybe you should talk to him. You might get through to him in a way that I can't." Obviously Sora was frustrated with Leon, and the man was starting to wonder if Sora would listen to a word he said.

Sora made it to the top of the stairs and then turned, heading toward the Bailey. But when he was about halfway across the area, he stopped walking. This place was peaceful; he could just sit in silence for a while. He set his hands on the elevated wall and brought up his legs, the teen managing to sit with his legs dangling over the edge and his back towards the stairs.

 

Roxas didn't say anything. He stared at the door, contemplating the idea. But what could he tell Sora? They were in a similar spot, but he was still seething with anger over his own situation, over all he had lost. And couldn't gain.

Riku looked to Roxas, along with everyone else. Leon had a point--Roxas did have a closer bond than even Riku did, and their hearts were connected. He didn't object.

 

After a brief period of silence, Leon turned to Riku. "Or how about you, Riku?" he asked. "You've known Sora for eleven years. You may be able to talk some sense into him." He himself had known Sora for a much shorter period of time, and that Sora seemed different than the one he had encountered today.

Sora lowered his head and clasped his hands in his lap, the teen blankly gazing out on a rural part of Hollow Bastion as he contemplated his own thoughts. He was so angry...over what? Being looked down upon? No, that wasn't it. Was it being in a vulnerable position? Partially. I'm not angry at anyone else, Sora suddenly realized. I'm angry at myself.

 

Riku turned his head to Leon, looking at him for a moment before receiving an encouraging nod from Yuffie. He shrugged. "It's worth a shot," he said standing up. He walked over to the door but stopped and turned around halfway, focusing on Roxas. "If I'm not back soon, you know what you should do," he simply said.

Roxas looked at Riku and nodded stiffly. Yeah, he knew what he had to do if things took long. He would go try to help. It was obvious that Riku was going for his best friend, and could clearly see that Roxas had some things to sort out himself. Heh, that's actually nice of him, he thought, watching the silver-haired teen go. Of course, Roxas had been in the same boat, so that was definitely another reason why he had to go.

 

Leon watched Riku leave, briefly glancing at Roxas before he looked down at the table. In a way, he had sensed Roxas needed some time to think some things over himself, which was why he asked Riku to go. He didn't know what Roxas needed to consider, but he felt it was better he had some peace and quiet.

Sora lowered his head, a sigh leaving him. I don't want to be angry anymore. I just want to feel at peace. Really, is that so much to ask? He was pushing away his emotions in his search for peace, and this was what was crippling. Leon was right about facing things head on; in this case, it was emotions. But Sora had yet to realize that, and he probably wouldn't see it that way on his own.

 

Riku walked quietly and calmly through the area, heading right just outside Merlin's house. Knowing Sora, he didn't want to go to the Square because of the crowd; he would most likely want to be alone. He turned left at the corner and followed the path that led to the steps.

Roxas let his chin lower to his chest as he closed his eyes. Now he just had to sort out his thoughts, but for some reason, he didn't think that was going to go too well.