Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora silently pondered his thoughts, mainly getting wrapped up in his feelings over Castle Oblivion. Going there had been stupid in the first place, and now he was dealing with the baggage that came along with that place. Falsified memories and untrue feelings concerning Namine. They made him feel very confused, and just like any other day, the confusion made him angry.

 

Riku took the stairs, wondering what exactly could be going through his best friend's head. He had never truly spoken what he was feeling, or even thinking. Well, he guessed it was his job to find that out and try to help Sora find some resolve.

 

Sora shut his eyes, though he thought he heard some footsteps coming up the stairs. It didn't matter anymore. His anger had subsided, and now the only thing he felt was sadness. So whoever it was that was coming, they wouldn't need to be afraid of him lashing out. He was sick of fighting. For once, he just wanted things to be alright, but he didn't know how that could be after so much had happened.

 

Riku went up the stairs quietly, turning once he reached the top. He didn't have to search much, considering the person he was meaning to follow was in plain sight. Riku knew that his footsteps would probably tell Sora he was coming, but it didn't matter to him. He approached the wall, quiet and a calm expression on his face.

 

Honestly, Sora didn't know what he wanted. He knew what he wanted to feel--happiness, peace, contentment, security, and justification. But all he felt now was the opposite; sorrow, disarray, restlessness, uncertainty, and injustice. Things just haven't been going my way lately, have they? he mused, his eyes opening partway as he looked down at his dangling feet.

 

Riku silently came up beside his friend and propped himself up on the wall. He brought one knee up to rest on the ledge while the other leg dangled over. One arm resting on his knee, the boy looked out over the area, exhaling a soft breath. He had to talk to his best friend, to help with all of the conflicts he'd been facing lately. It was for the best.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora noticed that Riku was the one to come out after him. "I figured it would be either you or Leon who would come find me," he said quietly, keeping his eyes down. There wasn't any anger present in his voice anymore. His emotions were so rattled that he didn't know what he felt anymore except for the sorrow.

 

Riku shrugged. "Even though he didn't say it, I have a feeling Leon didn't think you would want to talk to him after everything," he said, eyes scanning the rural area in front of him. "He suggested Roxas too, but he has some things of his own to figure out." Riku finally turned his head to look at Sora, nudging the brunet with his shoulder. "Plus, you're my best friend. I'll do anything I can to help, you know that." A brief reminder of his time in the darkness came to him, but he pushed it away as he gazed out at the world below their positions on the ledge.

 

Sora turned his head when he felt the nudge, his eyes landing on Riku as he spoke the words. "Yeah, I know," he said quietly. Riku was a true friend, even if Sora didn't deserve it. He had really messed up lately when it came to their friendship. Just one more thing to regret, he thought sadly, turning his gaze back to the area in front of him. He had a list of mistakes in his head, and each one made him feel absolutely awful.

 

As a silence fell over them, Riku thought about what would be the easiest for Sora to hear right now, considering his position. Then he said it. "We're all concerned about you," he told Sora gently, "even if we express it differently. We just want to help you." Leon's plan had seemed like a good idea at first, but now it didn't resemble such a clever plan. He knew that didn't exactly help Sora in the long run.

 

Sora looked up at the sky at Riku's words, the teen not distressed by them. He had already known his friends were concerned about him; their actions had shown it. Leon had tried to help by forcing him to fight out his frustrations, Yuffie by bringing it up at the house, and Roxas trying to get everyone to back off during their discussion a little while ago. And now here was Riku. Sora wasn't sure what to expect here, but he knew that Riku was here out of concern. "There's not much anybody can do to help, though," he said, still gazing up at the sky.

 

"Do you really believe that?" Riku asked, turning his head to look at his best friend. "Or are you just saying that because you believe your problems are burdens to other people?" He stared at his friend from behind his silver bangs, knowing how his friend thought about some things after eleven years of friendship. It wasn't easy for Sora to hide things from Riku anymore.

 

Sora shrugged slightly, considering his best friend's words as he gazed at the sky. "...Maybe it's a bit of both," he finally said, his gaze falling down to his lap. "More than that, though, is that I really don't deserve to have you or Roxas or anybody sticking around after all the horrible stuff I did." He furrowed his brows, remembering how he had antagonized Riku at Castle Oblivion.

 

Riku turned his head, gazing out ahead of them. "You should know better than anyone now what that place can do to you," he said, recognizing immediately what Sora was talking about and when. "Don't take it too hard. We all make mistakes. We just have to learn from them." He would know, of course.

 

Sora nodded slightly, still keeping his gaze downward. He was glad Riku seemed to forgive him for that; he really hadn't been himself. He still wasn't the normal, cheerful Sora, but at least he wasn't lashing out at his friends anymore. "Sorry about all of that," he said softly. He had apologized before, but he felt the need to say it again, for saying it only once didn't sufficiently show how regretful he felt.

 

"It's alright," Riku replied with a shrug. It wasn't like Sora had wanted those things to happen between them. His apology just now clearly showed that. It was the negative impact the Castle had on people, making their closest friends seem like their enemies. People affected others like that as well. Maleficent was a pretty good example in Riku's book, but he didn't want to think of her. Instead, he needed to focus on Sora's problems, because his friend needed somebody to talk to, somebody that could understand. And if Riku couldn't understand...Roxas probably could.

 

Sora nodded faintly, lifting his gaze as he looked at the emptiness in front of him. "It's funny how things can appear to clear at one moment and then next thing you know, you realize you don't know a thing," he said aloud, the words leaving him without thought. Though it may have seemed like he was referring to Castle Oblivion, he was really thinking about what had happened on the battlefield earlier that day. In the middle of the battle, he had caught onto what Leon was trying to teach him, but then the concept lost meaning to him, as if his revelation hadn't really happened.

 

"I know what you mean," Riku admitted softly, still sitting with his arm propped up on his knee. Things weren't hard to relate to these days; they'd both experienced a lot of similar things lately.

Roxas knew one thing for sure as he stayed where he was, having remained in the same spot since he arrived at Merlin's. That one detail was that he wasn't getting any answers--about his existence, and what kind of Nobody he really was.

 

Sora shook his head slightly, looking down as he spoke. "How are you supposed to live your life like that?" he asked, not sure if it was a rhetorical question or one that he wanted answered. "How can you live your life when the truth is constantly changing?" Just over a week ago, he had never thought of Castle Oblivion. And then during his visit to the Castle, he discovered that he gained only lies from that place. He knew one bit of truth: The Organization was a sick, manipulative group, and he was glad that they were vanquished forever. That was one thing he knew for sure.

 

Riku lowered his sight to the stone he was sitting on at Sora's words, not knowing how to answer his questions. He wasn't sure himself. The only thing he could really wonder about was if that was the most of Sora's worries. "Is that what this is about?" he asked then, turning his head slightly to look at his best friend.

And the only man who knows anything about me is gone. Roxas sighed softly through his nose, eyes still closed as he leaned against the wall. What was he supposed to do now? His past helped him understand who he truly was as a person, but he was a different kind of Nobody. He could exist alongside his true self. So what kind of...breed was he? It didn't make much sense to him, even if he was happy that he had freedom.