Someday We’ll Know

Author’s Note: Thanks to my beta-er again x3 who makes me feel like I need to go back to elementary school, - I HEART YOU! xD

So many questions I need an answer

Two years later you’re still on my mind

The next morning when Roxas woke, he rolled over in his bed and opened his eyes. -Wait…this isn’t my bed…-

“Huh…? O-oh!” He looked around and rolled back on to his back. Still groggy from sleep, it took a moment for Roxas to remember that he was back home. Back in his hometown to be exact. He was about to say that this was not his overly large bed in his quite empty apartment. This was his small room with a bed for one, maybe two people. Warm colors greeted him and the sounds of actual birds also filled his senses. Not the sounds of car horns or the sounds of angry people yelling, just mother nature herself.

It was rather odd having that sort of morning wake up call. Odd, yet nice.

Sitting up, Roxas stretched and yawned, his eyes blinking away the sand that had been sprinkled in his eyes. A smile, that usually was never there, lit up on his face. Usually, when he waked, a frown and groan would emit from him and a, “Why do I have to work? Can the printer blow up yet?” would be sighed.

But not today. Today, Roxas was happy and as he walked down the stairs he paused. Stopping at the third step, he smiled and jumped down from it. His knee did not give way and he laughed. It seemed that being in this small town made him feel more calm. It was nice. He didn’t feel rushed or stressed at all. In fact, he never felt more relaxed.

I guess…it’s good to be home after all-

“Good morning, Roxas.” his mother greeted him. With a beaming smile, the blond sat down at the wooden table in the kitchen and turned to his mother.

“Morning mom, how are you?” he asked.

“I’m quite fine.” she answered, her hands tucking back her still young looking hair behind her ear. “How about you? How was sleeping in your old room again?” she asked with a smile.

“It was good. I forgot how comfortable my bed was.” Roxas replied.

“It’s good to have you back home.” his mother said. Blue eyes lit up at the warming compliment. Roxas helped his mother soon after with breakfast and he enjoyed his first homemade meal. It certainly had been awhile since Roxas had enjoyed such a wonderful assortment of decadent food. No matter who you were, Roxas would argue that nothing was better than home cooked meals by your mother. “So, are you doing anything today?” she asked.

Roxas nodded, “Yeah, Olette is taking me out again.”

“Oh I see, did you see anyone else?” she asked as she poured Roxas another glass of milk.

“No, just her. I did run into Auron…” Roxas laughed softly at the odd memory, “She said that Hayner and Pence were gone…” he shrugged.

“I see…oh, but what about your other friends? Who was that one young man…he stood out so much…what was his name…?” tapping her chin, she looked at Roxas questioningly.

“Uhm…Sora?” he asked, equally confused.

“No…I remember Sora…”

“Riku…?”

“No, though he was a fine young man. I see him at the grocery store every now and then. I’ll be sure to tell him you are back.” she smiled. Roxas nodded and shoved a forkful of pancakes in his mouth.

“So then…?” Roxas quirked a brow.

“He had that red hair…uhm, it was very…something you don’t forget,” she laughed.

“O-oh!” Roxas coughed, “Uhm, him…yeah.” picking up his napkin, Roxas wiped his mouth, “Yeah…I heard he was still here too.” he muttered and laughed awkwardly.

“I can never remember his name. I see him too though.” his mom said with a definite nod. Roxas’s smiled thinned and he just slowly shoveled in another helping of pancakes. Well, that was quite comforting to know; his mom still knows Axel.

“Oh…I see.” was all he said. “So, I’ll be gone all day…I think.” he quickly said. Nothing like a good topic change. “Is that ok? Or do you need anything…?”

“Oh, no, go ahead and go out. I’m fine here. I have to go somewhere too.” she smiled at her son. Roxas nodded and finished the last bite of his breakfast and stood.

“Ok, that works out then.” he said. Gathering the dishes from the table, he walked over to the sink and dumped each piece of porcelain carefully into the sink. Turning on the faucet, he began to wash each dish carefully but was shooed away.

“I’ll do it, you go on and play.” she said as if Roxas was six years old again. Smiling, he dried off his hands and nodded.

“Ok mom.” he said teasingly before placing a kiss on her weathered cheek. Though she was his mom, she looked rather young for her age. Roxas was always amazed at how young she managed to look. Even so, she acted her age, motherly and polite. That didn’t matter to the blond though, he loved his mom, that was all that mattered.

After thoroughly drying his hands, he ran back upstairs to get changed for the day. Stripping his body of his pajama’s, Roxas opened his bag and started throwing his clothes around his room. Already his room was starting to look a bit more familiar. After pulling out a shirt he liked, he pulled the cloth over his head and started searching for matching pants.

After he was happy with his attire, Roxas made sure his hair was nice and walked out of his room. After yelling a goodbye down the hall to his mom, Roxas walked outside back into the world. A smile graced his face and he inhaled deeply. There was a study he once heard of that said that people who woke up with a smile on their faces usually have a better, positive day than those who frown. So he made an effort to smile more, and in his home town, that was easy.

Indeed, the air was fresh and the sky was clear. No traces of smog lingered in the air, just clean, natural air. Glancing at the time on his cell phone, Roxas quickly walked to his car, slipping in and starting the engine. Olette would be waiting for him. She had given him her address when Roxas said he still remembered where she lived. At first, the brunette was chary, but she had reliance in Roxas. Now, as he was driving slowly to the stop sign, Roxas was beginning to doubt himself. -I DO remember where she lived…right?- he guessed himself.

Chewing the inside of his mouth in a nervous habit, Roxas just went with his first instincts which could have been a bad or good thing. As he was driving, he started to reflect a little. What bothered him the most was that Axel was on his mind. Roxas had an inky feeling that the other man was always on his mind to begin with. He just never acknowledged it, till now.

If he was correct, then he knew that if he made a right on the next street, Axel’s house should be down in that general direction. But Roxas didn’t go that way, instead he stopped his car on the side of the road and just stared. Did he even want to see Axel again? He wasn’t sure, it was a fifty-fifty thing. Sure he had a thing for the man then, but that died five years ago when he left this town. So surely, nothing remained. Roxas decided that maybe he could ask Olette to take him to go see Axel, and convince the girl that he did NOT have any sort of remaining feelings for the red head.

-Wonder if he is still into fire…- Roxas thought idly before taking off again.

After driving for about another minute or so, Roxas pulled up to a house he hoped was Olette’s. Grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket, he quickly dialed the girl. “Hello?”

“Olette? I…think I’m outside of your house…?” Roxas asked more than said. He heard the girl laugh on her end. Looking at the house from his car, Roxas saw the blinds from the window pull back and he saw Olette.

“Yep, I see you.” came her reply.

“Yeah, I see you too, haha.” Roxas laughed.

“Haha, ok, I’ll be out in a second.” she said and they hung up. Roxas didn’t have to wait for long, Olette came running outside and practically threw herself into his car. “Good morning!” she greeted in her usual chipper way.

Roxas couldn’t help but smile, who couldn’t when one is so happy with life like Olette? “Morning, how are you?” the blond asked as he pulled away from the curb.

“Good, good,” she nodded as she started to pull on the rest of her shoes, “You?”

“Same as yesterday.” he replied. Olette smiled and pulled on her seat belt. “Hey…”

“Huh…?”

“Well…ok, well, not to give off the wrong impression here…but.” Roxas worried his bottom lip as he contemplated on how to phrase his next choices of words, “…you know…A-Axel…?” he started. The corner of Olette’s mouth twitch, but she remained composed.

“Yes…what about him?” she asked cooly.

“Well…uhm…where does he live, exactly…?” Roxas mumbled under his breath.

Olette smiled, “He moved across the town. You know the apartments near the college?” she asked and Roxas nodded, “Yeah, near there.”

“Do you guys still keep in touch?” he asked.

“We see each other now and then.” she answered. Roxas nodded, he felt that that was enough about that subject.

“Oh…so, anyways, what do you want to do today?” Roxas asked quickly. Olette was about to open her mouth to say something, but refrained.

“I don’t know. Where do you want to go?” she asked as she pulled out her own cell phone and began to text someone.

“Well, I guess we can check out the schools.” Roxas answered, “I’m curious as to what they look like now.”

“Sounds good!” the younger girl smiled. She closed her phone and tucked into her pocket. Pulling the gloves over her hands more, she pointed out the direction to where their high school was.

“I think I still remember the way…” Roxas said, uncertain.

“Well, I’ll tell you if you make a wrong turn.” the brunette smiled. Roxas grinned back and nodded.

“All right.” he murmured, “but tell me before I turn onto like the freeway.” he warned. Laughing, Olette agreed. Even with his doubt, Roxas found the way to their old high school without incident. He turned the corner and immediately, the old familiar building came into sight. “Oh man, it’s been long…maybe not long enough though…” Roxas smiled as he parked the car on the street.

Olette laughed, “Well, some of the teachers have retired.” she said.

“Really? In these short five years?” Roxas asked. They both exited the vehicle and Olette laughed.

“Yeah, well, some of them were old anyways, remember?” she asked, “Plus, five years is pretty long.”

“I guess.” Roxas smiled.

The two walked on to the campus, Roxas looking around the whole while. A nostalgic smile appeared on the blonde’s face, his finger tips tingling as in anticipation. The campus hadn’t changed one bit. Well, Roxas stood corrected, the campus was re-painted, but nothing seemed out of place. There was still that funky fixture in the middle of the quad, the stupidly placed clock in the corner of the center of the campus, and the awkwardly placed buildings that did not go in their respective numeric order.

No one was walking around them, though Roxas could hear the sounds of the PE class that were out. -Everyone must be in class…- he thought. “The school was painted?” he asked.

“Yeah, someone tagged the walls…” Olette murmured.

“What? Tagging? HERE?” Roxas asked. He was shocked that this little town would have something like that happen here. Sure in the city he was used to it, but simple little Twilight Town? “That’s…weird…” he said with a half laugh.

“Yeah, it was pretty odd, but you know…they are teens…” she said. Roxas smiled.

“Was high school like that when we were young?” he asked. Olette laughed.

“We had out share of drama that's for sure.” She said. Roxas nodded at that. They continued to walk on, passing familiar old hang out spots and the place where all the Seniors would gather to celebrate the last day of school. Roxas remembered that day perfectly. The last class of the day was let out early for all Seniors and every one who belonged in that graduating class ran to the quad. Everyone had whipped cream in a can, silly string, apple cider, and other party favors ready to go. Roxas, Olette, Hayner, and Pence each had one of each item, even water and soda was included in their arsenal.

So when that last bell of the day rang, signifying the day was over, all the Seniors ran to the center of the quad and let everything go. Whip cram flew in the air, silly string colored the sky, grass and every Senior in the way. Roxas had shook a bottle of soda and opened it on Hayner who countered with the whole can of shaving cream. Olette laughed and popped open a bottle of apple cider at the three boys present and was equally covered with water and soda.

Confetti decorated the skies and grass, and hollers and horns went off for about a good ten minutes. Though short in celebration, that was the best ten minutes of every Senior present's life. Roxas smiled at the memory. He also recalled that there was toilet paper being thrown into the air and he had a long strip of toilet paper draped over his shoulders like a necklace as a take home souvenir. He still had it too, it was pressed in his year book back at home.

“What’s with the smile?” Olette asked.

Roxas just laughed, “I’m just recalling the day we all soaked each other with soda and other confectionary on the last day of school.” he replied. Olette laughed and nodded.

“Best day.” she said and the blond nodded. They continued walking, Roxas stopping by several rooms to visit teachers he liked. It was a very nostalgic feeling and he wanted to so badly relive the last day of school again. He wished he had video taped it. In fact, he did, but someone had stupidly erased the video off the digital camera he had. He had only managed to save half the footage onto a personal website, but it stopped before the main part could happen. This both angered and sadden him.

At least he had something though, right?

After about spending two hours at the school, Olette suggested going back to the mall. “I want to take you shopping like back in the day.” she said. Laughing, Roxas nodded. The drive to the shopping center was fun as Olette and Roxas reminisced about old times. Roxas laughed the whole while, finally realizing exactly how dorky they all were.

“Did we really do all that?” he asked.

“Yeah! Remember when you, Hayner and Sora decided to jump off the second story building onto those mattresses at school?” Olette asked as Roxas got onto the main road towards the mall.

“…Oh yeah! Oh man…what were we thinking?” he laughed then looked at Olette briefly, “Did you know those four mattresses…were actually three box springs and then a mattress on the top?” Roxas asked.

“Oh my god! Really?” she asked with a half laugh and half gasp.

“Yeah! I looked at it the next day before they were going to throw it away and man…” Roxas shook his head, “God we were so dumb back then.” He laughed.

Olette nodded, “See, I told you something was off then.” she said. Roxas only nodded in agreement and continued their conversation.

After several minutes, they arrived at the mall, Olette smiling all the while. Roxas at first had thought her smile was a little unsettling, but when asked, she just shrugged and said, “What are you talking about Roxas…?”. Roxas just frowned a bit confused and shrugged.

“I have no idea…” he mumbled and followed the brunette girl into the indoor mall. “Where do you want to go first?” he asked.

“Roxas,” she started in a way as if she was going to scold a child for putting their hands into a cookie jar, “When you go to the mall, one does not “plan” on where one is going to go. One window shops.” she said with a laugh and a definite nod. The look Roxas was giving her made her laugh even more. He rolled his eyes, sometimes he swore he’d never understand the inner workings of a girl.

Grabbing the older male by the arm, she proceeded to drag Roxas along with her in her little spree. She began to point out certain stores and such that she liked or disliked. Roxas paid attention about half way through before he started to tune out. “Let’s go into Victoria’s Secret!” she exclaimed.

Roxas snapped his head to look at her and raised a very distressed brow, “Say what?” he asked. Olette looked at him seriously and then laughed.

“I’m kidding,” she said pointedly, “I wouldn’t drag you in there. I never see any guys in there, which is sort of…weird…” she chuckled. “But are you hungry or anything?” she asked.

“A little, we can go grab something to eat.” he suggested. Nodding at that, Olette dragged the exasperated male towards the food court. Olette pulled out her cell phone and began to text away as Roxas looked for a table and a place he was interested in eating at. He pointed at Burger King and Olette complied with the suggestion.

“I’ll save the table.” she said and he nodded, taking Olette’s order and walking to stand in line. The blond didn’t take as long as he thought he would have. The line was long, but the workers were prompt and he was able to receive their orders quickly. Olette smiled at him as he neared with their tray of food.

“So what do you want to do after?” he asked as he started to unwrap his burger. Olette opened her box of chicken nuggets and shrugged.

“I don’t know, I guess walk off the food.” she smiled.

“Makes sense.” he said with a shrug, “I should buy some new clothes. I don’t have very many winter clothes.” he stated. Olette nodded.

“We can do that.” she said.

The two friends continued to eat, talking over their food all the while. Olette looked at her cell phone and smiled brightly, “Hey, I’ll be right back, bathroom.” she said and stood with a small giggle. Roxas quirked a brow at that, but figured it must have been a girl thing. He continued to dip his fries in the ketchup in front of him, not bothering to wipe off the smudge that had been left on his cheek unknowingly.

Roxas was busy reading the paper that was on the tray, shoving two more fries into his mouth as the chair across from him screeched annoyingly and someone sat down. Roxas started to speak up, not bothering to look up. “Looks like they have some special on Tuesdays, we should take them up on the offer.” He said to Olette.

“Well, you sure like your fast food.” came a voice that…wasn’t Olette’s.

Roxas’s head shot up and he immediately, forgot how to swallow properly. His face dropped, the color draining, and his mouth parted. The fries he held and his burger all fell on to the tray in front of him as his mind totally shut down.

If Roxas was a TV station, one would see the colorful screen and hear a resounding “beep” as if he was currently, out of broadcast. Blue eyes widened and he couldn’t believe it. Emerald eyes welcomed his azure eyes back and a cocky smirk graced that familiar face in front of him, “Well! Hello to you too Roxas!”

The blond blinked and shook his head, immediately trying to locate Olette. “I - uh…!” he stammered uncomfortably.

Laughing, the one sitting across form him smiled, “What’s up Roxas? Forget me already?” the older man asked.

Roxas just stared, his mouth agape, “I…uhm…n-no! I just…” he mumbled, his face taking on a pink shade. Smiling still, the older male picked up a napkin and wiped away the forgotten smudge of ketchup on Roxas’s cheek and chuckled as Roxas took on a deeper shade of pink; almost a red.

“Nice to see you again.”

Roxas’s mind was slowly picking up it’s shattered remains from the floor from this sudden surprise. Along which, Roxas was remembering how to speak again, “I…I…How did…I thought…A-Axel…!” he muttered incoherently. He kept blinking, as if Axel was an illusion in front of him, but no matter how many times he blinked, Axel still sat in front of him with that trademark lopsided smile on his face.

“Well, at least you hadn’t forgotten my name.” Axel said in mock relief, then he laughed again. At the sound of the hearty laughter, Roxas’s began to recall memories he swore he had forgotten. Olette then choose to show up.

“Hello boys.” She smiled brightly.

“Hey Olette, Roxas here is slapped into speechlessness.” Axel said casually as he pointed over at the still blinking blond. Olette just smiled.

“O-Olette!” Roxas managed to force out, “D-did you…did you call him!?” he asked accusingly.

The girl just smiled surreptitiously, “I did…” she protracted. Roxas’s narrowed his blue eyes at her quite accusingly and just looked down. Now what was he to do? Here, he had in front of him Axel, his long time friend and worse yet, his long time crush!

This made the young adult pause -Long time…crush?!- he questioned. Roxas swallowed and looked up back at Axel who was looking at him with a smile on his face. “What’s up, Roxy?” he asked quietly. Roxas just looked down.

The blond slowly smiled, but it was sort of a sad, disheartened smile. His blue eyes looked up into Axel’s emeralds, “It’s been awhile,” he murmured.

Axel just grinned wider, “It sure has.”

“Well,” Olette said, “I think you two have lots to talk about,” she said and clapped her hands together, “So I’ll just be walking around, call me when you’re ready to go, Roxas,” the brunette haired girl said. Roxas just nodded numbly. Olette smiled and walked away, pulling her purse straps up on her shoulders.

Axel focused in on Roxas’s familiar face and sat back. Roxas regarded him as well. Nothing had really changed on Axel, physical wise. Who knew how he was personality wise He figured Axel was still Axel, but people could change over years, especially five. The only thing Roxas could point out that was different with Axel was that he now had two small upside down triangles on his face. His hair was pulled back in a high pony tail as well, but he was pretty sure Axel’s hair still spiked up.

His fashion was still the same, loose jeans, a wife beater and a dress shirt over that tank top, with converse shoes. Roxas smiled, it was sort of warming to see Axel again.

Axel was also looking over the blond, his green eyes taking in every detail it could. “You haven’t changed much.” Axel said. Roxas just smile a bit.

“You too.” he retorted. Indeed, Roxas still held that child like face and wide expressive eyes. His clothes were similar to his own, except, Roxas buttons up his shirt unlike himself. Roxas was also taller, as expected, but still shorter than he was. Axel just smiled, his eyes finally felt a bit rested now that he saw his old friend again.

Both Roxas and Axel did have much to catch up on; a lot of things to discuss. The two also began to remember memories long since passed as they sat there, regarding one another in the food court. Roxas' burger and fries laid unnoticed as the two stared at each other quite awkwardly. They both had many things to say to each other, many questions as well, but the main question they both had was…

Where to start?

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