TSCOT Ch.1 - Maybe

Chapter 1 - Maybe

The snow continued to fall on the streets of New York. People walked with coats pulled tight around them and hands held firm on their hats as they moved quickly through the cold winds. And up above, where no one was looking or even wanted to for that matter, sat a small boy on the other side of a grubby-looking window belonging to the orphanage on this side of town. He hugged his knees as he wiped away some of the grime to see better. Once again, he’d been dreaming of being with his parents and it drove him insane that he wasn’t actually there with them. Roxas looked down at the busy streets with a sigh; they didn’t call it ‘the city that never sleeps’ for nothing. His blonde hair was tousled and slightly greasy from not being washed in a week or so. His clothes were worn and shabby; a pair of black shorts that hung from his thin hips and fitted him poorly and a grubby navy blue shirt that held tight to his body. His boots were under his bed on the floor nearby; they were a lot more worn and grubby than everyone else’s from his constant escape attempts. Behind him were two rows of five beds, the closest being his own, each with another young orphan sleeping in it. There was Sora; the most vulnerable and naive of all of them, Riku and Kairi; two close friends just a bit older than Sora who loved him dearly, Tidus; an optimistic and active boy, Pence and Olette; a bit clique-y but very nice all the same, Hayner; a gobby boy that argued with everyone and finally Xion and Demyx; Roxas’ two closest friends. They’d arrived at the orphanage around the same time and formed a strong bond because of it, despite the two year age gap between them and Demyx. As Roxas turned to look at his ‘family’ he saw Sora having yet another nightmare. “M-Mom... Dad... Look out!”
“Sora... wake up and shut up!” Roxas frowned.
“Leave him alone, Hayner.”
“You wanna make something out of it, Roxas?!” Said blonde rolled his eyes before jumping of his perch at the window and promptly starting a scrap with the other blonde. The other, now awake, kids watched as the two fought until Riku stepped in and pulled Hayner off while Demyx pulled Roxas away. It had become routine that these two fought and, given they were the oldest, Riku and Demyx always took it upon themselves to split them up.
“Quit it both of you! If Miss Larxene wakes up, you’ll get sore!” Riku then turned to Sora, who was being hugged by Kairi at this point. “It’s okay Sora; you were just having another nightmare...”
“I want my parents back... I miss them...” Kairi just stroked his hair sympathetically.
“Er Sora? They’re not coming back. They never will. That’s why we’re orphans.” Hayner sneered, causing Roxas to lunge for him again and Demyx had to double his efforts to keep him back.
“I’m not an orphan! My parents are alive and they’re coming back for me someday!” He yelled. Hayner just laughed.
“That was 1922, this is 1938! You’re an orphan.” Roxas growled, while Sora just joined in from behind.
“No, he’s got a note that proves it and everything! Roxy, will you read it to me? Please?” After shrugging himself out of Demyx’s hold, the young blonde settled himself down on the other side of his brunette friend and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from under his shirt.
“Please take good care of our little boy, his name is Roxas. He was born on October 13th. We’ll be back to get him soon. We’ve left half of a silver pendant around his neck, and kept the other half, so that when we come back for him, you’ll know that he’s our baby.”
Roxas didn’t realise, but while he’d been reading, he’d reached up and clutched said pendant like it was a lifeline. Sora just smiled and snuggled up to him.
“I hope they come Roxy, I really do...”
“Me too Sora. Maybe someday soon, eh?” The brunette just nodded and fell asleep again fairly soon after that, so Roxas quietly slipped out from under him, off the bed and wrapped him up in the covers. The boy turned to see most of the others looking at him pointedly. He rolled his eyes and moved over to his own bed with his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling. “Don’t start...”
“It’s one thing to believe that rubbish yourself, but don’t make him believe it too.” Riku shot back at him.
“Look,” He started, sitting up and looking at them dead on. “You don’t wanna have a bit of faith, then fine. But this pendant and this note mean everything to me: they’re proof I’ve got parents out there.” Xion just smiled.
“You really believe that, don’t you Rox?”
“Yep, and I’ll find ‘em... someday... Maybe in a small house in the country, far away from here... Or maybe they’re rich and really strict. Frankly I don’t give a damn. As long as they’re mine, I’ll be happy.” Tidus sighed and rolled onto his side with his arms folded.
“And how’re you gonna find ‘em when Miss Larxene doesn’t even let us leave the orphanage?”
“I’ll climb out the window again, like last time.”
“Yeah, cos that worked sooo well. You slipped and ended up in bed for a week with a cracked rib!” Hayner added.
“Then I’ll find a different way out.” The blonde retorted then promptly got off his bed and started pulling things into a small, hessian bag. There was a unanimous groan from the others.
“And if she catches you?” Olette asked, genuinely worried for the boy.
“She won’t...”

He left the room and closed it carefully behind him. The stairs were always the hardest part in Roxas’ mind – they creaked with almost every step and Larxene’s room was about halfway down them – but he managed getting past her sure enough. Doing a small fist pump, he continued on down the stairs. That is of course, until he felt a tug on his collar and turned his head enough to see an enraged Larxene. Now, if there was one woman you didn’t want to cross, it was her. She had blonde, short hair with two bits sticking up (though right now, all her hair was sticking up as she’d only just woken up). Her temper was legendary amongst the kids and her hits, if you ever got one that is, stung as if electricity was actually running through her. “H-Hi, Miss Larxene...”
“Rotten orphan. Trying to make a break, again?! How many times kid, your parents are dead. You won’t find them, especially in a city this big!” He glared at her.
“I know they’re out there!” She raised her hand and an echoing crack sounded through the halls as a red mark appeared on his cheek.
“For the last time Roxas; your parents are not out there and even if they were, they wouldn’t want a runt like you. Now get up those damn stairs.” With a frown, the 16yr old turned and made his way back up the steps with his ‘carer’ close behind, keeping an iron grip on his collar. Just before they reached his dorm though, she stopped him at a window, opening it to make sure he could see outside. The snow was still falling steadily but there were far fewer people at this hour. Roxas shivered as a cold wind blew past, going right through his thin and worn clothes. “See how cold it is out there? How dark? How dangerous for a kid like you? I’m doing you a favour by not letting you go. What d’you say?”
“Thank you, I love you Miss Larxene.” A response learned long ago as she closed the window and led him back through the door next to them. Larxene turned on the light and yelled ‘Get up you lazy kids!’, still with a firm grip on the poor blonde. One by one, his fellow roommates woke up either in confusion or anger at seeing the failed escapee.
“Right, clearly Roxas here is too restless to sleep tonight, so to keep him company you’re all gonna clean this dump ‘til it shines like the top of the Chrysler Building.” With that, she pushed Roxas into the group, where he was caught by Demyx and Xion (the latter of which fussed over him like a mother hen). “If it’s not done by morning, you get no breakfast for a week. Now get on with it. Clean the windows. Strip the beds for the laundry man. Get to work!” She slammed the door behind her and Roxas was left with the angry faces of his peers.
“So, where’d you get caught this time?” Hayner sneered, storming past to get a bucket of murky water.
“Hey, c’mon guys... Let’s do this in the morning...” Demyx said as he pushed his friend behind him – Roxas had always been like a little brother to him and as a result he was pretty damn protective of him. The same went for Xion, but she didn’t get in as nearly as much trouble as the young blonde behind him.
“Sure! Let’s all get punished because of him and say nothing about it!”
“Just like every other god damn time!” Roxas flinched and picked up a bucket, moving over to the windows and looking out as he cleaned them. He wished and prayed his family would come soon and sighed in sadness. “No one cares when you’re in an orphanage, not one bit...”
“Not true; the kids inside do...” Said Demyx; having seemingly appeared from nowhere. “Look, you’re just going about this whole escaping thing all wrong. Y’see, I’ve had this plan for a while, but I’m too big to pull it off.”
“I’m listening...” The older blonde leaned over and whispered the aforementioned plan in Roxas’ ear, leaving the younger’s face to light up. “Dem, you’re a genius.”

When morning rolled around, the room was spotless and the kids were passed out on the floor. Larxene slammed the doors open followed by Mr B, or Xigbar by his first name. Said kids groaned at the loud noise and slowly sat up. “Wow, you kids actually did something right. I’m impressed.”
“Aw, dun be so hard on the little dudes~!” Xigbar was an odd man. He had long, striped hair like a badger’s in a ponytail down his back. He also had an eyepatch and a scar on his left cheek, though he’d never explain why. He was pretty relaxed and constantly trying to win Larxene over. “C’mon kids, stack ‘em!” One by one, the orphans dumped their dirty sheets in Xigbar’s cart and picked up clean ones from his arms. When it came to Roxas’ turn, he climbed in the cart and pulled his sheets over him while Xigbar shamelessly flirted with Larxene. The others were confused, but went along with the blonde’s plan – if it worked, then they’d at least get some peace for a while. Xigbar sighed in defeat as the target of his affections once again turned him down. “Aww c’mon Larx, why won’t you go out with me?”
“Cos I’m... saving myself for Warbucks. Now get the dirty laundry and get the heck out of here.” With one final sigh, he shrugged and grabbed the cart, unaware of the boy shaped heap in the middle.
“See ya then dudes, and have a good Christmas, won’tcha?”
“Bye Mr B!”  The orphans chorused back, as per. Larxene just rolled her eyes and blew the whistle hanging around her neck.
“Roll call.” All the kids lined up by their beds, and on command said “I love you Miss Larxene” as she walked between them. That is of course, until she got to the empty bed at the end and growled. “Roxas? Get your little orphan butt out here!” Sora started giggling, which caused most of the others to join in. Hey, even if they hated him, it was still funny to see Larxene this pissed off. “Roxas?!”
“Er, Miss Larxene, Roxy’s not here~” Demyx said with a grin. She turned on him, but he was still in a fit of giggles.
“Then where is he?”
“Mr B rolled him out with the dirty laundry~” Olette snickered.
“WHAT?!” Larxene screamed, running outside in an attempt to stop the van, but it was in vain. “No! Come back here! Xigbar I could lose my license!” The kids ran to the windows, besides themselves with laughter.
“Go get ‘em Roxy!”

On the other side of the city, a lone redhead sat in his 5th Avenue home, facing the fire with a deep frown on his face. “Zexion?” Another young man was instantly at his side. He was fairly short for his age with silver-blue hair that swept across the right side of his face.
“Yes sir?”
“This house is too empty...” He sighed and turned his head slightly, his green eyes glowing in the light and his red mane of hair being highlighted by the orange glow. “I’m hardly here as it is anymore, and when I am...”
“Would you like a pet, sir?” Axel smiled at the idea, then shook his head.
“Maybe a dog... but no, I’d never be around to care for the poor thing. No, Zexion while I’m gone, can you find me a house guest? It is Christmas after all...” Zexion nodded with a knowing smile.
“Very well sir, I know just the thing.”