The Price: Family

[eiahmon]

Title: The Price
Rating: R for the mansex even if it's not graphic.
Disclaimer: Disney and Square Enix own it all, though I wouldn't mind “renting” Xehanort for a while. He's just so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute – even when he's summoning his keyblade and yanking out hearts with it.
Summary: Follow up to Rejection, in which life for the five on the Destiny Islands is not as easy as they had hoped. When Xehanort becomes obsessed with a local legend, what will it mean for him and the others?

Family

His sandaled feet made soft crunching sounds as Xehanort walked quietly down the gravel path towards the beach. He walked alone; Dilan and Aeleus were out working on a few things while Even was at home with Ienzo and a couple of his little friends. It had taken months, but Xehanort had finally relaxed enough that he didn't need to be in the presence of the others at all times, something, he was sure, they all found relieving. He knew that they cared, but.. sometimes he wondered if they wanted a break from him, from his clinginess, from his nightmares, from his need to reassured again and again that they weren't going to leave him, that no one was going to hurt him, that he was safe. They tried to hide it from him, but he had been trained to observe, and he caught the signs. An exasperated sigh from Even when he reached out to him in the middle of the night, insisting that he had heard Braig's voice in the house, irritated grumbling from Ienzo when he woke them all up screaming from a nightmare, aggravated insistence from Aeleus and Dilan that there was nothing there, and could they please go back to bed now?

If he had been in their shoes, he would have definitely wanted a break now and then.

The sun was beginning to set by the time the gravel began to give way to sand as he neared the beach. Despite everything, he still felt a little... lost, cut adrift. The part of him that still hurt over Master Ansem's rejection feared that the others would grow tired of him in time and do the same, and while his mind knew better, it was something that his heart would whisper to him when he woke the entire house, screaming from a nightmare, or when an unexpected hand on his shoulder would make him shriek with terror and cower away. His mind knew that they would never abandon him, but his wounded heart refused to listen.

He walked down the sandy path through the saw grass that whispered and swayed in the ocean breeze that never stopped and stepped out onto the empty beach. He sat down at the water's edge, folded his arms atop his knees, and rested his chin on them and watched the sun set in silence. Despite the fact that no one knew who he was, and no one knew of any family that had left for another world around the time that he would have been born, or any other time for that matter, he still felt certain that he knew the Destiny Islands somehow. It was like they had whispered him a welcome when he had first stepped out of King Mickey's gummi ship onto the warm sand, and that whisper had touched him in some way that resonated within his very soul. He had tried to find anyone, anyone at all, that might have been able to tell him anything, desperate to connect to a family that he could no longer remember, hoping to find that someone had loved him and was missing him, but there had been nothing. The last person to vanish from the islands had been over fifty years previous, and that teenaged boy had simply disappeared without a trace, with some insisting that he had drowned out to sea.

Curious, propelled by something he couldn't explain, he had gone to the town hall and searched through the records for that boy, and what he had found had excited him unlike anything before. It was a birth record, dated sixty-five years ago, and it only contained a small amount of information, but that information was significant to him.

In the year of the sea, 752, month of Sirramon, day of Sema the 10th.

Baby boy born to Josel and his wife, Riki

Eyes; Brown

Hair: White

Name: Xehanort

Heart racing with sudden excitement, Xehanort hadn't dared to breathe for fear that the name would vanish from the yellowed paper. It wasn't until the archive keeper, a tiny whisp of a woman that was nearly seventy years in age, called out to him did he release the breath that he had been holding, and he had asked her excitedly if there was anything about this other Xehanort that she could tell him. She had smiled gently at him, sat him down at a small table and told him what she knew.

"I'm am surprised that no one has told you, what with your name and all." she had said, and he had only looked at her in confusion. She had chuckled then and told him of the two brothers, Xehanort and Xehas, gods of the sea and land respectively that according to myth, had created the Destiny Islands. Xehanort eventually fathered a child with a human woman, and Xehas, jealous and angry, murdered her and tossed the child into a well to drown. Xehanort rescued his son and left him with a human family to raise before he attacked and killed his brother for vengeance. Father to Xehanort and Xehas, the sun inflicted a brutal punishment on his son for the death of the other, leaving Xehanort badly burned, blind, and deaf. The moon, the brothers' mother, then placed Xehanort on her back to sleep and heal, where, as far as anyone knows, he remains still.

As for the son that Xehanort left behind, the child was raised by the family that he was left with, and his descendants walk the islands still.

"Or rather, they did walk." the old woman had said, and she had tapped a small symbol on the birth certificate by the infant Xehanort's name, as well as by his mother's. It was a tiny circle, and when Xehanort squinted just right, he had been able to see what appeared to be an image of a cresting wave inside of it. "Riki was, at the time, the last known descendant of the man that was believed to be Xehanort's son, which made her own child his descendant as well. Xehanort was a family name, given to those that resembled the sea god, which Riki's son did."

"What happened to him?" Xehanort had asked quietly, enthralled by the story.

"No one knows. When he was fourteen, he went to the playground island and simply never returned, and no trace of him was ever found. Some say that he drowned, and his body was then swept out to sea. What is known is that a visitor from elsewhere had come to the islands, and he and his young charge left on the same day that Xehanort vanished, so some believe that they left together. His parents never had any other children, and when his mother died, Lord Xehanort's bloodline was gone from the islands."

"But I could be a descendant right? Because no one knows exactly what happened to him? He could have gone somewhere and had a child?" Xehanort had asked her desperately, and she had given him a sad look - his amnesia was well known among the islanders by then – and said nothing. Dejected, he had returned home, with despair suddenly filling the space where hope had once blossomed.

******

The feel of warm water touching his feet broke Xehanort from his thoughts, and he shook his head as the sun vanished below the horizon and the moon rose behind him. He turned his head and looked up at it, wondering. Did Xehanort still sleep upon her back, protected from his father's angry gaze? Or had he healed and now wandered the islands, searching for his descendants?

Xehanort looked away and shook his head as he stood up. It was just a silly story, created by the early islanders in an attempt to explain their existence. There was no such things as gods and and goddesses.

Head hanging with the sudden weight that settled on his heart, Xehanort silently went home, where he went straight to bed.

******

"Even can't protect you now." Braig sneered as he dragged Xehanort down the long corridors to Ansem's office "I've been waiting for this for weeks."

Xehanort sobbed in terror and tried desperately to get away from the iron grip on his arms; he knew what was coming. "Let me go! I don't want this anymore!"

Braig shoved him through the open door into Ansem's office. "Well you're going to get it." Xehanort tried to run past him back out into the hallway, but a fist crashed into his gut, knocking him backwards and kicking the wind from his lungs. Xehanort collapsed to the floor, gasping, as Braig closed and locked the office door. "You're going to get it all night." Xehanort felt the toe of the sharpshooter's boot slam into his ribs, and he tried to cry out as he fell backwards to the floor. "Once I've taken all the fight out of you, I'm going to throw you on that desk and fuck you hard."

"No, no, no, no!" Xehanort wailed, and he scrambled to his feet and tried to run through the door leading to the lab. The lab had heavy steel blast doors, and if he could get behind one of them and close it, he would be safe. He had barely taken a step, however, when he was yanked backwards by his hair and spun around to meet Braig's fist as it smashed into his face. He then felt his jacket being yanked off of him, and then his shirt was torn open before he was shoved down to the floor, and the blows began to rain down. He tried to crawl away, but a hard kick to his side made him collapse back to the floor, followed by a hard punch to the back of his head. He cried out weakly as he was picked up off the floor and none too gently thrown down onto Ansem's desk on his back.

"No!" he sobbed as the rest of his clothing was removed "Please don't hurt me anymore!" His legs were pushed apart, and he heard Braig unzipping his pants. A second later, he felt the warmth of the man's body as he pressed up against him and leaned over him to whisper directly to his face before he pinned Xehanort's wrists to the desk.

"All night, Xehanort." Braig whispered with an insane grin "We have all night." He grinned again, and every word was punctuated by a roll of his hips. "And I am going to spend every single minute of it fucking you."

No Braig! Please! Don't!" Xehanort's pleas were cut off as Braig brutally entered him, and he screamed, and screamed, and screamed, and...

******

Xehanort sat up in bed, screaming in horror and remembered pain. He tore at his hair and thrashed his head about as he tried to get away from the monster that was stalking his mind, and he only screamed louder when a pair of arms came around him

"It is alright, Xehanort." A tiny part of him recognized Even's voice, but the terror of his worst memory had a firm grip on him, and it would not let go. "Braig is not here. There is no one here to hurt you. You are safe."

"Another one?" Aeleus' voice.

"Obviously! Turn the light on, and someone go get his meds!" The room flooded with light, and Xehanort felt himself being rocked gently. "Xehanort, I need you to calm down. You were dreaming again."

"Let me go!" he wailed "Please just let me go!"

"Can you hear me, Xehanort? It's just a nightmare. I've got you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Please stop! Don't hurt me anymore!" He cried out as he felt himself being hoisted onto someone's lap and held tight against a warm body, and a second later, a large hand grabbed his chin in an strong grip and held his head still as cold glass was inserted between his lips. A foul tasting liquid was squirted into his mouth, and a hand gently stroked his throat, which made him swallow. Almost immediately his cries began to quiet as the sedative that he had been prescribed to help calm him after his nightmares did its work. He then realized where he was and what had happened.

He slumped against Even as Aeleus returned to the kitchen to rinse the dropper out, and he noted Dilan and Ienzo standing in the doorway.

"M'sorry, Even." he mumbled as he was cradled in Even's arms.

Even sighed. "It is alright, Xehanort." he said tiredly as he laid Xehanort down and pulled the light summer blanket up to his chin "I imagine that you're every bit as tired of these nightmares as we are, probably more so."

"Wish they'd go away." he mumbled as his eyes closed and someone turned the light off.

Even sighed again and stroked Xehanort's hair. "As do I, Xehanort, as do I."

I'm sorry. he tried to say one more time, but the sedative pulled him into the blackness of sleep before he could voice it.

******

It wasn't until the late afternoon that Xehanort dragged himself out of bed to rejoin the others. As was normal after being dosed with the sedative, he was tired, groggy, irritable, and short tempered, and the others tried not to bother him. He had no interest in reading or doing anything else, so he sat slumped at the dining table and tried to ignore the throbbing headache caused by sleeping such a deep sleep for sixteen hours. It didn't help his mood any that the neighbors kept popping by to ask if he was alright, which meant they had heard his screaming, again.

"Wow, Xehanort." Ienzo said after people that normally didn't hear him came by to ask about him "I think the entire town heard you this time." Even shot Ienzo a warning look, but it was too late as Xehanort's fragile hold on his temper snapped.

"Do you think this is funny!" he snarled, which didn't help his throbbing head any, which only made his temper worse "Do you think I enjoy waking up the entire neighborhood screaming? Yes, isn't it fucking wonderful that I'm stuck dreaming about being raped several nights a week! Ha ha, funny isn't it, Xehanort? Just laugh it up, Ienzo, laugh!"

"Hey, cool it, Xehanort." Dilan said evenly "Ienzo didn't mean anything by it."

"If he didn't mean anything by it, then he should have kept his mouth shut! I am so damned tired of this! I'm tired of not getting any sleep! I'm tired of the neighbors treating me as this fragile thing that will break at any second! And I'm tired of you four sighing, rolling your eyes, and complaining about me! Do you think I enjoy being unable to relax! Do you think I like being haunted by Braig even though the bastard is worlds away from here! I hate it! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, and I hate that everyone seems to think that I can just make it all go away at will!"

"None of us think that, Xehanort." Even said calmly "Now calm down."

"Calm down! Calm down! Don't tell me to calm down! How can I when my family..." Xehanort's breath hitched, and he felt tears pooling in his eyes. "when my own family... is tired of me?"

"Oh Xehanort, no, that's not it at all." Even rushed over to him. "We aren't tired of you, not at all." He tried to pull Xehanort into his arms, but Xehanort yanked himself away from the embrace.

"Actions speak louder than words, Even." he said quietly, and then he fled the house in tears.

He ran down the street, ignoring Even's voice calling him back, ignoring the neighbors as he ran past them. He just... had to get away from everyone. The sun was setting as he ran out of cobblestone road and ran down the gravel path to the beach. He vaguely registered another person standing on the beach, but he was so caught up in his own misery that he spared no thoughts for him or her. He dove straight into the surf, not caring that the swim to the play island was long and that he might not make it, not caring that his boat was just a few feet away, tied up to the pier like the others. Taking it would only point a large arrow at where he had gone, and he didn't want anyone to follow him.

He didn't want anyone to see him fall apart.

Somehow, he made it to the play island safely, and he was relieved when he found it empty, which was no surprise. By then, the sun was gone from the sky, and night had fallen upon the islands. He staggered up the beach, and stumbled across the sand to the path aside the small pond with its waterfall, into the small cave where he had found the mysterious door months ago. He then collapsed to the sandy floor, curled up in a ball, and cried. Large, gasping sobs shook his body as his chest heaved and tears poured down his face. He wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked back and forth, as part of him wished that Even was there to hold him and assure him that everything was going to be alright, just like he had since the night he found found him, crying and bleeding, in his bedroom back in Radiant Garden.

Yet, another part of him was glad that he was alone. He didn't think he could bear another exasperated sigh, another eye roll, another grumbled complaint. No, he was better off alone, where he could fall to pieces without anyone there to tell him lies about how it was all going to be alright. Damn it, why, oh why, had he thought it a good idea to allow Braig to touch him? He should have said no; he should have gone to Master Ansem about it, but no. Poor little foundling has to know, so let's be stupid and let yourself be turned into another man's fucktoy! Stellar idea there, Xehanort!

"It's my fault." he whimpered between sobs "All my fault."

He crawled over to the side and pressed himself against the smooth stone wall of the cave, where he curled up in a ball on his side and cried himself to sleep.

When he woke, a cold wind was blowing into the cave, and he shivered in his wet clothes as he stood up and walked to the mouth of the cave. His nose was stuffed up, his head felt as if it was about to explode, and he realized that he probably ought to go home, as much as he was loathe to, but that thought was stricken from his mind as he glanced outside.

The sky was covered with boiling black clouds, and a shrieking wind was blowing, whipping the normally small ocean waves into large white caps. Not too far away, lightning flashed, followed barely a second later by the rumble of thunder. With a storm rolling in, swimming back to the main island would be suicide; even with a boat, it would be dangerous, so he would just have to wait it out. He carefully rearranged the vines over the cave entrance to block out as much of the wind as possible, and then he returned to the cave, where he leaned up against the strange door just as the storm broke overhead. Lightning lit up the interior of the cave as the thunder reverberated through the rocks. Rain poured down in sheets, and the howling wind blew it through small holes and openings in the rock, which forced him to move to the other side of the cave to keep from getting any wetter than he already was. He curled up against just as a flash of lightning left spots in his vision, and an ear splitting peal of thunder made him clap his hands over his ears.

"I hope no one is out looking for me." he muttered to himself and then kicked himself. He had run out of the house crying after completely losing it on them. Of course, they were out looking for him! He was suddenly glad that he had left his boat then; if they knew it was gone, then they would try to get to the other islands to look for him, and being caught in this storm was certain death. Even from the cave, over the wind and rain and thunder, he could hear the waves crashing down on the beach with incredible force. They had to be huge.

"Please be safe." he whispered as he curled up in a tight ball and pressed himself as close to the rock as he could get. He laid his head down on the sand and yawned, still tired from the after effects of the sedative, and all the crying that he had done. Maybe if he went to sleep, the storm would be over when he woke, and he could go home.

And apologize to the others for being such a jerk.

"I'm sorry." he whispered faintly as he closed his eyes and relaxed into the sand, and within mere moments, he was asleep.

******

A earth shaking roar of thunder woke him, and he quickly realized that something wasn't right. His head felt muzzy and full of cobwebs, his head was throbbing worse than before, and he was shivering and freezing cold. His sinuses were completely blocked, his throat was sore, his vision was blurry, and when he reached up with a shaking hand and touched his forehead, it felt hot to the touch. He groaned and laid his head back down on the sand and wished fervently that he had never fled the house earlier. With the storm still raging loudly outside, he couldn't return home yet, so he had to wait it out.

He curled up as much as he could and tried to warm himself up, but he was shivering so hard, and he ached, and oh, how he wished he was at home in his warm bed. He closed his aching eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but he was too miserable to sleep, and as the minutes passed, he realized that he was getting worse. He tried to stand up, to do what he wasn't sure, but the cave titled and spun, which forced him to either lie back down or risk falling. He could only hope that, once the storm ended, someone would realize that he could have swam to the other island and come looking for him. He laid his aching head down on the sand and somehow, he was able to go back to sleep.

******

When he next woke, it was because he felt someone picking him up.

"Even?" he mumbled fuzzily.

"Go back to sleep, Xehanort." said a strange voice that was very rough and raspy and suffered from a serious lisp.

Like his mouth and throat had been burned. Xehanort thought as he was carried out of the cave and into the still raging storm. Strangely, he felt neither the wind nor the rain on him, and he peeped his eyes open to see who had him, but his vision was so blurry all could make out in the poor lighting was a vaguely human shape.

"Just relax, little one." the voice said soothingly "I'll have you home soon."

Oddly comforted by the voice and the arms that held him, and feeling completely unafraid of something that would have terrified him just a few hours earlier, Xehanort allowed himself to fall easily back into the darkness of sleep.

OOOOOO

Voices.

Muffled voices fell upon his ears as he felt his wet clothes being peeled off. He cried out weakly and struggled feebly, but he heard that other voice again, as clear as a bell.

"It is alright, little one. They are trying to help you, not hurt you."

"M'scared." he whimpered faintly, and though he could see nothing but blurred swatches of color and movement around him, he was certain that the voice smiled at him.

"No one will hurt you anymore, little one. Trust me, and let them take care of you."

Xehanort whimpered again as he closed his eyes, but he stopped trying to struggle as he was dried off and dressed in dry clothes. He felt the warmth of a blanket over him and the sting of a needle in his arm, and a familiar hand began to stroke his hair.

"Even?"

"Shhhhh," came Even's voice from beside him "Everything's going to be alright, Xehanort. You're very sick right now, but you'll feel better soon."

"M'sorry about earlier."

"There is nothing for you to apologize for. Go to sleep and focus on getting well."

"Stay with me?"

"I have no intention of breaking my promise and leaving you, Xehanort. Go to sleep now." Xehanort felt Even's hand move to gently grasp his own as he tumbled back into sleep's embrace.

******

When he next woke, he could barely open his eyes. The lids felt as though they were weighted down, but somehow he managed to pry them open, which allowed him to get a blurred look at his surroundings. He realized right away that he was not at home, and it didn't take much for him to realized that he was in an infirmary somewhere.

Again.

The room was dark, but he was just barely able to make out Even sleeping slumped in a nearby chair, and over by the window, standing in the moonlight that was pouring through the glass was another person. He wasn't frightened by the presence of a stranger in the same room as him, and he had just enough presence of mind to realize how odd that was. The person had their back to him, and the moonlight shone oddly bright on them as they stood there. He could just barely make out long hair that appeared to be light in color and patchy, like hanks of it had been ripped out, and skin that appeared to be heavily scarred, but that was all he could see. As if he or she was aware of his scrutiny, the figure turned around to face him. The face was blurred and indistinct, but Xehanort was again certain that the person smiled at him.

"Go back to sleep, little one." he said gently, and Xehanort recognized it as the owner of the voice that had spoken to him before and the one that had carried him home "Rest, and get well."

Xehanort had just enough time to wonder if a spell had been cast on him as he dropped off to sleep almost instantly.

******

Xehanort was in the small clinic that served as the islands' hospital for several days. Though no one told him what he had exactly, he heard the words "Seven day fever" mentioned off and on, so he assumed that was what it was. Not that he really cared. He felt absolutely miserable, suffering from severe headaches, chills, high fevers, nasty muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and a rash. Other than the doctor and nurses that were looking after him, only Even was allowed in the room, for fear of giving him a lethal secondary infection. Even seldom left his side, and the blond did his best to soothe and comfort him when he was feeling his worst.

Through it all though, even though no one else was supposed to be in the room, that strange man was always hovering nearby, though he preferred standing by the window when the moon was out. During the day, he retreated to the opposite side of the room and hung in the shadows. He never spoke, but surprising himself, Xehanort found his presence comforting. He knew somehow that no one could harm him as long as the stranger was in the room. Granted, Even wouldn't let anyone hurt him either, but Braig had gotten around that by taking Even out of the equation, so it was possible for others to do the same. He didn't get a good look at the person at first; he stayed in the shadows when the sun was out, and Xehanort's tired eyes couldn't see clearly beyond Even's chair. No one else, however, seemed to notice the man's presence, but Xehanort was too tired and ill to bother asking about him.

Four days after he was brought to the hospital, weak and so desperately ill, Xehanort's illness began to ease, and he began to feel a little better, though he still felt awful overall.

"When can I go home, Even?" he asked on afternoon as Even bathed him, though he kept his eyes on the strange figure that was hovering in the back corner of the room behind the door "I'm tired of being here."

"Not yet." Even answered as he ran the sponge over Xehanort's legs "You still have a bit to go before they'll let you leave here."

Xehanort grumbled something then as Even dried him off and dressed him in a clean nightshirt.

"I have to go home for the night now." Even said "Since you're feeling better, they demanded that I go home, eat, take a shower, and sleep in a bed instead of a chair. Will you be alright alone? If you want me to stay, I'll stay, regardless of what they say."

"Go on home." Xehanort replied "I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

Xehanort smiled weakly. "I'm sure." He reached out to Even then, and the taller man engulfed him in a tight embrace for a moment before he helped him lie down and tucked him in."Goodnight, Even."

"Goodnight, Xehanort. I'll see you in the morning." Even smiled at him, and then he walked quietly out of the room, leaving Xehanort alone with the stranger in the corner.

"Goodnight, little one."

"Goodnight, whoever you are." Xehanort replied with a yawn, and he heard a raspy chuckle as he closed his eyes and relaxed into sleep.

******

What Xehanort did not know, because no one had told him, was that Seven Day Fever is a biphasic disease, which means symptoms appear in the first stage, are followed by a brief respite, before the second, more dangerous, stage begins.

It was in the middle of the night, after Even had gone home, that this second stage hit.

******

Xehanort's eyes snapped open, and he realized immediately that he had worsened. His head was killing him, his gut hurt worse than it had when Braig had punched him, and he was burning up with fever again.

"Even?" he called out weakly, but there was no answer, and he realized that Even had gone home for the night. "Somebody?"

"I am here, little one." said the raspy voice, and he realized with a start that the figure was right next to the bed, allowing him to get his first clear look at the stranger that had been hanging around. He realized quickly that the person resembled him a great deal. The hair was patchy as he'd noticed earlier, but what hair there was fell in long white waves down his back, and what skin that wasn't covered in scar tissue was tanned like his own. His ears were malformed, almost like they had been melted somehow. The eyes he couldn't see, due to the white strip of cloth that was wound around the stranger's head, covering his eyes completely.

Xehanort processed all of this in an instant before he focused on the more important thing; he felt miserable again, and Even was gone.

"I thought I was getting better." he whined as the stranger sat him up and pulled him close like Even often did when he was upset.

"You were, little one, but this is the second stage of your sickness. Once you're through it, you'll be done with this."

Xehanort groaned and closed his eyes, but whatever he had planned to say next was interrupted by footsteps coming towards his room. Before he could blink he found himself lying down in bed again, but the stranger stayed close to the bed instead of moving over to the window. A nurse came into the room then to check on him, and upon finding him lying in bed, feverish once more, she promptly left the room to fetch the doctor.

Xehanort passed the night miserable and upset, and though he asked for Even several times, no one went to call him. The stranger never moved away from the bed, though Xehanort noticed that the doctor and nurses moved around him like he wasn't even there and never spoke to him. How rude of them...

Even returned as dawn's first rays were peeking through the window, and only then did the stranger retreat to the back corner of the room. By then Xehanort was worse than he had been when he had first been admitted, and he vaguely noted that Even looked ready to burst into tears at the sight of him.

"Why did no one call for me when he began to worsen?" he heard the blond demand, but he couldn't make out the doctor's answer. He was just so tired...

"Ev'n," he manged to croak, and the blond moved over to the bedside, carefully wrapped his blanket around him, sat on the edge of the mattress, and gathered him into his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Xehanort." Even murmured soothingly as he gently rocked Xehanort like had had back in Radiant Garden "I should have stayed with you, but I'm here now, and I won't leave you again."

"Don't feel good."

"I know, and I'm so sorry I left you alone."

"Wasn't alone. Had him with me."

"Who?"

"Him," Xehanort wanted to point the stranger out – why hadn't Even noticed him before? - but he couldn't muster the energy to raise him arm. "Stayed with me... while you were gone. Wasn't alone."

"Wonderful," he heard Even mutter "He's hallucinating now."

"Not halluci.. hallucina... aw screw it." Xehanort snuggled close and tucked his head into the crook of Even's neck. Even was warm, and his lap was comfortable, and it had been a long time since he'd been held like this. It was... nice.

Even sighed, and his arms cinched tighter around Xehanort's shivering form. "Go back to sleep, I'm here with you now."

This Xehanort had no problem with -

Is this what it feels like to have a loving parent?

- and he fell asleep quickly, safe and secure and warm in Even's arms.


-- Part 2
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