Child Of Promises

Chapter eleven

A red blur...

'Where am I?'

Slowly, Roxas' vision becomes clearer.

'A...nursery?"

"Hush~ child~
The darkness will rise from the deep~
And, carry you down to sleep~
child~..."

Roxas turns his head slightly and sees a fuzzy image of a woman with black hair. Pain starts radiates from his chest and he begins crying as it becomes worse, radiating outward from the center of his chest.

"Aw, now honey, what's the matter?" He feels himself being picked up.

'It hurts. Mommy why does it hurt? Make it stop...'

"Cain! Roxas' magic is acting up again!"

His mother places him against her chest, shushing him and gently rubbing his back in a soothing manner.

"Hand him here,"

Roxas feels himself being pulled away, 'no! Mommy don't let me go!'

"Come on little buddy, let daddy see you."

After a small tug of war with Roxas refusing to let go of his mother's shirt, he finally gets pulled away and into the strong arms of a blond haired man, "there we go, it's okay Roxas," his father coos.

The burning gets worse and Roxas cries harder.

"Cain, I'm not sure what to do," he hears his mother say, voice strained from wanting to help her baby but not knowing how.

"We knew what we were getting into when we had him Gina, we can't stop the pain only sooth it."

"But what if we can't anymore?"

'Somebody, please...make the pain stop...mommy...daddy...' Roxas thinks, wanting so badly to put his pleas into words, but unable to.

'What's the matter?' A new voice enters his mind.

'What?'

'Oh...you're in a lot of pain...why is that?'

'I don't know! I just want it to stop! Please make it stop...' Roxas begs.

The voice is quiet, but then Roxas feels something else. It's as if arms are wrapping around him; not his fathers arms Roxas knows, but they are warm and comforting and he gets the impression of someone running their fingers through his hair.

'It's okay Roxy, what kind of Other would I be if I couldn't make you stop hurting?'

"Cain, he's calming down!" Gina sounds astonished, "did you do something?"

"No, I don't know what it could be!" Cain bounces Roxas a little bit, "maybe his magic is settling again?"

The pain in Roxas' chest slowly fades away and Roxas does a mental sigh.

'There now,' the new voice says, sounding relieved, 'go to sleep, you seem tired.'

'Stay with me?' Roxas asks.

The voice is silent for a moment and Roxas almost panics before it says in an uncertain, but determined tone, 'I'll try...'

And with that, Roxas feels himself relax as darkness overcomes him. He smiles and welcomes it with open arms.