One Last Perspective
His hand won't quite fit in hers, she thinks, so Xion just smiles and grabs the front of his jacket. It feels like chocolate syrup beneath her fingers but less sticky. "Hi," she tells teh tal man in the suit whose fingers reach down to her knees. "My name's Xion. Do you want to meet my friends?" They're scared, but when they meet the tall man themselves, they'll feel better. He's not like those strangers in those school videos that talk about candy and vans. He's kinda like Sora and Roxas' daddy, Officer Lexaeus. He only looks scary. "I don't think we can say your name," she babbles happily, "so we'll just call you Slendy."
He just nods his head enthusiastically. Maybe a little too much, because it twists and shakes in all sorts of weird ways. Xion doesn't mind. She does the same thing after a bath. Kinda.
Still holding Slendy's jacket, she turns to her friends. There's no resistance on her new friend; he let's her tug him about. It's everyone else who suddenly panics. Suddenly, there's screaming and yelling and Xion tries, she really does, to keep up with them all, yelling their names. She ends up scraping her knee, tears pouring down her face as she sobs. It just gets worse when she finds a lot of them at the bottom of a hill, something they can't possibly have seen amidst all the fog. No matter how much she tries, she can't stop crying, even when Slendy lets her borrow fifty cents for a telephone call to get doctors, even as Slendy carries her off into the trees because she can't stop crying.
By the time the trees are dyed red and blue with the lights of paramedics and sirens are screaming through the air, Xion is already long gone, tired and asleep in too long-too many arms.
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It's a very old house that Slendy lives in, although Xion thinks it might've been a factory, or something once. There's all those machines around and the red paint peeling off. Still, there's a part of it that's homey, and that's where Xion sits, legs dangling from a too tall stool. There's no happiness as she toys with a faceless plain doll in her hands. The only time her red rimmed eyes look up is when cutlery and porcelain clink against the table. "Oh. Hi, Mrs. Slendy."
The thing before her is similar to the man int eh suit: too tall, no face. The difference is the pretty polka dot sundress she wears underneath her apron and the short blond curls that sprout from her head. She's his wife. Xion is pretty sure of that. As Mrs. Slendy gestures to the plate, Xion shakes her head. "No thank you. They look yummy, but..." Her gaze drops down to the doll again. Mrs. Slendy just pushes the plate closer to the girl. At last, Xion sighs and reluctantly replaces the doll with a fork and knife. "Alright..." Still looking depressed, Xion begins to cut apart the freshly made pancakes, just like her mommy taught her. She's not really expecting much, but once she begins to chew... Xion blinks and swallows experimentally. In seconds, the pancakes are being gulped down. "Wow, Mrs. Slendy!" She grins up at the woman. "You make really good pancakes!"
Mrs. Slendy just waves away the compliment bashfully, but both of them look up when they spot a dash of black moving from the shadows. Xion jumps off of the chair and runs to Slendy. "Are they okay!?" she cries, clinging to his jacket. "You checked, right? Right?"
Slendy just nods and Xion slumps in relief. Thank goodness... Exhaustion overtakes her and Slendy picks her up before she can fall to the floor. As the two strange adults rest her on a worn old couch, she looks up. Blinks. "You guys want me to be your daughter for a while?" she echoes. "I already have a mommy and daddy. Um, their names are Lucrecia and Vexen Crescent. I don't think..." Another pause. "Well, maybe if we visited a lot. I don't know if Daddy will like you..."
The statement is proven true when Daddy stumbles into the home a few nights later, still in his pajamas and his blond hair disheveled. He looks even more confused when Xion squeals and practically flings herself against his legs. "Daddy! I missed you!"
"X-Xion?" His hands, whose fingers she always remembers flicking through heavy books and pouring chemicals and brushing through Mommy's hair, flit about over her shoulders. "What..." Silence, and when Xion looks up, she sees him staring at the Slendy couple. Finally, he sighs. "Of course. I knew I shouldn't have let Luxord and Xigbar drag me off to 'drink away my troubles'." She's pretty sure he means just that last bit for himself. "This is only a dream."
"M'kay," the daughter says happily, not processing or caring about his words as she wraps her hands around one of his. Like always, it's cold to the touch. They've always been like that. "You're going to stay for a while, right?" She tugs him to the dinner table. "They have all sorts of games! Even Uno!"
From t hat point onwards, her daddy is brought over every Tuesday and Thursday, sometimes more. It's not bad, really, although she would love to see Mommy. On the bright side, she doesn't hav eto go to school anymore. Mrs. Slendy knows all sorts of school things and Slendy shows her how to do other cool stuff. As the years pass by, she learns how to walk without being heard, how to make people forget they've seen her, how to mimic voices.
And the years do pass by...
"Your boyfriend has moved back into town," Vexen mentions one Thursday night. Xion feels a bit bad for him; for some reason, he still thinks these meetings are all dreams. Whenever she thinks of telling him they're not, Mrs. Slendy just shakes her head. In the end, Xion never does.
Xion blinks in confusion, watching as her daddy places Scrabble letters down on the board. "Boyfriend?" she asks, even as Slendy looks up and his wife's shoulders shake in silent laughter. There's a fifth member to their little group these days, maybe Slendy's nephew or something, a man who sits funny in his seat and always wears a mask. Xion tends to just call him Em. She's rather fond of him just like she loves all of her 'other' family. Her daddy? Not so much. Even now, he glares at Em suspiciously while fiddling with his letters. Em just crosses his eyes in silent mocking reply.
"You know, that brat you ran about with when you were younger." Vexen's eyes switch to mrs. Slendy as she daintily spels out 'cat'. "Axel. With the red hair, remember?"
Heat rushes to her face and Xion just knows she's bright red. "He wasn't my boyfriend!" she exclaims as Em takes his turn.
"Of course he wasn't," her daddy says, obviously not believing her if his little smirk is any indication. Before seh can raise any more of a fuss, he suddenly leans forward with a scowl. "Oh no you do n't!" he snaps, jabbing a finger at Em. "No more of your gibberish! Cthulhu is not a word!" As everyone's attention drifts back to the game, Xion's mind drifts back to her childhood. Axel...
Of course she remembers Axel. Axel, with the bright red hair and the shiny green eyes. Axel, who didn't mind letting her play Cops and Robbers with him. Axel, who had once gotten into a fight with some jerk named Xack because he'd glared at her once. A light stirring appears within her heart and stays with her til morning. Tentatively, she sneaks from their home and heads to the high school she should be going to. It's easy to find trees in their little town, and Xion forces her surroundings into letting her blend. As she waits and watches, Xion feels her heart sink.
While she loves her other family, it still hurts to watch her friends move on without her. Of course she's tried to contact them; who wouldn't? Together, she and Slendy must have tapped on their windows a million times by now. Not even pleading for them to see her has worked. It's still nice to see them, however far away she is. Fuu pecking Namine on the lips before the blonde rushes to talk to Roxas, Sora smiling like a sun as he chats it up with a redhead in turquoise... Balthier and Rai have both graduated already and unlike Fuu, have no one to visit at the school. The same can be said of the other two triplets.
Balthier... Xion rubs her eyes just thinking about her older brother.
A flash of red draws her out from her sadness, and the dark haired girl smiles as she leans around the tree. Axel has definitely grown up. Like, really grown up. He's really tall, for one thing, all lanky limbs and a lazy smirk. Despite having been gone for so long, he merges back with their friends like it's the most natural thing in the world. Would it work that way for her, too? She can't help but wonder.
The next night, she convinces Slendy to come with her to Axel's house. She can't reach his room, upon the second story, and a rock might break it. All s he can do is wait as her adoptive father taps and taps on the glass. Xion's heart sinks in her chest and flutters back up only marginally at the thgouth he jus tmight not be home. So they try again the night after, and the night after that... Eventually, Xion doe enough pleading and has Slendy lift her up to the window. Long used to the strange tentacles that weave together as an impromptu bench, Xion just waits until she's high enough. Hesitantly, she begins to tap on the window.
"Axel? You're in there, right? Can you open the window? Please? I miss you. We haven't seen each other in ages.... Axel? I.. I'm lonely... Please open the window. Wouldn't it be cool if we could hang out like we used to? Not just playin' games or anything, just... I'd... Axel? Axel? Please?"
No answer. No open window. Xion is silent and somber as she's lowered to the ground and lead back 'home'. After that, she doesn't talk much. Most of the time, she just lies on the one couch that Slendies own, wrapped up in blankets and staring at nothing. Mrs. Slendy keeps bringing her pancakes and her husband still goes out to pester Axel almost every night. He's probably annoyed, Xion thinks dimly. Em visits a lot more these days, and whenever he comes, eh and Slendy argue a lot. She watches it happen wordlessly as she falls asleep. Once, she resurfaces to consciousness to the sight of Em sulking on top of a busted dresser while Slendy angrily makes another faceless doll. Another time, her real daddy is sitting by her head, stroking her hair.
"I miss my friends," she croaks.
"Then why don't you come back to us, Xion?" is the simple and tired response he gives. Blinking in surprise, Xion marvels at the idea. As she looks across the room, Em meets her eyes and nods. An agreement is silently made.
The next day, when the Slendies are out, she and Em rush to shove her things, few as they are, into an old sports bag. Adrenaline rushes through her veins, followed by guilt. She's running away! Finally going to be with her friends again! Slendy and Mrs. Slendy have been great, but Xion wants to be with the rest of the world now. Soon, the last oversized t-shirt is stuffed inside and they rush towards the door. they fling it open-
And somehow open it to the living room they had just tried to escape. Mrs. Slendy sits on the couch, arms crossed. Xion flinches. Em just crosses his arms and hunches his shoulders, sulking. "Please, Mrs. Slendy?" Xion pleads.
Predictable silence, but then Mrs. Slendy's shoulders slump. In a flash, she's enveloped her adoptive daughter in a tight hug. Being wrapped up in arms and tentacles as she is, it takes all of Xion's strength to weakly pat her in return. "I love you too," her muffled voice says. They pull back so that she can breathe. Xion's head suddenly snaps up and she stares at Mrs. Slendy with wide eyes. "No! I couldn't! You met Slendy in that dress!" The older woman just shakes her head stubbornly and takes Xion by the arm.
That's how, an hour or two later, Xion stands on the side of the dark road in a pretty polka dot red dress and a string of pearls around her neck. By her sides are her two guardians. Mrs. Slendy keeps dabbing at her featureless face with a handkerchief, positively weepy. Em, on the other hand, is waiting as patiently as he can for any sign of a car. In-between comforting Mrs. Slendy, Xion looks over at him. "Are you sure a car will come?" she asks. "It just got dark, after all." Em's shoulders begin to jerk in a spastic shrug before he suddenly perks up. Xion follows his point with her eyes. Car lights are far down the road, coming from the direction of the town, and Xion starts to cheer up... And then she recognizes the far off RV. Her shoulders slump. "That belongs to Axel's dad..." They all know, however, that Axel's father is out on a trip. Only one other person could have the keys...
Em pats her shoulder comfortingly while Mrs. Slendy scrunches up her handkerchief. After a moment, the Eldritch Abomination squares up her shoulders. Xion only blinks in confusion as Mrs. Slendy steps past her. "Mrs. Slendy?" she calls, even as the woman's speed quickens and she steps out into the road-
SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!
CRASH!
Xion claps her hands to her mouth, staring with wide eyes. This state doesn't really change much, even when Mrs. Slendy happily waves from the overturned RV, even when Em hands her a cell he took from someone's pants. Somehow, through the grace of something, help is called for. Minutes later finds Xion somehow riding with the paramedics, still slightly shocked even as she tightly grips Balthier's hand. They're separated, of course, him to an emergency room to make sure he's not too severely injured and her to a doctor's office. When he briefly steps out, she looks out his window and spots a familiar and intimidating suited figure down in the parking lot .Xion just breathes a fog over the glass. Her fingers trace out words.
I love you.
Down in the parking lot, the figure loses his frightening firmness and slump his shoulders. Sadly, he waves good bye. When the doctor comes back to tell her the others are waking up, the figure is gone.
With a clean bill of health, she slowly strolls down the hall of the hospital. Worry filled fingers twirl the pearls that Mrs. Slendy gave her. Will they all remember her after so long? Or will they have forgotten her completely? What can she say if she ends up as a stranger? The pearls end up being slipped into her duffel bag; she doesn't feel particularly special and doesn't want to seem too out of place. Mama's old and modified dress is all the comfort she can have. Finally, she stops in front of a room. Behind the door, voices flow and rise in wonderful familiar chaos. She ends up having to recognize and familiarize herself with the voices all over again, so different are they from the ones of her childhood. Balthier, Axel, Roxas, Sora... The others are in another room, she thinks.
I can't stand here forever. Despite the thought, she ends up just pacing in nervousness outside in the hall. She wants to do it, she wants to open the door and smile and see her friends again. That's why she ran away in the first place, isn't it? Because while living with her other family is wonderful, she's lonely. Before she can lose her nerve completely, the door suddenly swings open, and she's left frozen in place as she stares at an equally surprised Axel. He looks just the same as he had when she had dropped by the school- no, wait, there are dark circles under his eyes, the kind she knows people get when they haven't slept in ages. All she can do is smile, a worried question on the tip of her tongue, before Roxas is suddenly there as well, squeezing through the door. In seconds, their arms are wrapped tight around her, all spice and sea salt and fire light warmth. Xion barely has time to realize her eyes are stinging before Balthier's voice rises over everything, and his hands cup her face as the two siblings truly see each other for the first time in years. Fat tears roll over his fingers and then she's clinging to him like she'll never let go. The others are coming- she can hear their voices, feel their touch as they make sure she's truly there, and questions are being asked, but she can't say anything. Her tears are getting in the way, staining Balthier's shirt and leaking down the back of her throat.
They didn't forget her after all.
