Catch Us If You Can

Roxas and Ven got home only moments later, but it felt like an eternity to the two sleepy little boys. Their father wasn’t home yet, but it didn’t bother them. They were just so tired. After taking off their jackets and sneakers they went to their shared room and curled up on their individual beds, falling asleep instantly.

And that was how their father found them when he arrived home only an hour later. He would have reprimanded them for not locking the door, but after seeing how much they made today, he pushed it aside and let them sleep.

“Good night, boys. Tomorrow’s going to be big day for both of you.” He kissed them both on their foreheads, pulled the sheets up around the shoulders and stood in the doorway for a moment just watching them.

He couldn’t believe five years had passed since he found them in that cave on the Main Island. It had been a bumpy start, his decision to take them in, especially when he wasn’t making munny anymore.

For the first three months, he tried his best to find a job, getting one temporarily at a small fish plant, but with it being mid September, he was only there for about three weeks or so. The pay was good, and it was enough to keep food in his and the twin’s bellies, but he still had to pay for childcare while he was working, so the munny ran out rather quickly.

From there, everything just went down hill. He tried to find another job, one that would last longer and the pay would be enough to support the three of them, but he had to face it, there wasn’t very many job choices on the small island in the beginning. He knew they had to leave, but didn’t have the money for the transportation.

Until one day, almost two months later, he came across one of his old friends—he and his girlfriend were heading out to visit someone in Radiant Gardens. He saw opportunity knocking at his door and swallowed his pride. He asked his friend if he could go with them, explaining the situation. He and the twins were close to being kicked out of the apartment anyway, his rent was a couple months overdue.

Thankfully his friend accepted, refusing the little bit of munny he had on him, and before long they were in Radiant Gardens.

His friend gave him some munny for a couple nights stay in a hotel. But once that ran out, they were on their own again. Not wanting them to be sleeping on the streets, knowing it would definitely not be good for the two babies he had to carry, he again, swallowed his pride and started knocking on a few doors—desperately needing a place to stay, and some baby formula for the twins.

Needless to say, after an hour of literally begging, he came to a home that could almost be a mansion. It was here he was able to receive help. A young couple, enchanted by the adorable babies, offered for them to stay the night and even gave them some munny in the morning so he could buy some baby formula and try and find a cheap place to rent.

Over 5,000 munny was given to him. He was shocked. They were kind people, and he had every intention to pay them back, every penny…but it never happened.

When that munny was close to running out, and he desperately needed baby formula, he went to one of the small convenience stores to buy some. He didn’t have enough munny, though. But the clerk saw the twins in his arms and gave the formula to him for free—not even thinking of the consequences.

It was that action that got him thinking. Twice, the twins saved both his life and theirs. The babies must have a natural charm that drew people in. He could use them…and make money munny in the most simplest of ways.

Where his thoughts were heading, it was wrong, and he knew it, but desperation sometimes brought out the worst in people. And for him, it was definitely the case. For five years, even after living comfortably with the twins, he continued to make easy munny—ignoring his conscience and using the twins for his own personal gain by conning people.

And dragged Roxas and Ventus into his little game as well.

The next morning, bright and early, he woke the twins telling them of the fun day they were going to have. After they were washed, dressed and fed, he locked the door and took them out.

“Ok boys, I’m going to teach you how to do something really fun.” Ven and Roxas looked up at their father, holding each other’s hand as they followed him along the busy sidewalk of the city. “It’s a great way to get munny.”

“Are we doin’ another funrazor?” Roxas asked. He liked doing those, they made a lot of munny yesterday and their father was very pleased with how well they did.

“No. It’s a little more difficult to pull off than a fundraiser,” their father chuckled. “You have to be very quick. There’s no room for error. If you mess up, you get caught and face the possibility of jail.”
Ven whimpered. “Jail? I don’t wanna go to jail!”

“Me neither, Venny…” Roxas whispered, giving his twin’s hand a small comforting squeeze although he was shaking at the very thought of getting caught, and their father hadn’t even told them what they were going to do yet!

“Relax. No one’s going to jail. I’m too smart, and you two are way too young. They never put kids in jail.”

“But…what if you ever got caught daddy?”

“Yeah, daddy…what would happen to us?”

What a horrible thought, one he could never dwell on long. He knew if he ever got caught the twins would be taken from him, put in an orphanage…separated. And he’d never see them again.

He could never let that happen to them, so he lied.

“Don’t worry, guys, it’ll never happen. Now watch the pro.”

The twins blinked, looking at each other before shrugging. They tagged along behind him, following as quickly as they could as he led them through the throng of people bustling past at a dizzying speed. Ven clung to Roxas’s hand tightly, feeling a little scared, as though he might suffocate from the sheer size of the crowd.

“Daddy…” He whimpered softly, but his tiny voice was lost in the crowd, in fact, their daddy was lost as well…or they were. “Rox…where’d he go…he’s gone…Rox…help please…”

Roxas was having a hard time keeping hold of Ven’s hand, nearly forced to let go as someone jostled him in passing, someone else bumping into him from behind. “Hang on, Venny, I’ll get us outta this, I promise!”

Needless to say, the twins lost their grips on each other’s hand and were torn apart, carried off into separate directions as people continued to come and go, hurrying to get from one place or another.

Ven couldn’t handle much more, his daddy was gone and so was his twin. He fell to the ground, scraping his knee on the hard cement sidewalk. Frightened and in pain, he crab crawled up against the wall of a building and pulled his knees against his chest. His lower lip trembled as he watched the crowd eventually get smaller until only a few people were walking by.

Roxas and his daddy were no were to be seen.

Now he was really scared. He was all alone in a big city, separated from his daddy and his twin brother and his knee was bleeding!

“Rox…daddy…I don’t wanna die!”

Ven gripped his stinging knee, eyes welling with tears. Why wouldn’t it stop bleeding? Was there something wrong with him? He lifted his hand, blood stained the palm.

“I-I don’t wanna die!” He sobbed, “Rox…daddy…help me…”

He wiped at his eyes, watching people walk by, some sparing him a glance, others not even noticing, but no one stopped or came over.

Just when Ven was about to give up all hope of ever seeing Roxas or his daddy ever again, someone looked over, but instead of just walking past, they stopped and came over to him.

“Oh my God, are you alright?” Ven looked up slowly. His eyes were red from crying, his face streaked from dried tears. He didn’t say anything, just watched the stranger noticing he had bright blue eyes and spiky brown hair. “Can you talk?”

Ven nodded his head, mumbling yes, and the stranger breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you hurt?”

“I lost all my blood…” He whimpered softly, and the stranger chuckled, looking at the indicated spot. His knee.

“It’s just a small scrape, but I bet it hurts a lot, huh?”

“Mm-hm,” Ven sniffled, “but not as much as it hurts here,” he pointed his heart. The stranger’s eyes widened.

“Are you having any pain now? Any problems breathing?” He was trying to sound calm, but the worry seeped through.

“No.”

“Ok…uh…how about when it started? Can you tell me when started feeling the pain?”

“After I lost Roxas and daddy…”

“Oh…” The stranger visibly relaxed, happy the kid was experiencing a heart attack or something equally scary. Could kids get heart attacks? Hmm…

“Will I ever see them again?” Ven’s voice was so small, the stranger had the urge to take the child into his arms and just hold him. And he acted on it. Ven buried his face into the stranger’s shirt, gripping hold of it, sobbing.

“Shh…it’s alright, we’ll find them, just wait and see.” He rocked the little boy back and forth gently, whispering soft reassurances for a few minutes.

Ven’s crying subsided to little whimpers and sniffles as he clung to the stranger. He felt safe and comfortable in this person’s arms.

“So…do you have name?”

“Uh-huh. It’s Ventus. Everyone calls me Ven though.”

“Really? That’s cool. Mine’s Sora.” Ven smiled, the first Sora saw since he spotted the distraught child. “You said you had a twin?”

“Yep. His name’s Roxas. He looks just like me!”

Sora grinned, Ven was so adorable! “Aw, you’re so cute!” He laughed and got to his feet, hoisting Ven up onto his shoulders making him giggle. “Tell you what, I’m going to help you look for them. But you have to hold on tight, got it?”

“Got it!” Ven leaned forward a little, wrapping his arms around Sora’s neck.
Sora took hold of Ven’s ankles, another precaution to make sure he didn’t fall, and started off in the direction he came from, keeping an eye out for a little boy that looked like Ven and a man that looked like both of them.

But maybe…he should ask Ven what his daddy looked like just to be sure.

“Hey Ven?”

“Yeah?” He squinted, looking over Sora’s head, searching for his brother and father.

“Does your daddy look like you and your brother?”

“Umm…I don’t think so. His hair is long. He told us it’s silver, ‘cause he hates being called grey.”

Sora slowed down, processing what Ven said. That description, although vague, sounded awfully familiar. He had a friend one time…back on Destiny Islands…they did everything together. Until Sora decided one day he needed to see other places—and just left without saying a word to anyone.

Yes, it was cruel, leaving like that, allowing his friends and his own mother to believe something bad might have happened to him. But he was old enough to be on his own now, and the Island was just…getting too small.

He had to leave.

“Sora?” Ven’s little voice brought him back from his thoughts.

He smiled. “Yeah, Ven?”

“I don’t see them anywhere…” Ven was on the verge of crying again.

“No don’t cry, Ven, we’ll find them.” Sora hated hearing little kids cry, it reminded him of when he got picked on when he was younger, all because he was short and looked like a girl. Or at least that’s what one of his classmates said one day—but Riku defended him, he punched the kid right in the face and made him cry.

Sora smirked at the memory.

“Veeeeeeeennnn!”

Sora was pulled from his thoughts yet again, blinking. He swore he just heard Ven’s name being called. And from the way Ven was squirming on his shoulders, he knew the kid heard it as well.

“Veeeennnnnnyyyyyy!”

Ven squealed, spotting his daddy and Roxas across the street. “I see them! I see them! Daddy!”

Sora looked around, frowning. He seriously wasn’t that short was he? He knew they were around somewhere, but he couldn’t see them. “Where are they?”

“Across the street! Daddy! Roxas!” Ven waved wildly, finally catching their attention.

Sora looked over in time to see a little boy with blond hair—the carbon copy of Ven, tugging at someone’s hand, pointing excitedly at his head.

And the person attached to that hand….

“…Riku.”