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mimiplaysgames · 3 years

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Terraqua Week Day 1 (Weak Spot)

Summary: We all have to make peace with the past. (In which Terra returns in Xemnas’s body and I scream SIZE DIFFERENCE.) || Word Count: 8,319

Read on AO3

A/N: AAAAAHHHH I’m so excited that we’re doing a whole other @terraquaweek !! I have to apologize ahead of time, my fics this year are super long and super packed, but I’m pretty proud of this collection and I can’t wait for y’all to read! I can’t wait to hear what you think! <3

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Time Takes You For Granted

Terra looks so different.

No matter—Aqua has to fight. She can’t hold back when he summons red sabers of light from his palms, can’t falter when he hammers them against the staff of her Keyblade, can’t blink when canyon dust is kicked into her eyes, can’t be fooled by his face because this man is not Terra and couldn’t ever pretend to be.

He opens his arms to conjure a fatal blow—but he underestimates her speed. She’s grown up fighting large men. He is no big deal.

The man with Terra’s face withers when she strikes his midsection. One arm grips his stomach to hold himself together and he brings his other hand up. Dark tendrils evaporate from the leather of his gloves.

“As you wish,” he says to her, richly voiced, smooth as a river stone. “Friend.” He staggers to his knees, groaning as he flickers away.

“Terra!” Ven calls, too fast for Aqua to hold back. The man still wears that same black cloak that marks him as a member of the Organization.

The man shivers when Ven shakes him awake, a quiet “Aqua? Ven?” escaping his lips. He huffs out a hoarse chuckle that clutches out of pain, with a voice that sounds like a morning at the summit of a mountain. “Ven, you’re so short.”

There he is.

“Terra.” Aqua rushes over. “Can you hear me? How do you feel?” she asks, checking for signs of physical injury, a refusal to use a limb, the inability to breathe.

His breath stutters. “Aqua?” There he is.

“I’m here.”

He pants, opening his eyes—now blue again, his hair dark again, there he is. He jerks forward as if desperate to find her, but it’s like he can’t see her. In a drunk and feverish whimper, barely with the strength to sit himself up, he stumbles back. “Aqua. Aqua, I have to tell you something.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she says, checking his temperature with the back of her hand, “just rest.”

“No, I have to say it,” he mumbles. “I have to. I didn’t last time, I didn’t and look what happened—”

“Okay,” she whispers. “Go ahead.”

He pauses, moaning, “I’m sorry. I love you.”

“What?”

Ven bursts into a fit of hysteria. “Perfect timing, Terra. Ten out of ten.”

But Terra seems unaware, straddling between the drift to sleep and the fight to stay awake. He nods as if to confirm, mumbling to himself like a baby.

Aqua stares at him, her heart itching to hear it again in case she misunderstood. She has daydreamed of this moment—not like this, anything sweeter than this but genuine all the same—and yet it comes to her like a splash of ice on the face. Terra is older. He has more pronounced cheekbones with less elasticity in the skin, folds of dimples and knowledge when his lips twitch, a thicker jawline, a stronger nose. A glimpse of the future, his long brown hair stretching past the shoulders, oily and excessively gelled up for ridiculous bangs. Aqua brushes his cheek with her fingers.

She should have said something years ago, too.

“What’s going on?” a voice calls out. Riku’s. He skids to a stop when he sees them. “Is that Xemnas?”

The man Aqua fought never introduced himself, but he sure liked to talk a lot. Whoever he was, he’s not relevant anymore. “He’s delirious. We need help picking him up.”

“Wait a minute,” Riku says, approaching them with a smidge too much caution for Aqua to appreciate. “I’ve been fighting Terra all these years?”

“Xehanort,” Aqua says quietly, wrapping Terra’s arm over her shoulders. She shuffles her knees. He’s too heavy. “You’ve been fighting Xehanort.”

Riku nods. It’s his way of apologizing. “Well. That sucks.” He offers to take the other arm. “Xemnas was the leader of the first Organization. A self-inflated piece of work… I didn’t know who he really was. I didn’t recognize him.” He pulls a smile to his face and nudges Ven with his elbow. “Sora and I made sure to give him a hard time.”

Aqua wants him to stop talking.

Footsteps approach them, crunchy with the sound of sand and dirt, and Aqua braces herself for what’s to come. Riku whips around to prepare an explanation, but it’s none other than Kairi.

She sees them with wide and round eyes. Brings her hand to her mouth. “Riku?” Kairi says specifically, asking him questions with her eyes in a private language Aqua can’t understand.

He shrugs. “What do you want me to say?”

Kairi sits on her knees, her skirt too short to cover them from the dirt. “This poor boy. It’s not fair.”

Aqua purses her lips. Ven stares past everyone else.

“We’re all getting punished,” Kairi continues like the sting of knowing that after all is said and done, Sora is gone somewhere and here are Aqua and Ven picking up their own brittle, little pieces. “Look at him.”

Riku sighs. “I have space in my Gummi ship for him. But we need to be quick about it.”

Kairi gasps, wide-eyed. “That’s right.”

Aqua doesn’t want to ask why. Ven does it for her. “What’s up?”

“We can’t let the others see him,” Riku says.

Too late. Roxas appears on the other side of the clearing, heavy in breath. He’s sweet and gentle even when it seems like his mind is a distance away. He looks exactly like Ven but nothing like Ven, a grimness to his smile and a thoughtfulness to his speech like he’s seen and knows too much.

Roxas frowns. “What are you doing?”

“We’re helping him,” Aqua says as a matter of fact, flexing her ankles to stand up with Riku, shouldering half the weight. Terra stumbles on his feet, mumbling something about not wanting to step on any mice. “This is Terra, by the way.”

Roxas stares. “Why?” he asks accusingly.

Aqua stammers. How this boy who has been ripped away from his own friends could ask such a thing—

“Come on, he’s our friend,” Ven says.

“You call him a friend?” Roxas points at Terra. “Do you even know what he’s done?”

Xehanort. What Xehanort has done, but Aqua stops herself from snapping. She says softly, “Terra would never—”

“What if Terra saw what happened? What if he knew? Is he the type to be okay with that?”

She glares at him. No answer comes to her, except when Xemnas called her a Friend.

Kairi steps forward, arms out like a barrier. “He needs medical attention. We don’t have to talk about this right now.”

And they won’t have the chance. Xion slowly comes up behind Roxas. They’re both dressed in the same black cloak that Terra wears like it’s a mark, a forced tattoo. She has her hands cupped into each other, bringing them to her chest like they’re a shield.

“Roxas?” Xion asks. She looks terrified.

“Forget it,” Roxas says, turning over and tugging her by the elbow. “This is dumb. We don’t need to care or be here.”

Aqua refuses to fight this battle, not when Terra is wheezing and flinching as if he’s being crushed under mineral and earth.

“Kairi,” Riku says solemnly, “just guide us back to the ship.” He says to Aqua, “If it’s any consolation, I think he would’ve done something if he knew.”

Aqua nods, choosing to create solace out of his delicate comfort, if only to find the strength to drag Terra across the desert.

It’s a laborious but peaceful walk, what with Kairi talking about healing potions (I’ve learned some during training, maybe I can make Terra one?), and Ven excited about the first meal they’ll have together as a trio again (Pancakes, Aqua. Pancakes.), until they find Lea standing in front of the Gummi ship. He has his hands in the pockets of his cloak, and Aqua wonders if he’s concealing weapons.

Lea is a double-sided coin. One side a mask with a running end of jokes and playful jabs designed to hide the other, steely and scrutinizing.

“I promised myself I would never see Roxas that upset again,” Lea says, as if to blame them for breaking it. “I’ve never seen Xion that upset.” That brand of Lea-lilt in his voice, the one he uses every time he spits out Got it memorized?, is gone, and Aqua admits she respects him more for it. Lea nods over to Terra. “Shouldn’t we leave the trash where it belongs?”

“You’re really going to ask that when you’ve been pining all this time for Saïx?” Riku snaps.

Lea laughs. “You might as well shave my entire head and tell people I’m ugly.” He chills over. “I’m no saint either, but don’t compare us to”—he points at Terra, not Xehanort or Xemnas or whoever—“him. You want to know what I think of Xemnas? He doesn’t deserve an ounce of the worst. The core of rotten fruit. The smell of ass after a trip to the bathroom. The pits of the ocean where all the fish shit clump together and the bloat of dead flesh float around.”

“Don’t mind him,” Riku tells Aqua and Ven. “He likes to exaggerate.”

“I like to make a point.” Lea steadies his breath, hot petrol on the verge of exploding, letting the steam lose pressure. “I like to tell the truth when it matters.”

Aqua glares at him. She doesn’t know Lea that well, and doesn’t know what matters of truth are supposed to mean. But she holds her head high. Her truth screams from the inside of her head.

“Terra would never,” she announces.

Lea scoffs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ven trips on dragging fabric. They’re taking some of the Master’s old robes to Terra, who can’t fit into any of his own clothes anymore. The castle at the Land of Departure is stiff and quiet, like a long-lost stranger. Home isn’t home but a dream, a memory, a trip through aged photos.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” Ven says in a sing-song voice.

“The Master was a large man,” Aqua insists.

“Yeah, but Terra’s bicep is bigger than your head now.”

That’s true and… not something Aqua wants to think about—his body though, it’s impressive—not if she wants to hide the blush in her cheeks. Terra is huge now, the crown of her head reaching the base of his diaphragm. He’s so broad that if he hugs her, she’d disappear into the flesh.

Aqua and Ven turn the corner and enter Terra’s room, who has a towel wrapped around his hips. He’s fussing with the wet roots of his hair.

“So much grease,” Terra complains, scratching his scalp with the pads of his fingers. “What the stars was this guy thinking with all this hair gel?”

Aqua stares at the wood of his dresser—not at how sculpted his muscles are (more than ever, actually). Not at the chisels and grooves on his back as he breathes and moves to grab a robe from the rumpled stack is Ven’s arms.

“That one will look nice,” Aqua says, eyeing the ivory color of the robe Terra chose.

“Might,” Ven corrects. “Might look nice.”

Terra snorts. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re bigger than a rhino.”

He laughs. He sounds the same. “All the more to terrorize people with,” Terra says and it wretches at her chest.

“Glad to know you’re still an idiot.”

Terra slips his arms through the sleeves, pulling the robe over his shoulders and across his chest. It’s not flattering. The seams are stretched, the threads exposed, and it wears on his shoulders so tightly that the muscles form hills under the fabric.

Ven points and laughs. “I told you. No one listens to me.”

Aqua pulls the robe off Terra’s shoulders when he slouches into his chair. She tosses it with the rest of the Master’s unfittable artifacts onto Ven’s arms. “Can you take care of these? I’ll stay and help Terra.”

Ven eyes her. With a knowing grin. Like an imp that should be slapped. “Do what? Put his pants on?”

Terra gapes. “What?”

“You’re obnoxious,” Aqua says to Ven.

“You’d miss me if I wasn’t,” Ven says with his nose high to the ceiling. He leans forward, the imp smile stretching to reach ear to ear, curled upwards. “But Terra would like it, wouldn’t he?”

Terra coughs and clears his throat. “Ven, get out.” He waves his arm—and a crash explodes before Aqua can understand what happened. Everything in his room—his shoes, the coat rack, the lamp by his bed, his pillows, books from the shelf, dirty laundry that hasn’t been washed in a decade, dust collected from the same amount of time—fly at Ven. The comforter in particular is what knocks him over.

“What was that?” Ven squeals, sitting up from the rubble. “What was that?”

Terra’s lip quivers. He stares at his hands. “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Aqua says, bending over to stack books in her arms. “Ven, get a broom and some rags. We’ve got some cleaning to do.”

Ven trips before heading off, like he couldn’t wait to get out. Aqua has a feeling he’s going to bug her for details later.

“I’m so sorry,” Terra whispers, balling his hands into fists and shoving them into his lap as a preemptive measure.

The Organization’s cloak sits thrown on the floor, still dusty. Aqua pads the excess off.

“Don’t worry,” she says, pulling cheer from somewhere inside to lighten the mood. “I’ll sew you a new robe.”

Terra won’t look at her. He mumbles her a word of thanks when she hands his dirty cloak over.

“Leather can’t be scrubbed like everything else,” she explains. “I’ll clean it later.”

“It’s fine,” Terra says, holding it in his giant hands. He doesn’t move to put it on, and instead stares at the large mirror hanging over his desk in front of him. Aqua stands by his side. She’s tall, but she never once considered herself as thin, her frame skeletal by comparison.

By comparison, she hasn’t changed.

Well, she has. Her smiles are not the same.

Terra’s hair is messy, now with much more for her to brush her fingers through. She doesn’t try. “I don’t remember any of these,” he whispers.

The scars. Knicks in crossed-over patterns across his chest and biceps. A rippled scorch mark by his elbow like a crater, a gouge on one side by the stomach, a deep ravine on the other, near the ribs. More on his back, a textured map for nowhere to go.

“Not a single one.” His voice cracks.

Aqua caresses his shoulder. Those scars are not stories he needs to hear. “What do you remember?” She actually doesn’t want to know, in case Roxas was right.

“Nothing.”

She wants to be relieved, but she isn’t. “Nothing at all?” In twelve years?

“No.”

Aqua wraps her arms around his shoulders from behind him, aware of how he tenses at first and relaxes after, a puzzle piece fitting in exactly the right spot. “Where were you?”

“I don’t know.” He sighs, leaning his head onto hers. “I wasn’t anywhere, I… I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s fine.” Twelve years of nothing and twelve years living with nightmares; there’s not much to talk about. She traces a divot on his shoulder. “I know this one.”

“Yours,” Terra says. When he smirks that way, he looks the same as he always had.

“I stabbed you with a wooden sword.”

“My wooden sword.” He brushes his fingers on the scar. As if he’s reminded of something, Terra frowns. “I was just a kid.” He studies his skin on the reflection, pulling on his face with his fingers, watching the way the skin ripples, the sharpness of cheekbones, the dips and dimples that didn’t used to be there. There are thick streaks of silver underneath the outer layers when he brushes his hair back. He never asked for this. “Can we get rid of every mirror in the castle?” he whispers.

Aqua lets him go. The way he asks makes her want to try memory alteration, to slowly erase what haunts him so he doesn’t have to deal with harsh reminders or sudden blows to the mind. She forces herself to smile—if she shows distress, it would only upset him more. There is nothing they can do about the past and there won’t be a mention of what it’s robbed from them.

“Maybe just the one in here. I’ll help.”

Terra stands up and takes one of his old, simple cotton shirts that he prefers when he goes to bed while Aqua tests the bottom part of the ornate frame. It won’t budge, heavy as lifting a boulder.

“I look ridiculous,” she hears Terra say. The shirt is as tight as second skin, what used to sit on him loosely now gripping for dear life across his upper stomach, his belly button exposed.

Aqua purses her lips, heat to her cheeks. “Do you remember waking up?”

“Where?” He’s layering the cloak over the scandal.

“At the Keyblade Graveyard.”

“No,” he says. She’s known him for years. She can tell he’s sincere. “Why?”

“Just wondering how far your memory goes,” she says, playing serious. She’ll have to figure out a different way to bring up that conversation. “I can’t lift this alone.”

“Not a problem.” Terra grabs his side of the mirror and lifts it off its hook like it’s a single piece of paper. He clears his throat. “Um—wow.”

“That’s impressive,” Aqua says, and Terra blushes purple.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aqua makes it back home in time for lunch, and finds Terra sitting on the bar that splits the kitchen from the dining room, wearing his cloak with the zipper open, no shirt and leather pants. It must be blistering hot in those considering the sunny weather. He’s complained about having to sleep naked.

She presents him with several bags on the counter. Rolls of fresh cotton shirts and pants for lounging, nylon for sparring and wool for the winter. He splits a warm grin when he feels how soft they are. It almost brightens his deep dark circles.

“I also found these gorgeous fabrics,” Aqua says, showing him the silk she means to make him a new robe in that same ivory color, with embroidered, rust-colored strips that she’ll use for the borders and trims. “This will look good with your armor.”

“Let me show you what I’ve been working on.” On his lap are a set of the Master’s old hakama. Terra is attempting to tailor it…all through hand sewing, the needle swallowed by his thick fingers. The threads are bunched up and knotted over, if they don’t skip some parts. “What?” he asks. She must be making a face. “It’s ugly isn’t it.”

“Nothing that skill can’t help,” Aqua says, taking the pants from him and not apologizing for anything.

He taps the counter with his fingers. “Riku told me about Xemnas.”

Aqua stops the urge to groan, folding over the fabric carefully and pretending that name doesn’t boil her blood. “What did he say?”

“Xemnas was a telekinetic.”

That explains some things. “Okay.”

“Apparently he could lift entire buildings.”

Aqua snorts.

Terra leans forward. “Hey, you can’t blame me for the back door.”

“But it makes sense.”

Terra has blown open said door. He has also destroyed historical statues and windows that are difficult to replace. He has even ripped a tree from its roots when he practiced his powers outside. The more he gets scared of these abilities, the more destructive he becomes. Terra’s body is not entirely sane on its own either—he’ll step on pebbles, on glass barefoot, and he can’t feel a thing.

“Can you answer Riku for me?” He pulls the Gummiphone from his pocket, the device smaller than his palm. “The buttons are too small. I’m thinking of asking Chip and Dale to build me a custom-sized one.”

She takes his phone, the screen smudged with his round fingertips, larger than her nails. “Are you going to stop training your new powers?”

He flinches. “They’re not mine.”

“Well...” she says gently, cradling his phone in her hands. It’s warm from his touch.

“Not that I can control them.” He huffs, frustrated enough to crack the counter in half if he tries.

“Why don’t you show me how far you’ve come?”

He glares at her.

“The oranges.” She points to the kitchen on the other side of the room. Oranges, pears, and apples sit in a wooden bowl by the sink. “Pick one of them up.”

“That’s a little too much to ask for.”

“One tiny orange?” She smirks. “You can balance it on your pinky.”

He scoffs. “You talk as if you like me like this.”

Aqua clears her throat, suddenly deep in a trench that she can’t climb out of. “You can’t help what happened to you, but you can help yourself.”

Terra rolls his eyes. “Yes, ma’am. Stars, it’s like being in class again.”

“I’m pleased with that. Try sliding the bowl over.”

Terra leans his elbows onto the counter and opens his palms, his fingers curled like claws. What surprises her is how fast the bowl responds, like it’s channeling an emotional reaction, immediate and neurotic. It rattles, as if it weighs several tons under an ocean.

Aqua looks over at his furrowed concentration, sweat glistening as though he’s wrestling instead of picking up fruit. “What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

She smiles. “There was a day when we didn’t know what our Keyblades would look like. That was exciting and terrifying at the same time, remember?”

“You sound like the Master.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

Terra grunts. “Fine, I’ll try harder.” Though he doesn’t have to prove anything to Aqua. Ever.

Terra waves his hands to the right and—disaster.

The bowl flips over and crashes into the fridge.

Plates and mugs burst out of the cupboards, shattering when they hit the floor. Pots and pans soar, crossing the entire kitchen and slamming into the grandfather clock, destroying the glass casing and tearing apart the inside as gears sputter to the floor.

The clockface nearly lands on Ven’s head when he enters with a glass of water in his hand. He freezes. It cracks when it hits the tile. Forks, spoons, and other utensils spin past him and stab the wall, the knives wedged into it.

“Ven!” Aqua calls, running to him. He’s fine. If anything, he’s shivering from shock.

“Ven,” Terra starts, scrambling up from the stool but he flicks his hands too quickly. The water from Ven’s glass splashes him on the face. “Stars, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t,” Ven says, wiping his face. “Worry about it.” He inhales. “You nearly impaled me.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Sit,” Ven says, pointing at Terra. “On your hands.”

Terra does as he’s told, slumping his shoulders over as if to shrink. But it’s a parody, an elephant hiding behind a palm tree, a giant monster puppy rejected.

Ven looks over the destroyed grandfather clock—it was one of the Master’s newer ones, who developed a fondness for them late into his life. “This one was a stars-damned eyesore, anyway.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aqua is dressed in her shorts and shirt, preparing for bed when she hears another crash, this time a dull crack, breaking apart right outside her bedroom.

Terra is carrying a door handle, still attached to shards of wood. He is furiously shivering, wearing the new clothes she bought for him.

“Terra, are you okay?” she asks gently.

With effort, he calms himself, the handle shaking in both of his hands, a hole in his door the only other thing amiss. “I can fix it.” His undereye circles are getting awfully puff, his voice broken by static.

“You should really get some sleep,” she says, stepping out.

He sighs forcefully, as if to ask her to stop. “I can’t.”

She nods. “It’s hard for me to sleep, too.”

“I can’t help but feel like my body is going to sleepwalk without me knowing.”

“I don’t think it would.” She smirks but it doesn’t comfort him. “I take rounds around the castle sometimes. I would notice if you’re a zombie.”

His lips quiver, and he squeezes the handle as if to snap it on purpose. He doesn’t. Terra turns to her but stares hard at the floor. In a voice so quiet that he sounds like a small boy, he asks, “Can you stay with me tonight?”

Her heart jumps, trying to wretch itself out of her chest. “Terra?”

“I want to sleep. I can’t. I think it would be easier if…” He fiddles with the door handle, a shy boy unable to speak. “If you were with me.”

Aqua smiles. He’s braver than her for asking. “I’d feel safer behind a locked door. Come in.”

On her desk is her sewing machine, the pattern of his new robe designed, his measurements already taken, the fabric put together in pins and ready to be weaved with thread.

But there is a mirror in her room, and when Terra enters, he stops in his place.

“I’m sorry,” she says, moving to pull one of her bedsheets to cover it.

“It’s fine,” Terra says, but she’s too fast, balancing out the coverage. He slouches on her chair and leans back with a grunt. His fair falls behind him like a cascade. It’s always been wonderfully thick and dark. Aqua indulges this time, brushing it with her fingers, tempted to braid it. He audibly relaxes, and says, “Riku told me what happened in the Graveyard.”

Aqua swallows. “What did he say?”

“How Roxas and Lea reacted.” He gets quieter the more he speaks, words slipping into weak whispers. “To me.” Tears drip out of his eyes, running to his ears and down his neck. He sniffs. “Xion is terrified of me and I don’t know how to live with myself.”

“It’s not your fault, Terra,” she says softly, lightly rubbing his scalp when she sweeps his glorious hair, brown and silver like silk on her skin. It soothes him.

“Kairi said the same.”

“Kairi is wise.”

“She wants to find a way to get us all together.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Aqua says, and he groans. “Let me figure out how to set that up. I’ll coordinate with her.”

“I don’t think that will end well.”

“We should try. We all have things in common and have faced similar hardships. We need each other as friends.”

“But look at me.”

She does. He’s beautiful. “I’m looking.”

“What am I going to do?” Terra has always been too sensitive for his own good. Aqua thinks about who she’d possibly call to help me. “They’ll never talk to me.”

“You’re already trying your best.”

“Aqua, I’ve been a beast since I’ve been home.” He rubs his thumb and fingers together. A body that fails him.

“Terra, please, you’re fine the way you are.”

“Two more grandfather clocks under my belt and all the vegetables in the garden in my pocket,” he reminds her.

“Let’s try one more time,” she says, taking his hand. “I think if you could outwin your powers, you’d feel better.”

“Your room is too immaculate for me to mess with.”

“Not my room. On me.”

“Why would I do that?” Terra stands up.

“I think if there’s a parameter that you’re forced to work under, you’d improve the way you want to.”

Terra pauses. “And put you in danger?”

“If that’s what’s going to work.”

“I care too much about you to do that.”

“I know you love me,” Aqua says, startling herself. She shouldn’t have said that, especially now that he’s staring at her wide-eyed—but they’re best friends. Of course he loves her. Of course it’s the most natural thing to say. There’s not much more to imply. “You won’t hurt me.”

“Intentionally,” his voice croaks, looking everywhere around the room except at Aqua.

“What do you want out of your training, Terra?”

“I want to feel less like a freak.”

“Here I am.” She widens her arms. “Hit me with your best shot.”

“What if I fling you out the window like a rag doll?”

“You won’t.” Now she’s nervous he will.

“Or burst your skull open?”

“Then don’t.” Aqua swallows.

Terra sighs and runs a hand through his hair, the silver glistening from the light of her ceiling lamp.

“Be gentle,” Aqua suggests.

Terra hesitates, one step too far behind necessary confidence. She takes both of his hands in hers, and he gives her a feathered squeeze in return.

“Promise me you won’t break,” he says.

“Promise you won’t break me.”

He blinks back tears when he holds her waist, his hands a hearth through her thin shirt. He’s about to pick her up but he lets her go instead, intentionally widening his hands as if pulling strings. As though gravity has shut off, the air around her loses all weight. Her feet lift off the carpet and she’s suspended above her dresser, her limbs moving slowly as though she’s underwater. Terra trembles from so much concentration. He’s worried, delicate with her, lifting her up like a cloud drifting over a mountain, her desk distant like it’s inside a doll house, her bed too small for a body to sleep in.

She gasps. “Wow.”

Terra wrestles with a smile but every muscle is engaged as though he’s picking up a boulder.

“You’re doing wonderful,” she says. When he looks up at her, he cries. “Now put me down. Gently.”

It’s like she’s asking him to drop that boulder, all collateral be damned. He groans, a vein throbbing on his forehead. He’s hesitant at first but he exhausts when he finally relaxes. The threads that hold her snap. Aqua falls. Terra catches her by her bare thighs.

“You did so well,” she whispers, holding onto his shoulders. Dust collects on the top of her door frame that she’d never notice otherwise. “You’re so tall,” she laughs.

He sighs. “I’m so tired.”

“Oh, you can put me down.”

His arms stutter when he slides her off him, and he plops onto her mattress, the adrenaline making him tremble. But he smiles. That’s the most Aqua could ask for, and yet that’s the thing, for some reason, that unplugs the dam.

“I know what it’s like,” she starts, resting a hand on his head. “I wish it never happened. I wish I didn’t have to meet Xemnas, or that I fell into Darkness. Or that anyone hurt you. We wasted all those years.”

“Don’t say that,” he says softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You came back the same and you can redo all that time. Enjoy it.”

“But you?”

Terra sighs. He’s aged. He lays on her mattress, knees sliding off the edge and feet firm on the floor. “I’m okay. I’ve made my peace.”

When she settles next to him, she has to curl her legs in, fitting right into his side, her head on his shoulder. She relaxes to the way he strokes her hair. Peace shouldn’t have to be made. It shouldn’t be bargained for, it shouldn’t be difficult to win in a twisted game. But it is for most people, isn’t it? It is for anyone who’s been betrayed, who has suffered misfortune, who has been robbed or tortured, who has been fractured into pieces with no reason to justify it.

Terra and Aqua have kissed before out of curiosity, years ago. It left her wanting more. And the wanting has led to yearning. And the yearning lingered on, Aqua choosing to wait for the right moment, for the right hour, for the right occasion, letting it all slip her by each and every time for the most mundane reasons. Terra and Aqua have napped together in the woods, in the shade of a tree after hours of sparring, shoulder to shoulder, one of them promising to wake the other before they’re late for their lessons.

“If I ever get up in the middle of the night...” Terra starts.

“Where is this conversation going?”

“And I’m not actually awake—”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“—and I’m walking around like a zombie—”

“Pfft.”

“—please hit me as hard as you can.”

Aqua chuckles. This shouldn’t be a joke at all and yet what else is there left for them to do? “As you wish.”

“Promise me you’ll wake me up. No matter what.”

“Of course.” Aqua nuzzles her face into his shoulder, feeling the way his pec curves over rock-hard muscle. “Always.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They’re in the study, where some of the most outdated books in the castle find their home, for decoration more than anything.

Terra has new suspenders and hakama pants. The robe she’s designed for him, ivory with rust-colored trim, has one proper sleeve. The other is more of an open cape that curls under his armored arm, pinning at his shoulder like a shawl, made to show off the metal, burgundy and shiny. He’s elegant, tall and intimidating, respectable and warm.

“I love it,” he says.

“You almost look like the Master,” Aqua says.

“Do you think he would have liked it?”

“I think he would have been proud.”

Ven knocks on the door frame, holding up an Okay gesture. “Nice getup.”

Terra smirks. “It makes me look less scary.”

“Are you going to throw away the black cloak?”

Aqua flinches, pinching the robe and straightening it, though not because it needs it.

“I’m still thinking about it,” Terra says. “It depends on how today goes.”

“Speaking of,” Ven says, and Aqua sighs. “Aqua, he’s here.”

As though all breath has been sucked out of the air, they fall quiet. The crackle of the fireplace snaps.

“You doing okay?” she whispers to Terra.

He nods, but his skin turns green.

“Just relax and get comfortable,” she says.

Ven follows Aqua to the entrance hall, where their guest has welcomed himself inside. Isa stands with a poise that demands to be matched with a level of professionalism. Aqua crosses her hands together and keeps them to herself.

“Thank you for coming,” she says. When she messaged him to be a mediator, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Lea and Isa may seem to be opposite but they are two peas in a pod that way. Lea is a book of riddles, one page contradicting its own backside depending on which version of him shows up that day. Isa’s book is blank.

“I appreciate your invitation,” Isa says, though an instinctual tick deep in her stomach tells her that appreciation was a difficult word for him to use.

“Hey there.” Ven waves.

Isa raises his eyebrows. “Hello, Ventus,” he says… and nothing else.

Ven glances at Aqua and blares a tight, awkward smile. “Okay. Well. I’ll leave you to it.”

After Ven leaves, Isa breathes, like he’s been holding it. “I suppose the rest of this visit will be similar.” The grin on his face is sudden whiplash for Aqua, his strict posture now with blurred edges.

“In what way?” Aqua can’t quit the habit of letting go of her hands.

“Roxas usually wears a scowl. To see the same face greet me so warmly, it was quite the surprise.”

“Ah.”

“But a welcomed one.” His intense green eyes drill a hole into her. “Believe me when I say that I’m more than happy to come here and see him for myself, though it puts me in a fickle position with my family.”

Aqua brings her hands to her heart. “I think Sora would want us all to get along.”

“If that’s the angle you want to approach this with, I’d say you have a moderate chance of convincing them.”

She nods and leads the way. “He’s excited to meet you.”

Isa doesn’t reply. Terra is waiting on one of the lounge chairs in the study, telekinetically spinning pages on a book floating in front of him. He snatches the book as they approach him, and drops it on a nearby desk.

Terra doesn’t say anything. Neither does Isa, who sits himself on a comfortable chair opposite and crosses his legs. Aqua, not knowing where to go or what to do with her hands, stands by Terra. She’s hoping for an amicable meeting, anticipating an interrogation.

Isa smirks and it’s not exactly inviting. “Shall we skip the pleasantries?”

Terra nods like a dog scolded. “I’m glad you’re here,” he says with a shaky voice.

Isa hums, interlacing his fingers as he stares—rather studies Terra with scrutiny. “Do you remember me?”

Terra shakes his head, choking on a cough. “You’re asking the wrong person.”

“Are you certain?”

“I know of you.”

“What do you know of me?”

“You’re with Lea.” Terra licks his lips and balls his hands into fists. He only gets this way when he’s being tested, when he wants to get every answer correct. “You’ve had a complicated history with Organization XIII.”

“Complicated,” Isa repeats.

“You were a Nobody.”

Isa smirks coldly, much like how Aqua would have imagined from the stories she’s heard about Saïx. “We were brethren.”

Terra hangs his head. “I don’t know much else.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I resigned. It was so painful not to. I was nowhere. Nothing to have, nothing to see, nothing to hear. I waited for an opportunity for it to stop hurting—” Terra croaks. “And I woke up.”

Isa uncrosses his legs and anchors his elbows onto his knees, cupping his chin into his hands. “You’ve no memory of the command to manipulate Sora into vanquishing Heartless for us?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“To gather enough energy to summon Kingdom Hearts.”

“That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Isa sighs, and Aqua swears it sounds like anticipation. “And the scar on my face?”

The way Isa asks demands an explanation, and Terra—sweet, sensitive Terra, whose eyes grow hollow—can’t handle the implication.

“No. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He grits his teeth, staring at the armrest. Aqua stops herself from speaking and holds his shoulder. There isn’t anything for Terra to be sorry for.

Isa closes his eyes, trembling. After a moment, he jams his thumbs into his eyes and stills, silence befalling all of them, settling among the gentle presence of the fire and the movement of the clouds outside.

When Isa sits up, eyes glassy but kept together, he summons a smile. Softly, he says, “You look nothing like him.”

Terra, at a loss for words, nods meekly. “Did you keep it? The black cloak?”

“Of course not.” Isa scoffs. “We burned ours.”

Terra offers no condolences or congratulations. He smiles, exhausted.

Isa stands up. “Please don’t tell me you enjoy white wine with red velvet confections.”

Terra recoils, popping into a laugh as though he’s cracked under the pressure. “That sounds like it tastes awful. I don’t drink. I don’t like losing control of my body.”

The sound of Terra’s laugh shocks Isa. “Sensible.” He addresses Aqua with a look. “I must go. This has been… rather cathartic, and I’d prefer to release it in private.”

Terra bolts out of his chair, reaching out to cradle one of Isa’s hands in both of his.

“Thank you,” Terra says, and though Aqua is behind him, she could hear the tears. “Please come back whenever you feel comfortable. I’d love to have your company.”

Isa nods, turning over his shoulder for the door.

The abrupt exit leaves Terra pleading Aqua with his eyes. “Did I say something wrong?” he whispers, slapping his forehead. “I couldn’t honor his experiences. I should have figured out a way to remember.”

“That’s not your burden to bear. It wouldn’t help you anyway,” she whispers back, gently gripping his elbow. “I’ll be back.”

Aqua trails Isa back downstairs, skipping steps. It’s as though he’s in a hurry to get back home.

“Isa,” she calls. When he stops, she almost trips on herself. Her hands return to their crossover position. Something about Isa makes her so self-conscious, it’s indescribable how he can unravel her like this. “I wanted to thank you again for taking the time to come here.”

His eyes are pink. “I will tell the others there is nothing to fear.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Lea is unbearably stubborn, but he is intelligent. He already knows Terra is not to be blamed. He simply hasn’t buried his demons yet and that is his responsibility.”

Aqua sighs, relieved. “I needed to hear that.”

Isa doesn’t smile. Instead, he traces a finger across the X-shaped scar over his nose. “Terra and I are forced to face our mistakes in the mirror for as long as we breathe. If we are ever to forge a new life from the ashes, we would need to throw our transgressions into a pyre.”

“I think your presence makes him feel less alone.”

“I want to apologize, Master Aqua.”

“For what?”

Isa considers his words. “Lea and I have lost so much of our youth to a worthless cause. It is not natural for us to enjoy freedom. We expect a harsher punishment to catch up to us any day now, to steal more time from us. Perhaps we deserve to live in fear of that every day. I certainly do.” He watches her. “I can see the story you’ve endured this past decade in your eyes. It’s horrific.”

Aqua stays quiet.

“And Terra,” he continues. “He will age and die long before you and Ventus. I’m so sorry for that. The rubble we’re left with, it is such a weight for us to bear.”

She wipes a tear from her cheek, too proud to let them continue. “That’s why we need to make the best of it.”

Isa smiles; this time it’s warm. He holds her bicep. “I agree.”

“Will you and the others join us for dinner? Terra speaks for all of us, we’d love to have you around.”

“Bribe Lea with an extravagant experience and he will surely say yes. The children will follow once we assure them.”

Aqua nearly jumps to hug him but she keeps herself composed. Instead, she bows to him. His eyes pulse open.

“That was not necessary,” he says.

“You need to understand how deeply I appreciate this.”

“Lea was right. You old-fashioned wielders are certainly an odd bunch.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On her way back to the study, Aqua breaks into a sprint, desperate to fly so she could get to him as fast as possible, see his face when she delivers the news.

Terra sulks by a window. Before he could say anything, Aqua jumps and throws her arms around his neck in a clash of grunts, her legs dangling.

“They’re going to join us for dinner,” she says. She can’t tell if she’s the one who’s trembling or if it’s Terra. Because her arms are wrapped around his neck, she drags him down with her when he relaxes. He rests his forehead on hers as he leans over her, his hair falling around her like a curtain.

“Stars,” he whispers. “It’s happening?”

She smiles into his cheek. “He wants to bring everyone with him.”

He squeezes her by the small of her back. “We’ll have to invite the others too. Riku and Kairi. Naminé. It will be a feast.”

At the sound of his own words, Terra straightens out, and their fleeting moment of excitement vanishes as quick as it graces them. He nervously clutches a handful of his hair. “Wait, how soon are they coming?”

“Is something wrong?”

“I want to wear it in a ponytail.” He brushes his hair up, exposing the silver near the scalp. “Do you think it’s possible to dye it?”

That’s what makes him so insecure? Aqua stands on her toes to fiddle with the hair. “Come on. It’s a little tedious, but it can be done.”

Aqua snips the necessary plants from the garden, and after grinding them, she dumps the blend into a mix of water and animal fat. Terra slips his robe off and bends over the kitchen sink, letting her sweep the dye with a paintbrush and pinch it across the strands of his long hair with gloved hands. This is the tedious part, separating his hair into thin chunks and being diligent enough to leave nothing untouched.

“It won’t last for long, right?” he asks, shifting his weight.

“I can find a spell to seal it and make it last longer.” She nudges him to turn his neck over so she can work the other side. In this direction, he can look up at her.

“This feels like I’m cheating.”

“I think we all cheated. We all came back by some star’s blessing.”

Terra frowns. “When Isa wanted to know if I remembered anything, I felt like I was playing a rigged game. Like I had gotten away with it so easily when he’s stuck with them on his own.”

“Bend your neck forward,” she says, and he follows so she could brush the dye into the back of the scalp. “Well, Isa doesn’t blame you and no one should. And you do get away with certain things.”

Terra flinches but she keeps her hold on him. “Like what?”

Aqua pinches more of the dye into the hair at the neck, wrapping a towel around his shoulders. He will have to pass the time needed for the color to sink in. She can’t wait until he sees it for himself in the mirror. She can’t wait until he smiles more, until he can walk with seeded confidence.

“You can stand up,” she tells him, instructing him that it will take almost an hour for the dye to settle. She pulls out her gloves and considers an answer to his question. “You get away with what you say sometimes.”

Terra gapes. “Did I offend you?”

“No.” She smirks. This has never been the way she daydreamed it would go—she had prepared a scenario where they would talk about it under the stars in a clear night, in the spring where the flowers have blossomed. Not with yet another shirt that they’ll have to replace.“You told me you loved me that day in the Graveyard.” He doesn’t flinch. “And you don’t remember saying that either.”

The bowl of dye rattles and Aqua catches it from falling over, spilling the excess into the sink and rinsing it. “Terra?”

“Uh.” The cupboards shake as if about to spill open. Terra grabs the knife block and throws it into the fridge, just in case. “Well.” He splays his hand over the handle and burns it with a fire spell, molding the metal together so it can’t burst open. “I’ll fix that later. Um. It’s—” He tips over the fruit bowl so nothing will fly out in different directions. He can’t look her in the face, taking deep breaths. “I mean. It’s not—it’s not a lie.”

Aqua waits a moment, afraid another word is going to make the oven explode. “I should have told you the same.” She bites her lip.

“What are you saying?” The burner grates of the stovetop blow up and hit the cupboard over it. “All this time, I could have known?”

“Maybe you should have done something about it.”

“I’ve been driving myself crazy wondering how you felt. Ever since we came back home.”

“And you said nothing?”

Terra stares at her. “You know what—I’m not protecting you from the oranges.”

“What are you doing?” She chuckles.

He flips the bowl back and waves his arm, five oranges punching her on the arm that she’s using to shield herself.

“Terra!”

She stumbles as the oranges bounce back from the floor and arc over to hit her again. Terra squeezes his fists and the oranges unpeel themselves, sputtering juice all over her face, a tart taste filling her mouth.

Aqua laughs and runs into the dining room, ducking behind the table.

“Get back here,” Terra calls. He rushes into the dining room, clumsy enough to be caught off guard when she charges at him.

Aqua has to jump higher, kicking off his chest to flip over. The goal is to slam her foot across his face—the best sparring trick in her arsenal. Terra catches her by the ankle but his balance is tested when she bends her knee to throw him off. He’s stronger, a tight grip on her calf. They both fall onto his back, a tower broken in two and collapsing on itself.

Aqua rests her head between his chest, giggling so much that her chin digs into his thorax.

Terra groans, his soaked hair leaving brown tracks over the tile. “You got some on you.” He rubs a thumb on her temple where it meets the base of her hair. “Hmm, you’d look good as a brunette.”

“In your wildest dreams.”

“If one can come true, then you never know.”

Aqua holds herself up on her elbows. Terra is so large, he’s a mattress in the middle of the dining room floor. Streaks of dye draw across his cheek. They leave what look like slashes across his neck. It’s going to take some scrubbing power to remove them. She sweeps some of the hair off, not caring about the stain it leaves on her fingers.

The next move is natural. A touch of lips to lips, careful and giddy, puckered and softer than she expects, two hands on her back and a powerful jaw under the grace of her fingertips.

Ven opens the door and gags. “Ugh, all the stars in hell, could you do that in your room?” He turns on his heel and stomps off. “I’m too young for this.”

Aqua snorts into Terra’s mouth and he spits. “I’m sorry,” she says.

Terra licks his lips of juice. He leans up for more. “You taste tangy.”

#terraqua #terraqua week #aqua #terra #ventus #isa #AHHHHH IT'S THE START OF THE NEW WEEK #I wish i had more time for this one #but I hope you all like it ;-;#my fic

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is0gild · 4 years

Text

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 24

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 7,564

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

When I awoke, Mother was gone. It made sense, seeing as how daylight was streaming in through the bedroom window now and I could hardly have expected her to stay all night with me. She'd probably left not too long after I'd nodded off.

Part of me wondered if she had ever really been there in the first place or if I had simply dreamed the whole thing up. It'd all just been so weird. Mother hadn't been that… well, motherly towards me in over a decade. It was a long lost part of our relationship that I'd dearly missed, so I wouldn't have put it past my subconscious mind to cook something like that up while I was dreaming especially now that I was back in my childhood bedroom where such old memories could be sparked. But no, I was still in my dress I'd worn for dinner yesterday evening and I wouldn't have gone to bed without changing first, not unless Mother had actually been here.

But that still begged the question: why her sudden and unexpected change in behavior after all this time?

Maybe… it had something to do with the wedding? Maybe me running out on it and disappearing for weeks without a word had taken its toll on her even more so than I'd ever realized? If so, then her little visit last night had probably just been a… a moment of weakness, and a fleeting one at that. Why else would she have waited until we were away from Father's and Grandfather's prying eyes? Once we were back around them, not to mention the rest of the family, her usual mask would probably be firmly back in place again. She would be prim and proper, cold and reserved, just like she'd been for years now and it would be like those precious few moments last night had never happened.

...or maybe I was being overly pessimistic. Maybe now I had an ally in Mother where I'd previously thought to have had none. Maybe The Talk™ tomorrow wouldn't be as bad as I feared, not if I had her and Anna on my side.

But honestly, who knew? Who ever knew anything really when it came to my family? I certainly didn't. Not anymore. Not for a long time.

All I could do was wait and see and hope the anxiety didn't murder me in the meantime.

I climbed out of bed, grimacing at my reflection in the vanity mirror, at what a rumpled mess my dress had become overnight. This was the second time this week I'd slept in a garment that wasn't meant to be slept in. This was dangerously on the verge of forming into a habit. I really needed to stop. Sighing, I started walking towards my luggage so I could dig out something fresh to wear. However, I was halted in my tracks by a knock at my door.

I hesitated in answering it, giving my appearance another once over in the mirror.

This time, my reflection responded with a wrinkle of her nose.

Ugh, everyone's a critic.

Ah well, there was nothing for it. No amount of hand smoothing would make this dress fit to be seen and I wasn't about to make whoever it was wait for me to change. Tossing my frazzled braid back over my shoulder, I moved towards the door and opened it just wide enough for me to poke a head out.

"Mornin', El!" Lea beamed down at me, looking far more presentable than I on day two of his whole rebel-without-a-cause aesthetic he had going on.

I smiled back with a soft, "Good morning."

Dipping into a bow, he swept a hand out to one side, "I've come to escort thee to breakfast forthwith, m'lady."

"My my, we'll make a gentleman out of you yet," I hummed a chuckle.

He scoffed with a big theatrical sniff. "My word, I say, perish the fucking thought!"

"Shoot, you were this close," I snorted with a shake of my head. "Just give me a quick minute to change."

Before I could shut the door however, he stopped me with his hand lightly snagging mine. "But why? You already look as gorgeous as ever this morning."

I stubbornly ignored the tiny flutter I felt inside my ribcage. Didn't he realize it was a bit silly to be pulling the whole googly-eyed boyfriend routine when it was just the two of us? Maybe he was just getting into character early before we went down into the dining room. I rolled my eyes, "Oh yeah, gorgeous enough to make Mother pale, Father choke, and Grandfather faint."

Smirking, Lea said, "All I'm hearing are a ton of pros and a whole lotta nada for the cons column."

My eyelids drooped but before I could reply, there was a sudden shout from down the hall, "Ah-ha! There you are!" A blur zoomed towards us, attaching itself to Lea's arm.

Or rather, herself, seeing as how it was Anna.

So… the prodigal sister had at last graced me with her presence.

"I thought I might find you here," she grinned up at Lea, who just blinked down at her in response. Then she directed that grin my way, "Hi, Sis! Bye, Sis! Alright, big guy, let's go!" She charged off once more, dragging Lea with her. Or rather… she tried to anyway. But I imagine Lea could be quite the anchor when he didn't want to move, so instead the hold she had on his elbow ended up snapping her back like a rubberband.

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "What's the rush, Anna?"

"Yeah, short stuff, where's the fire?" Lea asked.

"We gotta get you ready!" Again, she gave another tug of his arm.

Again, he didn't budge. "For…?"

"For a beautiful day out on the water," she stated as if it were obvious. We both stared at her blankly and she huffed. "We're going yachting!"

Both eyebrows shot up Lea's forehead. "We? As in you and me?"

"And Elsa," she added, stomping over to Lea's other side and pressing her shoulder into his arm, trying to shove him into moving. It was kind of like watching a chihuahua attempt to out muscle a great dane. Just as effective too. Panting from the exertion, she tacked on, "And Maren and Ryder too."

"Oh, okay," Lea nodded, then frowned. "...and Maren and Ryder would be?"

"Our cousins," I said before furrowing my brow at Anna. "Wait, they're here? Since when?"

"Since an hour ago," she grunted, still pushing all her weight against Lea and getting nowhere, her feet sliding and scraping against the carpet. "Auntie Yelena showed up early with them. Now Mom and Dad want to shoo us young'uns out of the house so we won't be in the way while this whole place is turned upside down by party prep chaos. So," she paused, red-faced and puffing for breath before brightening, "figured we could take Daddy's yacht out for a lil spin!"

Lea cocked his head, "Still don't get why you're trying t- oof, hey now!" David (aka Anna) had managed to catch Goliath (aka Lea) off guard by ramming her shoulder into his side, forcing him to stagger a step. "-why you're trynta kidnap me," he finished in a grumble.

Stepping back from him, she crossed her arms and fixed him with a dull stare. "...did you pack swim shorts?"

"Well no, but I didn't know we were gonna-"

"Exactly!" she cried triumphantly, latching onto his elbow once more. "So we're gonna go borrow you some from Ryder!"

"You coulda just said that in the firs-" his words were swallowed in a yelp as she suddenly bolted, this time managing to haul Lea tripping and stumbling behind her.

"Be ready to go in fifteen minutes, Sis! Meet us in the driveway! See ya there!" Anna's voice echoed down the corridor back towards me in their wake.

I called after her, "But breakfast-"

"We'll pick something up on the way!"

...she was still acting so very strange.

Sure, she was always a ball of energy, but normally she'd let me talk more than that before making a break for it. It'd almost felt like she couldn't get away from me fast enough. I knew she'd been in a hurry, but getting Lea seaworthy hardly called for the state of emergency she was making it out to be.

Now more than ever, I was determined to get to the bottom of her odd behavior. Luckily for me, Anna had slipped up and made the error of trapping us on a boat together for the next several hours. And even if said boat was a yacht, there still weren't exactly a lot of places for her to hide from me on it.

She couldn't possibly keep avoiding me there.

My mistake.

Anna very well could keep avoiding me here and in fact had been doing so successfully for the past hour. It was not a matter of whether or not she had places to hide so much as she just never seemed to stay still for more than ten seconds. She'd always kind of been the cartoon Tasmanian Devil given human form, but now she was that on friggin' steroids. Just a constant whirl of chaos that was always on the move.

"I'm flying, Jack!"

Then, of course, there was the fact that I had to put up with this dork.

I hung my head with a sigh from my position behind Lea, my hands gingerly holding his hips as he stood proudly at the bow of the yacht with his arms spread out wide to either side of him. "You know, this wasn't exactly what I had pictured when you said you wanted to reenact that one scene from Titanic."

He glanced over his shoulder at me with a toothy grin. "You wanna swapsies? I can let you be Rose for a bit!"

"...I'm good, thanks."

"Suit yourself! You're seriously missing out though," he shrugged, stepping down off the raised rim of the boat and onto the cushioned bench seating, using it like a staircase to get himself to the floor. The salty breeze played with his shirt on his way down - a very loose short-sleeved button-up that only had one button fastened in the middle, so peeks at his muscled torso were not uncommon and could be rather, hrm… distracting. The swim trunks he'd borrowed from my cousin were just shy of his knees and were a deep red with black silhouettes like palm trees at sunset.

His flip-flops hit the deck and he spun around, offering me a hand to help me down as well. Smiling my thanks, I gripped the wide brim of my beach hat with one hand while the other took his. My strappy sandals landed on the hardwood beside him, careful not to step on the hem of my long, strapless cover-up dress made of a thin, billowy white fabric that barely hinted at the blue two-piece I wore underneath it. It was a beachwear ensemble I'd left behind at my parents' home years ago. A good thing too since like Lea, I hadn't exactly planned for a yacht outing when packing my bags for this weekend.

"So," Lea chirped as he released my hand, "now that we've gotten that important and thoroughly pressing bit o' business outta the way, what's next on our lil agenda?"

My lips pursed to one side before I decided, "Let's try and find Anna."

Though there was really no try about it. Finding her wasn't the hard part. Getting her to stay and actually talk to me was. Still, I was on a mission!

Mission Make Anna Open Up About Whatever The Heck Her Problem With Me Is.

...I really needed to get better at naming these things.

As I turned to give a quick glance around the yacht, first person I spotted was Maren - short for Honeymaren, but she hated the name with a bloody passion and did her best to bury that info in the hopes that it would never again see the light of day. She stood not far off next to the ship's mini bar under the shade of the awning. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid and she was sporting a purple swimsuit with a matching sarong.

The thing that stood out most however were the cheap, plastic star-shaped sunglasses currently perched on the bridge of her nose. They were particularly eye catching given that, one, she hadn't had them on a moment ago and, two, they were probably just about the last things one would expect to see her wearing. She seemed just as surprised to discover them on her face as I was, given the way she removed and squinted at them with a bemused smirk.

I could hear Lea's flip-flopping footsteps following behind me as I walked towards her. Arching an eyebrow, I pointed at the things, "Where'd those come from?"

"Ask Lil Miss Sunglasses Fairy over there," she laughed, popping them back on before jerking a thumb over her shoulder towards the helm. There Ryder stood manning the steering wheel in his yellow, turtle-print trunks, the sunlight gleaming off his short black hair. It looked like he too had recently received a visit from this so-called Sunglasses Fairy, for he was now (quite bewilderedly) modeling a pair of shades with big, cartoony red lips for frames.

Ah, and here the Sunglasses Fairy herself came now, her auburn pigtail braids flapping wildly about as she skipped towards us in her bright green bikini and boyshorts. Not to be left out of the latest fashion trend of her own making, Anna had on a pair herself shaped like flowers. And in her hands were-

"For you, oh dearest Sis of mine, I've saved the best for last!" she happily declared, sliding the shades with neon pink heart lenses onto my nose.

Joy.

Lea looked down at me and snerked, biting back a grin.

Boy didn't know how close he was to getting his arm pinched for such impudence.

Anna gave a small pout, "Sorry, Lea, but I only have four."

"No problemo. El and I can just share," he chuckled, stealing mine and donning them himself, waggling his eyebrows at me as he leaned back and propped his elbows against the boat railing.

Ugh, I wasn't sure what was more annoying: that he actually looked pretty good in them or the fact that he knew it and was being smug about it.

"Charming," I deadpanned before looking back at Anna. "Where'd you even get these silly things from?"

"Oh, I bought them all ages ago from one of those shack shops by the dock," she tossed a hand back towards the shoreline. "I've been keeping them hidden away for a special occasion."

My head tipped to one side. "...and that special occasion would be?"

She tapped a finger to her chin, "Hmm… Ah! National Fun In The Sun Day, of course!"

I gave her a flat look. "That is neither national nor an actual holiday."

"Is too!" Her chest puffed up as she planted her fists on her hips, "I'm the captain of this here dinghy and what the captain says, goes!"

"You can't just make up holidays, that's not how captains work," I crossed my arms.

"Yeah-huh! I'm the captain and I say so!"

"But-" I stopped myself, pinching the bridge of my nose. Just let it go, Elsa, otherwise we'll just keep going around in circles like this all day. "Nevermind. I was hoping, Captain, that maybe you and I could have a minute to-"

"Move over, Ryder! It's my turn to steer!"

Annnnd off she zipped again.

I had half a mind to chase after her but with the way things were going, I feared she might swan dive off the side of the yacht just to get away from me.

"What's wrong, El?" Lea frowned before taking off the heart shades and offering them to me. "Want these back? I hear rose-colored glasses make everything better."

I mustered a weak smile at that, arms hugging myself as I leaned back against the metal rail beside him and muttered, "Thanks but no thanks."

Perching the sunglasses atop his head now, he asked, "Seriously, why the long face?"

"...it's Anna," I grimaced, reaching for a tendril of my ponytail to twist between my fingers as I watched Ryder join his sister at the mini bar. They were just barely out of earshot so I couldn't hear whatever they were laughing and shaking their heads over. "She's mad at me or… something, I don't know. All I know is she won't talk to me, not really. Every time I try, something always comes up and she runs off."

Lea glanced towards where Anna stood valiantly at the helm, one hand holding the steering wheel steady while the other shielded her eyes against the sun. "Huh… now that ya mention it, it does seem like she's been avoiding you, doesn't it?"

"You've noticed it too?" So it wasn't all just in my head. Not sure if that made me feel better or worse.

"Maybe a lil," he nodded. Pushing himself off the rail, he turned to stand in front of me now. "But mad? Nah, I don't think so. She seems far too chipper for that." Lea rubbed a curled finger to his chin, "Maybe she's actually sad about something but doesn't wanna worry you so is just… trying to put on a brave front? Or she could have something important she wants to talk to you about but is too scared?"

"But that's ridiculous, Anna knows she can always talk to me about anyth-"

"Hard to starboard!" came a sudden shout from my sister before she jerked the wheel into a spin.

The yacht whipped around in a sharp turn, throwing Lea into a stumble towards me. I gasped, bringing up a hand to stop him while turning my head away and squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for impact.

But it never came.

Cracking open one eyelid then the other, I discovered he'd managed to catch himself by grabbing the railing to either side of me.

"Whew!" he grinned, looming mere inches over me, "That was close!"

...wait… my hand was still raised… and touching… something…

I slowly, reluctantly lowered my gaze towards it.

Only to have my face all but burst into flames and practically blast steam out of my ears.

For behold! There, my hand, in all its brazen glory, had found its way into Lea's unbuttoned shirt and that was without a doubt a big, heaping helping of man boob it was groping right now.

...very nice, delightfully sculpted man boob. Firm yet… soft, somehow? No, soft wasn't the right word… ah, supple! Yes, that was what I-

Now was not the time to be debating word choice!

Not while my friggin' hand was still on his bare friggin' chest.

Gah, what was wrong with me?! I really needed to stop sexually harassing the guy who had zero interest in dating at the moment!

Okay, remain calm, Elsa. Maybe he hasn't even noticed it yet. Maybe if I just discreetly removed it, he'd never even have to know it'd been there in the first place. Alright, easy does it… careful now, just take it one small step at a time… first lift the palm off… okay, good! Now the thumb… perfect. And up goes the pinky… then the next one… and the next… just the index finger to go-

Oh. My. God. Did I just goddamn trail my fingertip down his skin?! Pretty sure I'd trailed it. No, not trailed, I'd caressed! Caressed! Great. Just dandy! If he hadn't realized where my hand was before, he sure as hell knew now!

My eyes shifted about desperately.

Oh, this was uncomfortable. Quick! Do something to make it less awkward!

I looked him dead in the eye, brought up my hand and poked him in the nose with a tiny, "Boop!"

Nailed it.

Lea blinked. Then he gave a little snort, one corner of his lips curling up. "What was that?"

A clever and artful distraction, duh. One that was clearly working too, so ha!

"What do you mean, what was that?" I mumbled, hitching my chin and averting my gaze. "It was a nose boop, what else?"

His grin twitched wider. "Well, yeah, I could see that. What I meant was why?"

I couldn't help but notice he was still really close. That he still hadn't let go of the railing yet, keeping me trapped between his body and it. Clearing my throat, I said defensively, "You just have a very… boopable nose, is all."

"...is that so?" he murmured, eyes crinkling as he pressed his forehead to mine.

Dear lord, his rent-a-boyfriend act would be the death of me.

"Yo! Elsa!"

Thank goodness! Cousins to the rescue!

Closing his eyes, Lea exhaled softly before spinning around and shifting over to rest back against the steel rails beside me once more just as the two of them approached us. "Is it true?" Ryder asked excitedly, eyes bright behind the lip-glasses he'd yet to take off as he stirred his mimosa. "Do you really sell mall ice cream now?"

I winced slightly. "Oh… you know about that?"

"Avast ye landlubbers!" Anna's voice rang out again as she continued to pilot the yacht. "Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!"

"You kidding?" Maren snerked, taking a sip of her bloody mary and ignoring my sister. "Once the Duke found out, the whole family found out. You know how that old coot loves to run his mouth to anyone who'll listen."

"So it is true!" Ryder beamed. "At an Ice Palace, right? The place with that kickass reindeer mascot?"

"Um…" I furrowed my brow. He seemed oddly enthusiastic about this. "...yes?"

He pumped a fist, "Awesome! Love the place! Their ice cream is so good and all their commercials are hilarious! Have you seen their new one with all the reindeer singing a frigging rock ballad?"

Even with the star-shades, Maren's eye roll was plain as day. "You and your strange obsession with reindeer."

"What? They're cute!"

"Whatever, I just can't with you right now," she held up a hand in his face as she took a sip from her drink, looking at me again. "Seriously though, you ran out on your wedding, on your whole sweet cushy life… just so you could sell ice cream?"

"Land ho! Thar she blows!" Anna again.

Holding onto my hat so it wouldn't blow away as the wind picked up, I frowned. "Well… that wasn't exactly why I left…"

"But that's what you did," she insisted, eyebrows lifting with her tiny grin. "Do you even know about all the chaos that erupted after you turned up missing?"

I swallowed hard. I could feel Lea's fingers fiddling with a lock of my ponytail, but I hardly noticed it as I bit down on my bottom lip and shook my head. "Was it bad?"

"Aw man, the whole place went nuts after you pulled your vanishing act! You shoulda been there!" Ryder laughed before squinting skyward. "Although… I guess if you had been there, none of it would have happened." He shrugged, taking a big swig of his mimosa. "Anyway, it was wild! Our family was yelling, his family was yelling, a flower girl was bawling, the giant ice swan sculpture got knocked over and shattered into a bajillion pieces, a bridesmaid punched a groomsman, the-"

"Wait," I interrupted him, my eyebrows knit together as my gaze shifted over to Maren. Besides Anna, who'd been my maid of honor… "Weren't you my only bridesmaid?"

She smirked, lazily lifting a shoulder before letting it fall. "What can I say? I live for anarchy."

"Batten down the hatches! Swab the deck or it's straight to Davy Jones' locker with the lot of you!" It seemed Anna was really getting into character now.

"The butterflies," Ryder eagerly jumped back into the conversation right where he'd left off, "were released on accident at the same time the doves somehow got free as well and, oh man, the carnage! It was epic!"

My hands were fidgeting with each other. I had no idea when they'd started. My chest was beginning to burn and constrict.

"I still can't believe it," Maren wrinkled her nose in glee, chewing on her straw. "You ditching a guy at the altar. You, of all people. You've always been such a goody-goody. So well-behaved, so polite, so disgustingly perfect. Just goes to show you, I guess… it's always the sweet, innocent, quiet ones who'll surprise you."

Fidget, fidget, fidget.

It was getting harder to breathe.

"A total bloodbath!" Ryder was still going. "I mean, did you even know doves ate butterflies? Cuz I didn't! But those poor little guys never even stood a chance! Tiny insect guts were flying everywhere! Seriously... Best. Wedding. Ever."

"Heh-hey!" Lea suddenly piped up. "Are all these swimsuits just for show or we gonna," he clicked his tongue, jerking a thumb towards the water, "dive on in?"

He was taking the attention off me. I shot him a grateful if somewhat shaky smile. His arm slipped around my shoulders, giving them a small, reassuring squeeze as he rested his cheek against my hair.

"Please," Maren sniggered, "like we'd actually swim in the lake."

"Watch and learn, dude," Ryder grinned as he moved over to the plush seating that circled the edge of the ship's bow and pushed a button on a panel behind its backrest. The massive, seemingly decorative circle that was etched into the center of the foredeck began to hum and slide under the rest of the floor, revealing the hot tub underneath. Striking up a finger, Ryder then pushed a second button, this one turning on the jets.

"Ooo," Lea nodded in appreciation, "a jacuzzi that appears as if by magic. My my, how the other half lives." Then he huffed out a snort through his nose, "Leave it to the rich to find a way to take a soak in the middle of a lake without actually having to get in the lake."

Ryder scrunched up his face, "Lake water's gross."

Pointing at the hot tub, Lea said, "You do realize the more people get in that thing, the more it's just a boiling vat of human juices, right?"

"Thanks for that," Maren gave a mock gag before tossing her chin towards the edge of the boat. "What're you waiting for then? Lake's right there and all yours, Stretch."

"No thanks," leaving my side, Lea walked over to the ledge of the jacuzzi to dip a toe in. "Bring on the person stew! 'Sides, not every day I get to hop into a yacht hot tub. Wouldn't wanna miss out."

Setting his now empty glass down, Ryder said, "Not every day you get to steer the yacht either. Whaddya say, my man, want to give it a go?" He pointed towards the helm.

As if on cue, Anna bellowed, "Ready the cannons, ye scallywags, lest we be dead in the water!"

Lea gave me a quick glance and I shrugged. He scratched the back of his head, "Uh… sure! Why not? Be right back, boo!" He planted a swift peck to my forehead before transferring his pink sunglasses back to my nose. "If ya need me, just shoot me the heart-eyes with these and me n' my boopable nose'll come running."

I huffed and shoved his shoulder, "Just try not to crash us into anything." Fighting the upward tug I felt at one side of my mouth, I added more quietly, "Have fun."

"Always do," he winked before turning to follow Ryder towards the stairs that lead to the upper deck.

"Shall we?" Maren then asked, tossing her sarong to the bench as she stepped down into the hot tub.

I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder. Normally, I wasn't self-conscious about being seen in my swimsuit. But then, normally only people who were related to me ever saw me in it. The one exception there of course being my ex, but I'd never been awkward about it in front of him either. I'd never really been… anything about it. But now, oddly the idea of Lea seeing me in my swimsuit, it just… well, I don't know… did weird things to my pulse and made my skin tingle. It wasn't a bad feeling, per se… I wasn't quite sure what it was really.

In any case, the boys looked to be engrossed in a heated debate with Anna currently. It seemed the self-proclaimed captain wasn't quite ready to give up her post at the wheel yet. None of those three were even looking this way.

"...alright," I said at last, slipping out of my cover-up and letting it fall to the deck. Putting my hat down on top of the small pile of fabric as well, I lowered one foot in into the water, followed by the other before hastily taking a seat, letting the bubbling warmth engulf me up to my shoulders.

Stretching and luxuriating in the jacuzzi, Maren's glass dangled between her fingertips as she idly swirled about what was left of her bloody mary inside it. "I can see why you did it."

A crease formed between my eyebrows as I gave her a sideward glance. "Did what?"

"Got the hell outta Dodge before the first note of Here Comes the Bride could even chime out the organ," she smirked, sticking the straw into the corner of her mouth.

My lips pinched. "I thought you'd already established it was to sell ice cream," I grumbled, lifting the sunglasses to sit atop my hair now since the absurd heart lenses were already fogging over from all the steam.

She gave an amused scoff, setting her empty glass down on the rim of the hot tub. "I said that's what you did, but we both know that wasn't why. Not unless ice cream is roughly six foot seven, has green eyes to die for, and is rocking a smokin' hot bod."

"Oh…" I cleared my throat. Was my face turning red? Psh, that was just the jacuzzi. I think heat was cranked up a little too high in here, in fact. Yeah, that had to be it. I laughed nervously, "What can say I? He just, er… stole my heart."

Atta girl, way to sell the lie.

...that... was a lie… right?

What am I saying, of course it was! All I had was a crush. A simple, meaningless crush, nothing more.

Anna had finally retreated to the mini bar where she was sulking as she mixed herself a drink, so Ryder had set Lea up at the wheel, who was nodding at everything he was told. Maren removed her star-shades, gently biting down on one of the earpieces as her eyes drifted towards the helm. I wasn't particularly a fan of that sly little curve to her lips as she watched him. "Mmm, I bet that's not all he stole."

A small, incredulous splutter escaped me. "Maren," I scolded, splashing some water at her.

She snerked. "All I'm saying is I don't blame you. I myself would've given up a Prince Charming fiancé worth his weight in gold and risked any claim to my family fortune, all for one steamy summer fling with that hunky pizza boy over there."

Okay fine, no use denying it anymore. This thing my face was doing? Definitely a blush. "Don't you have a girlfriend?" I muttered, eyes darting about.

"Sure do and she is my world, my moon and my stars, my everything!" she beamed. Then her eyebrows bounced, "Still… doesn't mean I can't admire the view every once and awhile."

"Well stop admiring," I harrumphed, narrowing my gaze down at the frothy water.

"That's adorable! You really do like this one, don't you," she cooed, pinching my cheek. I just rolled my eyes and swat her hand away. "Hope you weren't too attached to your hat, by the way."

"My…?" I blinked. "Why?"

She pointed, "Cuz there it goes."

Sure enough, a gust of wind had come along to scoop it up and carry it off, only to let it plummet once it'd escaped the confines of the yacht.

"Cap overboard!" Ryder called out, cupping a hand to his mouth.

"I'll get it!" Lea grinned, already kicking off his flip-flops. Before any of us could react, he took off running, launching himself up onto the guard rail and diving into the waters below.

I inhaled sharply as I shot up to my feet. "Your boy is crazy!" Ryder was cackling as he steadied the abandoned steering wheel and shut off the ship engine. Maren whooped and clapped while a giggling Anna rushed to the edge, leaning over the metal bars to look for him.

I just hoped that big dummy didn't get knocked unconscious by the rudder cracking his skull open or something! All over a stupid sun hat, no less!

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Anna was throwing up her hands and cheering, which I took to be a good sign as I released the breath I'd been holding. Next thing I knew, Lea came rising up the ladder attached to the side of the boat, wet hair slicked back and the brim of my cap between his teeth so his hands were free for climbing. Clearing the last few rungs, he hopped onto the deck and grabbed the hat out of his mouth, hissing, "Shit, that water's cold! Brr, nearly froze my ass off!"

...or at least, I think he'd said something like that.

It was hard to be sure really. My eardrums seemed to be on the fritz while all my focus now directed itself towards his shirt. His sopping, soaking wet shirt. It was clinging to the chiseled contours of his abs in a way that was rather, ah… fascinating. Not to mention see-through. Yes, very, very much so. It was actually kind of beautiful, in a way. Majestic, really. Quite the sight to behold and-

-and fudge, I was staring.

Staring at him, who was staring at me.

Me, who was still standing in the jacuzzi and flaunting my two-piece like I was the friggin' star of Baywatch.

I sat back down so fast, water splashed over onto the deck behind me. Yes, oh blessed jacuzzi bubbles, cloak me in your warm, protective embrace. Face heated and eyes not quite able to meet his, I stammered out a quick, "Th-thank you."

"Of… of course! Happy to!" Lea said brightly. Huh… was he getting a bit of a sunburn? He started to walk forward with a goofy, lopsided grin, holding the hat out towards me, "Here ya g-"

Apparently misjudging where the ledge of the hot tub was, he stumbled head first into it with us. I jolted in my seat and Maren half shrieked, half laughed as water exploded everywhere. As soon as he resurfaced and was coughing up water, I asked, "Are you okay?!"

"Fine! Nothing bruised 'cept my pride. Wanna smooch it all better?" he snickered, leaning in close and making loud kissy noises. Eyelids drooping, I just put my hand on his face and shoved him away. Still chuckling, he once more offered me my now thoroughly drenched hat. "Believe this is yours, m'lady?"

I hid a smile behind my fingers. "My hero," I said dryly, taking it from him and setting it aside on the hardwood once more. Surely it was too waterlogged at this point to fly off again.

"Yoink," he plucked the heart-shades off me so he could wear them himself once more. "Mind if I join you gals?" he chirped, standing up in the jacuzzi to remove his soggy shirt. I did my best not to ogle him this time.

The same couldn't be said for Maren as she smirked up at him. "Would seem you already have, Slim."

He cocked an eyebrow at her as he took a seat at my side. Then he was bending towards me, muttering in a low voice, "Uh… should I be nervous about the way your cousin is looking at me?"

I snorted, turning and leaning in close so I could return the whisper into his ear, "Ignore her." Lea seemed to give a small shiver, but that wouldn't make sense. It was very hot in this jacuzzi, so I must have been mistaken. "She has a girlfriend."

"Did, uh…" he cleared his throat, "did anyone tell her that?"

"Don't worry. Apparently she's just admiring the view," I said, one corner of my mouth twitching up.

His eyes crinkled behind those pink lenses. "Good. Woulda hated to break her heart otherwise, seeing as how I'm already deliriously happy in a loving, committed relationship with the bewitching creature sitting next to me," he slipped one arm to rest along the edge of the hot tub behind me while taking my hand in his other one so he could bring it up out of the water and press his lips to my knuckles.

Click!

I glanced up at the sound to see Anna crouching down next to the jacuzzi, holding her phone up with the camera pointed towards us. "D'aww, what a great picture! You two are such cuties!" she squealed, looking down at her screen as her fingers swiped across it.

Lea had lowered our hands back down to rest underwater once more, his fingers interweaved with mine now. Which was a little silly, come to think of it, as no one could possibly be seeing us holding hands through all these bubbles. Perhaps he didn't realize that. Then again, I wasn't exactly rushing to take my hand back either.

Anna was still gushing, "Seriously, I'm becoming diabetic from sweetness overload h-"

"Cannonball!"

Maren's head shot up and she snarled, "Ryder, no! This is a hot tub, not a-"

Suddenly a big blur was hitting the water, sending a huge blast of water in all directions for the second time. Anna yelped, shielding her mobile with her body while the rest of us just did our best to block the mini tidal wave with our hands. It was amazing that there was any liquid still left in here with us by now.

"Wahoo!" Ryder cried out as he popped back up, bouncing with his hands high over his head in triumph. It was short lived however as his sister punched him in the gut and he doubled over with a grunt.

"Bonehead!" she scowled at him as she relaxed back into her seat. "You could've broken your dumb neck."

"And my phone!" Anna added as she gave said device a careful lookover.

"Whatever, you're all just jelly cuz you didn't think to do it yourselves first." He fished around in the water for his lip-shades that had fallen off before perching them on his head and taking a seat as he looked to Lea, "Hella cool, am I right? Up top!" He held up his hand. Lea just shrugged and obliged him with a high-five.

Maren sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Boys. Ugh."

Seemingly satisfied that no damage had come to her phone, Anna plopped down onto the ledge of the jacuzzi now and let her feet dangle in the water. "Pic of my fave cousin," she singsonged, snapping a shot of Maren tipping her sunglasses down and holding two fingers up in the peace sign. "And one of my idiot cousin," she deadpanned, pointing it at Ryder now who just crossed his eyes and razzed his tongue at her. Giggling, she then turned the phone camera back towards Lea and me. "I want a couple more of you guys! Go on, smoosh in, you two!"

...who me?

Awkward penguin, nervous wreck, ball of raw friggin' nerves me? "Smoosh" in with a guy? While we were both only in swimsuits and thus at least a good seventy-five percent naked? Smoosh?! I didn't even know how to smoosh! I'd never smooshed a day in my life!

Did my sister know me but at all?

She did remember Lea and I were only pretend dating, right?

I narrowed my gaze one her. "...excuse me?"

"You heard me," she said sweetly, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she tipped her head forward, smirking over those flower-glasses. "Snuggle in, Sis."

Oh-ho, that evil brat knew exactly what she was doing.

Fine. If I gave her this and let her have her fun, maybe she'd finally open up to me about whatever it was that'd been bothering her.

So I scooched an inch over towards Lea.

"Closer," Anna said, staring at her phone screen as she pointed the camera at us again and waved me over with her free hand.

A tiny huff in my throat and another inch over. My knee was brushing against his now.

Anna groaned, "Come on, closer! You two like each other, right?!"

Lea gave a sheepish laugh, scratching his cheek and whispering, "El, forget it, you don't hafta-"

"It's fine," I muttered under my breath, hard eyes still on Anna as I reached over my shoulder and closed my fingers around Lea's wrist resting behind my head there. Hesitating briefly as my face began to warm uncomfortably and the thudding in my ears grew louder, I finally tugged the arm down to wrap around my bare shoulders and leaned into his chest slightly.

"Ugh, closer!"

One of my eyes ticked. "Anna, any closer and I'll be sitting in his lap. Is that what you want?"

She smiled impishly, "I mean, if you think it'll help…"

Lea's hushed voice came to me again, "El, really, this isn't-"

"Lea, really, it's fine," I insisted through grit teeth.

Alright, Anna, you want closer? I'll give you closer, you little...

I twisted in my seat, hugged my arms around his neck and yanked him down, pressing our cheeks together. Not to mention our chests. Our very wet, scantily-to-not-at-all clad chests. But I tried not to think about that part. My cheeks were frying enough as it was already. His whole body went rigid against mine before slowly relaxing as I felt his arms tighten around me. "Here, Anna," I snapped, "take the stupid picture!"

Hold this pose any longer and my heart might just shatter a rib with the way it was thundering.

Still there was no click. She frowned, "Aw, c'mon, Sis, give us a smile! You're in wub, after all!"

...that's it, I was going to throttle her.

"Gotcha covered!" Lea announced. I'd barely even had a chance to register his words before he'd removed his cheek from mine only to replace it with his lips and blow a loud raspberry. All my tension immediately banished and a surprised laugh erupted out of me as I tried to wriggle free, but not before-

Click!

"Perfect!" Anna bit back a grin as she eyed the photo on her phone.

Lea had a cheeky grin of his own that he was shooting my way. Though my eyes glared, my lips smiled as I gave his arm a shove, which did nothing to erase his smug look. Before I could retract my hand however, he'd snatched it up in his so he could lace our fingers together once more. At least this time it was above the water for everyone to see.

Now that that bit of nonsense was over and done with, perhaps Anna would give me a minute to talk to her while she was still distracted by riding her photography high. I saw Maren poking a finger into her brother's cheek as she teased him about something, so our cousins probably wouldn't miss us if we slipped away for a second or two. Sitting up straighter and taking a deep breath, I began, "Anna, perhaps now you and I could have a-"

"Oopsie, looks like I need a refill!" she trilled, swiping up her glass from where it sat on the deck beside her.

I squinted at it. "...it's still mostly full."

"Check again." She downed the whole thing in one big gulp before puffing out a satisfied, "Ha! Be right back!"

Whoosh!

Gone again.

With a long, drawn out sigh, I slouched so low into the jacuzzi now, the foamy surface brushed against my chin. I could see Lea frowning at me out of my peripheral, but he remained quiet, probably just as much at a loss with this whole mystery situation with my sister as I was.

My eyes gradually drifted over to the mini bar where I could see her mixing up some new concoction. However, instead of the upbeat glow she usually had about her, I noticed her shoulders sagging a little. She was worrying her lower lip between her teeth, the corners of her mouth turned down. I couldn't see her eyes behind the sunglasses, but her brow was wrinkled, seemingly lost in thought as she hung her head.

Huh… that didn't look like someone who was mad.

Maybe Lea was right. Maybe there really was something that had her sad or scared.

But what could it possibly be?

And why wouldn't she just tell me?

Author's Note: Yay for some yacht fun! Cuz that's just what rich people do I suppose xD Again, since I'm not sure if all of ya'll have seen Frozen 2, the new characters introduced this chapter (including the briefly mentioned Yelena) were all from that movie as a buncha people called the Northuldra who live in an enchanted forest. Since in F2 it was revealed Elsa's mom was Northuldra, there is a VERY real possibility that Honeymaren and Ryder really are all canonically related to Elsa and Anna in some way, so I figured hey, why not turn them into her cousins in this? Now if only Ryder had gotten to see Kristoff's talking reindeer Sven plushie routine, I think Ryder would have positively exploded with happiness xD Real talk tho, boys and girls... don't pull a Ryder: do NOT cannonball into a jacuzzi.

Alright, we now have Saturday morning out of the way, but still have plenty of The Weekend to go yet! Next chapter, what will the rest of the day hold for Elsa? Will she ever find out what seems to have her baby sis so down? Not to mention Gramps' bday palooza is looming ever nearer on the horizon, what potential new "fun" could that lil party bring? And seriously, how WAS there any water left in that lil hot tub after those couple o' knuckleheads (intentionally or not) crashed hard into that thing? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

Text

Before You Go - Roxas x Fem!Reader

So...I’m not done with FF7r yet, but I recently watched the Masked Singer and the Turtle’s finale song really got me thinking so...Tada!

~~~~~

“Wait! Please!” I beg, reaching for his jacket.

He turns on me. “Would you just get out of here?!” My hand recoils as if he’d struck me.

His name barely falls from my lips. “Roxas…”

“No! Whatever it is you have to say, I don’t want to hear it!” My heart breaks at the sight of tears in his eyes. “You think you can just spout some of your stupid motivational words and everything will be fixed! But you can’t! Whatever you have to say it’s just a lie! I’m not important or special; I’m not even my own person!”

“That’s not true!” My knees feel weak but I just have to keep myself together, for him.

“I AM LITERALLY A NOBODY!” he screams. He’s always been a somewhat volatile person, quick to anger, fighting against what he’s told, greedy in his emotions—loving without knowing limits. But this mix of rage and remorse has consumed him. “I’m the shell of another person! Someone without a heart! I’m not supposed to exist! So you’ve just been wasting your time with me!”

“No!”

“Yes!” He grips at handfuls of his hair. “And what does that say about you?! Loving the broken and hopeless?! Is that how you make yourself feel better about how pathetic your life is?!” The words are caught in my throat, the desperate argument I want to yell at him. “How can you stand it?! How can you sit there and pretend like nothing is wrong?! What deranged magic do you use to ignore it all?! Or are you just so gullible and naïve that you think that everything is actually okay?! How can you be that stupid?!”

I grit my teeth, reminding myself that he’s just worked up; still, my hand grips at the fabric over my aching heart. It’s all I can do!

“Well I’m not like that! Nothing is okay and it’s never going to be! People like me don’t get to be happy! And I’m sick of you trying to pretend that’s not true!”

My voice fails, breath coming out in muted sobs.

“I’m not doing this anymore,” he mutters darkly. No matter what he says, there’s sorrow and pain behind it all. I don’t know who this hurts more, me or him, but I’m afraid of what will happen if he leaves now.

His mouth opens but closes again as he changes his mind. Instead, Roxas leaves it there and turns towards the black portal, leaving me behind in a complete mess.

The grief becomes too much to bear. My knees meet the cold ground while uncontrolled sobs pour from my mouth. It doesn’t take long before a coughing fit overwhelms me, shredding my throat and spurring the pain in my chest. Flecks of crimson mottle the ground among the already fallen tears. This isn’t how I wanted to leave things, but I’ll never get the chance to fix it and that’s what hurts the most.

I’m sorry.

~~~~~

Roxas POV

When the doors to the gummi ship open, I give a hasty goodbye to Riku and bolt off towards the town. Nothing’s changed, it’s just as I remember. Even if most of what I remember was of a replica, she wasn’t. She had been real, someone I had met before I had been taken, before I gave up on existing.

I can hear my friends calling after me but I don’t stop; that is until I slam into someone hard enough to throw us both to the ground.

“Ow…Sorry,” I grumble, rubbing my head.

“Yeah, you-Roxas?!”

My gaze snaps to the boy, meeting his brown eyes with the same shock. I’ve seen him before, but only in the fake world. “Hayner?!”

“Roxas?!”

“No way! Roxas!”

Two others join us and I feel this strange mix of relief and confusion swelling in my chest. “Pence? Olette?”

Pence takes my arm and hoists me to my feet. “You’re alright!”

I’m afraid to ask, afraid to break whatever illusion of fate that gave me this moment of rightness. But I can’t help it. “You know who I am?”

“Of course,” Olette says with the same smile. “We’re friends.” Her words strike my heart and I could just cry.

Hayner clears some things up. “Maybe not the friends you knew in your Twilight Town, but friends are friends, right?”

There we go; they know about me and they’re not the fake friends I had made. Still, they want to be friends and maybe I can do that.

“Roxas!” Lea and Xion catch up. Lea scolds, “You can’t just run off like that.”

“Are you okay?” Xion asks.

Olette offers a hand to Xion. “Are you Roxas’s friends? I’m Olette.”

Amidst the meeting of old and new friends, I suddenly remember my original mission. “Wait!” I grab Pence. “I’m looking for someone! Like this tall! Goes by the name _____!” I quickly give a rundown of what she looks like while trying not to shake the answers from him.

“Wait, are you talking about the Lady of Sunset Hill?” Olette interjects.

“Huh?”

“Oh yeah.” Hayner folds his arms. “That girl who was at Sunset Hill all the time.”

Olette goes on, “They say she was there waiting for her true love to return. Everyone saw her there but she was just some strange girl; it’s not like it really mattered to anyone. Until she disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” I whisper. Inside, it feels like my heart is afraid to beat, like another moment forward will drag me closer to whatever bad news they’re harboring.

Pence pries my hands from his shirt. “One day she just disappeared, leaving a note where she used to stand.”

I take off a second time. I’m terrified. After everything I said, there’s no way she can be gone. She can’t be; I have to talk to her again. I know that note is for me, that I’m the person she was waiting for, despite how dreadful I’d been to her; so there has to be something in that note to tell me where she’s at. She has to be okay—I don’t know what I’ll do if she’s not.

My throat is threatening to close up, agitating my anxiety but I don’t stop until I get to Sunset Hill. I’m immediately blinded by the sun peeking over the edge of the horizon, but I can just make out the shape of the girl. Filled with relief, I rush forward.

And then I stop. It’s not a girl standing there, but a statue. At first glance, it could easily be mistaken as a being built in her image, but I can tell that the sculptor didn’t know her. They failed to mimic the lines of her gentle hands or the true softness of her face. The length of her hair isn’t quite right and they even omitted the scar across her arm. What they did capture is an intense emotion of heartache, and I’m sure that even that can’t compare to what it really was.

The statue blurs and I have to drag my sleeve across my face to clear it up. Beside the statue, is a plaque with the words “The Lady of Sunset Hill” engraved across the top. Below the description is a piece of paper, pressed flat and displayed beneath a plate of glass.

~~~

You were right.

Nothing was okay. Life can be so cruel and so often it can feel like there’s nothing left for us to hold onto. I had no one, I was never going to make my dreams come true, there was no future ahead of me, my body was failing. My life was miserable and I hated every moment of it. Until I met you.

I don’t know why. You were awkward and short-tempered, but we got along anyway. There were times I wondered how we even came to be lovers, but you made me feel like nothing else mattered than my time with you. And that’s why I never wanted you to see the dark side of me.

So no, I was never okay. And maybe I was fool for pretending I was. But I don’t regret it. None of it. Because what was pretend became real with you. I’d never been happier than those moments I shared with you; all the times I got to see your smile, the way your eyes lit up, the smirk of your confidence, or even that adorable blush. You can argue all you want, but you really existed. You were somebody no matter what anyone else said. You had a heart because you showed it to me.

I hope you found your answers. I hope that you came to accept yourself just as I did. I hope you’re happy.

I’m going to miss the stupid jokes over ice cream and the comfortable silences watching the sunset. I’m going to miss you. I love you.

Sorry.

~~~

Some of the words have been distorted and faded by what I can only assume are tear stains, but her message comes through all the same: she’s gone.

Knees in the dirt, I swallow the wail threatening to break out. The grief is overwhelming; beating my fists against the ground alleviates nothing but I don’t know what else I can do.

“Roxas!”

“Hey man, are you okay?”

My jaw clenches, trying to hold myself together beneath my friends’ hands. If I open my mouth, everything will come out.

“Is this her?” Xion asks softly. “She was so pretty.”

Olette tells a story I didn’t want to hear. “A couple months ago, some people found her here unconscious. They rushed her away but it was too late.” A tremor ripples through me. “The sculptor was one of those people and picked up the letter she dropped. He was so touched by her love and sorrow he built for her.”

It’s Lea who finally understands. “Oh no…She was the girl…She was the one you…”

And that’s where I fall apart. I’m no stranger to self-loathing and I’ve had my fair share of misery, but never to this extreme. She’s gone and I’m never going to see her again. She’s gone and the last thing I did was yell at her. I said all those disgraceful things and berated her when she was just trying her best for me. I treated her so terribly because I was in denial while she was pushing aside her own problems for me. I shoved her down in anger while she was fighting a losing battle. Sure, my problem was traumatic too, but I’m still standing—she’s not.

I’m never going to hear her laugh again or see that smile that made my insides feel like mush. I’m never going feel her warm hand in mine again. Her fingers will never play with my hair again and we won’t waste time staring at the sunset anymore. We can’t take any more ridiculous photos that make us smile until our cheeks hurt. She won’t be there to comfort me or cheer me on. I’ll never get to kiss her again, to feel her soft lips that always made me crave more. There are so many things I wanted to tell her but now I can’t. I’ll never get a chance to tell her I’m sorry, that I take back everything I said and beg for her forgiveness.

And I’ll never get the chance to tell her I love her.

If only I had known you had a storm to weather.

#roxas #kh roxas #roxas x reader #kh3 roxas #kh3 #fem!reader

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aliceslantern · 3 years

Text

Give/Take, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 5

Ienzo has been too busy since the war to be overwhelmed by the past. But with little progress to be made in his work with Kairi, old nightmares start to invade.

Riku is a glorified housesitter. Lonely and faced with no choice but to wait for a way to find his friends, he eagerly accepts when Ienzo asks him to help do repairs around the castle. Before long, the two strike up an unlikely friendship, united by their dark pasts and their attempts to be better people.

But just as they begin to consider something more... Kairi wakes up.

Ienzoku (Ienzo/Riku), post-Melody of Memory, slow burn. Updates Thursdays until it's done.

Chapter summary: Ienzo and Riku's friendship begins to deepen, raising questions about what they might feel about what another. Time passes.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

Ienzo was exhausted.

The walk back from town felt longer than it ever had. Cid had tried his best to offer advice, but as it were, he couldn’t do much. Ienzo’s limbs felt heavy, the soles of his shoes worn thin from so many hours on his feet. I really should get new boots, he thought.

At least he was able to identify this feeling now, unlike the first time it had happened. He needed to try and sleep, if so for an hour or two. He didn’t want to collapse again. It was not a very flattering look. The first time it had happened, Aeleus had panicked and contacted Even, and the lecture Ienzo had received afterwards was not pleasant.

He knew better now. Rest first; at least a little. He forced himself to lay down and was so burnt out he slept dreamlessly, almost breathlessly, waking up just after dawn with an unpleasant crick in his neck. The notion of waking up for once not in a nightmare-induced panic was a bit disorienting; he blinked.

Ahead of Ienzo was another long day of no progress being made. He knew in his bones that was what would happen, but couldn’t justify doing much else. He took a shower, put on some clean clothes, and went to the communal kitchen to go get a cup of coffee, hoping that someone had filled the pot already.

Someone had, but not the someone he’d thought.

“Oh… sorry,” Riku said. “I figured I’d just… make some for all of us.”

Ienzo shook his head a little. “So you got in.”

“Yesterday. I helped Aeleus with some painting.” There was something jittery, almost nervous in Riku’s expression. Ienzo thought back to their last encounter and bit his lip.

“Oh. That’s good. Oatmeal? I was going to make some for myself.”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

It was still a bit uncomfortable, admittedly, to have his back towards him. Ienzo’s face was burning, and his heart was beating hard again, but not quite with the same panic as before. “I know Aeleus isn’t exactly the chattiest if one doesn’t know him well.”

“...Actually… he and I kinda had a good conversation. About…”

“Castle Oblivion.”

“What else?” he chuckled.

Ienzo dumped in the oats and turned to look at him.

“It’s just hard for me to pretend that never happened. Not since I’m here.”

“And since you quite literally live there now,” Ienzo added.

He shrugged. “Well. Staying there, anyway.”

He stirred their breakfast. “Is it very strange?”

“It’s eerie,” Riku admitted. “I’m the only one there.”

“...No wonder you’re looking for any reason not to be there.”

After a moment, Riku added, “it wouldn’t be so bad if I actually had things to do.”

Ienzo added some honey and sugar. “You don’t like being bored, do you?”

“I already think too much,” Riku said. “With nothing to work towards… I feel useless.”

“I know that feeling well.” He smiled a little despite himself. At least these were instant oats, so there wasn’t much awkward faffing around while he waited and waited for it to cook. He spooned some out for each of them and sat.

It felt a little odd, sharing a meal. Something too mundane and too human. “Thanks for cooking,” Riku said.

“Thank you for the coffee,” Ienzo said back. “Really. You don’t need to be so stiff or so polite around me.”

“Sometimes I’m not sure what else to say.”

“You don’t always have to say anything.”

“What if I want to sound smart like you guys?”

He laughed. “We’re not smart. We’re educated. There’s a difference.”

“I don’t know about that. Hearing you guys talk about--data, and principles, and heartlines, and all this other stuff… sometimes it just sounds like gibberish to me.” He chuckled. His grin was a bit lopsided, Ienzo noted. He liked the character it brought to Riku’s face, different than the obvious mask he’d been wearing. And I’m probably doing the same.

“Sometimes it is gibberish,” Ienzo said. “I swear Even likes hearing himself talk.”

“...I think you do too.”

His eyebrows shot up; it took a moment to realize he was teasing him, and even longer to come up with a response. “...Perhaps theatricality is part of my nature,” he said lamely. He wished he could stop blushing. “What of it?”

“But yet I also so don’t get you.”

He blinked. “How so?”

Riku cocked his head. “I dunno. There’s just something… I can’t put my finger on. Some people are just such open books. Like Sora. But you… I thought I understood Zexion. And when we met, I thought I got Ienzo . But now I’m not so sure.”

“May have something to do with the fact that I don’t get myself ,” Ienzo said dryly. Then, “Do you like that sort of intrigue?”

It was a rather bold statement, and it slipped out mostly by accident. He wasn’t sure why he said it, just that it felt natural in the moment. He realized this was less bantering, more… something else.

“Jury’s still out on that one, I’m afraid,” Riku replied equally.

“Then maybe I should try harder.” It was like a game, different than their earlier enmity. He almost wanted to know how far he could go, how hard he could push it. If Riku would snap at him for his impertinence. Or maybe Riku was so bored he wanted that impertinence.

Maybe Ienzo did too.

Riku flicked his eyebrows once. “Maybe you should,” he said. He stood to put his dishes in the sink. “As much fun as I’m having… I should do what I’m actually here for. Apparently I’m helping Dilan today.”

“Good luck to you.”

“Though--” He looked back. “Do you happen to have… any bobby pins I could borrow?”

---

It was odd, and confounding, to have him around more often. Running into him during or after meals. Seeing him around Dilan or Aeleus or even working on his own, his brows furrowed in concentration. Dilan reported--with something like confusion--that he was very good with his hands after all.

“I think it’s nice he’s being so helpful,” Ienzo said. “I was hoping I’d get to stop hearing you complain about having to do this work.”

“There’s so much to make habitable that it’s going to take far more than adding one to a staff of two,” Dilan said. “Perhaps if you got off your butt and did some work too.”

Ienzo rolled his eyes. “I am working. Quite hard.” On a mostly fruitless project, true. Every morning he walked into that lab and Kairi was still asleep, he felt a stab of guilt. They were wasting days of her life. But everything was coming out so-- ordinarily. Ansem insisted they had to trust that she was working with the process. But it had been nearly four months. And seeing Riku’s concern and disappointment whenever he found out no major strides had been made didn’t help.

Ienzo felt… useless. He found himself thinking more often of his days as a Nobody, when he felt like he was doing something, getting somewhere. Making discoveries.

Committing atrocities. Causing worlds to fall. Et cetera.

But this didn’t feel much like atonement either. He pulled his eyes away from the computer and looked at his hands, which to this day still looked rather naked without those black gloves. All I’ve done and I’m still here. Is there a reason for that? Or is this another of the universe’s jokes? Much like Xehanort had ascended rather than simply dying. Maybe he wanted karma, he wanted consequence, and vilification--

He looked back at the sleeping girl. He wanted to do good so badly . But he didn’t seem very “good” at that. “Excuse me,” he said to Ansem. “I need to walk for a minute. Clear my head.”

“By all means,” Ansem said, with a smile.

Ansem’s kindness made him feel guilty, too. Maybe Ienzo hadn’t been the one to usurp him, but after all, he had been the one to persuade Ansem into building that lab. Everything that happened after that was his fault. Staying busy… helped him keep on top of the memory. If he didn’t try to make up for what he did, why even have this life at all? It didn’t make sense.

But he couldn’t try to work like this.

Ienzo started walking. His eyes were hurting from all the time spent in front of screens. There had to be something he could do, something major all of them were missing--maybe he should go to the library, pull a few texts, something older than their research, a bit more mythic--

His head was starting to ache. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You--ah--okay?”

Riku startled him; he felt that jolt of accompanying panic and had to take a breath to settle himself. “Riku. I thought you were away.”

“...I just came back a few minutes ago. It turns out a self-cleaning castle doesn’t need a whole lot of babysitting.”

“I-I’m glad you’re motivated.”

“Idle hands make the devil’s work,” he said, with a trace of sarcasm. “Really, you okay?”

“I’m a bit frustrated,” he admitted. “When it comes to our work.”

“With Kairi,” he said, his face falling.

“Yes. It’s been… months, and we have… very little to show.”

“Ansem said this would be a long shot,” Riku reminded him.

“But I’d hoped for more than quite literally nothing. It makes me feel…” Why was he telling him all this?

“Let me guess. Useless?” he offered.

“Wholly and completely. I left to try and clear my head. If you’d like to talk to Even--”

“That’s alright.”

Ienzo smiled a little. “I think I just need to get out of here for a few minutes. Get coffee… or something. That is, if the weather isn’t awful.”

“It kinda always is lately, isn’t it?” Riku said, with a sigh.

“You must miss the warmth.”

He seemed to go far away for a moment. “I guess so.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

He jerked. “What?”

“On my walk? For coffee? Or…” Checking his watch. “I should probably eat…” He scowled.

Riku chuckled. “What’s that mean?”

“Right… you wouldn’t know, would you?” He shook his head. “Nobodies don’t have to eat. Or sleep, for that matter. That is to say… I’m not quite used to it. Which I’m sure sounds very strange.”

“Huh,” he said. “You know, I think I sort of get it. When I was… possessed by the seeker of darkness, I kinda felt the same.”

“Isn’t it bizarre?” Ienzo asked. He hadn’t realized how much he wanted to talk about this.

“...I guess darkness is hungry in other ways,” he said. “Though… I never fully lost my heart the way you did.”

He hummed. “Well. I’ll get my coat and boots, and then we’ll go?”

“Alright.”

---

True to form, it was snowing, fat white flakes falling from the sky. At least it wasn't so painfully cold, and Ienzo's wool coat kept him warm enough. "I guess there aren't seasons on Destiny Islands," he began, feeling the need to chat.

"I thought you'd been," Riku began cautiously.

"...No," Ienzo said.

"But your… illusion of it was so spot-on."

His heart was beating hard and fast. "That's partially due to your and Sora's memories, and partially due to the nature of Castle Oblivion," he said. "Usually I can't-- couldn't, " he corrected, "make something so intense without experience. I think that's the only reason Xemnas let me onto the field, in the end." He cleared his throat. "No, I've never been. How do noodles sound?"

"Um, fine."

They got some from a stand and sat at a table under a covered courtyard. Despite outdoor space heaters, it was still rather cold. They ate in silence for a moment.

"It does have seasons," Riku said, in a low voice. "Not like here, not the four. But… yeah. The dry season, the wet rainy season, hot, and… slightly less hot."

Ienzo chuckled. "Do you miss it?"

Riku didn't speak for a moment, and he wondered if he'd hit a nerve. "More than I thought I would," he said. "I guess… part of it is the simplicity of life, that I had. I hated it, though. The thought that I would spend my whole life confined to a handful of islands."

"...It must've felt suffocating."

"It did," he admitted. "Though now I want to go back to the way things were. ...At least until I get sick of it again."

"You have options now," Ienzo said.

"I guess so."

He picked at his food with his chopsticks. "Did you have a happy childhood there?" He asked

Riku smirked. "Why do you ask? I thought we didn't always have to say anything."

Ienzo's heart stuttered again. This game was getting deliberate, he realized. "How dare I seek to get to know you better."

"I'm just honestly surprised you're asking me that. "

"Why? Considering I spend my waking days examining old memory… I think I deserve a conversation about it."

He leaned back in his chair. His jacket pulled a bit tighter across his chest, revealing a bit of definition Ienzo definitely noticed, and he found his mouth dry and his head a bit empty. It took a moment to recover. He realized, coldly, he was ogling him with interest , and his breathing picked up a bit.

Oh no.

Riky raised an eyebrow. "Ienzo? You okay?"

He'd never felt this way. Was this supposed to be how it felt? He didn't deserve this sort of thing, he wasn't even sure he deserved friends--

He leaned back over the table. "You're breathing kind of hard. Why are you anxious?"

Ienzo felt so beautifully and so awfully seen. He wasn't used to feeling and he wasn't used to anyone recognizing what he was feeling--how could he ever be good enough--

"Ienzo. Look at me. It's okay."

He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the table.

"Was it a memory? Did you remember something?"

He shook his head again.

"Look at me," he repeated. "Look up. You're alright. It's only anxiety."

"Only," he spat. His chest was tight and he was nauseous.

"I know. Believe me, I know. It sucks. It's the worst. But it's not forever."

"This is humiliating."

"Why? It's just me. No one else is around. The weather is too shitty." He offered a smile.

"I don't want to--I'm not used to--" He couldn't think clearly.

"Breathe. Nice and deep."

He tried; it hurt. His eyes were watering. "You… you feel like this?"

"...A lot, actually."

"So many things I don't understand." He'd studied mental illness for years and he couldn't even recognize an anxiety attack that wasn't triggered by memory.

"It's okay. It doesn't usually make sense." He felt pressure and realized Riku had taken his hand and, moreover, he was squeezing it hard. Ienzo jerked his own back.

"What were you thinking about? Can you tell me?" He asked.

Ienzo swallowed. "Do you ever feel…" He shouldn't say this, he should say it was too personal, and Riku wouldn't pry. "Undeserving?"

"Of?"

"Everything, the people around you, your friends, just--having a body--"

Unflinchingly, he said, "yes. Always. But you know… I'm starting to learn that just because I did bad stuff in the past doesn't mean I have to make myself pay for it forever."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How do you realize that?" He needed the answer.

"Look, you want to be better, right? And you're working hard on that? Why punish yourself? I…" He exhaled. "That's hard for me to grasp most of the time too. But for whatever reason we're here. That has to mean something. We were given second chances. Chances to make choices."

"What kind of choice?"

"Who we'll be."

It felt like a weight was leaving him, though how or why he wasn't sure.

"No Organization. No… Ansem, or Xemnas. Just us."

"I guess so," he said wearily. “How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Just… forgive yourself. Move on.”

Riku laughed a little. “Well I’m not done, exactly. Not even close. I just… I don’t know. At some point suffering gets… pointless. It doesn’t help anyone. It just… wastes time.”

Ienzo blinked back the tears. “That actually makes sense.”

“I’m not going to pretend to understand everything that happened with you. But I think…” He exhaled. “Dunno. If you ever feel like you need to talk about it, you can start with me. Cause I know how much it sucks to try and do this all alone.”

Ienzo looked him in the eye at long last. He seemed to mean it, really and genuinely. “Right,” he said softly. “Right. Okay.”

“Why don’t we walk for a little while? That might help.”

“Alright.” Ienzo cleared his throat. They went to give back their empty bowls. Finally he made himself say it. “Thank you, Riku.’

He shook his head. “It’s the least I can do.”

---

Riku found himself looking forward to his time in Radiant Garden, even though the winters there were wet, cold, and generally miserable. The castle didn’t have adequate heating; this was part of his repair job, actually. They’d been using mostly fireplaces and space heaters, but it would be more effective--especially seeing the literal ice rain down from the sky--to have the central heating up and running.

Riku was used to working with Aeleus now, his quiet calm demeanor. They didn’t talk much, but this suited Riku. Sometimes, depending on how hands-on the work was, his left wrist would ache for hours. Dilan wasn’t as pleasant of a partner. And sometimes, Riku worked totally alone.

But at least if he were working here he was close to Kairi, and it was something constructive to do . It made him feel just the slightest bit less lonely, even though the ache of missing them never went away.

He dreamt of Sora often, usually nightmares of Sora lost, injured, or worse. At least with Kairi here he knew she was physically okay. (Though there were, admittedly, dreams of her turning up braindead from being asleep so long.) Sora must feel so alone, wherever he was. He was so dependent on his friends. Riku just wanted him back home, safe and sound.

Though at least he had someone to talk to, now.

Over the days and weeks that followed, through the worst of winter, he and Ienzo actually spent a good amount of time together, even if they just sat down for a cup of coffee or went for a walk. Riku guessed they were both lonely, but as their conversations evolved, he realized… he and Ienzo were actually a lot alike. Their relationships to darkness and their pasts. Their general reservedness. The dark humor.

Riku… liked spending time with Ienzo.

Every now and again he saw the other boy staring at him, his head slightly cocked, his eyes running so lightly against Riku’s arms, or his jaw. He’d first noticed the day Ienzo had that anxiety attack. And on some level, Riku knew he himself was attractive, if the behavior of the girls and some of the guys at his high school had meant anything. Even if that “attractiveness” came from unusually colored hair and symmetrical features and simply taking care of himself. At first, the notion that Ienzo might find him attractive too was terrifying.

But ever since he’d felt that first jump in his pulse, he… started to feel it, too. Ienzo’s delicate face, the gracefulness of his hands. The glint in his eye. Would it be so harmful to flirt with him? They already had several times.

Yes, said the voice in his head that sounded like Kairi. For one, it’s a huge conflict of interest. You need him to do his best work to help me , right? Which he can’t do if he’s distracted by you.

Riku felt a stab of guilt. But they weren’t getting much done anyway, he thought. Ienzo had explained the process to him a few times (it had sort of become white noise every time, even though he had tried to listen and understand, instead watching the way his lips moved and trying to keep his expression neutral), and the data they were receiving wasn’t conclusive. She might still be digging through her deeper memory. Considering she had sixteen years’ of it, this might take… a long time.

And the three of them worked more or less around the clock, too. There had been a few times when Riku went down in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, hoping to sit with Kairi for a little while, alone. Someone was usually down there--usually, in fact, it was Ienzo, or a bit more rarely Even. He saw the bags under their eyes, their pale skin, the yawns and the endless cups of coffee. It wasn’t for lack of trying.

Winter coasted to an end, and spring seemed to pass quickly, too. His hair was finally long enough to pull back without the use of pins, and he was grateful because they always fell out or slid around. As the tepid heat that passed for Radiant Garden’s summer began to bleed in, Riku realized it had been nearly nine months since Kairi was asleep.

And it hurt. Here he was, awake, alive , alone , and almost a full year had passed. Sora’s birthday in March had been agony to get through, almost like he was dead and not missing. Now he was faced with the prospect of Kairi’s.

“...Are you alright?” Ienzo asked him during their customary walk. Even though it was summer, he still wore a button-up, done all the way up to the top. At least this one had short sleeves, the muscles in his arms more pronounced than Riku might’ve thought. Books were heavy, he decided.

“I…” He trailed off.

Ienzo smiled. “Riku, we’ve talked about this,” he said in a slightly scolding tone (Riku tried to ignore the way his heart beat faster). “Lying and saying we’re fine gets us nowhere.”

“Pot calling the kettle black,” he said instantly. “Look, I’m just thinking… it’s August, right? It’s… almost Kairi’s birthday.”

“Oh,” Ienzo said softly. “I didn’t know.”

“It just… makes me realize how much time has passed.” He looked away from Ienzo, back out at the cobble roads in front of them. “And I know you guys are working as hard as you can--”

“It’s been endlessly frustrating and disheartening for me to have to tell you time and again there’s no progress.”

“I know. I know. I just…” He swallowed the unexpected lump in his throat.

“You miss them.”

“They’re my best friends. And working around here helps , but I’m just so… I don’t know how much more waiting around I can do.”

Ienzo frowned. “I think of it this way, and this may help you,” he said. “Naminé was able to restore Sora’s memories in a year. He was only fifteen, and she was only one person. But there are the three of us, and Kairi, working hard on this memory dive to see if we can find any connection to Sora. I think… I just have a feeling that something might happen around that year mark. Try not to lose hope just yet.” He gave Riku’s hand one small squeeze, enough to make him nearly stumble over his words.

“I’m trying. It’s just… not easy. It feels like… it’s been so long since I was able to just be friends with them, like there hasn’t ever not been a time we were all separated looking for each other. Sometimes I wonder if it’s ever going to end.”

“I’m sure it must feel that way,” he said, a bit more gently. “But… knowing what I know about the three of you, the bonds are too strong for that separation to be final.”

“You really believe that,” Riku said dryly.

“I really do.” He lifted his chin a bit defiantly. “And seeing as I’m your source for all things scientific… you have no choice but to believe me.”

Riku chuckled.

“...Besides, if enough time passes, we can attempt to release her from her sleep,” Ienzo said. “Actually talk to her. That might be helpful.”

They’d brought this up before, briefly. “But it’s her heart that’s asleep, right? We can’t just wake it up until it’s ready.”

“A good friend of mine has a power that has something to do with that,” Ienzo said, raising an eyebrow.

He pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Did you forget?” Ienzo asked.

“I didn’t… forget . I just didn’t think it would work.”

“Well, to be fair I’m not completely sure it will,” he said. “But it’s worth trying, I think.”

Riku nodded. “Some expert you are,” he said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Ienzo rolled his eyes.

#give/take #ienzo #riku #ienzo/riku #ienzoku

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princessmcpurpledork711 · 4 years

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Random AkuRoku headcanon?

So for someone whose first game was KHII, Akuroku is really important to me. I know a ton of people who are new to the fandom consider this ship 'problematic' but honestly, I don't think they actually see anything but a theoretical age gap. Every single time I write Akuroku, Axel is like a year or two older, at the oldest 3. I mean, the game doesn't really have ages. Would it be weird if they got together in game? A little. I mean I don't think that would ever, ever happen, but Axels age is so ambiguous. Real age? I can't say more than 22? 24? I guess? But thinking that way, wouldnt Roxas be 2? Its about context. And nuance. And realizing that when ages are weird like that, it depends on what the shipper thinks the age difference is. I only ever put them in situations with them a year or two apart. People in this fandom have done a lot worse. Any ship with any form of Xehanort is like so much worse tbh. Maybe with older members of Org XIII, but I know that's not what a lot of people ship. Plus having ships where people actually like each other are way less problematic than ships that are riddled with abuse. (¬_¬)

Speaking of actually liking each other, I know in the past, people made Roxas a tsudere bitch and Axel a jerky bad boy. (Ah 2008 am I right?) I mean, I used to think like that too, when I was a naive idiot 13 year old. But really the best thing about Akuroku to me was always how Axel became a dork and Roxas followed him around like a baby chick. In AUs where they meet at a young age, Roxas thinks Axel is so cool, and Axel takes him (and Xion too for that matter) under his wing. As they get older, they realize that he's a loser and they become sassy and sarcastic instead of idolizing him. Instead of being a tsudere bitch who beats him up and calls him stupid and tells him 'I don't like u baka😠' (I don't know if u can tell, but I have come to loathe tsuderes. Like in general. I like my ships to actually like each other's presence), he teases him, doesn't let him do stupid crap, but loves just chilling with him. And Axels not some asshole who does whatever no matter the law or people's feelings, he's a dork whose punk and laid back and loves to mess around and sometimes doesn't think before he does something, but would never hurt someone he cares for (on purpose at least)

They tend to skate everywhere, play video games, and chill in weird places eating ice cream talking about weird shit. They have this friendship where they can both drop their walls and be silly with each other. They both have insecurities that cause them to act tough in public, but theyre both soft and hurt very easily. They have accepted each others flaws and masks, and adore seeing the other when theyre fully relaxed and truly happy. (Theyre like that with Xion too, they love their sibling. They eventually can be that way with Sora and Isa too. They have insecurities about them theyre too afraid to confront them about. They love their brothers, and they'll be themselves around them again in the future)

They're playful and teasing, yet loving and supportive, like the friends they've always been. In private, theyre more mellow and mushy with each other, yet the fire they have isn't gone, its just more passionate than anything. The base of any good relationship is the trust and love from friendship. No power imbalances, no abuse, no trauma, but real warm comforting love. Its something I will always defend not just in fiction but real life too. Relationships aren't black and white. (Also think about if a ship is really a problem before u start hating. Because people will go hating on a ship for small details. Plus every shipper is different, someone could be shipping Sokai or Soriku in an awful way but people wouldn't bat an eye just because its a good ship. I've seen people make Riku an asshole, Kairi a bitch, Sora in no way resemble himself whatsoever and then they have terrible relationships with abuse but still say theyre in love. That's not okay either, but that's not something people would ever call out. People can't usually be bothered to think about shipping in a nuanced way, but it would great for fandom spaces if they tried.)

By the way, I'm sorry I went into this ask, but I've been thinking about this for a while, and started venting. Akuroku is dear to me, and seeing it get disowned by the fandom hurt. But I at least know I can keep shipping what I love no matter what, and will keep it wholesome not for the fandom's sake, but my own.

Edit because I forgot something huge cuz I was venting: Pedophilia is wrong and stopping pedophilic ships is good. But you should really think if it really is pedophilia. Because the real enemy is adults who are in relationships with teens that cause unhealthy power imbalances. Please focus on actually hating on those ships with actual adults and teens/kids. This is where nuance comes in. With unclear stuff, please look at how someone is shipping it. Because if someone is shipping Akuroku with the huge age difference, Axel having control because of his age, and Roxas following him because he's older, stop them, they are a pedo. Most Akuroku shippers aren't this, but people think so because they came into the fandom late and only see a possible number while people who have been here forever can still remember when they had no ages and felt close in age.

This goes for any ship. Look at peoples work and draw conclusions. A ship in one person's hand can look very different in someone else's.

Again sorry for the rant, I'm sure u didnt expect all this when u ask anon.

#again sorry for the hot take #they dont call me queen shipping trash for nothing #akuroku #kh #i dont usually put things for the fandom to see but why not #but this is important for me #nex's asks #long post

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revengerevisited · 4 years

Text

I wanna do something a little fun and just share some of the KH fanfic ideas I’ve had for a while, which are mostly about Vanitas because of course they are. XD But yeah, here are my ideas:

1. A Shadow of Two - a sequel to A Heart and a Half, kinda a fix-it for KH3 but not really since it’s an AU to begin with. Vanitas Aqua and Ventus would be the main trio, but Sora Riku and Kairi are also POV characters, with each of them having their own trio and goals: Sora (with Donald and Goofy) looking for a way to revive Roxas while struggling with his own inner darkness, Kairi training with Axel and getting help from Ienzo in discovering her past, Riku Mickey and an unrevealed character on a secret Realm of Darkness mission and also finding a way to revive Naminé, and Vanitas Aqua and Ventus searching for the new Princesses of Heart while dealing with their own problems: Vanitas still dealing with his trauma while adjusting to normal society, Aqua dealing with something I can’t reveal yet, and Ventus... honestly I don’t know what to do with Ventus. The most obvious answer would be recovering his lost memories, but... well, introducing an egregiously convoluted backstory wherein Ventus and/or Vanitas might be a murderer isn’t exactly appealing to me, to say the least. I really wish Ven’s backstory could’ve been something I was allowed to make up myself. Other than that, the story would generally follow KH3 but with way more Disney worlds and hopefully fewer plot holes. ;P

2. Broken Hearts (Take Time to Mend) - a post-KH3 fic that ignores Re:Mind and the time-traveling Vanitas retcon. This fic is about the REAL Vanitas who was in KH3 and resurrected via scream energy who has returned once again, this time in the Land of Departure but is too weak to leave and is quickly discovered by the Wayfinder Trio. Tensions are high but he’s ultimately allowed to stay, with the focus of the story being on the four of them helping each other recover from their respective traumas: Vanitas’s years of abuse by Xehanort, Terra’s decade of possession by Xehanort (which according to the post-Re:Mind character files was a lot more traumatic than I’d realized), Aqua’s decade spent in the Realm of Darkness and subsequent corruption by darkness, and Ven’s... almost being killed by Eraqus, I guess. While pretty bad, that’s probably not as traumatizing as years of torture and torment, and the more obvious trauma to use would be Ventus committing/witnessing Strelitzia’s murder, but as I’ve established I just really don’t want to deal with KHUX at all. Anyway, this could work as a gen fic but since I love Vanqua so much I might as well make it one, maybe throw a little Terrella in there too 'cause why not.

3. This fic idea focuses on the aftermath of KH3, NOT Re:Mind, where Riku Kairi and Naminé are trying to adjust back to a normal life at Destiny Islands while also dealing with their grief over Sora’s disappearance. Kairi deals with blaming herself for Sora’s ‘death’, Naminé deals with being adopted as Kairi’s sister and learning how to be a normal person, and Riku deals with his growing feelings for Naminé, but the real star of the show is... Sora’s mom! Oh and Vanitas too, of course. Sora’s mom (who really needs a name) has finally been told about everything that’s happened these past two-ish years, and a month after Sora’s disappearance she finds a comatose Vanitas washed up on the beach. She assumes it’s Sora, although Riku and Kairi are quick to correct her. Despite their warnings, Sora’s mom nurses Vanitas back to health and basically adopts him, although he isn’t exactly happy with the situation. Still weak and recovering, Vanitas is unable to leave, and Sora’s mom won’t stop in her efforts to help him adjust to a normal life. This one could be merged into Broken Hearts, since I could imagine Riku informing the Wayfinder Trio about Vanitas’s return and an angry and distrustful post-KH3 Aqua wouldn’t want to let him out of her sight, but it might be better to keep them as separate fics seeing as they’re set in two different locations.

4. My next idea hinges on my theory of what the next KH game could’ve been like... or at least before Re:Mind pretty much shot it down. My theory was that Vanitas, the real Vanitas not the time-traveler, was still inside Sora’s heart and therefore went along with him to TWEWY. I haven’t played TWEWY but I know that Sora would need a partner to defeat the Noise, and what better partner than a former enemy? This would be similar to A Heart and a Half but instead of romance it’s a sibling team-up with them trying to escape Shibuya. This fic could also be combined with the previous idea as well... Maybe Sora allows Vanitas to win the Reaper’s Game and he ends up on Destiny Islands unable to remember what happened in TWEWY. Vanitas would be the key to getting Sora back but only if Naminé can unlock his lost memories. My only problem is that I would have to erase all that character development Vanitas gained with Sora to reset him back to have character development with the Destiny Islands characters instead, at least until he regains all his memories.

5. A different Vanitas and Sora team-up fic. Once again this is the real Vanitas who used scream energy to revive himself, but that made his heart rather unstable. He tries to fight Sora Donald and Goofy in Monstropolis but is too weak and sick and loses. Upon discovering that Vanitas looks just like him, Sora decides to take him back to Yen Sid for healing and answers. But Vanitas’s negativity is too much for the Gummiship to handle and it ends up stalling. Sora Donald and Goofy slowly nurse a very reluctant Vanitas back to health with the power of friendship, which would reduce the amount of negativity so the Gummiship can fly again. Vanitas and the trio travel to a few different Disney worlds and eventually rescue Aqua and Ven. I don’t know what would happen after that though, since I don’t want to just rehash exactly what happened in the Keyblade Graveyard.

6. A pre-BBS Vanqua AU. Only a few months after being created, Vanitas runs away from Xehanort to the Land of Departure, hoping to merge with Ven early. Unfortunately for him Ven is still in a coma, so Vanitas tries to merge with Aqua instead. This doesn’t quite work, but does end up linking their hearts in such a way that neither can go too far away from each other without feeling sick or even dying. Now stuck at the Land of departure, Vanitas is found by Xehanort who is enraged that Vanitas has basically ruined all his plans. Fearing for his life, Vanitas convinces Xehanort that the plan can still be salvaged: Vanitas will become Eraqus’s apprentice under the guise of Ven’s ‘brother’ and is tasked with encouraging Terra’s darkness while making sure Ventus and/or Aqua are trained to their fullest, depending on which one would be better to merge with. Xehanort, not wanting to start this entire endeavor over, agrees to the plan and introduces Vanitas to Eraqus and the others. Since Vanitas is now wearing normal clothing, Aqua has no idea that he is the masked boy who attacked her earlier, but feels strangely drawn to him due to their connected hearts. The rest of the fic would basically be about the four apprentices’ life at the Land of Departure, with Vanitas struggling with his loyalty to Xehanort vs his slowly burgeoning friendship with Terra Ven and Aqua, all while trying not to blow his cover with the Unversed.

I also have a few smaller ideas that I haven’t really thought through yet or might work better as oneshots or fanart: 1. A Lion King Vanqua AU with lion Aqua and black leopard Vanitas, Terra Eraqus and Xehanort also as lions, Ven as a regular leopard, and Braig as a hyena. 2. A KH1 retelling/reimagining with Vanitas reincarnated as Sora’s younger brother. 3. A Nier Automata AU with resistance android Terra, scanner Ventus, attacker Aqua, and Vanitas as a scanner with executioner chips installed by Xehanort sent to infiltrate Yorha. 4. A post-KH3 fic dealing with Sora’s restlessness after attempting to return to a normal life on Destiny Islands, feeling like he doesn’t belong after everything he’s been through. 5. Something about Aqua taking care of Ven when he first arrives at the Land of Departure, possibly Venqua. 6. A Vanqua-ish KH3 fic with Vanitas kidnapping Aqua to be used as a Guardian or Seeker back-up for Org13, but he eventually befriends her and lets her go. 7. And finally, a Namiku fic set between CoM and KH2. I kinda feel like this should be part of the A Heart and a Half ‘canon’, but I’m not actually sure whether it should be its own fic or just flashback scenes in A Shadow of Two.

You’ll notice that I really love stories about villain redemption, abuse/mental illness recovery, and former enemies becoming friends/lovers, which is why I’ve grown so disappointed with mainstream works nowadays rarely exploring those topics (at least not that I’ve seen). I guess that’s where that old saying comes in, “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”. But yeah, that’s just a quick list of my KH fic ideas so far!

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phoenix-downer · 5 years

Text

Of Which Reason Knows Nothing - Chapter 2

I’m happy to post the second part of the project @chibiranmaruchan and I collaborated on! (You can find the first part here). They drew the art, and I wrote the fic. Working with them was a lot of fun, and I’m really happy with what we’ve created. I will also be posting this story to FFN and AO3 if those are your preferred reading spot(s).

Length: ~3000 words

Summary: Kairi may have lost someone important, but she isn’t alone, and she isn’t without hope. And her mysterious dreams just might have a clue as to Sora’s whereabouts…

Characters: Kairi, Sora, Riku

Additional Info: Implied Kairi/Sora, Riku and Kairi friendship. Post-Kingdom Hearts III. Referenced Character Death. Guilt, Grief/Grieving, Angst, Comfort, Dreams, Friendship.

Enjoy!

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That night, Kairi wore Sora’s hoodie to bed again. Maybe it wasn’t related to her dream at all, but it couldn’t hurt to wear it, just in case there was some sort of connection.

As her eyes flickered shut, she murmured, “Sora, if you’re out there… if you’re trying to reach me… I’m listening.”

Neon lights, flashing colors. An enormous city with skyscrapers pointing towards the moon, trying to reach the heavens but getting pulled back down to earth. Water on the ground in puddles as raindrops splashed into them, disturbing the surface of the water, reflecting the surroundings like a mirror.

She was back. She was back in the same place as before.

White paint on the ground. Lots of lines running across the street. Big billboards running dozens of different ads at the same time. Cars with bright lights, too bright in the dark. The sky a strange shade of purple with ominous black clouds. A big white tower with the numbers 104 in neon red letters.

She glanced at one of the puddles nearby. A face with blue eyes and spiky brown hair stared back. Lifting her hand, she gasped at what she saw. It wasn’t her hand. It was Sora’s, and he was holding a small black pin with a skull-looking emblem on it. He turned it over, and the whole world seemed to go wonky.

“Huh?” He dropped the pin and clutched his head.

“Sora!” she cried, but he couldn’t hear her. His Gummiphone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out.

The message said:

Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure.

—The Reapers.

“Huh?!”

He put his phone back in his pocket. Pain shot up his arm, and he winced and looked at his hand again. Engraved into his palm were black numbers with yellow outlines and a red background.

59:49. 59:48. 59:47. They kept changing, kept… going down. Kept decreasing with each passing second. When he looked at the 104 building again, it said YOU HAVE 7 DAYS in big red letters against a black background.

“Sora!”

But the dream was over, and her eyes flew open. Fingers shaking, she grabbed the Gummiphone on her bedside table. The phone rang and rang and rang as her heart raced because of her dream.

“C’mon, Riku, please, please pick up—”

A few moments later, and he did.

“Kairi?” came his familiar voice, if a little groggy. She glanced at the little time display at the top of the screen. A few minutes after six. The video kicked in, and he yawned as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes.

“Riku, I had another dream about him again,” she said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

Riku perked up immediately at that. “You did? What was it about this time?”

“He was in that city I saw before, only this time there was more.” She closed her eyes and pictured it now. The busy crosswalk, the building with 104 written on it, all the colorful lights and sounds. And the red and black numbers carved into his palm. “There was a countdown, on his hand,” she added, trying to include as many details as possible.

“A countdown?” Riku repeated, his voice rising.

Her eyes flew open. “Yes. I’m not sure why, but—”

“Kairi, I think I know where he is. I think I know where he is,” Riku said, and his voice had more energy and hope in it than it had since… well, since everything had happened.

She tugged at Sora’s hoodie and sat up straighter at that. “W-what? But how?”

“When we were taking our Mark of Mastery exam, he met this guy named Neku. He told me later on that Neku talked to him about a game.”

“And?”

“There was a countdown on Neku’s hand that was a part of that game.”

She thought about this for a moment. “So you think he might be playing the same game as Neku?”

Riku nodded. “Yeah. He said Neku was from this place called Shibuya. If we can find that, we can find him.”

This was it, this was their best lead ever since he’d disappeared. She said goodbye to Riku and threw on some clothes. They had to go see Master Yen Sid about this. Their friends all deserved to know.

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Kairi waited with bated breath as Master Yen Sid closed his eyes and stroked his beard. Stealing a quick glance at Riku, she wondered if he was feeling as wound up as she was right now. His face was a calm mask, but then again, he’d never really worn his heart on his sleeve the way she and Sora did.

“So, you are convinced Sora is somewhere called Shibuya, playing some sort of game,” Master Yen Sid said.

Kairi nodded. “Yes, Master. I know it may seem a little crazy—”

“On the contrary, where else would a heart go after fading from the Realm of Light? Sora did not die a normal death, and there are legends of the same thing happening to others.”

“Really?” Riku asked. “Like who?”

Kairi knew what he was thinking. If it had happened to someone else before, there might be clues as to how to save Sora.

“There was a man who called himself the Master of Masters,” Master Yen Sid said. “He had six Keyblade-wielding apprentices, all named after the Seven Deadly Sins. Ava, Luxu, Invi, Gula, Ira, and Aced, with him as their leader: Superbia. Legend has it that instead of dying, he simply faded away, never to be seen or heard from again.”

Kairi and Riku both waited to hear more, but it soon became clear that was all.

“That’s it? That’s all?” Riku said, echoing her thoughts. “This… Master of Masters guy never returned to the Realm of Light?”

“Well, there is more to the story, but it relates to the events of the Keyblade War, and the two of you would be here for days if I were to recount it all to you. I do not think a history lesson is what you want right now. I shared this with you so you would know that the same fate that befell Sora has befallen someone else before, if the legends are to be believed. That was why Mickey tried to warn him against doing what he did, but as the philosophers say, the heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”

Master Yen Sid smiled sadly, and Kairi’s heart sank. They had warned Sora not to save her and he still did? Why?

“I know it should be him here with Riku instead of me,” she said. “But if there’s anything I can do to—”

“Incorrect. You are exactly the person who should be here with Riku right now,” Master Yen Sid said. “For if Riku is to dive into realms unknown, who better to keep his heart tethered to the Realm of Light than a Princess of Heart?”

“I can do that?” Kairi said.

“You kept Sora tethered to the Realm of Light, did you not?”

“Well, yes, but… that was different, Master. My powers don’t work on other people the way they work on Sora, and I’m not really sure why, though I do have a few guesses.”

Riku raised an eyebrow but thankfully kept his mouth shut.

“As I said earlier: the heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing,” Master Yen Sid said. “But no matter; in keeping Riku tethered to the Realm of Light as he descends to the depths, you will be helping Sora. Surely you can see how your powers could still be used in this manner.”

“I suppose…”

“Have some faith in yourself, Kairi,” Riku said. “You kept Sora alive, and that let him save the rest of us. I know you’ll be able to pull this off.”

Kairi’s hand fluttered to her necklace. “But what if I can’t? What if I screw up again? I already lost Sora because I was too weak to stop myself from dying. I can’t… I can’t lose you too, Riku!”

Riku put his hand on her shoulder. “You can do this, I know you can. You’re not alone. Together we’ll find Sora and bring him back.” His expression softened. “And you know how I know that?”

“How?”

“Sora believes in us. He believed he’d find you when you were lost. He never gave up on me after all the crap I pulled. So let’s believe in ourselves the way he does.”

Riku was right. Even though Kairi had trouble believing in herself, she couldn’t deny that Sora believed in her. And she believed in him. She believed in Riku, too. And maybe that would be enough.

“Okay, I’m willing to try,” she said, and Master Yen Sid and Riku both nodded.

“We must begin preparations at once,” Master Yen Sid said. “There is no time to waste. The sooner we can reach Sora and bring him back to the Realm of Light, the better.”

Finally. They finally had something to do besides sit around at home and grieve. Taking action felt so much better than doing nothing.

As she and Riku made preparations, she couldn’t help but reflect back on those words she’d told Sora and Riku before. This time, she wasn’t just going to protect Sora. This time, she wasn’t just going to fight. This time, she was going to act. She was going to be the one searching for Sora for once instead of the other way around.

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The night before the mission, Kairi dreamed of Sora again. He was still in that same city, but he wasn’t at the big crosswalk anymore. He was on a side street, fighting some strange-looking creatures Kairi had never seen before. They weren’t Heartless or Nobodies, but they did look like large frogs with elaborate red and black tattoos where their legs should’ve been. And even through the dream, Kairi could sense how the atmosphere surrounding them felt. Her skin crawled and her mood dropped, and she could only imagine how Sora felt fighting them.

When he had destroyed the last of them with his Keyblade, he stumbled against a nearby building, a store with bright red letters. His bangs were stuck to his forehead, and he was breathing hard. How long had he been fighting? How many of those things had he already fought?

But what really drew her attention was when he reached into his pocket and pulled out her lucky charm. Her heart soared at the sight of it. He still had it. He still—

“Why can’t I remember you?” he said, and his voice was anguished.

Her heart sank. Sora didn’t… remember her?

Why not? What had happened to him? Were all his memories gone?

“Sora?” she said. “Sora, I’m here!”

But he couldn’t hear her, and he tucked the charm back into his pocket. “Doesn’t matter. Whoever gave this to me has to be someone important to me.” He looked right at her and made a guts pose, even though he couldn’t see her. “Whoever you are, I’m gonna get home to you, some way, somehow.” He smiled, and it was so good to see his smile again. “I promise.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but the dream was over, and her eyes flew open. She rolled over onto her side, still wrapped in Sora’s hoodie, and huddled beneath her blanket as light poured through the window.

Did Sora really not remember her? Her lower lip trembled at the thought. How could he have forgotten her after everything they’d been through? This was like when she’d forgotten him, and a lump built in her throat when she remembered how awful that had been. The memories slowly slipping away from her. The day she’d forgotten his name. The night she’d forgotten his face. The moment she realized she couldn’t hear his voice anymore. All of that came crashing back to her, and her eyes welled up with tears.

But she and Sora had gotten through that, in the end. And his promise did make her feel a little better. Maybe the memories were all scrambled up, but they weren’t gone for good. They had to still be in his heart somehow. The bond they shared couldn’t be broken that easily.

The important thing was that he was fighting to get back to her. So she would fight to reach him, too. Whatever obstacles they might face, she and Riku would bring him home.

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“You ready?” Kairi asked as she held her hands out to Riku. They were back in Master Yen Sid’s study, and everyone else was here too – King Mickey and Donald and Goofy, Terra and Aqua and Ven, Naminé, of course, and Roxas and Xion and Axel. Even Isa was present. Admittedly, that made her feel a little uncomfortable, but at least he had the good sense not to try to talk to her.

“Ready if you are,” Riku said with a half-grin. How he was so relaxed about this, she’d never know. Her hands were shaking a little, but when he grabbed a hold of them, a wave of calm washed over her.

“For Sora?”

“For Sora.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she pictured Sora searching for her in Shibuya. Pictured Riku, pictured his heart.

There. She could see his Station of Awakening now with its stained glass-like panels showing the people that were most important to him. Friends and family and memories spread throughout his heart. Taking a deep breath, she reached out with her light, tethering her heart to his. His memories started flowing through her mind, and she opened her eyes.

“Okay, I’m connected to you now. Whenever you’re ready.”

He looked around at their friends. “Hey, why the long faces? Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back here with Sora in no time, you’ll see.” He looked at Kairi one more time and smiled. “We won’t give up on him, because he never gave up on us. And he’s helped every person here in this room at one time or another. Now it’s time we return the favor.”

There was a general chorus of agreement and well-wishing at that. Letting go of one of Kairi’s hands, Riku summoned his Keyblade and opened a large portal above them complete with swirling colors and elaborate designs of a bygone age.

“Stay safe, Riku,” she said. “See you soon.”

And with that a great beam of light shot down and pulled him into the portal. Her hand was now empty, and she rested it over her heart.

“Well?” King Mickey said.

She smiled. “He’s okay. I can feel him.”

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“And… I can feel Sora’s heart, too. He may not remember me yet, but I know he will soon.”

“That’s the magic of the paopu fruit!” Goofy said, then slapped his hands over his mouth as Donald tapped his foot.

“Hey, you weren’t supposed to tell everyone that,” Donald scolded, and everyone laughed as Kairi blushed. Great, did all their friends know about the paopu fruit? Well, not surprising. Juicy gossip had a way of spreading like wildfire.

“Hey, if the Wayfinders can bring me and Aqua and Terra back together again, imagine how powerful the real thing will be!” Ven pointed out. “Especially because you and Sora—”

“Less teasing, more practicing with your Keyblade,” Aqua chided, but she was smiling, and Terra grinned and ruffled his hair. Ven pretended to protest, but it was obvious he liked the hair ruffling and playful scolding.

As the others started up conversations with each other, catching up on how everything had been going since everyone had last seen each other, one person in particular sought Kairi out. Naminé, still holding her sketchpad and pencil but wearing a cute new dress, blue and yellow and white.

“Kairi?”

“Yes Naminé? What is it?”

“I know you’re feeling sad about Sora forgetting you, but I doubt those memories are gone for good. Look at Xion,” she said, gesturing at their friend, who smiled and waved at them. “We all thought no one would remember her, and yet here she is now. Sora’s memories of you will come back, I just know they will.”

“Thanks, Naminé. And when Sora finally comes back, he can thank you properly, too.”

Naminé smiled, and Kairi went over to talk to Axel and Roxas and Xion some more, then to King Mickey and Donald and Goofy, then lastly to Terra and Aqua and Ven. She had something very important to ask, something she wanted to do as Riku searched for Sora and she kept him tethered to the Realm of Light.

“Master Aqua, please take me on as your apprentice,” she pleaded as she bowed low. This was her best shot, her best hope at becoming a better Keyblade wielder after the disaster that had happened at the Keyblade Graveyard.

When she straightened, her throat dry, Aqua was beaming down at her. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She clasped her hands and thanked Aqua profusely. Here was an opportunity to get better, to improve, to become a better fighter by the time Sora and Riku returned. She wasn’t the weak girl that had gotten kidnapped and killed anymore. She had the heart and will to be strong, and she was going to prove it.

However long it might take, however hard she would have to work, it didn’t matter. Someday, she would fight by Sora’s side again. Someday, she would be able to spar with Riku and give him a run for his munny. Someday, the three of them would be together again and all would feel right in the worlds.

And someday, she and Sora would finally be able to make good on the promise they’d made. They’d be together every day, and nothing would be able to keep them apart anymore.

For that, she would train and fight for as long as it might take. Now was the time to step forward like she’d said she would. Now was the time to act. The fight was in her hands, and she was ready at long last.

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A/N: A big thank you again to @chibiranmaruchan! And thank you to everyone who read, reblogged, liked, and commented on the story! Hope you enjoyed :)

#kingdom hearts #kairi #sora #riku #sokai #implied sokai #destiny trio #kairi and riku friendship #kh fanfiction #phoenix writes #phoenix-downer #chibiranmaruchan #collaboration #long post #kh3 spoilers #twewy references

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nadziejastar · 5 years

Text

Terra’s name was carved on the handle of that wooden Keyblade. It was Ven’s most treasured possession. Both of his friends had gone off without him, though.

He whirled the practice blade around and held it aloft. Maybe it’s because I’m still in training.

When he spun it around once more, his hand slipped, and the sword tumbled to the ground. Someone else scooped it up.

“This yours?”

It was a red-haired boy about the same age as Ven, wearing a scarf with a checkered black-and-yellow pattern around his neck. Who is this weirdo?

“You still play with toy swords? That’s cute.”

Something about his tone irked Ven. What was this guy’s deal?

Yes, me too! I thought their reunion would be so awesome, but it was a joke. Literally. There was no sincerity to it. There was no emotional music or heartwarming dialogue. It was simply played for laughs. Ventus was like...oh hey, you’re that one dude I hung out with for five minutes. Cool. And Lea was just confused why he looked identical to Roxas. I got the same impression that you did. Lea was so close to Roxas because he reminded him of Ventus. Because he WAS Ventus! I mean, it’s just so obvious that the reason Ventus was the only one of the wayfinder trio to meet Lea, was because he was going to develop a relationship with Axel later. Duh!

“You scared of losing? C’mon. Hope you’re ready.” Ven could probably wipe the floor with this scrub if he used a real Keyblade—but he was probably supposed to use the wooden one.

“Yeah! Now we’re talkin’!” Lea’s enthusiasm was weirdly contagious.

“You’re gonna be sorry!” Ven shouted. Lea leaped gracefully into the air by way of response. Ven launched himself upward at nearly the same time, and the two met in battle.

Huh? This is kind of…fun.

While the sound of the wooden sword and toy discs clashing wasn’t exactly epic, he could still feel the force of each blow.

It had been a while since Ven had fought like this against something other than Unversed.

“Not bad, Ventus!” Lea said with a smile. Off to the side, the blue-haired boy—his name was Isa, if Ven recalled—observed them in exasperation.

After KH3 first came out, I made a post on Reddit saying I didn’t like how Roxas and Ventus were kept as separate people because they felt like the EXACT same character, and it would have created a deeper relationship if Ven had his memories of Lea from BBS AND his memories of Axel. And the amount of of people outraged that I could even say such a thing was hilarious. As if there weren’t countless hints in the story that Roxas had Ventus’s heart...

“Yeah! That’s more like it!” Axel leaped up and struck with the chakrams, then gave Roxas a flying kick that sent him sprawling.

Axel was far, far stronger than the Dusks. But there was something off about him, Roxas thought as he scrambled to his feet. What was it…? What made him seem so strange?

“Time to heat things up!” A gust of flame shot forth from Axel’s hand, knocking Roxas back again. “Ha-ha! Nice, Roxas!”

Axel was laughing—why was he having so much fun?

Actually, fighting him was kind of fun.

Roxas was so fed up with all these things happening to him, and he couldn’t stand this Axel guy spouting all this weird stuff with his smug know-it-all face—and yet, fighting him like this wasn’t all that bad.

What’s going on? How am I having fun fighting him? He’s obviously holding back against me… Why? What does it mean?

The fight scene from KH2 was made to be similar to Ventus play fighting against Lea. Roxas felt like fighting Axel was familiar, even though they never fought before. His heart remembered Lea. The original plan was for Lea and Ventus to rekindle their friendship after Ven got his memories as a Nobody back. All of these characters were supposed to be connected! Not segregated into trios that barely interact with each other. That defeats the whole purpose.

Terra has a special connection to Riku, Lea has a special connection to Ventus and Kairi due to Roxas and Xion, Ventus has a special connection to Sora and Kairi, Kairi has a special connection to Aqua. The Xehanort Saga should have felt like one cohesive story. The characters meeting should have felt like destiny and all the trios would overlap.

BBS and Days were sister games being developed at the same time. Ventus meeting Lea was the foundation for the way Roxas/Axel was written in Days. Terra and Lea had a special connection because Axel picked up his toy sword and took on the “big bro” role for a while. Ventus and Isa had a special connection because Roxas found the WINNER stick and took on the role of “best friend” for a while. But now it feels like Days is a self-contained story that has almost nothing to do with BBS and vice versa.

“I get it… then I guess we may as well fight!” Roxas cried out, leveling the Keyblade.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way… Roxas!”

Axel launched a flying kick into Roxas. The force sent Roxas smashing into the ground.

I haven’t fought Roxas like this before. And, the Roxas I know isn’t the kind of guy who’d be knocked down by something like that.

“Let’s burn!”

Flames erupted from his hands. Taking the hit directly, Roxas was thrown to the ground again.

“Hahah! ‘Sokay, Roxas!” laughed Axel.

Maybe it would have been better to have fought him like this sooner.

Roxas stood, and came at him with force. Axel caught the Keyblade with his chakrams and forced it down, Roxas’ face in point-blank range.

“How like you, Roxas!”

I’m sure that Axel remembering meeting Ventus and having a play fight with him made it impossible to eliminate him. He met Ventus when he was still Lea, an innocent happy kid who liked to make people smile. Destroying that “stray puppy” would be betraying the very essence of who he is deep down. It would have destroyed him. That one single meeting in BBS made Roxas and Axel’s relationship much more interesting, since Axel was always so nostalgic for the past. Roxas was a relic from his past, as much as his memories of Isa were. Only Roxas was the exact same kid from his memories. Isa became corrupted and Norted. Axel was trying to recapture his lost friendship with Isa through Roxas. It’s why Roxas was such a perfect “replacement” best friend to fill the void of Isa’s absence. Axel clung to Roxas so much because he was everything he wished Isa still was.

I really don’t like the direction the series seems to be going with Roxas now. When he returned in KH3, he was talking in this fake sounding lower pitch than he did in Days or KH2. Like we’re supposed to see him as some edgy hardass now, LOL. Yeah, whatever. His reunion with Lea felt hollow in KH3, because it was just put in for pandering. There was no emotion behind it. There was hardly any dialogue, and what little there was had no substance. There was no mention of the WINNER stick or anything.

It’s sad because Roxas and Axel’s relationship actually had a lot of emotion and meaning in Days, due to its connection to Axel’s childhood. And it was because Roxas was a sweet innocent kid, and NOT an edgy hardass. In KH3, I felt nothing when RAX reunited, unlike the scene where the wayfinder trio reunited. A reunion like that shouldn’t happen in the middle of a battle. TAV reunited after their fight. RAX’s reunion felt like it was inserted into the story at the last minute, which I am sure it was. It’s why Kairi and Isa got the shaft and why Nomura needs DLC to explain why the hell they’re even there in the first place.

He didn’t really understand the “icing” part, except that it was ice cream. Like Winner, though, it meant something special. So when Axel came back, Roxas would use the freebie and get him some “icing.”

Roxas left Axel when he was very angry. They ended their friendship on pretty poor terms. Roxas never ever understood Axel, not even a little bit. When Roxas was sitting on the clock tower, he was feeling regret over how he left, which I found so sad. You need TIME to repair this friendship. I would have preferred that Lea reunite with Ventus at Yen Sid’s Tower because we would have gotten a FULL SCENE of them talking and working out their differences with open communication and honesty. This is something Axel never had with Roxas.

Roxas was thinking too much to taste the ice cream, and before long, it was almost gone. The stick was blank.

There was a lot he’d left unfinished with the Organization—and with Axel. But at the moment, the thing that concerned him the most was the stick that said Winner. Why had he held on to it for so long? He should have given it to him sooner.

Ventus could have learned who Lea really was for the first time. Not the facade he wore all the time. Axel was a person who laughed and smiled all the time to hide a lot of pain, which Roxas (and half the fandom) never realized. Only by learning this could their relationship move out of the babysitter dynamic and grow into something more mature and satisfying for both of them. Lea could finally be himself and not have to hide all of his suffering under a Mr. Rogers mask. This is exactly why I think Lea isn’t able to have a true identity in the sea-salt trio. He has to hide who he really is. Imagine a friendship where you try to solve all of your friend’s emotional problems, but you can never talk about your own. That’s what Axel’s relationship with Roxas (and Xion) was like.

Other than being told today’s mission, I didn’t really do anything yesterday. Maybe in reality it’d even be okay to have called it a day off. A holiday…

“Didn’t get to go in the end,” muttered Axel, and he got up.

Today I have to destroy Roxas. I cannot betray the organization.

From the little shelf at his bedside, Axel took a white envelope, and looked at it vaguely for a while. Putting it in his pocket, Axel got up off the bed and left the room.

A short while after Axel had entered the room, Saïx still hadn’t said a word. As he typed away at the keyboard, working, the pallid light radiating from the monitor gleamed on the already pale Saïx.

Maybe, this is the last time I’ll see Saïx, too.

Thinking, Axel looked at the seated Saïx’s back.

“We’ve known each other for a pretty long time, haven’t we?”

Ignoring Axel’s words, Saïx continued typing on the keyboard.

“Say something. Have you even thought that maybe I can’t erase Roxas?” Axel said, in a playful tone, and Saix finally looked up. “It’ll be all right. ‘Cause I’m tough.” Axel puffed out his chest.

“How stupid,” said Saïx, and for a moment he smiled.

How am I supposed to buy that Roxas and Lea are such close friends if Roxas never knew anything about the real Lea, his past, or his inner turmoil? The reason why he always lied to him, and why he didn’t come with him when he defected? I mean, come on. There was so much more potential for a genuine and meaningful friendship between Lea and Ventus. Lea could get to know the real Ventus. He wanted to bring back Terra, who was Norted. If he retained his memories as Roxas, he would have learned that Xemnas---the guy he promised Xion he’d defeat---was actually body-jacked Terra. We should have seen his reaction to that. I also think Lea would remind Ventus a lot of Terra. They are both very protective and caring. The reunion would be so emotional due to that.

Lea handed over some munny and took the two cones from Scrooge, one of which he gave to Isa.

“It’s cold…,” Isa muttered as he took a bite.

“What’re you talking about? It’s ice cream; of course it’s cold. Got it memorized?”

“Salty, too.”

“But sweet!” Lea added, and Isa smiled a bit. That was rare for him. Well, eating ice cream together, talking about silly stuff, laughing together—it was just what friends did.

Wonder what he’s doing now—Ven, was it?

Ventus could really empathize with Lea and offer him emotional support for the first time. Axel only lied to him to protect him, like Terra would have. They would reestablish their trust. Their relationship would be a lot less one-sided. It wouldn’t have to be superficial and totally revolve around ice cream and small talk, either. Like Terra, Isa was a Nort. Ven and Lea could understand each other’s pain. They could develop a deeper friendship on a more adult level.

Ventus could tell Lea the story of how he was abused by Xehanort. Then Terra gave him the toy sword that Lea picked up when they first met, which was his most treasured possession. And Lea could tell Ventus about his past, and how he took him out for ice cream all the time because of his memories of Isa---which were his greatest treasure. Instead of letting Lea’s friendship with Ventus grow and evolve along with his character, they chose to have Lea regress his development in order to maintain the relationship with Roxas (and Xion), which was relatively superficial and based on lack of communication and dishonesty.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts meta #kh #kh lea #kh ventus #kh ven #kh roxas #kh isa

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vixenfur · 5 years

Text

Tagged by @crazyloststar! :D

Author’s Name:

vixenfur - it’s my warrior cats OC character I made up when I was 9 years old!! She’s been my online alias ever since!

Fandoms you write for:

Primarily: Owari no Seraph, Diamond no Ace & IDOLiSH7

Occasionally: Ookiku Furikabutte, Nitro+Chiral works

Past: Tsuritama, Saw, Kuroko no Basuke

Future: Yuri on Ice and maybe even Neon Genesis Evangelion (hopefully!)

Where you post:

My fics can be found on my AO3 and sometimes I will do drabbles here on tumblr.

Most popular multi-chapter story:

Unwritten

Fandom: Owari no Seraph

Pairing: MikaYuu

Rating: E

Words: 142,722

Chapters: 23/23

Summary:

While being forcefully dragged to KFC by Lacus- a man who had a black pit of a stomach- Mika had a once-in-a-lifetime, Snapchat-worthy experience. The guy in the left lane had no shame. He was unintimidated by a stranger with a phone and he continued to sing the song Unwritten confidently. Lacus found the experience hysterical.

... Little did they know they would run into each other again hardly an hour later- Yuu was in desperate need of a haircut, according to Shinoa.

He was dropped off at Sanguinem Salon, and was a little mortified to find out that the hot guy he just sang horribly to was Mika, the one holding hair-trimming scissors behind the chair.

Favorite story you wrote:

Angel of Music

Fandom: Owari no Seraph

Pairing: MikaYuu

Rating: E

Words: 126,740

Chapters: 20/20

Summary:

He was before Yuu now, exactly as Shinoa and the others had described- tall and well-dressed in a peculiar, dark style. Over his shoulder was a black cape that trailed behind him, making him appear even more ghostly than ever.

Half of his face was hidden beneath a beautiful mask; a creamy-white and black one, adorned with delicate wisps of gold. Daintily painted just beneath one eye and above the other were a few measures of musical notes.

Blond hair framed his face, nearly shielding the unmistakable gleam of red in the left eye- the one on the side that was covered by the mask. Yuu’s heart stopped as their gazes met.

The uncovered eye was cerulean. Yuu could recognize that color anywhere, at any time. It couldn’t be- it was simply impossible. There was no way for this to be true, yet there he was, standing before Yuu with a fervent stare swirling darkly with emotions Yuu had never seen in his life.

Yuu felt his throat go dry as he whispered the name of the nearly unrecognizable man before him- the one who was, somehow, once his childhood friend.

“Mika…?”

The Phantom of the Opera: Owari no Seraph edition.

Story you were nervous to post:

Meet Me In The Dark

Fandom: IDOLiSH7

Pairing: IoRiku

Rating: E

Words: 11,565

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Newly-appointed Ainana Police Officer Riku Nanase has a secret that he mustn't reveal- one that could get him fired.

However, when his secret is discovered, the result is far more rewarding than he could have ever dreamed it would be.

The Ainana Police event: filthily reimagined.

((I was super scared to post for a new fandom after so long of almost totally OnS!! And then I got some backlash from it on twitter so it was kinda rough tbh ;; but I still want to write more IoRiku someday))

How do you choose your titles?

Songs!! My fic titles are almost ALWAYS referencing a song title/a lyric/etc. Only sometimes do I coin something totally random/original.

Do you outline?

Almost always. Even when the fic is going in a random direction (i.e. Unwritten) I plan at least 3 chapters in advance so I can have a feeling of mini-arcs and whatnot!

How many of your stories are…

*complete?

83 [including collabs]

56 [excluding collabs]

*in-progress?

3 [including collabs]

1 [excluding collabs]

Coming soon:

- Surprise at the end of the month~

- “Deadly Intentions” project

- Empire of Scarlet with Zeta & Lysia

- I’m Still Here with Alex

- OnS Gift Exchange piece in October

Do you accept prompts?

Yes, sometimes I do! I have some still sitting in my inbox OTL but I will finish them up soon I promise. I’ll make it clear when I want prompts in my inbox :3c

Upcoming story you are most excited to write:

Empire of Scarlet, which is an Ancient China MikaYuu AU that I’m collaborating on with Zeta and Lysia! We’ve already gotten started behind the scenes but I’m so hype for everyone to read it. It’ll be a blast. It’s not based on anything besides our own original ideas and some historical fiction!

Tagging:

@zeta-jane @hannaadi88 wow I don’t know any authors on tumblr only twitter OOPS LOL well if you guys wanna do this feel free! :D

#about me #author tag meme #tag meme #fic progress september 2019

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goldenchocobo · 5 years

Photo

I’ve been thinking a lot about both Kingdom Hearts (if that wasn’t obvious) and His Dark Materials lately. Mainly because they’re both series that I deeply love and have helped me get through dark times in my life. So I thought “What if I gave KH characters Daemons? That’d be neat!” then I actually did it and I struggled so much with what Ven, Aqua and Terra’s daemon… I’m not fully satisfied with what they have, but I tried my hardest to give them suitable daemons that have variety and not just “everyone gets to be a dog or cat”.

I’ve chosen to do BBS’ cast rather than the full cast of ‘grown’ characters because I couldn’t nail Sora’s Daemon properly and didn’t want him left out, but I had a decent idea for what his Daemon would be as a child.

Under the cut I’ve put a more detailed explanation as to why I chose the Daemon I did if you’re interested in reading. If not, here are the animals:

Sora: Blue Morpho Butterfly

Riku: Shaggy Black cat

Kairi: Black Capped Chickadee

Venitus: Gaboon Viper

Ventus: White Rabbit

Terra: African Leopard

Aqua: Lava Gull

Of course your choice of Daemon could be different to mine, and that’s okay! These are just my ideas for them.

Here’s a more detailed explanation for each character and why I think their Daemon would take this shape over others. Please bear in mind that whilst Sora Riku and Kairi’s Daemon would primarily take these shapes, they could also shift into other animals.

Sora: I chose a Butterfly for him simply because of his carefree nature. Butterflies are seen as peaceful creatures that lull about on sunny days, flitting about in their own freedom. In deeper symbolism, Butterflies are linked with life, death and rebirth. They start off as caterpillars and are reborn as butterflies. Much like how Sora started his journey as a ‘Lazy bum’ and became a competent keyblade wielder. I chose a Blue Morpho because it fit his colour scheme more, but my next choice was the Monarch, as his theme is also kingly.

Riku: It took me a little while to figure out what animal exactly I wanted for Riku. I wanted an animal that’s often misjudged, but smart or symbolize wiseness- since even as a kid, Riku was very smart for his age. Cats are often depicted as being smart, or the wise-Alec and a bit of a trickster. Black cats are also often tied with bad luck and the occult. (Although here in the UK, black cats can seen as omens of good luck) This is all tied to the representation of the darkness that almost took Riku over. If I were to do an older series (if I ever figure out Sora’s Daemon), Riku will have a Crow or Raven, as- like black cats, they are very smart and are considered bad omens, plus it would be a slap in the face to share a Daemon’s likeness to someone you’ve come to resent.

Kairi: I felt that Kairi’s Daemon should be simple. If I were to draw her with a settled Daemon, then she would have a white dove- a symbol for purity and peace. However, because she is young, I felt her Daemon ought to be small and happy. Chickadees are often linked with happiness, fearlessness and friendship, something I think that Kairi represents.

Vanitus: His Daemon is the Gaboon Viper- the fastest striking snake in the world and the snake with the largest venom-to-bite ratio. However, I didn’t see his Daemon as a snake because “duh, he’s the back guy, he’s gotta have a deadly animal!” No, I didn’t choose a snake for him because of that, especially since Gaboon vipers are not very aggressive and will try to flee rather than bite unless absolutely necessary. Given Vanitus’ history with Xehanort, I’d say that his Daemon settled as a Gaboon Viper simply so she could protect him, she was pushed into that form because of the amount of abuse and pain he endured. What was his daemon before? Who knows, maybe because he’s Ven’s darkness his daemon was also a rabbit, but it looked too meek in Xehanort’s eyes.

Ventus: Like Kairi, I wanted something light hearted for Ven. I chose a rabbit because Ven has more energy, but is also cautious. White, again is a symbol for purity and innocence, and Ven has no darkness within him. What his daemon would be before his darkness was extracted, I’m not entirely sure.

Terra: I’m going to say it, Terra is not the smartest cookie when it comes to making decisions or trusting people. His heart and intentions are in the right place, but… his sense is elsewhere. Then, why did I chose a Leopard for Terra? Well- Leopards are known for their strength and independence- something Terra sought after to the point it opened his heart to darkness. That and I’m not sure what else to give him; I wanted a large and strong animal that didn’t work with others too well, and landed on Leopard.

Aqua: The Lava Gull was more of an aesthetic thing at first before I looked into them a bit more. Gulls are actually seen as good luck symbols for sailors, especially those lost out at sea. Gulls in general symbolize the calmness of the sea along with the resistance to battle out a storm. And I’d say Aqua is pretty calm and went through a whole deal throughout the series. Lava Gulls especially are opportunists, and never miss a chance to do something. I link this with Aqua, because I see her as very resourceful and can see an opportunity if one arises.

You made it this far! Well done! Here’s a little extra I have, that I haven’t drawn yet but have written down so I don’t forget:

Xehanort: Verata goat (His theme is very goat heavy. His symbol is a goat, he wears a goat suit and his duplicates wear goat masks). Eraqus: Silver fox (“you sly fox”. Silver for aesthetics)

Lea/Axel: Lioness. (I found a post that described Lea and Isa as the Alchemical symbols for the sun and moon. I meant to read all of it, but didn’t and can’t find it. A Lioness suits him though as lions in general are associated with fire and the sun)

Xion: Kauiai O’o. (an extinct bird that only lives through taxidermy, illustrations and a single recording of its voice. I don’t need to say more)

Ienzo/Zexion: Chinese Water Deer/Vampire Deer. (I see him as a very Deer-y person. Plus the fact that people with a Vampire Deer as a Daemon are often said to have higher senses, it suits him more than most)

And that’s what I have figured out at the moment. I’m not sure what the Daemons would be for any other character. I’m trying to figure out Isa right now so I can draw him and Lea together, but if I go with the Alchemical theory thing, then Isa’s daemon would be a bat… and I can’t see him as a bat… I see him having some kind of mustelid.

#GoldenChocobo's Art #Kingdom Hearts #His Dark Materials #KH #Birth by Sleep #BBS #the golden compass

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princekirijo · 10 months

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I just realized I haven't updated y'all on some changes I've made to Riku specifically Noble (his thief self)

#> has changes to tell y'all #> doesn't tell y'all #they're mostly visual changes but like a huge thing thats changed is actually his weapons #he no longer is stuck sharing rapiers with kasumi woohoo #that was bothering me for the longest time tbh #nah he uses two swords now #its kinda funny seeing nico's katsuro also using two swords... a coincidence i PROMISE bro 😅#although riku is more scimitars and curved swords i feel #maybe those egyptian swords the name is escaping me rn though those wouldn't fit the aesthetic as much so #i could also do the sword and knife combo his black mask variant now has #yeahhh black mask riku's new look/weapons is HEAVILY inspired by abyss watchers LOL i just love them sm the vibe works so much #i was gonna go twinblades cause that would be fire but dual swords are slightly more practical #and also because ive been grumblinh about this for a while but ive been sorting out his personality more!!#i found a cool website that had a load of templates so ive been using those #very basic ass shit mind u but still good stuff #he still wields dual pistons btw #hes slowly turning into a dm€ character ngl 😭#<- censored so doesnt show in main tag lol #i would love to make a new reference post for him but a) i have to draw it and b) i bet i'd chicken out when it comes time to post...#I'd also be posting the references for pimpernel and lugh #because they are mostly done?#lugh's been done for like two years at this point LMAOO aside from some slight visual updates #but pimpernel well... yall KNOW how much of a headache that fucker is for me.....

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paybackraid · 5 years

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Who Am I

Summary: After all is said and done, Sora isn’t sure who he is anymore.

Words: 2266

Warnings: Character death implied

So I wrote and posted this to FFN and ao3 about... four months ago???? ffn got like no traffic but ao3 got some, so I thought I’d try here. It’s........... emotional? I guess. Sora needs more attention and love. The ending can be read as Sokai if you really want to, but that wasn’t the intention.

-----

He had been accused of having a lot of people in his heart. And he… supposed that made sense. He knew about Roxas, at least. Sort of. He knew about Ven, but in an offhand way that he didn’t really remember.

There were more, apparently, but he didn’t know about them.

He didn’t mind them. At all. He pretended that they were hurting (they were) and he had been tasked the all-important mission of keeping them safe (he was). So he guarded his heart and protected these people who had made a home inside him. He didn’t mind, because they were his friends. And Sora was the way that he was, so Sora would do anything for his friends.

Then, he and Aqua went to the Land of Departure. And there was Ven, sitting on a throne, still sleeping his days away. Sora had never seen him, had never seen the body that went with the heart in his own, and he was startled by how much this body looked like his Other.

But he didn’t have time to worry about that, because Vanitas showed up and wanted to hurt Ven, and Sora was the way that he was and would do anything for his friends.

Then, in the same moment that Aqua was about to be killed by Vanitas, Sora felt his heart pounding, as the heart he normally forgot about stirred.

He looked inside himself, and woke up Ventus.

He wouldn’t tell Ventus, wouldn’t even tell Donald and Goofy, but the place where Ven was hidden inside his heart felt hollow, watching Ven wake up and fling himself at Vanitas so powerfully that Aqua’s Barrier magic shattered. Sora really didn’t even notice it until they were in Master Yen Sid’s Tower, walking up the flight of stairs to join Riku and Kairi and Lea.

Then, to ignore the feeling of great loss encompassing his heart, he took off into a run and booked it up the stairs. Being active kept his mind from wandering to dark things, like what was going to be in Ven’s place in his heart.

Ven took off after him. It wasn’t a race, because Ven was still wobbly and slightly atrophied after ten years of sleep. Or, if it was, Sora won by like a mile.

Then Aqua came up behind them, all long limbed, not really racing with them either, not really running at all. She laughed and put a hand on Sora’s head and ruffled his hair, the same way she had ruffled Ven’s hair after he woke up and saved her, with so much affection clouding her eyes, and she said, “it always amazes me just how much you’re like Ven.”

He had smiled at her and laughed, in the cheerful, lackadaisical way that Soras do, and then he had shared a look with Ven, who was smiling too.

The smile didn’t reach Sora’s eyes, though. He didn’t mind being like Ven. He didn’t know a lot about Ven, just had heard stories from His Majesty King Mickey and one or two from Lea, but he knew Ven was a good person.

Yet, through the hole in his heart left by Ven’s awakening, he thought, ‘yeah, but I’m Sora’.

Then they went in, and met with Master Yen Sid and the other Guardians of Light.

After that, they were so busy going to the Keyblade Graveyard and being separated and dying (dying?) that the hole in his heart was kind of left forgotten besides a distant ache. He didn’t let it bother him, though, because everyone always told him his heart was strong, and he couldn’t let his heart falter.

He got lost in the labyrinth at some point. Fought Xigbar (Braig?) and Young Xehanort, fought Marluxia and Larxene and Luxord. Then he stumbled on Lea and Kairi getting attacked, and his heart was in his throat because they had only just finished their training and Kairi had never been much of a fighter. He was on them in a split second.

There had been talk. Lea got in front of them, because somehow that’s where he always ended up. Xemnas was talking, but Lea, because he was Lea, was fully prepared to snark right back. A spot of pride echoed through Sora’s heart, but he knew it wasn’t Sora’s pride, judging by the way his heart beat proud and strong. It was a pride deeper than that, not necessarily more meaningful, but borne with a grief and love that Sora, no matter how much he did care for Lea, simply could not express.

The fear that encapsulated his heart when Lea was shot by a thousand energy bullets was equally powerful and equally hard.

Then, the one shrouded in the black coat, the one who had not made themselves yet known, defended Lea, and then Sora had no choice but to get in the way, and he didn’t even know what he was saying before he said it.

“You can stop now! Xion…”

In the next couple of instances, as Sora lay on the ground and Lea and Xion were about to be murdered, his heart emptied so completely that he didn’t even know what to do with the void.

And as happy as he was to see that Roxas, somehow, had come back to himself... (and he was, he was so happy, this entire journey had been a cross between defeating Xehanort and returning the one in his heart to his rightful self) The grief that was replaced there, as he told them “Good luck!” and went off to save Kairi, was so powerful and unexplainable that he knew no cure.

When Vanitas had mentioned his heart being a prison, during his Mark of Mastery exam, he had never really considered what it would mean for him, once he let all those prisoners go.

Ventus, he soon found out, had been in his heart for most of his life. If Ventus had slept a ten year sleep, and Sora arriving in the Land of Departure had resulted in him waking, and if Roxas even looked so similar to Ven that they may as well have been twins, then it made sense, in some sort of messed up way that could only explain Sora’s life thus far, that Ven had slept on in his heart for ten years. That was two-thirds of his life that Ven had been in him—that his heart had been occupied by two.

And Sora, Aqua said, was so like Ventus. It was almost remarkable. Perhaps they were related, she had joked once, ruffling their hair in the same fashion, in a way that made Sora’s heart ache but maybe not in a good way. She said that, and even looking back, Sora’s heart ached again.

It almost felt like Sora was too like Ventus.

Lea said that he shared the same face as Roxas, too. He didn’t like that. He knew it was sort of inevitable (after all, Lea and Axel shared the same everything, but somehow that didn’t feel the same). Looking at his Other, a boy separate from him who, for a year, split his heart into at least three, it hurt. And then, seeing Xion again, and Xion and Roxas shared a face, and didn’t that mean that Xion and Sora shared a face?

And Vanitas… Sora didn’t have the ability to explain how much despair he felt when Vanitas pulled off his mask and showed Sora his own face.

If Sora was split into so many faces, so many people… what did that mean for his poor, fractured heart? He had always thought that his heart was strong, but it was his friends that were his power. So perhaps the strength of his heart remained in the others who had since split from him.

And perhaps… the Sora that everyone knew wasn’t Sora at all.

Everyone said that Sora was so friendly. He liked that. He liked being the friendly, guy that someone could lean on. But Aqua, and now Terra, said that Ventus was so much that way that he could make friends with any enemy—had attempted on numerous occasions, in fact, to make friends with Vanitas.

So maybe friendly was Ventus. Not Sora.

People also said that Sora was kind. He liked giving to people in need and being there when they needed him most.

But Lea and Roxas apparently had tales upon tales of Xion, not even a full year old, stopping to feed lost puppies and scoop up things and chase after the owner when the owner didn’t realize that they had dropped it. Lea even told tale of Xion falling in love with a lost pup in a matter of moments—and the pup coming home with them five minutes later.

So maybe kind was Xion. Not Sora.

Sora had also been told that he was generous. He gave his all to his friends and then some. He would give everything he had without a second thought.

And then Xion, giggling over at Roxas who turned a wonderful shade of red, told him about the time that Xion brokenheartedly couldn’t summon her keyblade, so Roxas lent her his, and used a stick, until she could make the keyblade work for her again.

So… so maybe generous was Roxas. Not Sora.

Sora didn’t know what else there was to have. His anger was Vanitas’ and Roxas’. His loyalty was Ventus and Vanitas.

His heart… his whole heart belonged to them.

So who… who was Sora? What was left for Sora?

It wouldn’t have been so hard before this. He thought. Probably. But his heart ached, almost entirely empty. It was used to being at least three times as full, and now… it just wasn’t. There was a huge hole where Ventus had slumbered, and another one where Roxas had waited, and he thought there was probably another where Xion, and even Vanitas, waited their turns to be their own people again, too.

His heart, broken five separate ways, wasn’t so strong anymore.

Still. Sora was the way that Sora was, and he went off to find Kairi on his own. Xehanort had died and everyone went their separate ways. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua to the Land of Departure, Xion, Roxas, and Lea to Twilight Town, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey to Disney Castle. And Riku, all on his own, returned to Destiny Islands because it was Sora’s job to reunite lost friends, and no one else’s.

He wondered every day.

He called them all. Since Jiminy had been so kind to provide them all Gummiphones. He didn’t always ask the question, but somehow, at least a few of them seemed to know what he was thinking.

“An idiot,” Roxas said, although Sora couldn’t help but notice the note of affection in his tone when he said it.

“A good person,” Ventus said, his voice swelling with his heart, honest and for true.

“A statistic,” Riku said, but Sora knew he only said that because he wasn’t quite sure just what else he was supposed to say, and because he was at home on Destiny Islands, where everyone remembered him now, and apparently there were posters up with his face on them asking “Have You Seen Me?”

“Sora,” Donald said, Goofy agreeing hugely in the background. Sora wasn’t sure if that answer hurt, because he didn’t know what that meant, or helped, because Sora just being enough the way that he was was… nice.

He didn’t really know what to make of all those answers, though. And he didn’t know what that could mean for him.

-----

He found her. After another long journey. Thankfully, most of the journey had not been fighting, but searching. The Heartless were gone, and the Nobodies were gone, and the Unversed were gone, so for the most part Sora was safe. He still dealt with rogues occasionally, but when all he had to do was whip out Shooting Star and form change to Double Arrowguns, or Wheel of Fate and form change to Highwind, it was pretty easy to scare off all but the most serious.

The most serious, of course, was the one who had her.

He was fading. He knew. He had outdone himself. Kairi was safe, at least. Holding him tight. Crying. He hated it when she cried. It made his heart ache. He had passed her the keys to the Gummiship.

“Get home,” he said. Because Sora was the way that Sora was, and did the things that Soras do and he worried about his friends more than he cared about himself. Was he scared? Without a doubt. But he knew… he knew nothing could be done for him.

...Kairi had always seemed to know him so well.

“Kairi?”

She sobbed, clutching his hand tight, and whispered, “Yes, Sora?”

“...Who am I? If I was Ventus, and Roxas, and Xion, and Vanitas, what was left for me?” How he had the strength to even say those words, he didn’t know.

He was fading fast.

And Kairi smiled, so bright it lifted his heart a little. He was so happy to see her safe, now. He loved her so much.

“A hero,” she said, and there was no hesitation whatsoever. She squeezed his hand and linked their fingers together. “You’re a hero.”

He paused, and a weak smile passed over his lips, up to her. A hero, huh?

For the first time since Roxas had finally been released, his heart was full. Figures it would be just in time for him to die.

He liked that...

#creative aces #my writing #kh #khfanfic #sora #sora centric #aaaaaaaaaaand then is the secret ending #this boy deserves love and kisses #idk it just got me thinking that with like four other ppl affecting his actions and emotions #how would he know which were his and which were there #character death mention #FACT: sora is a hero

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is0gild · 4 years

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 15

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Word Count: 10,487

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

So... last time on The Burning Wreckage That Is My Life (please excuse the working title).

I had a crush on a guy. Well, maybe… I mean, I think I did? But I couldn't let him know that I had a crush on him. And just to make things extra complicated, I now had to act like we were dating when we really weren't. So basically… I like-liked him but had to pretend that I didn't like-like him while at the same time pretending that I did like-like him.

Confused yet? I know I was.

Also, I really needed to stop using the word like-like.

Ugh, what had I been thinking? This was a terrible plan. A disaster just waiting to happen. There was no possible way it could end well. And yet, here I sat in my apartment, watching the clock as I waited for my fake boyfriend to come pick me up. What was the matter with me? What had possessed to ever say yes to this… this insanity?

I had gotten off work not too long ago and had come straight home to prepare for my meetup with Father. This was Lea's day off, so I hadn't had to start this whole farce of a relationship around the mall today, which at least was one small comfort. My fingers as per usual were fidgeting with my freshly washed and plaited hair as I watched the seconds slowly tick by, my stomach twisting into tighter and tighter knots.

Sighing, I forced my hands to stop fussing with the braid and they complied… only to start picking at the flaps of the empty cardboard box Rayne had scrounged up for me to put things from my old place into. With a tiny scowl, I shoved my hands into my lap, demanding they be still. That lasted maybe all of two seconds before they started fiddling and twisting at the buttons that ran all the way down the front my navy corduroy overalls dress. The long sleeved shirt I wore underneath it was off the shoulder and white with blue horizontal stripes. The dress itself fell all the way down to my ankles, with a slit up to the knee on one side, giving a peek of my snowflake-patterned tights.

Yes, I was a full grown adult who still liked cutesy prints on my socks and stockings. So sue me.

Erg, where was he? As much as I was dreading seeing Father again and wished I didn't have to deal with it at all, the wait was killing me. And I couldn't put it off forever so I'd rather just get this awfulness over with already. I-

"Hello, Lea?" I heard Rayne's voice and I whipped my head around to spot her stepping out of her bedroom, smartphone pressed to one ear. She shot me a grin but then it faded as she glanced away with a squint. "Whaddya mean you're down in the parking lot? Get your ass up here and knock on the door like a goddamn gentleman, you-"

In the space of a heartbeat, I'd zoomed across the room to snatch the phone from her. "I'll be right down, see you in a sec!" I said quickly into it and, not waiting for a reply, hung up the call before Rayne could steal her phone back.

"Hey!" she huffed, fumbling to catch the device as I tossed to her. Then she gave a tiny whine, "But sweetpea, that's no way for him to treat a lady! I expected better of him!"

I rolled my eyes as I returned to the table to grab the box by one of its flaps. "I told him to just call up when he got here."

Rayne followed behind me with a tiny pout. "But I wanted to practice my whole 'What are your intentions towards my daughter' speech on him!"

"And that," I smirked, tapping her on the nose with my free hand, "is exactly why I told him to call."

Puffing out her cheeks, she crossed her arms. "You're no fun!"

"Ouch. Your words, they wound me. But somehow, someway… I think I'll live," I deadpanned, making my way over to open the front door.

"Oh! Curfew's at ten! Not one minute later, missy, not one second or you're grounded!"

I paused to turn back and droop my eyelids at her. "...too far, Rayne. Too far." Then I left, slamming the door shut behind me.

That woman, I swear. Loved her to pieces, but the sooner that baby was out of her, the better. Then she could focus all of that crazy on her new bundle of joy instead of me.

As I hurried down the steps, I went over the game plan in my head again. It'd been another sleepless night last night as I'd mentally prepared myself for Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really. That's right, I'd named it. Come on, it's me, how could I not? It was the only way I could feel like I had any sort of control over this whole situation. Which I one hundred percent did not. But I needed to try and trick myself into believing that I did if I had any chance of staying sane through all of this.

This being Lea and me. Pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. And boyfriends and girlfriends did… things. No, not that! Definitely not that, that would be going well above and beyond the call of duty! Yeesh, get your mind out of the gutter! I only meant like, ya know… holding hands, hugging… other various public displays of affection that shall remain nameless because I quite simply could not deal with even the mere thought of such things without my face bursting into flames.

But I was going to have to deal if I had any hope of getting through this. And to deal, I needed to face facts. Lea only saw me as a friend. He was only playing along to help me… as a friend. Whatever I was or wasn't feeling towards him, he did not feel the same way. Doing all those aforementioned boyfriend-girlfriend things? Wasn't going to threaten to make his heart explode like it would mine. So if I was going to survive long enough to make it out the other side of this little fiasco, my heart needed to take a chill pill.

Conceal, don't feel. That was going to be my mantra. It was one I was actually already very familiar with and had put to good practice regularly over the years. Rayne had been right. Growing up in my family, feelings had been a luxury. And as the eldest heir to the Fryse fortune, I'd had an image to maintain, the family name to uphold. I hadn't gotten to enjoy the same freedoms Anna had since she'd been born second. Not that I think I could have ever been such a… shall we say, free spirit like her. I'd always been the bundle of nerves on legs that I am. Conceal, don't feel… that'd been the only way I'd been able to maintain the calm, cool mask in front of high society and not be a walking, talking spazz of an embarrassment to my parents.

And now that little motto was what was going to get me through all this.

At least, I hoped so.

Reaching the bottom floor of my building, I stopped just short of the exit, taking a slow deep breath. Then I smoothed my dress, swept my braid forward over one shoulder and gave myself a reassuring nod.

I got this.

With my box still firmly in hand, I pushed open the door and stepped outside into the parking lot where I immediately spotted Lea. He was looking down at his phone, his thumb swiping across its screen every so often while he leaned against what was presumably his car. A (what looked to be) few decades old yet well taken care of muscle car, black and sleek and one of the types named after an animal like viper or cougar or stingray, you know, just to let you know how cool this vehicle really was. It seemed Lea had decided to color coordinate with his ride, for he was dressed in head-to-toe black himself. Beneath the leather jacket that he wore was a fitted tee that simply read Straight Fire in cracked and faded script. His skinny jeans were ripped at the knees and tucked into a pair of tall, combat boots. If possible, his crimson locks seemed even wilder than usual today and he was also sporting a pair of aviator sunglasses.

...I don't got this.

Also, I was staring.

Also, I'd dropped my box.

Jeez, Elsa, get a grip. So what if the guy was gorgeous? We already knew that. Had established it from day one. It wasn't any sort of definitive proof you'd caught feelings or anything. Anyone, anything, even a corpse, even a frigging lamppost would be susceptible to his, er… his charms.

Giving myself a quick shake, I retrieved my box from the ground and walked towards him. His head lifted at the sound of my footsteps and I could feel his gaze on me. Pocketing his phone as I came to a stop in front of him, he then hunched to my eye level, bringing his face closer to mine as he tipped down his shades, revealing his all but trademark winged eyeliner with a wink and a smirk. "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

...okay. There was a slight chance I'd caught feelings.

But psssh, that little flutter in my rib cage could have been anything. Maybe my last meal was disagreeing with me. Yeah, that had to be it.

Remember. Conceal, don't feel.

Squelching the foreign sensation in my chest, I fixed him with a blank stare. "...wow, that the best you got? You really have been out of the game for a while, haven't you?"

With a snerk, he used a foot to push himself up off the car as he straightened up and opened the passenger side door for me. "Nah, s'not that. I'm just going easy on you. Couldn't have you going all weak in the knees on me right before our big date with your dad."

"I think my knees have nothing to worry about," one corner of my lips turned up as I took a seat.

"You say that now, but trust me," he bent towards me, propping an elbow atop the door window and jerking a thumb towards his face, "if I really turned it on, you wouldn't stand a chance, sweet thang, it'd be straight to Swoon City for you!"

I quirked an eyebrow at him, "Did you really just use the terms 'sweet thang' and 'Swoon City' in the same sentence?"

"...yeah, not my proudest moment. Can we forget that ever happened?"

Biting back a grin, I nodded. "I think that'd be in both our best interests. Mostly yours."

"Smart ass," he shook his head with a chuckle, shutting my door and making his way around to the other side of the car.

Okay. Good. This was going well. He didn't suspect a thing. Elsa, Queen of Evasion. Now I only needed to keep up the act for the duration of the ride. A mere one hour road trip to the city of Arendelle. A measly sixty minutes. And really, what was sixty minutes in the grand scheme of things? Hardly a blip in time. This shouldn't be too hard, right?

...then of course there would be when we actually got there and Lea and I'd have to put on a whole other kind of act for Father. Then the hour long trip back. Then the-

Easy there, girl. Just focus on the immediate task before you. One step at a time.

I heard his door open and glanced over, watching him take a seat and buckle himself in. My lips pursed to one side. "...so Halloween come early this year?"

"Huh?" his hand froze just as he'd been about to turn the key in the ignition, head turning my way, eyebrows shooting high above his aviators. Then he looked down at himself, patting at his shirt and jacket. "You don't like it? Crap, do I look like trash?"

I blinked.

Had I really… just made Lea self-conscious? Lea? The guy who'd dragged me up to do karaoke with him? The guy who'd been dancing around like a doofus atop food court tables while lip-syncing to corny glam metal? That Lea? I wouldn't have even thought the word to exist in his vocabulary.

Oh gosh, I must have taken it too far in the other direction. It's 'Conceal, don't feel,' not 'Demean, be mean.'

Hastily, I said, "No, it's not that. I… you look… good." Like, real good… ahem, down girl. I averted my gaze, hoping my face didn't look as warm as it felt. "I just… wasn't expecting it, is all."

"Oh!" he perked up, a tiny smile pulling at his lips now. "Well, I'm supposed to be your dark, bad boy lover, right? Just wanted to make sure I played up the part. Whaddya think, do I look like your parents' worst nightmare or what?"

"That getup is going to leave an impression, that's for sure."

He started up the engine and it roared to life. "Hell yeah! This is how you pick me out of a crowd. I make myself easy to remember. No way your padre's forgetting me anytime soon."

"I doubt anyone's forgetting you anytime soon. Don't think they could even if they wanted to," I snorted, resting my elbow on the window sill and propping my head against my knuckles.

"Never really could just blend and fade into the background. Side effect of being so majestic," his tongue clicked twice and pretty sure there was a wink behind those shades. Then he nodded to the box in my lap as he reversed the car out of its space, "You can just toss that in the back with the others."

"Others?" I looked over my shoulder to the backseat to discover a few just like mine packed in there. "You brought more?"

He shrugged, exiting the lot and turning us out onto the main road. "Well yeah! Just wanted to help in whatever small way I could."

Small way? The guy was already throwing his whole friggin' life out of whack just to basically be my rent-a-boyfriend, for Pete's sake! I hadn't thought it possible for him to help me even more than he already was. And yet, he'd found a way. To be fair, I hadn't planned to take much back from my old condo, so really, the extra boxes weren't totally necessary. But still…

"Thanks, Lea," I gave him a tiny smile as I put mine with the rest of the herd, "you're very thoughtful."

His fingers ruffled his hair as he gave a sheepish laugh. "Nah, it's nothing."

Alright. Two minutes down. Only fifty-eight more to go.

Lord help me.

Remember when I was more hermity? Yeah, those were the days. I wonder whatever happened to those?

Oh, that's right. My sister and my roommate happened.

Brats.

"So…" I began, racking my brain for the next thing to talk about. Ah, small talk. Bane of my existence. "...nice ride. Please tell me you didn't get it just to complete this whole look you're going for."

"Shit, should I have not?" I just stared at him and he snerked, breaking out into a grin, "Nah, I'm just messing with ya. It was my old man's car. Only thing he left me when he kicked the bucket. Well, that and massive debt. Thankfully, the state took that second one off my hands."

That's right. Lea'd been brought up in the foster system. So this now explained why one of his parents had been out of the picture. I frowned, tucking in my bottom lip. "...I'm sorry."

"Why? Got no reason to be," he chuckled, shaking his head. "It was ages ago, I've long since made my peace with it. I'm not broken up about it, trust me."

My eyes drifted from the buildings blurring past us over to him. "What was he like?"

His head shifted slightly towards me for a second before pointing straight ahead again. "Well… he wasn't ever gonna be winning father of the year, that's for sure. Not even runner up or one of those cruddy lil participation ribbons. The guy ODed out when I was six, so take from that what you will." He paused, tapping an index finger to the steering wheel a few times. "...but he did care. Did his best to do right by me. Saïx too, even though he wasn't his kid. The man wasn't a bad guy… he just didn't have his shit together and never really was meant to be a father."

The downward tug at my lips deepened as I lowered my gaze to my hands, folded neatly in my lap. "...can I ask, ah… your mother..."

"Where she fits into all this?" he ventured and I gave a slow nod. "Oh, she makes Pops look like he was a goddamn saint. She's a leech. Just hopping from one sugar daddy to the next, popping out kids she never wanted. Same day we buried our old man, she took Saïx and me out for ice cream after. Handed us some munny and told us to go order and pay while she snagged us a table to sit at. When we turned around a few minutes later, she'd split. Haven't seen her since."

My heart squeezed as I regarded him with wide eyes. "Wow, that… that's just awful. You have no idea where she is at all?"

"Didn't say that now. We actually did some digging into it a few years ago. Turns out she's just a couple states over, shacked up with some new sucker. An orthodontist or something. They're living up the suburbia life with the white picket fence, two-point-five kids, the whole shebang. Guess Saïx and I were just her practice run rejects before she went off and started her real family." He shrugged, "Though maybe she'll eventually skip out on this one too, who knows?"

I tipped my head to one side. "How do you know all that if you haven't seen her?"

"I haven't. Saïx has." He stopped at a red light, flicking on his turn signal. Then his hand was rubbing at the nape of his neck. "...she did try to reach out to me once. Last year. Left a voicemail saying something about wanting to reconnect or some bullshit. I deleted it. Couldn't of been all that serious 'bout it, seeing as how she hasn't tried again since. Probably just a halfhearted attempt to ease her pathetic excuse for a conscience before washing her hands of it and calling it a day."

My eyebrows met in a peak before I looked away again, fingers absently toying with my braid. He was talking so calmly about it all, so casually. As if he were discussing nothing more interesting than the weather. It made it harder for me to figure out an appropriate response in a situation that I was already so completely socially ill-equipped to deal with in the first place. Should I be just as laid back about it as he was? No, that felt insensitive. Should I express pity? Absolutely not, he'd probably hate that…

Seriously, what do?

How do you people?

"Alright," his voice broke through my thoughts, "you're up for sharing time." The light changed green and he pressed down on the gas pedal, turning us onto the highway entrance. "Why'd you do it? Go all Runaway Bride on your big day?"

I was relieved that he (whether knowingly or not) had saved me from having to come up with something to say to his tragic backstory. Even if this did mean I had to now talk about myself, which usually would have been just as anxiety-inducing of an experience. But somehow, right here, right now, talking to Lea... the idea didn't seem as uncomfortable as I normally would've expected it to be.

Twisting the tip of my braid around one finger, I mulled over it for a few silent seconds. Finally, I said, "It… he and I… we just weren't… right. I thought we were. He thought we were. My parents and his parents certainly thought we were. And I didn't want to disappoint them, so I just kept telling myself that everything was as it should be. That he and I made sense. But we didn't. Not really, not… in my heart. We just…"

"You didn't love him," he said simply, and I winced. As if I'd done something wrong. Then I nodded. "And it took you getting within a stone's throw of saying 'I do' to realize that?"

"Well," I frowned up at the ceiling, "...I'd always heard that love takes time. So I think a part of me was just waiting for it to happen. Waiting for… I don't know… that moment where it'd just hit me, that moment of just… 'oh wow! So that's what this is supposed to feel like' or something. I thought maybe… maybe our first kiss. Or maybe by our first anniversary. Or maybe when he proposed to me. Or maybe when I was trying on gowns or looking at venues with him. But then, suddenly, it was our wedding day and it struck me that still… nothing. And if it I wasn't feeling it after being together for five years, that I probably was never going to. That's when the panic set in and… well…"

"Let me guess. That's when the legendary Phonebook Heist occurred," one corner of his lips twitched up.

I breathed a soft laugh. "Yeah. Had to ditch the big poofy dress. And I used the phonebook to track Rayne down, since she wasn't listed under her full name in it."

A snort escaped him. "Ever thought of this crazy lil thing all the kids are doing nowadays called writing things down on a post-it? I know, wild right? It's new, maybe ya haven't heard of it."

"I was a bit stressed and not exactly thinking clearly in that moment," I bit back a grin, giving his arm a gentle shove.

"Gee, I wonder why," he said wryly as he shifted lanes. "Still curious as to why you felt like you had to run away. Couldn't you have just called the wedding off?"

"You make it sound so easy," my lips twisted sourly. "If it were, do you think I would have let Rayne rope us into going along with this crazy plan of Anna's and hers? You don't know my parents. They… have a way of getting what they want. No one says no to them. In their world, things are done a certain way. Always have been, always will be, end of discussion."

"Their world?" one of his eyebrows arched. Then something clicked. "That's right, you're loaded."

I shook my head, "My parents are, not me. Not anymore, anyway. Not unless you think I'm scooping mall ice cream at minimum wage just for kicks."

"What, you don't have a trust fund or something?"

"No, I do. Or rather… I did. I'm not sure anymore, really, not after everything I've done. Mother and Father control it and can make sure I never see a cent of it now. Not that I think I even want it anymore," I sighed, eyes downcast as I rubbed my elbow. "I really… have no idea what to expect at this point. How this whole meeting with Father will go. What he'll say or do or… I'm just… terrified."

I felt an unexpected warmth on my shoulder and I glanced over to find Lea's hand resting there. He gave it a small squeeze and smiled, "It'll be okay, El. Everything'll work out, you'll see. You'll get through this. And I'll be there to help any way I can, capisce? Now buck up," he lightly nicked my chin with his knuckle before gripping the steering wheel again. "Gonna need you to bring your A-game here if we're gonna fool your old man. Do a real good job and there's an ice cream with your name on it when we get back to Twilight Town."

One side of my mouth tugged up. "Don't you still owe me ice cream for helping you study?"

"And I still plan to make good on that once I've finally nailed down your fave. Speaking of," he paused with a low hum. "...Aloha Ohana?" My lips parted but he was already shaking his head, "Nope, too chunky. You like your desserts like you like your men," he waggled his eyebrows, "smooth."

My grin twitched wider. "Oh, really? And how would you know?"

"Isn't it obvious? Cuz I'm yo man," he jabbed a thumb into his chest.

"...and you think you're smooth?"

"As silk, baby!"

I hid my growing smile behind my fingers. "You're a dork is what you are… but a sweet dork."

He chuckled. "Maybe. But don't tell anyone. I got my bad boy reputation to maintain."

"Your secret is safe with me."

Somehow I was now getting the feeling that this little road trip of ours?

Maybe wasn't going to be as bad as I'd originally thought.

"Whatcha think? Too much?"

I glanced over at Lea. Sunglasses now perched atop his head, he returned my gaze, looking away from using his rear view mirror to help him up his guyliner game. The makeup pencil in his hand lifted from his cheek where he'd been applying what looked to be an upside down teardrop mark just beneath his right eye.

I snerked and wrinkled my nose slightly.

Lea huffed out a tiny laugh. "Say no more," he reached over, pulling some tissue from the glove compartment and wiping off his cheek.

We'd arrived just a moment ago and had parked on Fjord Boulevard, right in front of my old condominium building. I'd been using that minute to gather myself and work up the nerve to actually get out of the car. If it hadn't already been made abundantly clear, Lea had been using that same minute just as wisely himself.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly one last time, I finally unbuckled my seatbelt, opened my door and stepped onto the sidewalk.

The building before me was tall, imposing, and screamed munny and decadence. I'd never really noticed the sheer air of grandeur about it before, but now it all but smacked me in the face. Gosh, had it really only been about a month since I'd last been here? It felt like eons ago. A whole other lifetime. That girl who'd lived here once upon a time… she hadn't been me. Not really. It almost felt wrong coming back here now. Like I was an imposter. Some sort of usurper. It made my insides shrivel up and it took everything I had not to just jump back into the car and speed away without so much as a backwards glance.

Spotting movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned my head to find Lea standing next to me now, a couple of the smaller cardboard boxes wedged between his arm and side. My hands went to take one from him but he pivoted back a step, shifting them out of my reach as he wagged a finger in my face, "Ah ah! Don't worry about it, I got 'em. Makes me feel all buff and manly." He flexed his free arm.

I gave him a dull look. "...they're empty."

"Shush, let me have this."

My eyelids drooped. "Fine. You're the manliest man to ever man."

"Thank you." Then he gave a tiny mock bow, sweeping one hand out wide towards the building before us, "Lady's first."

Shaking my head, I walked towards the doorman standing in wait beneath the long awning leading to the entrance.

That's right. Doorman. As if this place weren't fancy enough already.

"Welcome back, Miss Fryse," he greeted, pulling the door open for me. "Or, if I may be so bold, Mrs W-"

"No!" I blurted out quickly, eyes wide, palms blurring up in a stop gesture.

Oh gosh, he had no idea I'd ran out on the wedding.

...well of course he didn't! Why would he?

...awkwaaaaard.

"Th-thank you, Cliff," I shakily lowered my hands to clasp in front of me, averting my gaze. "Ah… Fryse, please… if you would."

The man seemed unperturbed. In fact, his face brightened, "Oh, how modern! My missus will be thrilled to hear it. I trust you had a lovely honeymoon?"

And the awkward just kept on coming.

"It… er… " I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm actually in a small bit of a hurry. I have plans to meet with Father here shortly."

"Ah yes, so he said as well," he nodded before looking past me with a delicate frown. "And would this be the, uh… guest he mentioned would be accompanying you?"

I followed his gaze, glancing over my shoulder to where Lea stood behind me, hooligan incarnate. He clicked his tongue, shooting a finger gun at the doorman. I said, "Yes, I suppose he would b-" the words caught in my throat and I quickly looked back at Cliff. "Wait, so he said?" I echoed. "...is my father here already?"

"Why yes, ma'am, I let him in but a few moments ago."

My heart plummeted into my stomach.

I hadn't expected him to be here before us. I'd thought we would still have a little more time.

But he was here now.

This was happening now.

Like... now now.

And I was so very…

...very…

...NOT ready!

Somehow, I kept it together enough to manage a thanks to Cliff before stepping inside, feeling my knees start to go numb. And somehow, I kept it together while crossing the gilded, marble foyer to the elevators, ignoring the clamminess of my palms. I even somehow kept it together long enough to exchange pleasantries with the lobby attendant there who called the lift down for us before Lea and I stepped onto it and I, with only a slight tremor to my limbs, pushed the button for the top floor.

But the nanosecond those mechanized, mirrored doors slid shut…

"I can't!" My hands shot up, fingers digging into my scalp as I started hyperventilating and pacing, feeling the elevator begin to rise. "I can't go through with this! I can't, I just can't do it! This is crazy, this, this is nuts! How the heck did I ever let them talk me into this?! How?! There's just… just no way! It's not possible, I can't! I can't, I can't, I-"

Lea was suddenly in front of me, gently grabbing my arms and bringing me to an abrupt stop. "Woah now, slow down, El, breathe," he bent down to look me in the eye with concern. "It'll be okay. Trust me on this, you can do this. We can. You just gotta take it one step at a time and breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"But how?! How will it be okay? I have to lie to him! I can't lie, I don't know how! I have no chill! You hear me? None! Zip! Absolutely zero chill! I couldn't even lie to Anna about the Easter Bunny when she was only four years old! Four, Lea. Four!"

"Okay, alright, then just don't think about it as lying. Think about it as…" his lips pursed to the left as his eyes shifted about. Then his face lit up, "...as one of those musicals you like so much!"

"Ah! We should break out into song and dance!" I said excitedly if somewhat desperately.

This is my brain. This is my brain on panic attack.

"...let's call that plan B. But no, I meant more like we're… between numbers right now and that we're acting. You like acting, right? Told me you used to do it all the time at camp, remember?"

"Acting…" I repeated slowly, turning the word over in my mind as some of the tension started to ease from my body.

Yes, acting. Acting technically, technically wasn't lying. Acting I could do.

...maybe.

I frowned at him. "I need a script."

"A script," he blinked. Then he straightened up, tapping a knuckle to his chin. "What about instead… guidelines?"

"Guidelines?" I echoed flatly.

"Yeah, for… ya know…" he pointed back and forth between him and me, "...this. Us. When we're in front of your folks and around the mall. Stuff like, uh..." he cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head, "...PDAs? Do's and don'ts. What's okay and what isn't. Boundaries and whatnot."

...oh.

Oh fudge.

"...you're kidding me… this is only coming up now?!" Recommencing pacing forthwith, now with added braid yanking action. "What's wrong with me, what was I thinking?! We had that whole friggin' car ride here, no, the whole last twenty-four hours and somehow we didn't discuss this already?! Not even once?!"

"El, El, it's okay, we can figure all that stuff out now."

His hand tried to close around my arm again, but I jerked it free. "How? There's no time! Any second, the elevator with chime and those doors will part and we'll have to face him and I'll crack and he'll know and, and, and that's it! Done! Finito! Curtains! It'll all be over before it's even begun and-"

This time he did manage to grab hold of my arm, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. "Shh," he murmured, lightly stroking my hair and resting his chin on my head. He felt so warm as I took shallow, rapid breaths against his chest, inhaling that cinnamon scent of his combined with the oddly soothing smell of leather from his jacket that I was tightly gripping onto. My eyes slowly fluttered shut, my muscles starting to relax again, my panicked heart rate beginning to calm.

This was actually somewhat… kind of nice...

And then it happened.

The elevator chimed. Those doors parted. My eyes snapped open to discover standing there waiting for us on the other side was-

"F-Father!" I gasped, shoving Lea away. "Hi! I mean," I stood up straighter, stepped out onto the new floor, folded one hand over the other just below my waist, and ducked my head slightly, "H-Hello."

...wait.

Did I just…?

Instant mental replay.

-shoving Lea away-

Crud.

Not five seconds in and I was already acting in a most ungirlfriendlike fashion towards my alleged boyfriend.

What'd I tell you? Zero chill. Zilch.

"Elsa," I heard my father say, drawing my attention back to him. He was a tall man with hair the same auburn as Anna's. He looked stiff and rigid in the expensive dark blue suit he was wearing, lips set into a stoic line beneath his thin mustache and green eyes stern as he regarded me. The air felt heavy around us, the long stretch of silence deafening. I was convinced there was no possible way he couldn't hear the jackhammering of my heart against my ribcage while I tried to maintain a cool exterior under his scrutiny. Then finally after what felt like an eternity, he said evenly, "You look well."

I bit down on my lip as I lowered my gaze once more, eyes darting about. "...as do you."

Insert uncomfortably drawn-out pause. Then, "And I presume this would be…?"

He was looking at Lea, standing beside me now with boxes once more lazily propped on his jutted hip. My heart jolted and I started wringing my hands. "Ah… yes… this… this is…"

Just spit it out already!

"...this is boy. He is friend."

I word good.

Alright, take two.

Suppressing my wince, I tried again, "Er, that is to say, this is…" I clenched and unclenched my hands at my sides. "...this is my… my-"

"Lea," he rescued me, introducing himself and offering his hand.

My father just stared at it, expression unreadable, and there was a second - one very long second - where I thought he might not take it. But at last he did, if a touch gingerly, and gave it a curt shake. "A... pleasure, I'm sure."

"Likewise, Pops." He grinned now, "It's fine to call you Pops, right? Might as well get all friendly cuz we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other, no doubt."

Father didn't so much as yank his hand back as retrieve it as quickly as was politely and socially acceptable, his lips tight. "...Mr Fryse will suffice."

Lea just shrugged and grinned wider, taking his own hand back.

And slid it into mine, interlacing our fingers together.

Heart.

Flatlined.

Okay, sure, this really shouldn't have been all that big of a deal. After all, Lea had held my hand before. But that had just been when he'd needed to drag me somewhere. It'd been incidental. This? This was hand holding with purpose. This hand holding was a declaration. This hand holding was up on the metaphorical soapbox with a megaphone and would not be ignored. This hand holding was making a goddamn statement.

This hand holding was causing me to burn bright red.

Conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't feel!

Luckily, Father's narrowed gaze was too focused on said hand holding to notice my face trying to give the plush, deep crimson carpet beneath our feet a run for its munny. After another excruciatingly long second (of which I was beginning to suspect this little visit would be in no short supply of), he whipped around and strode off down the hallway, back ramrod straight and voice taut as he said, "Let's step into your condo now."

"Let's," Lea chirped, following after him.

Still holding my hand.

I stumbled into awkward step beside him, glancing out of the corner of my eye down at where my tingling fingers were intertwined with his. This was no longer necessary… right? I mean, Father wasn't looking at us anymore. So I should just let go, shouldn't I? Yes… yes, I absolutely should. Okay, here we go… letting go now… in three… two… one...

...I wasn't letting go.

I shot my hand a tiny scowl. Fine, you win. Five more seconds, bucko, but that's it.

It remained stubbornly fastened to his. Fifteen seconds.

I rolled my eyes. Ten seconds, but that's as high as I'm willing to go.

...was I seriously haggling with my hand just now?

I'm in desperate need of having my head examined.

It wasn't long before we came to a stop where the hall turned at a corner, Father using a key already in hand to open the door located there. My door. Or rather… what was now formerly my door, I suppose. He walked in first with Lea not too far behind him and me in tow, my hand still in his.

To say the condo we'd stepped into was spacious would be an understatement. The living room alone probably could have fit Rayne's and Riku's apartment in it twice over. It was a corner unit with massive floor-to-ceiling windows leading out onto an expansive balcony overlooking the city and the distant white-capped mountains that surrounded it. With its crystal tables, art deco furniture, and extravagant paintings hanging on the walls, the sitting room was quite picturesque. So pretty, so pristine, so... sterile. Like one of those staged pictures that would be on a website trying to catch the eye of potential buyers. My mother had done the decorating, not I, which was probably why it looked so unlived in. This was more space than I had ever really needed anyway. I'd rarely left my own bedroom when I'd called this place home.

A low whistle blew from Lea's lips as his eyes drifted around the room. "Wow, you really were a princess up in a tower, huh?" He slipped his hand out of mine and I had to ignore how cold and lonely my fingers now felt. Stupid, clingy fingers. "Why don't you two take a minute to catch up while I," he held up the boxes, giving them a tiny shake, "go get started in your room. Which door is it? Bah, nevermind, I'll figure it out."

I blinked. Wait, my room? I didn't know if I was all that comfortable with the idea of someone being in there without me and going through my stuff.

I turned to look at him, opening my mouth to voice my objection. Before I could utter a sound however, his hand cradled the back of my neck, drawing me closer to him and planting a tender kiss to my forehead, sending waves of icy heat rippling all the way down to my toes.

I-

Wha-

Conc-

Don-

Fe-

Con- Co- C-C-Congeal, tone eel!

...wait, what?

Please stand by, Elsa is currently experiencing some minor technical difficulties.

He pulled back, smiling down at me and murmuring, "Have fun, babe." Yup. Those were words alright. Did I understand them? Nope! In fact, I wasn't comprehending much of anything in that second. "Pops," Lea shot my father a two-fingered salute before wandering off down an archway on the far side of the room leading to the rest of the condo.

Father lifted his nose with a sniff, lips pinching almost imperceptibly. "Your… friend is quite the... character."

"Ah… yes. He is," I heard myself replying, surprised that I was able to string more than two words together, bonus points for being in the correct order to boot. Wouldn't have thought it possible, what with my brains having been melted to mush inside the blazing sauna that was currently my face. There was no way Father could miss it this time. Hopefully he just thought I was embarrassed over the impropriety of Lea's forwardness. Not wanting to give him a chance to read too much into it, I hastily asked, "How is Mother?"

"As well as can be expected," he said flatly, folding his arms behind him and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "...better… since we've had news of you."

I winced, looking down at my feet.

And there it was again. That stifling silence.

There were so many things unsaid hanging in the air between us. A big whopping elephant wearing a friggin' diamond-studded wedding gown in the room that neither one of us wanted to be the first one to bring up, it seemed. At least, I know I certainly didn't. I knew I couldn't avoid the unpleasant topic forever, but at the same time there was a silly little part of me that was hoping if I put it off long enough, that... I don't know... the statute of limitations for discussing it would expire or something.

If only.

Well, someone had to be the one to start. Might as well get this over with. Screwing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath and-

"Snowbunny? Could you come in here for a sec please?" Lea's voice rang out from down the hall.

Great. And just when my face had finally managed to cool down too. At the rate this was going, I was beginning to suspect my cheeks might get stuck in this lovely shade of tomato rouge.

Plastering on a smile, I told Father, "I'll be right back."

"Of course," he gave a simple nod. However, the tiny scowl he was directing towards where Lea's words had come from was not lost on me.

I primly and with as much dignity as I could muster walked over to the archway. As soon as I was out of his line of sight however, I broke into a sprint down the hall, skidding to a stop in the doorway to my bedroom and scrunching up my face. "Snowbunny?" I spat out like it left a bad taste in my mouth.

He looked up from where he was neatly folding one of my dresses into a box atop my bed, flashing me a grin. "Was trying out a pet name to use around the folks. Thoughts?"

"I think there's a razor thin line between you trying to not look or sound like a pushover in front of them and you just straight up pissing them off."

"Huh," he tipped his head to one side. "...keep workingshopping it then?"

I rolled my eyes with a soft snort, moving further into the room to stand in front of him, "Yes, I'd say so."

"Noted." He closed the flaps to the box shut before crossing his arms and shifting over to lean back against my vanity, frowning at me. "Hey, we're okay right?" At my quirked eyebrow, he elaborated, "Ya know, with the this," he raised one of his hands with a waggle, then pointed at my own hand, "holding that, and these," now he gestured to his lips before gently poking my brow, "planting one right there."

"Oh." I resisted the urge to reach up to where my forehead still felt warm and had the ghost of a tickle from the brush of his lips earlier. Doing my best to suppress the umpteenth blush of the day, I looked away, "No, no, that was nice… er, I mean fine. Acceptable."

Elsa, Queen of Keeping Her Cool.

He grinned in relief. "Good. Was just winging it since we didn't really get a chance to discuss anything, but wouldn't have wanted to do something that made you uncomfortable."

"Nope! Totally a-okay here." I gave him a thumbs up. Then immediately felt lame for giving him a thumbs up and instead put my hands to better use running them down my braid. "So… I'm assuming there's an actual reason you called me in here."

"Right!" He flicked a hand at the two cardboard crates sitting side by side atop my mattress. "We're gonna need more boxes from the car."

I furrowed my brow, approaching them. "But I thought I'd only need one. How'd you fill them both up already?"

Lea shrugged, one side of his mouth turning up. "Just grabbed stuff out of your closet. Anything that'd look cute on you."

I pulled the flaps back on one to peek inside, my eyes widening before hastily opening the other one as well and puffing out a sigh, "You've packed everything that was hanging in there."

"Well, yeah! Cuz everything looks cute on you, El!"

It should be illegal for him to say things like that.

My broiling cheeks seconded that notion.

Slapping the boxes shut again, I huffed, "Fine, we'll run back down to grab more after my father leaves. But you! You're no longer involved in the decision making of what I do or don't bring back, got it? I don't have room for all this junk at my new place," I jabbed a warning finger in his direction, to which he just held up his hands in surrender, smirking and giving me another tiny shrug.

That was the face of zero remorse.

And I couldn't even really get mad about it since he'd only been being his big dumb sweet self again.

Ugh, I didn't even really want all these things. All these clothes that'd been bought and paid for with my parents' munny. This was my new life, my own life free from their control and I wanted to manage it with absolutely zero help from them, nothing, not even so much as a stitch of clothing. The only real reason I'd even come here today was to see Father and set Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really in motion. I'd probably just end up giving most if not all of these dresses to charity anyway.

Shaking my head, I glanced about the room. "Now where…? Ah!" I'd spotted what I was looking for - my phone resting on the vanity next to Lea's hand. Probably left there by Anna weeks ago, since she'd been the one holding onto it for me on The Wedding Day That Never Was.

Lea sidestepped out of my way as I moved to pick it up. He gave me a curious look, "The parental units still gonna be paying for your data plan?"

"Doubt it. I wouldn't accept it, even if they offered. Rayne said she can put me on her and Riku's family plan until I've gotten a few more checks from work and can start paying for my own. It'll be nice not having to borrow hers all the time anymore."

...okay, I know I'd just had that little mental spiel about not wanting to accept anything from my parents. But come on now, in this day and age, phones are all but a necessity, not to mention expensive. Besides, it's not like I was just going to take it. I planned to reimburse my parents for it… discuss and figure out some sort of payment plan with them that would work with my budget.

"Well in that case," he pulled a black Sharpie from the pen holder on my vanity, biting down on the cap and pulling it off before taking one of my hands in his and turning my palm up so he could write a phone number on it, punctuated with a tiny heart.

I stared blankly at my hand. "Um…?"

He winked at me. "My digits."

Now I stared at him blankly. "I figured, but why?"

"What, you don't think you should have yo man's number on speed dial in your phone?"

"No, that I get, but why," I shoved my palm into his face, "on my hand?"

A tiny snerk through his nose. "How else were you gonna get it? By psychically plucking it outta the air from my mind?"

"No, by having Rayne enter it into my phone after recharging it when I got home," I said flatly.

He blinked, eyes darting to the left. "...alright, point there." Then he chuckled, scratching a spot behind his ear. "I've just always wanted to write my number on a girl's hand. Seemed like a real slick move."

I drooped my eyelids at him. "Was it everything you dreamed it would be, stud?"

"And more!" he beamed.

"You're weird."

"Careful now or all that sweet talk of yours will go straight to my head."

Fighting a begrudging grin, I snatched up the charger from where it lay on the vanity as well and stepped back over to the boxes, slipping it and the mobile in with the folded clothes. Then both my eyebrows shot up my forehead and I glanced back at him. "Wait, you've never written your number on a girl's hand before?"

He blinked back at me, "...no?"

"But Rayne told me what a ladykiller you used to be, and that right there seems like Ladykillers 101."

"Gah, Raindrop," he grumbled under his breath, facepalming. "...those were… you don't really need to exchange numbers when you're just… looking to hookup for a night."

"...oh." I looked away, seriously regretting pulling at this thread.

His hand went to the nape of his neck, tugging at the hairs there. "...I've changed a lot in the last year."

"It sounds like it," I smiled gently at him. Then I exhaled heavily, "Okay… guess I better get back out there then."

"Wait," his hand closed around my wrist as I turned to go, stopping me in my tracks. I gave him a questioning look and he released me, squinting at me and tapping a knuckle to his lips in thought. Then he snapped his fingers and was shrugging out of his leather jacket, holding it out towards me. "Put this on."

My head rocked back slightly, gaze shifting back and forth between him and it a few times. "...but I'm not cold. And we're inside. Why would I go back out to Father wearing your jacket?"

"That's the point," his eyes crinkled as he moved closer to me, slipping my arms into it and tugging it on, flipping the collar up. "Make him wonder. It'll drive him batshit. Now scoot," his fingertip booped my nose before he spun me around and gave me a light shove out of my room. I staggered out into the hall, glancing back at Lea as he leaned a shoulder against my door frame. "Go get 'im, tiger."

I shot him a hard stare. "Also not an acceptable pet name in front of my parents."

"Duly noted." His arms folded beneath his chest as he tossed his head towards the living room, "Now go on already, get."

Pressing my lips together into a thin line, I looked straight ahead down the hall, squared my shoulders and started a slow march forward.

Why was I doing all of this again? Oh, right. To get my parents to leave me alone and stop trying to interfere with my life. And wearing Lea's jacket was going to help with that. Somehow. Was still kind of fuzzy on the how. The jacket itself smelled strongly of boy - really nice smelling, cinnamon-spiced boy. It was actually kind of comforting and was easing my nerves somewhat. So in a way, I guess that was helping. I glanced down at the sleeves as I walked. They were too long, stretching past my hands and hiding the number written in fresh ink on my palm. I suppose that helped a bit too. It would have been awkward explaining it to Father if he had seen it. So in that regard, the jacket was also practical.

So there you have it.

A helpful, comforting, and practical jacket.

...ugh, what was I even doing anymore? Really? Could somebody tell me please? At this point, I was just grasping at straws here.

I stepped back out into the living room to find Father with his back to me as he faced the large windows, staring out onto the balcony and beyond. I gave a polite little cough into my hand to catch his attention, saying, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all, I-" he cut himself off as he turned, spotting me. Or, more precisely, me in the jacket. He then proceeded to give the thing the darkest look I'd ever seen him give any poor, unsuspecting garment.

Welp. Mission accomplished there I guess.

Whatever the mission had been exactly.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, absently fiddling with the zipper dangling from the left leather sleeve. Then I broke the long stretch of silence with a delicate clearing of my throat. "S-so… about the, uh… about the wedd-"

His hand shot up, stopping my words dead. His face had regained its aloof, impassive mask once more. "Regrettably, we don't have time to properly discuss that matter this visit. I have business elsewhere that I must attend to shortly. I merely came to allow you access to your old condo."

"Oh," I breathed, frowning and quickly looking down at my feet.

"...and to see for myself how you were doing," he added, his voice softening somewhat. Maybe I'd only imagined it however. "Your mother… she's expressed wishes to see you as well."

My gaze lifted once more as I sucked in a tiny breath, feeling hope prickle inside my chest. "Ah… yes, of… of course! I could come visit in a few days or-"

"We're actually having a small family get-together in roughly two weeks' time. A bit of a weekend affair, if you will. I think it would be for the best if you came by then. We could set aside time to discuss your actions between the festivities. Of course, your… your friend," he tried, really did try, to restrain the curl of distaste to his lips here, but wasn't quite fully successful, "is extended the invitation as well."

"You're too kind, Pops!" Lea's chipper voice sounded from behind me even as I'd been opening my mouth to respond. Before I could turn to look at him, I felt his grip on my arm tugging me and I stumbled backwards into his chest where he proceeded to hug my shoulders from behind and nuzzle his cheek against mine. "We wouldn't miss it for the world!"

How I had yet to suffer a heart attack during this entire little excursion was beyond me.

Once again, the words 'Conceal, don't feel,' chanted like a desperate prayer through my mind as I grasped his arm, hiding my flushed face in the crook of his elbow. Those three little words were starting to blur together into gibberish and lose all meaning, I'd recited them so much at this point.

Father fixed us with a long, unblinking stare and he'd gone so still, I could have sworn he'd turned to solid stone for a second there. But at last, he managed a, "Wonderful." I seriously doubt he meant that. "We look forward to seeing you both there." That either. "Well then... I'll just leave this here," he deposited the key onto the dining table, "should you decide you need to come back at a later date for more of your belongings. If and when we decide to sell the unit, we'll be sure to let you know. I'll be in touch shortly with further details of the upcoming gathering, otherwise I'm sure your sister will be only too happy to pass along the information as well."

"Thank you… Father," I muffled into Lea's arm.

He bowed his head slightly. "Right then, well… I must be off."

"T'was lovely to make your acquaintance," I could all but hear the smirk in Lea's voice as Father turned to go.

He froze, posture reaching new magnitudes of stiffness previously thought impossible. "...likewise," was all he said after a beat, not even looking back before striding out the front door, clicking it shut behind him.

And just like that, he was gone.

"I think that went rather well," Lea said brightly, not yet removing his arms.

I sighed, unconsciously relaxing a bit back into his chest. "I guess. Though I was kind of hoping we'd be able to air everything out today so it'd be all over and done with... I suppose I should be glad he didn't just disown me on the spot, for whatever that's worth. This thing he's invited us to though… it makes me uneasy."

His hair tickled as he turned his head to look at me. "What makes you say that?"

A small frown marred my face. "I don't know… it's probably nothing, just me being paranoid. I guess… all we can do is go, continue to put on this little performance and see what happens." My eyelids drooped, "Speaking of which, we really need to get on setting those ground rules for PDAs."

He swiftly released me now, taking a step back and holding his arms up like a criminal caught red-handed, "Sorry, did I cross a line with that one?"

I turned to face him but didn't quite meet his gaze. I knew that if I did in this precise second, I might be setting a new world record for number of blushes per minute, or BPM if you will. Feeling I'd done enough of that for one day, I looked everywhere but directly into his eyes, fingers plucking at my braid. "Not… exactly. I just… need to be forewarned on these things… know what I'm getting into, so they don't, ah… catch me off guard in the future."

"Oh, so that's why you were such an awkward walnut the whole time," he laughed, moving over to one of the couches and flopping down unceremoniously onto it, kicking his boots up on the immaculate, glossy finish of the coffee table. "Thought that was a little weird. You acted like a guy's never given you snuggles and affection before."

My lips twisted to one side and I said nothing.

His eyes widened and he sat up straighter. "You gotta be pulling my leg here. You were dating the guy, your fiancé, for what... five years was it? What were you two even doing that whole time?"

Grimacing, I made my way over to sit on the opposite end of the sofa from him. "The thing is, my ex… he was never really a fan of romantic gestures, big or small. Especially not in front of other people."

"Seriously?" he looked positively offended at the very idea. "He had to at least hug you in public, right?" I hesitantly shook my head. "Brush your hair back behind your ear?" A pause, then a second small shake. "Shit, for the love of- hold your hand?" Annnnd a third. "Please, please tell me he at least kissed you."

So much for not making it into the Guinness book for the most BPM. With a tiny scowl, I said, "Well, of course he did. Though… mostly only behind closed doors. But he'd take me on dates to fancy restaurants, art galas, the opera... oh, and he'd occasionally tuck my hand into the crook of his elbow when we were out." It almost sounded like I was trying to defend him now. "And he'd… uh…" Huh. Guess that about covered it. "...well, he just thought such things to be garish, empty gestures that were unnecessary," I finished lamely.

Lea gaped at me. "...and you were gonna marry this guy? Dude sounds like a fucking idiot."

I looked at him sharply. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, it's just…" he frowned now, leaning forward in his seat and planting his elbows on his knees, rubbing his arm. "El, you deserve better than that. Someone who'll worship the ground you walk on. Ya know… rose petals, white doves, the whole cornball, cheesy works."

"Oh." Would you look at that? Not two seconds and I'd already shattered the new BPM record I'd just set. I was really going to need to get this whole face heating situation under control, this quite simply would not fly anymore. "...th-thank you?"

He cleared his throat and propped his cheek in his palm, looking at me sideways. "No wonder you were weird about all that stuff I did. You've never really been all that touchy-feely with a guy before, huh?" He grinned, "Good news is we got two weeks to practice."

I cocked my head slightly. "Practice?"

"Yup!" He scooched over closer to me, nudging my shoulder with his. "We threw ya into the deep end before you were ready. Now we gotta rewind and actually teach you how to swim. And you know a good place to start? Learning by example."

"Which means…?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Observing some of the local wildlife perform their ritualistic mating displays in their natural habitat. That's right, you guessed it: couple-watching in the food court!"

Author's Note: Our couple is off to a rocky start! But it's to be expected with what an awkward penguin Elsa is. She was not built for this! But she'll get there… maybe xD They got 2 weeks to figure it out anyway… 2 whole weeks of fluff, mwahaha! Yeah, we're gonna take a lil detour off the Plot Highway here to make a stop in the good ol' town of Fluffsville for the next several chapters xD Also, Elsa's dress this chapter is loosely based on her Let It Go ice dress - the silhouette of it is at least (I think I used that fashion term correctly…). Lea's outfit is based on nothing, I just wanted to make him... smokin' hawt ;D ALSO, Elsa's dad isn't as nice a guy in this as he seems to be in the Frozen movies, but you all probably figured that was coming with the way he's been talked about the whole story thus far. To be fair, Elsa's parents in the movie could be considered a bit controlly with how they made Elsa suppress her powers, so just consider how he is in this story a twist on that from the movies xD Yet another also: Cliff (the doorman) is apparently the name of one of the rock trolls in the movie, so I figured, SURE, why not, let's name the doorman that! And one more also (last one, I swear!) - I'd run out of KH:BBS official ice cream flavors by this chapter. The one named in this chapter (based on Lilo and Stitch if it weren't obvious) was one my friend (who I'm borrowing Rayne from) came up with! I imagine it's description up on the Ice Palace menu would read something like "It's got all the punch of Hawaii's tangy fruit flavors and a little bit of Elvis for kicks! Naturally it's blue as the sea with bits of Hawaiian fruit in the center!" In any case, by the next time I needed to come up with an ice cream flavor name later on in this story, I'd figured out a new source list to pull from, as you'll all discover very soon!

Next chapter, will our leading man and lady get the hang of this whole relationship dealio? What couple(s) did Lea have in mind for them to watch? Will it actually help? Or will it only muddle matters further? Just what IS the world record for most blushes per minute and is Elsa really in the running for that highly coveted title? Stay tuned!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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mrs-hatake · 6 years

Text

promise

Requested by @foreverinlovewithodis: Could you write scenario where kakashi finds out he has a child from someone when he was a anbu, but he is dating said lover Preferably shippuden kakashi, but he doesn't remember her. Please and thank you.

A/N: My first request! Thank you so much for sending me this! :D

I hope you’ll enjoy ^^

You were locking your book store when You heard a soft thud coming from behind You followed by a soft “Yo.”

Turning around, You came face to face with a silver haired man who did a small wave. “Hey.” You greeted back and stepped closer to peck his masked cheek.

“Are you ready?” He asked You with his hand stuffed in his pocket.

Throwing the key into your bag, You wrapped your arm around his muscled one and replied, “Yep. I’m ready.”

Today marked your third official date. It would have been your tenth or maybe twentieth date had Kakashi not been hospitalized twice trying to fight off Akatsuki and helping his former student Naruto save his former teammate Sasuke. You had met Kakashi about five months ago and had your first date a week after your first meeting. The second date was two months later and now it was the third one.

“How are you?” You asked sofly as Kakashi led you through the village.

“Exhausted. Things are looking tense with Jiraiya-sama wanting to leave to face the leader of Akatsuki and Naruto is on edge lately, not satisfied with doing nothing while Sasuke is still with Orochimaru.” Kakashi replied while rubbing his head in hopes to release some of the tension. “What about you?” He asked you after he had answered your question.

You shrugged before answering, “I’m good. Things are a bit difficult with Riku. He wants to apply for the Genin school while I am strongly angst it.”

Kakashi nodded his head. He didn’t know much about this Riku person. He heard You mentioning him once or twice before and in his head, he filed him as your younger sibling...maybe your younger cousin.

“He’s beginning to look a lot like you.”

That caused Kakashi to freeze in his steps as his eye widened in surprise, “I’m sorry, he...he what?” he asked while turning around to face You.

You tilted your head to the side in confusion, “I said he’s beginning to look a lot like you.” You chuckled as if You had just stated the most obvious thing ever.

“Why would your brother look like m-”

Kakashi didn’t finish his sentence as You quickly cut him off, “Riku isn’t my brother.” You furrowed your eyebrows as You unhooked your arm from his, “Riku is your son.” You stated a matter of fact.

If possible, Kakashi’s eyes grew bigger as he chocked out the words, “My...My son? When did I have a son?”

“5 years ago?” You looked at him in slight anger.

“That’s not possible. I would know if I had a son.” His voice was shaky and his entire body tensed up at the sudden revelation that he was a father.

“Kakashi, this isn’t funny.” Your anger was a way to mask the hurt You felt.

“I’m not joking, Y/N. How do I have a son and not know about him?” Kakashi asked seriously.

You sighed loudly before taking a step forward and retold the story of how You two had first met and how Riku was born.

“The first time we meet was during ANBU. It was right after Itachi had joined. I was a new member on the squad too but everyone was interested in Itachi since he was the youngest member ever but I didn’t mind. We had a couple of missions here and there You and I before we drifted off due to You working with Itachi most of the time. We got closer again right before Lord Fourth Hokage asked You to watch over Kushina-sama but it wasn’t anything serious. Then, many years later, we finally met again when Sasuke had left Konoha. You were slightly tipsy but not too drunk to not recognize faces. You saw me and asked me to spend the night at your place and well...the rest is history as they say.”

You were away from the noisy village by the time You finished your short story and were close to your neighborhood.

“Wait, so you’re L/N F/N? The one with the panther mask?” Kakashi asked once You were done.

You simply nodded your head.

“How come you look so different?”

It’s true. When You were in ANBU, You had very short hair, a pixie cut and it was dyed a dark black color. You had told yourself that having long hair would simply come in the way and the black color helped You blend in. Now, your hair reached all the way to your mid back and it was back to it’s original color, a light brown one.

“So I became a father after a one night stand?” He asked guiltily after a moment of silence

You shrugged your shoulders as You raised your head to look at the moon, “I don’t like to think it as that. I’d like to think that You were just busy as a Shinobi that You didn’t have time for me or Riku.”

Still, Kakashi felt guilty for not remembering You, “Well, why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, pain lacing his voice.

“I wanted to, I really did. But Lady Tsunade told me not to. She said that if you found out, You would feel distracted with your duties and endanger your team. Worse, you could endanger Riku and I if Akatsuki ever found out about us.” You replied seriously.

“Then why did you approach me all those months ago?” Kakashi asked curiously.

“I didn’t. You were the one who asked me out on a date. I thought it was funny that you didn’t remember and I wanted to see how long it would take for you to figure it out.”

Kakashi sweat dropped and laughed nervously at You, “I didn’t forget you. I knew all along who you were ha...ha...ha.”

You snorted at the usually observant Shinobi beside You.

The feeling of him entwining his hand with yours surprised You but also made You relax as he tightened his hold and said, “I would get distracted if I found out at first. But, now, I feel even more motivated. I have a reason to work hard and deal with the remaining Akatsuki members and then...” He swallowed nervously as he cast a quick glance at You, “And then, we’ll be a family. A real one. But, only if you wanted to.”

You looked up at Kakashi with a smile on your lips, “I would like that.”

“Does...does Riku know?” the silver haired Shinobi asked nervously.

“He does.” You nodded your head, “He knows that you’re busy fighting off Konoha’s enemies and he loves you for it. He’s waiting for you to come home so you can help him be a strong Shinboi like you.”

Kakashi’s throat tightened at the image of his son fighting around the house learning knew ninjitsu while You yelled at him for breaking something in the house.

“I promise I’ll come home soon.”

Leaning down, Kakashi pulled his mask and locked his lips with yours, sealing his promise.

#kakashi imagine #kakashi x reader #kakashi scenario #hatake kakashi imagine #hatake kakashi x reader #hatake kakashi scenario #kakashi hatake imagine #kakashi hatake x reader #kakashi hatake scenario

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taliaxlatia · 6 years

Text

Forget-Me-Not

@projectdestati Later than I expected, but here’s my contribution to the #XionLives challenge! This is the only piece I’ll be doing, but this idea came to me, and Xion deserves it, so yeah. And of course I had to go with “Unbreakable Chains” for the track I picked, because honestly, when was the last time I wrote something that didn’t revolve around Vanitas?

Summary: Inside Sora’s heart, Vantias gets a new visitor - and for once, she’s actually awake. (Probably not compliant with the KH3 trailers)

(Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2705612/chapters/32720790)

Vanitas cursed when Sora’s heart-pillar started shaking violently, as if someone was spamming a Quake command. He stood up and brushed himself off despite the fact that there was never any dust in this place.

“What is it this time?” He muttered, glancing over at Ventus, who - as always - was lying unconscious near the edge of the platform. He was still half disappointed at that fact. Stupid. If Vanitas hadn’t been able to wake his other half by punching him, slapping him, or drawing on his face with a marker he managed to pull out of Sora’s memory, then the pillar shaking wasn’t going to make a difference.

“Is Namine screwing with us again?” He glared up into the inky sky, where he could see chains in the distance if he squinted. Sora’s memories. It had been a nightmare when she’d first started tearing them apart - broken links raining down everywhere, leaving cracks in the stained glass of Sora’s heart pillar. Leaving a lump on Vanitas’s head, too. That particular memory had been of Sora, Riku, and Kairi eating ice cream though, so at least he’d been able to use it to summon a bowl of dessert for himself.

But there were no raining memories now - there hadn’t been in a long time. Vanitas just saw them drift away from time to time, and more rarely, link back together. He didn’t know why. With Sora unconscious, it was difficult to get any idea of what was going on in the outside world. He didn’t even know how long it had been, or how much longer it would last. Thinking about it only made him want to stab things, which he couldn’t really do here. Not without risking damage to Sora’s heart. And the last time he’d broken a heart he was trapped inside, it had nearly killed him.

He sighed heavily, plopping down at the edge of the still-trembling pillar and swinging his legs off the side. Not very safe, but it wasn’t like he had much to lose. He’d jumped off this pillar plenty of times before. It hardly even hurt. It wasn’t really worth it unless he got really bored, though; all that was down there were the dregs of Sora’s memories. All the ones not important enough to be remembered.

Only… that wasn’t all that was down there, not now. He could see something in the dim light filtering through the pillar’s windows - there was a person down there.

An awake, moving person.

Without thinking, he jumped from the top of the pillar. It felt best to dive head-first, but he did flip at the last second to land on his feet, scattering the broken chain links away.

The black-coated figure screamed. That scream - too high pitched to be a guy. Why was Sora’s heart always picking up girls? At least this one was conscious, unlike Kairi had been.

The girl skipped back a few steps, nearly slipping on the clinking chains, and pulled her hood down farther over her face. “You’re - who are you? You look like Sora, but… different.”

Vanitas had been about to laugh in relief - another living person - but then it turned to a scowl.

“No, I’m not Sora.” He had the urge to cover his own face too. He hadn’t bothered to wear his mask here, considering there’d never been anyone to see him before. “The name’s Vanitas.”

He stepped back into his fighting stance and summoned his keyblade.

“Vanitas?” She frowned, not looking intimidated by his weapon. Not that it would be easy to tell underneath her hood. “I never heard of you in Sora’s memories.”

“Tch. Of course you wouldn’t have, I never actually knew the guy. Now, are you going to fight me or what?”

She tilted her head. “Why?”

“Wh-why?” His blade lowered. “What do you mean, why?” He met someone, he fought them. That was just how it worked. Was the first awake person he met in years really going to refuse a battle?

“Well, I… I already died fighting once today. So I guess I don’t feel like doing it again.”

She made as if to walk away, but Vanitas slid to block her.

“Wait, you can’t just leave.”

She shrugged. “I don’t even know how I got here. I should be gone completely. And I just… I want to be alone right now, okay?”

It was only then that Vanitas realized she wasn’t shrugging. Her shoulders were just shaking. And there was something dripping out from beneath her hood…

“You’re crying,” he realized out loud.

“Replicas can’t cry,” she said quietly, tugging on her hood again. “It was nice to meet you, Vanitas.”

He just watched in confused silence as she ran off into the distance.

XXX

“Hey,” Vanitas said when he finally found the girl again. The memories under his feet had been acting up, floating off into the sky in huge chunks ever since she’d arrived. That made it a bit more difficult than usual to navigate the wasteland around the heart-pillar, but he managed.

“Y-you again?” The girl looked up. Her face was still wet. He should’ve waited longer; dealing with crying girls was the last thing he wanted to do. But if he waited too long, he was afraid she’d disappear for good.

“What, you expecting someone else?” She sat down beside her and stretched out his legs. This spot was far enough out that there weren’t many memories around, so he had plenty of room.

“No…” she mumbled, fiddling with a memory link in her fingers. She didn’t offer anything else. Sheesh, was she going to make Vanitas do all the talking? Maybe he should just attack her. Then she would have to fight him. But what if he accidentally killed her, and then she disappeared?

“So… uh… you got a keyblade?” He asked awkwardly. To his surprise, she stretched out a hand, and a silver and gold weapon appeared there.

“...I guess I still do,” she said, as if she were just as surprised.

“Looks just like Sora’s,” Vanitas noted. “Bulky. Blunt. Kinda stupid looking.”

The girl frowned. “It looks just like Roxas’s, too.”

Vanitas didn’t particularly care who Roxas was, but he did want to keep the girl from running away again, so he asked, “Who’s Roxas?”

“My best friend. Him and Axel both are.” Her frown wavered for a moment, but stayed. Vanitas wished she would take off her hood. Was this how he made everyone feel when he had his mask on?

“Friends.” He snorted. “Doesn’t sound like they helped you out any more than Ventus’s helped him.”

“Why would you say that?” She replied angrily. He grinned.

“You want to fight me over it?”

She sighed and lowered her keyblade, letting it disappear in a flash of light. “No. Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“I’m the only other person awake here in Sora’s heart. You’re stuck with me.”

He succeeded in getting a frustrated sigh out of her. A verbal fight might not be as good as a physical one, but at least it was something.

“You won’t be the only one for long. Roxas will come back soon.”

Vanitas scowled as another chunk of memory links started glowing and then floated upwards.

“Why would your friend end up in Sora’s heart?”

“Because he’s Sora’s Nobody.”

Nobody? Vanitas didn’t know a lot about Nobodies. Xehanort had mentioned them briefly, a long time ago. But didn’t you only become a Nobody if you were turned into a…? Oh. Vanitas remembered - that had been the worst day of his not-life. He’d thought Sora was going to go full Heartless, and then who knew what would happen to Ventus and Vanitas’s heart? But Kairi had saved him, putting Sora’s heart pillar back together before it could crumble all the way into darkness.

“Huh,” Vanitas grunted. “Maybe he’ll fight me, then.”

“Why do you want to fight so badly?” The girl asked, still turning that link over in her fingers, over and over again.

“What else are we supposed to do?” He asked back. Her head tilted.

“You… you’re asking that honestly, aren’t you?”

“I guess.” He shrugged. If she had some other idea of how to pass the time, he wasn’t going to complain. Not much, at least.

She laughed, a small chuckle that startled him. He hadn’t heard anyone laugh at something he said before. Should he be offended? He put on a scowl just in case.

“I don’t really know what people normally do together, other than go to work and eat ice cream. But I guess we don’t have either of those things here.” She sighed sadly.

“I made ice cream out of one of Sora’s memories once,” he said. “Tasted just like the real thing. Or at least I think it did. Haven’t had the real stuff in a while.”

“Out of his memories?” She asked.

“Yeah.” He took the link from her hands, feeling what memory it contained. Something about flowers. It was a really faded memory, so it was hard to get much else out of it. Still, he closed his eyes and felt it, until the link had transformed into a small bouquet in his hands.

“Here.” He shoved the flowers at her. “Flowers are for girls.”

“Thanks?” She laughed again, accepting the small blue blossoms. “Wait… I remember these. One of the Dusks left them at the castle before. Luxord told me they were called... forget-me-nots. Hah…”

Her hands trembled. A small drop of water dotted the blue petals.

“For someone who says they can’t cry, you cry a lot,” Vanitas said.

“I guess… I’m lucky then.” She wiped her eyes - or at least wiped something under her hood.

“You’ve got a pretty twisted idea of luck.”

“Well, when you weren’t supposed to exist, I’m just lucky to be here at all.” She smiled a little.

“Not supposed to exist, huh?” He leaned back on his hands. “I know a thing or two about that.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “Xehanort pulled me out of Ventus so I could forge the X-Blade.” He drew an ‘X’ in the air with his finger, in case she’d never heard of it. “But I was never supposed to be my own person, and he never let me forget it.”

He wished he could find one of Sora’s memories of Ansem - the closest thing he’d know to Xehanort - and choke the life out of him. But pulling actual people out of memories was beyond Vanitas’s abilities.

“Xemnas created me,” the girl said. “Him and some other Nobodies on Organization XIII did. I was a replica made of Sora’s memories, meant to copy his keyblade.”

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. “Keyblade, or X-blade?”

The girl frowned. “There’s a difference?”

“‘Key’ as in the letter ‘ex.’” When she didn’t respond, he just said “Nevermind. Probably just a regular keyblade, then.”

“Oh.” She grew silent for a while, then finally said, “I’m sorry. About what happened to you.”

She was… what? He stared at her. Sorry? Was she… pitying him?

“Don’t be. I’m fine.” He shrugged, then stood up. “We should get back to the pillar. It’s not safe to stay down here for too long.”

“Why not?” She asked, though she stood too. She still clutched the flowers tightly between her hands.

He gestured to the scattered links that lined the hard ground. “This is where forgotten memories go. Stay down here too long, and you’ll be forgotten too.” He never really worried about it himself - there wasn’t anyone he wanted to remember him, anyway. In fact, he’d be better off if no one remembered him when he got out of this place. But this girl - she said she had friends. She probably cared about stuff like that.

“Then you mean… there’s a chance I won’t be forgotten?” She asked hopefully.

“What, you expecting everyone to forget about you?”

“Well… yes.”

He led her back towards the pillar, kicking chain links out of the way as they went. “If your friends are anything like Ventus’s, I doubt they’ll give you up that easy,” he replied, a little bitterly.

“Did… did your friends forget about you?” She asked. He laughed.

“Hard for them to forget you if you don’t have any in the first place.”

She stopped. “You mean… you didn’t have anyone?”

“No one,” he snapped, then shook his head. It wasn’t like it mattered. Friends were for people of the light, like Ventus, and this girl. Despite her black coat, he could tell she was bright on the inside.

“Do you think… I could be your friend, then? If we’re both going to be here for a while…”

He blinked. She was offering… to be his friend? Okay, despite her light, she obviously wasn’t very bright, or she’d know better than to want to be friends with him, of all people. But… he imagined the look on Ventus’s face when he finally woke up, and he found out that Vanitas had a friend too. It would be priceless.

“Sure, why not.” Vanitas shrugged. “Just don’t expect me to make you feel better if you’re crying, okay?”

She laughed. “That’s okay. I don’t think Roxas or Axel would have known what to do about that either.”

Then, to his surprise, she reached up and lowered her hood, revealing short black hair and blue eyes. Those eyes looked just like Ventus’s, and that hair was just as dark as his own. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t that.

“I never introduced myself, did I?” She asked with a smile. He shook himself a little when he realized he’d been staring. “My name’s Xion.”

“Xion,” he repeated, then paused, as if something were going to happen. “Is that it? Are we friends now?”

“Um… I think we have to eat ice cream first.” She frowned thoughtfully. That made sense; there had to be something more to making a friend then just saying the words. Any idiot could do that.

“I’ll find us some. But we need to get to the pillar first.”

“Right.” She nodded.

They jogged the rest of the way there, with Xion clinging to the forget-me-nots the whole way. Vanitas wasn’t sure why she bothered; they’d turn back into memories eventually.

Chains of memories peeled up from the ground in front of them; they jumped over and dodged around them. Namine must be doing some serious work today.

When they were almost to the pillar - only a few yards away - the chains did something different. Instead of just falling up into the sky, two strands of them whipped out and formed an X in front of Xion.

“What the-” Vanitas spun, rolled his eyes, and jogged back to her. “Come on, you lousy memories. Out of our way.”

He summoned his keyblade to slice through them - they were just brittle, forgotten things, after all - but his blow bounced off as if the chains had welded together.

“No,” Xion whispered. She tried to dodge around the chains, under them, over them, but no matter which way she tried to move forward, they twisted to block her.

“What are you standing around for? Help me smash these things!” He kept hacking at the memories, but they still stubbornly refused to budge.

“No.” She shook her head. He noticed that her eyes were getting wet, again. “It’s not going to be that simple…”

“Why not?” He demanded. Smashing things was his favorite way of solving problems; he would make it that simple.

“I can’t be remembered. Namine warned me. I chose to go away, even knowing that.” She pressed one hand to the chains; the other clutched the flowers to her chest. “Go on, Vanitas. I’ll be alright.”

He stared at her, his keyblade drooping to his side. “You’re kidding. You’re giving up? Just like that?”

She forced a smile. “It’s taken me a long time to decide this. I know what I’m doing.”

“Fine,” he said, surprising her. He dismissed his keyblade and wandered around the chains; they didn’t do anything to stop him. “Let all those losers out there forget about us. What’s it matter?”

“You - no, Vanitas. You need to go back,” she insisted.

“What? So all my non-existent friends can remember me?” He snorted. “I’m staying down here. I got bored of hanging out on top of Sora’s heart, anyway.” Sure, Ventus was still up there… but Vanitas needed to let go of the hope that his other half would wake up any time soon. Besides, if he did wake up, Vanitas was sure he would know it. And maybe, if he was lucky, Ventus actually wouldn’t remember him.

“But…”

“What, you want to get rid of me already?” He smirked. “You can always fight me if you want to try.”

She rolled her eyes. “I told you, I’m not going to fight you.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged and knelt down on the ground, hands searching through the debris of chain links.

“What are you looking for?” Xion asked.

“You’ll see.” He found it a second later - the memory he was searching for. One that would work, anyway. He drew on its power and ended up with two sticks of ice cream, one yellow, one orange. “Here. Since this is what friends do, apparently.”

She blinked before accepting the ice cream. “I’ve never seen one like this before.”

“Just eat it.” He said, biting into his own - he’d kept the yellow one for himself. It tasted like pineapple. He would’ve rather had strawberry, but it would do.

She took a tentative bite. “It’s sweet. But not salty.”

“Salty?” Vanitas made a face. “Why would ice cream be salty?”

Xion’s jaw dropped.

“You mean you’ve never had sea-salt ice cream?” Judging from her face, that could’ve been the eighth deadly sin.

“...No,” he said carefully. Was sea-salt ice cream the specific kind required by friendships? He wouldn’t know. But if Ventus did wake up, and he found out that Vanitas had ruined his only friendship by eating the wrong type of ice cream, he would never live it down.

“We have to find some!” Xion leapt up; her orange ice cream dripped on the front of her coat. “Come on, Vanitas! If we both look together, I’m sure we can find it!”

“Unless Sora’s never had it, either,” he pointed out, but she didn’t seem to notice. She grabbed his hand to drag him off, but he froze.

Someone was touching him. He instinctively expected it to hurt, but it didn’t. Her hand was really cold, though.

“...Vanitas?” She asked. He shook his head.

“Sure. Sea-salt. Whatever.”

He followed after her, still finishing off the last of his current ice cream. She didn’t let go of his hand the whole time, almost like she was just as starved for physical contact as he was. In spite of himself, he smiled.

If she was the one she he was stuck with, it might not be so bad.

#xionlives #xion lives #kingdom hearts

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