#and olette was listening in there as well

[simgerale]

CHAPTER TWENTY ; 1/3

TRANSCRIPT:

sheridan: Princess, would you like to join us? As a Volais representative, of course.

olette: Oh… Why, yes. I would be delighted.

. . .

magdalena: Gentlemen. As we all know, the treaty ends in a matter of days. Five years ago, our rulers agreed to stop the fighting under the guise that it would continue once we resupplied. I cannot be certain of Eden's efforts, but my empire has tried to keep the peace for as long as possible. We do not want another war.

antoin: If that is true, your majesty, then would you mind explaining your sudden interest in obtaining a husband?

advisor: [clears throat] We feared that the war would go on, so an alliance was sought.

an: So you admit that you made plans to fortify yourselves. Why would you think that Eden would not see this as an act of aggression?

m: I do not believe my advisor mentioned fortification, Emperor. Rather, Volais desired aid in case the worst occurred. In your professional opinion, is it not wise to prepare for all outcomes?

an: …Your point?

m: My point is that we are not our fathers, and our people do not deserve to go through tragedy over an outdated grudge. I propose a permanent alliance between Volais and Eden. And yes… I intend to propose to your prince, as well.

[enchaentd]

repost and bold what applies to your muse: health edition.  ˎˊ˗            gets colds easily - has a chronic condition - has had major surgery - has had minor surgery - suffers from spring allergies - has broken a bone - has a sensitive stomach - gets headaches easily - has anxiety - has depression - is prone to panic attacks - bruises easily - has had a major health scare - has lost a loved one to health issues - pushes themselves when sick - is a poor patient - is a good patient - ignores signs of poor health in themselves - is a hypochondriac - has undiagnosed health issues - isn’t bothered by medical settings - hates medical settings

has broken a bone: especially in her childhood, she would frequently climb trees. she still does. she’s also fairly clumsy, again, still true. it definitely happened once or twice (or more) when her mother cared enough to heal them with some sort of magic. but they absolutely never went to a hospital, and olette never reached out for help, otherwise.

has a sensitive stomach: listen, i’m definitely projecting because of my own tummy issues. but all i know is tummy hurt her, she’s so brave. it’s often a sensitive reaction from her anxiety.

has anxiety: so much, all the time. she really tries to be chill and casual and carefree and in so many ways, she is. but she also tries to project it, because she is filled with so much worry, for everyone and everything all the time.

has depression: she experiences extreme seasonal depression when it gets cold out, all of winter and some of fall. as the world outside starts to decay and wilt for winter, she does, too, just emotionally. it’s almost hibernating. she stays inside and feels a lot of fatigue, isolates at the cottage which, of course only makes it worse. she sleeps for days at a time.

is prone to panic attacks: not severely prone, but it is true that she’s very easily overwhelmed, and doesn’t do well in times of high stress, especially without support. it happens a lot less often than it could because so much of her trauma comes from her mother, who isn’t around her anymore. it’s italicized because there are definitely events and dynamics i’ve plotted that would easily trigger a panic attack from her.

bruises easily: this is just true. is there anything to add here?

is a poor patient / is a good patient: listen… she’s very obedient and submissive (in the not nsfw way, in this context) and so eager to please everyone and anyone. so she’s a good patient in that sense, but she hates to be a burden so much that she will insist she’s fine and try to do things that she really shouldn’t, because she’s trying to help. you gotta give her a stern(-ish) talking to and she’ll listen and be still, or whatever is needed. she just really needs verbal communication that It’s Okay.

ignores signs of poor health in themselves: yeah… oopsies. to be fair to her, her fae blood prevents a lot of common sickness/virus from getting to her. so when she gets sick, it’s typically something really bad. she’s not great at asking for help when there’s any potential to be a burden.

has undiagnosed health issues: never been diagnosed with anything, ever, thanks. she definitely has more mental health issues/diagnoses than physical. [psychology + mental health deep dive]

hates medical settings: she has general formal medical anxiety, which is fueled by how much her mother poisoned them against her in her youth. she’s very, very afraid of hospitals and doctors. i don’t know how she went through school without vaccinations and records, it’s fae magic.

tagging;   you, steal this and say i tagged you!

[ro4dtodawn]

Riku definitely missed hanging out with the three. All so very different but fun people to be around.

Namine who heard her name being shouted looked up from her phone. A smile and a wave in return as she noticed Olette.

"Well, pick some good music. Though that won't be a problem, I trust your taste."

Riku teased Pence before handing Namine her drink when she joined them at the cooler.

"Thank you. How are you?"

She asked Hayner, Pence, and Olette. The sun lowered closer to the horizon, and as the sky turned to a purple, the fire roared to life behind them. A few cheers sounded out from the group before pockets of conversation continued.

Riku turned his attention to Namine with a small smile, then to the ocean, not quite listening to their conversation. If his name was mentioned, he would hear it though.

On his way over to them Riku pointed to a few songs the guy he was working the music could play. As he made his way over to the snack table he would chat with people he knew for a shirt while.

He waved to the three having noticed them standing around.

"Well, this is the big summer kickoff event. Last summer, we can truly have fun before we all head off doing who knows what."

He shrugged, grabbing two sodas from the cooler.

"You three going to hang around long enough to have fun or run off just as the fire starts?"

It would be nice to chat with them some more.

"Namine is over there if you want to come hang out with us."

He pointed behind him, offering nicely despite not really wanting them to agree. Not that he would be upset if they did.

[tonberry-yoda]

I Remember You - Saïx

Pairing - Saïx x f!reader

Warnings - none!

Word Count - 899

Notes - i am currently in a kingdom hearts brainrot rn, i dont know if anyone reads kingdom hearts fanfics, but i dont care, this is for me lmao. i think it's super cute and it's really making me wanna replay the whole series lmaooo

And don’t forget, REQUESTS ARE OPEN! So if you want to request any writing, please don’t hesitate to ask, but please read my pinned post before requesting! Please enjoy!! Don’t forget to stay hydrated! <3

Saïx jerked awake in a cold sweat. He had that dream again. The one that always had him shaking in the dead of night. He would forget it by morning, though. He always did.

---

“Woah, Saïx, are you alright?” Axel giggled, throwing his arm around his best friend. “I'm fine.” “You look like shit!” “You say that every morning.” “I mean it this time though. Did you get good sleep last night?” “Do I ever?” Axel thought for a moment, pulling a random ice cream bar out of his pocket. “Good point. Bad dream?” “I don't remember.” “Sounds about right. Get it memorized, dude,” Axel tapped the side of Saïx’s head. “Well, Xemmy has decided to send me out on a couple missions today, so if you don't mind holding down the fort, that would be great. Though, I've heard Vexen’s cooking up something super fun in his room today, so I would avoid that entire hallway. Hell, block the damn place off. See you, Saïx. Take care, okay?” “Sure.”

Axel teleported away, leaving Saïx alone. Just like always.

---

“Holy shit! Coinkydink, much?!” Axel had a huge smile on his face, seeing Saïx teleporting right where he was doing his job. “Did Lord Xemnas send you here?” Saïx nodded and got ready for battle. “Boss had a good call, this is a group of a bunch of little assholes. Thanks for the help, buddy.”

Even if Saïx was working there in Twilight Town, he couldn't help that his brain felt miles away. It's like he was on autopilot. Just fighting. Always fighting. It felt like it was getting them nowhere, but he just had to believe. He had to believe that he could one day… feel something again. He wanted to smile like Axel did. He wanted to be like the people he couldn't be around. He wanted to… remember.

“Good fight, dude!” Axel ran up, giving Saïx a high five. “I think I'm gonna grab some ice cream. Want some, Saïx?” “I'm okay.” “I'll take that as a yes then! I'll be right back.” Saïx sighed and slumped down on the ground, hugging his knees, squinting at the bright sun peeking through the trees above him.

“I already told you guys no!” Saïx immediately looked up to find a girl being trailed by a bunch of teenagers. “Oh, come on!” A boy with curly hair and a vest ran up and grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. “Just a couple bucks. Please!” “Hayner, Pence, Olette,” The girl put her hands on her hips, turning to the kids. “You know I would love to give you a couple of bucks so you can go to the beach, but I need you to listen. I’m going to college soon. It's my sophomore year and I really need to focus on my funds for the upcoming year. I cannot spare anything, alright?” The kids looked pouty, but understanding. “Well, thought we’d ask. Thanks anyway.”

The kids ran off and the girl giggled to herself, walking towards where Saïx was. She gasped when she saw him, taking a step back. He looked up at her and tilted his head. “Can I help you?” She took another small step back, tears forming in her eyes. “Y-You’re dead.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. “Do I know you or something?” “I-Isa… you died.” “I- I don't know what you’re talking about.” He stood up, taking a step towards her. She stepped back again, almost as if she had seen a ghost. “Isa…” “Who are you talking about?” His voice was shaky. He obviously knew what she was talking about. Memories were slowly and surely coming back, but they were stuck in the back of his head, barely visible.

She took a small step forward and Saïx felt a memory hit him like a brick. The dream. She was there. She was always there. He took a big step back, grabbing his head. “Isa?” He fell to the ground and she ran up, but quickly stopped herself, not wanting to overwhelm him. He sat up swiftly, his eyes misty. “Y-You’re here.” She kneeled down next to him, immediately being pulled into a hug. She quickly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, melting to his freezing cold touch, while his tensed shoulders immediately relaxed the moment her warm hands touched the back of his neck. “Isa, I've missed you.” “I looked for you everywhere… I just… forgot what your face looked like.” Saïx began to sob audibly, breaking down in her arms. He was hurting. He doesn't remember the last time he had felt so… full of emotion.

“Isa,” she cupped his face, smiling into his tear filled eyes. “I can't believe it's really you. I thought that you and Lea had died and-” “I'm here now.” He held her tighter, his lips curling into a small smile as he pressed his forehead to hers. “Please don't leave me again, Isa.” “I'll try.” “I wish we could stay like this forever.” “We can for now… if you’d like.”

Bonus:

“Saïx! Look, I finally managed to get your favorite! Rocky Roa-” Axel paused himself, finding Saïx fast asleep with a very familiar looking girl in his arms. Axel smiled softly, sitting next to the two sleeping souls, eating his ice cream, waiting to surprise Saïx with a Rocky Road ice cream covered in his favorite toppings.

[remmammie]

Friendship hcs for ALL the KH girls? I just realized you haven’t added Naminé to your masterlist yet… 😅

I only did all of the main girls I could think of because I'm tired, so not including minor characters like Olette and Skuld although I do love them. I will definitely try my best to do a post for them if we wanna see the more background characters get some love!

Aqua

Aqua's difficult to make friends with not because she's standoffish or difficult, but because she's just taking the time to size someone up first. Are they aligned with light or darkness? Are they someone she can trust? Why exactly do they want to be friends with her?

After everything that's happened in her life time, she's just...cautious, that's all. There's no way she'll ever let someone else barge into her life to harm her or her friends again. Especially not as a Master.

Breaking past this barrier will come eventually after so much time spent with Aqua, and the Keyblade Master will welcome you into her life with open arms and a warm smile. She's a very comforting presence, able to make you feel safe just with her being there.

Aqua's much more a listener than she is a story-teller, so she'd rather listen to you ramble about something or other than tell her own, mainly because her own story brings up very traumatic memories for her. However, every now and then, Aqua will divulge a little information about what happened to her and her friends, but will mostly focus on the good times she spent with Terra, Ventus, and her Master in their past.

Expect to be the guinea pig with a loooot of baked goods. You've never lied to her before, so she trusts your opinion a lot when it comes to taste-testing her latest and greatest sweet creations. This is especially the case when it comes to people's birthdays or special occasions; she really needs to get things right - she's a bit of a perfectionist.

In that way, though, Aqua's a bit of a hypocrite. She always has to try her best and better at everything to master anything she tries and absolutely needs to be perfect...but will assure everyone around her that their best - no matter how minimal that may be - is enough. You'll definitely have to tell her to take it easy sometimes because Aqua really needs it - the guilt of her past eats away at her and she just gets lost in anything to try and forget.

You just know you're getting something akin to a Wayfinder, crafted beautifully in your favourite colour or a colour that reminds Aqua of you if your favourite is already taken.

Kairi

Kairi, my sweet underappreciated angel, you deserve so much more than what they've done with you so far. And any close friend of hers needs to see as much too.

She'll really get along well with someone who isn't afraid to tell her what she is worth to them and to others, who reminds her of how precious and powerful she is when Keyblade training gets just a bit too difficult for her.

Speaking of, Kairi will seek constructive criticism from her friend about her Keyblade training. Please watch her train and tell her how she can improve - she wants to use the power she has to protect you and her other friends, so this is very important to her.

Besides all the deep stuff, Kairi is a very chatty young woman and needs someone that can either sit and listen to her ramble for hours on end about something random she came up with or about her friends, or someone who matches her energy exactly and will return with their own lengthy dialogue about a similar topic that Kairi can get interested and lost in.

Expect to get a friendship bracelet or two, or any kind of symbolic jewellery from her. She makes it specifically for you with your favourite colours and beads of objects that remind her of you. You'll match so everyone knows you're friends! She really takes it in her stride that you get along so well.

I think Kairi would also really enjoy platonic physical affection. She likes to hold hands with her friends because it's a constant and comforting reminder to both her and them that there's nothing that is going to split them apart, no matter the distance!

Naminé

Naminé, sweet Naminé. I won't tell you any lies, Naminé is...really desperate for friends. Of course she has Riku to talk to and the others when they come to visit, but she's primarily alone and has been for the majority of her life, being tossed between manipulative adults that cared little for her well-being just because of her powers. And all that on top of being someone who "wasn't meant to exist" means life's been tough on Naminé and making friends has been even harder for her.

So Naminé will befriend pretty much anyone that seems to have an interest in her as a person rather than her as a witch or just a girl with a tragic backstory. She wants to loved for Naminé the person, not Naminé the Nobody.

Please take an interest in art of any kind, Naminé will treasure you forever. She knows she isn't amazing at drawing just yet, but she loves to constructive criticism a friend can give while complimenting all the beautiful things about her artwork - it really is very unique.

Of course, this means that Naminé has drawn you and her together quite a few times. They're stuck up all around her room and you two are coloured in bright crayons (that she cried at when you bought them for her), holding hands and smiling wide in front of the Old Mansion. She'll draw you something like this for your birthday too for you to keep in your room.

She doesn't cope well with loud noises and people that are loud, simply liking to keep to herself and not attract much attention. So someone who is introverted and quiet like herself will suit her best, but if you do have a tendency to be loud and rambunctious, just dial it back when you're around her - she's a sensitive young lady.

Xion

New friends? Xion doesn't really understand. She knows that Sora and the fact that she was in the Organization and received the Recusant's Sigil was what brought her, Roxas, and Axel together...so what makes her so interesting to someone outside of this circle that they would want to be friends with her?

Xion will be extremely shy at first, barely speaking and keeping to herself while she listens to whatever you have to say. She...really doesn't want to talk about her past to anyone outside of the Guardians of Light and therefore she's content with just listening to all of the wonderful and interesting things you have to say about your life: some things she's never heard of before!

Slowly, though, Xion's true personality will open up and you'll get to see that lovely sassy and teasing side of her. Now you've gotta be careful what you say because Xion's on to you! She's a lot more intelligent than people give her credit for and she can pick up on really subtle tells when she wants to.

Besides, you need to be very patient with Xion. She still struggles with her memory after everything that's happened and needs some support remembering things sometimes. Help her keep a calendar or a diary or simply remind her of things that are happening on a day instead of just giving her prompts. She really appreciates the help and this method doesn't embarrass her.

Larxene

WHY.

But, no, I get it - Larxene's really cool and you'd do better to have her as a friend than as an enemy. However, that's an extremely difficult task only surpassible by the most determined people in the world.

We all know she's downright cruel, mean, and completely abrasive and rash. Any person that wants to even try being Larxene's friend cannot be sensitive emotionally because she will just see you as a pushover who she can use to get her way more easily, as someone to tease and bully when she gets stressed.

Larxene wouldn't exactly enjoy the company of someone who is a mirror of her either, though. She doesn't like being stood up to and isn't afraid to get physically violent with those who she feels are threatening her authority in the friendship.

She needs someone who isn't hurt by her offhand remarks and can stay mellow in moments when she maybe gets riled up and angry. Larxene's best friend is someone who can help her calm down in a tough situation, helping to distract her from the problem at hand and find a new way around it that's not bashing someone's lights out.

Not really into talking about The Organization unless she's complaining about the coworkers she hates. It's difficult to find out what Larxene actually does like, but it tends to be just that: Larxene loves to ramble about the things she doesn't like - it's simultaneously a way of venting her frustrations and it fills the dreaded silence she hates so much.

[winterstarqueen]

Hello ! Can I request a kh boys x reader please ? When their crush is in the same class as them ? How do they act ? Thanks for all you've done !

When you are in the same class. (KH boys x female reader) HC

Sora would be surprised to see you in the same reading class as him. However, you didn’t notice that he was there at first. Sora would try to get your attention. By either tapping your shoulder or whispering your name. Eventually he got your attention. You waved to him. That made him extremely happy. Even made his heart flutter a bit. If he fell asleep in class you would shake him a little. “Sora bear wake up.” You would say. Immediately he would sit up and look at the teacher. You would help him stay focused. “Thank you.” He whispered. You always look after him.

One day Sora stopped before walking in to class. He had just got back his math test and he failed. Would you be like the others? Would you call him lazy or dumb? After all Terra and Olette got better grades then him. Everyone in his family was smarter then him. He dried his tears and walked into class with a smile. After all you didn’t need to know about his grade. It was just a silly test. He didn’t want you to not like him just because he isn’t smart. He sat next to you. You didn’t look at him. This was very odd. Because you always looked at him. Maybe you weren’t going to talk to him anymore. It made sense. Because you wouldn’t want to be seen with a guy who isn’t smart.

Sora went home without a simple good bye from everyone. Then he heard a knock on his bedroom door. “Sora...it’s me (Y/n).” “Go away.” “Don’t listen to them. You’re really smart.” You said from the other side of the door. “I rarely get good grades and everyone else seems to be on the same page. I can’t do anything right.” Sora said frowning. You sighed and slid a paper under the door. “It’s our extra credit assignment. Sora you got an A. You just learn different then everyone else.” You said. At first he didn’t believe you. Until he saw the grade. He opened the door and hugged you. “Don’t worry. We’ll work hard together.” You said hugging him back.

Roxas would be surprised when the teacher called your name. You were in the same class as him? After class he decided to talk to you. “I didn’t know that we have this class together.” He said smiling. You looked at him for a while. Trying to figure out if this was Roxas or Ven. “I’m so sorry. But,I can’t tell you two apart. Are you Roxas or Ven?” You asked frowning. “I’m Roxas.” He said frowning. “I’ll try to get it memorized.” You said smiling. He realized that you had been talking to Axel. So he was afraid that you knew about his crush on you.

Later he would learn that you had no clue about the crush. However, you didn’t get jealous. So,Roxas would try to pass a notes to you. This failed quickly. Because the note ended up in the trash. “No!” He whispered. One day he asked Axel and Isa. “(Y/n) and I are in the same class and...” “And you want to get attention?” Axel said. Roxas nodded. “Well,don’t worry. I big brother Axel will teach you.” He said. “You? You know nothing about (Y/n). Your plan to make her jealous failed.” Isa said frowning. “Try talking to her and then get really close.” He said.

So,Roxas talked to you after class. “H-Hi (Y/n).” “Hi Roxas.” You said smiling your cute smile. Roxas became nervous. “A-Are you....busy this weekend?” He asked. “No. Why is there something wrong? Do you need help with homework?” You asked frowning. “N-No. I-I wanted to hang out..” “Oh. Okay.” You said smiling. You made plans to meet at the cafe. Roxas was so excited for the weekend.

Ven would be happy to see you. However,his happiness turned into nervousness really quick. Because, as you turned around and smiled he tried to hide. He really didn’t like being shy. But,you are just too amazing and cute. That his shyness gets ten times worse. After class he decided to try to talk to you. “H-Hi...” He began only another student came. “Hey (Y/n).” He said smiling at you. Ven knew who this guy was. He was one of the richest kids in school. Yuki got whatever he wanted. “Hi.” “Would you like to come over this weekend? I’m having a huge party.” He asked you. Ven didn’t want to hear your answer. As soon as the bell rang he was out of there.

He took his problems to Terra and Aqua. Since they knew more about this kind of stuff. “I don’t know what to do. (Y/n) is probably going to that party tomorrow. I...I guess that I’m a little scared.” Ven said frowning. Yuki’s parties are very crazy and usually end up with someone doing something crazy. So,Ven-Ven was very concerned about you.

At lunch he decided to ask you. The two of you sat under a tree. “Here. You have a little something on your cheek.” You said handing him your napkin. “Thank you.” He said taking the napkin from you. “You’re welcome. Oh? I completely forgot.” You said taking out a container. Ven looked at it. “I baked brownies last night. Would you like one?” You asked smiling. He nodded. “So,what’s wrong? Something doesn’t seem right.” You said. “Oh. Uh, are you going to that party tonight?” He asked you. “No. I have to fill out paperwork for my new job. Why are you going?” You asked. “No. I don’t do good at parties.” He said looking down. Not to mention he rarely got invited to one. You probably thought that he was a loser. “I don’t ether. Everyone is usually so loud.” You said finishing up your lunch. The bell rang and the two of you went to class. Hand in hand. He’ll find out later that you would be his coworker.

Riku would be surprised. Because you are a year younger than him and don’t belong in this class. “(Y/n) what are you doing here?” He asked. “Our class room is full of middle schoolers.” You said back. “Why?” “Because the preschoolers had to learn at the middle school. The preschoolers lost their school in the storm and it’s being repaired.” You said getting your pencil case out. Only to find out that your pencil was broken. You got up to sharpen your pencil. “Riku!” Sora said. “What?” “Are you going to tell (Y/n) or should I?” “Huh?” “That you want to protect her and care about her soooo much.” Sora said with a big smile on his face. “Whaaaat?! No don’t do that!” Riku said frowning. You sat down at your desk. “Sora please stop talking.” Riku whispered. “But,you care about her. That’s a good thing.” Sora said smiling. “What are you talking about?” You asked a bit confused. Even when you’re confused you’re adorable. “Nothing important.” Riku said. “But,It seems important. Because you said whaaat.” You said frowning. “It is important. Riku wanted to tell you....” “Sora! I think that your brother wanted to talk to you.” Riku said leading him away to Terra. “Terra’s here?!” Sora asked looking around.

Later that afternoon Sora and Kairi were driving him crazy. “Riku if you like (Y/n) then go for it. Talk to her.” Kairi said smiling. “I don’t think I can. (Y/n) probably sees me as an older brother.” “Probably? You don’t know if you don’t ask. So go ahead.” Sora said. He was getting sick of this. So,Riku walked up to you. “Can I sit here?” He asked you. “I guess...” You said. He sat next to you. You began to act weird. Like you wouldn’t look at him. “(Y/n) is something wrong?” He asked frowning. “Huh?! I’m just not feeling well...” You said looking down. “Should I take you to the nurse’s office?” He asked you. You shook your head. “I’ll just go there by myself. Thanks for the offer.” You said grabbing your lunch. You couldn’t just hide behind him when there was a bully. In fact you were too close to him. That was where all of this was coming from. Other students thought that you were a baby. Just because you were friends with someone who was in a higher grade.

The next day you didn’t show up at school. So,Riku being the good friend that he is. Decided to visit you after school. You really didn’t want to see him. But,you couldn’t stop thinking about him all day. You let him come in. “I stopped by the restaurant. Sora thought that you could use your favorite food.” He said opening the paper bag. You looked down. “Don’t worry Terra was watching him. So,it should taste good.” Riku said. You slowly ate it. Normally you would be excited about getting your favorite food. But,not today. “That reminds me. I also got some cookies from the cafe.” He said. Riku was too good to you. He knew everything that made you happy. He even knew your favorite cookies. After you ate. He got you a blanket and a pillow. That was when you broke down crying. He didn’t know why. But, he knew that you needed him. He hugged you gently. How badly did you want to push him away? Very badly. But,you knew that you wanted this.

Terra would be a bit shocked to see you in this class. The best thing about this is that you aren’t very organized. “Here you can use one of my pencils.” He offered. “Thank you Terra.” You said with a smile. He thought of everything. He would give you notebook paper. If you needed it. Terra would always make sure that you were on time. By walking you to class. However,one day he saw another boy walk you to class. At first it didn’t bother him. But, you couldn’t stop talking about him and this kinda worried him. Because he had a major crush on you and was beginning to feel like you didn’t like him back.

One night you and Terra were studying at the restaurant. “Terra come quick!” Sora said. “What is it?! Is there a fire?!” Terra looked worried. “No worse.” Sora said before whispering something in his ear. “(Y/n) we have to leave now.” Terra said grabbing your hand. You didn’t understand. Was there some sort of trouble? Like a robber or worse a Karen?! This was a restaurant after all. A family owned one at that. Maybe a Karen was bothering the family. You looked at Terra with worry. “Don’t worry we’ll get you out of here before...” He began to open the back door. “There is my favorite grandson!” An old man said smiling. He gave Terra a large pat on the back. “When did you get a girlfriend Terra my boy?” He asked looking at you. Thankfully you didn’t hear this. Because you were making sure that his sister Olette was okay. It looked like she had a headache. From all the stress of her grandfather being here. So, you gave her a glass of water. “Shhhh! Be quiet (Y/n) might hear you.” Terra said nervously. You heard the bell meaning that there was a customer here. You looked up and smiled. “Ephemer.” You went to go say hi. Terra didn’t like this at all and his grandfather could tell. “Terra my boy. There is no need to be jealous. (Y/n) wouldn’t cheat on you.” Xehnort said. He was going to make sure that you wouldn’t. Terra frowned. His grandfather didn’t even know anything about his love life. “Why did he have to visit today?” He asked Sora. “Terra could you make me a sandwich?” He asked. He nodded. Terra and his siblings began filling orders. Only he almost had a heart attack upon seeing you.

“Terra loved his cup with lid so much. He even called it his zippy.” Xehnort said. You smiled. “Really? That’s so cute.” You said. “That’s not all!” He said taking out his wallet. Terra was faster and he handed him his dish. “Your sandwich is done.” He said with a smile. You couldn’t see his baby photos. He wouldn’t allow it. “Where was I?” He asked frowning. He pulled out his wallet again. “Here’s your room temperature water.” Olette said giving him his glass. “Thank you.” Xehnort began to take out his wallet. You just had to see baby photos of his wonderful grandchildren. “Here grandfather! I got you some sea salt ice cream.” Sora said with a smile. “I’m sorry. But,I don’t care about ice cream.” He said accidentally knocking out of his hand. Roxas screamed. “Huh?” You had no idea that the twins were here. “What did you do?! You ruined perfectly good ice cream!” Roxas said frowning. “My dear boy. It is just ice cream. But,if you insist.” He said taking out his wallet. “No!” Sora,Olette and Terra shouted. Xehnort showed the photos in the process. Everyone who went to your school laughed. That’s right everyone....except you. You were smiling your cute smile. Terra’s family was so exciting and fun compared to yours. “Aren’t my grandchildren adorable?!” Xehnort said smiling. If only he was quicker then none of this would happen. The next day at class he apologized. “I’m sorry if grandpa was annoying you. He’s difficult to take care of...and does that often.” “It’s not your fault. Everyone has problems like that. Besides you were so adorable as a baby.” You said looking down.

Vantias would always come to class late. Mostly because he is a bad boy. Yes he talked back to teachers,threw paper airplanes, and really didn’t care about his studies. This was until he saw your face. You had a doctors appointment and didn’t arrive until now. You sat down at a desk and immediately got your books out. Vantias was looking at you. Did you know that he was here? You were paying attention to the lesson and looked like you were focusing. He quickly made a paper airplane. Just to get your attention and it landed on your desk. You went and put it in your backpack. Because this was nonsense. Who would pass notes in class? Everyone apparently. Vantias was getting a bit angry about this. But,let it slide. After all you are nice and caring to him. Something that everyone else wasn’t. Other students didn’t give him a chance. He was thinking about arriving early to class tomorrow. Maybe he could talk to you if he arrived early. Only he forgot that he sits in the back.

If you won’t notice him. Then he would just have become your secret admirer again. Maybe then you will notice him again. He used his allowance to get a book on origami and some paper. He had a little surprise in store for you on Monday morning. Vantias made an origami swan. Because he knew that you loved watching birds. Let’s just say that he got a bit carried away and made you another one. They looked too good. “This isn’t cute at all. Time to write a note.” He said frowning. “Dearest (Y/n) you are not cute....” He said before throwing it into the garbage. It was true you aren’t cute. But,rather something more. He couldn’t explain it. In fact he hated it. He couldn’t find the right words for you. You are something different completely. “Why is this so hard?!” He asked hitting his head on his kitchen table. Maybe he shouldn’t say anything. Because words can’t describe you. So he made a paper heart for you. When it was Monday came he set the gifts on your desk. You looked around the room. Someone had left these on your desk. Maybe they belong to someone. “Are these yours?” You asked that lame jock. “No. They are yours. I hope you like them.” He said smiling. “You’re the one who is sending me gifts?” You asked. Vantias wanted to walk over there and tell him to back off. But,he couldn’t. Because he didn’t want you to find out. Vantias didn’t want you to get mad. “I love the swans. They’re so cute. Thank you.” You said smiling. Vantias was getting angry. That was a smile that he deserved. Not this loser. Vantias was getting really annoyed. The one person who was stopping him was you. He didn’t like you seeing him beating up another guy. Because he wanted to change.

At lunch Vantias sat by himself. He made another swan out of a napkin. Maybe he could slide it into your locker. “Is this seat taken?” You asked him. He dropped the napkin. “Does it look like it?” He asked frowning. Deep down he was happy that you were here. “No.” “Then come and sit down. No one is stopping you.” He said frowning. You nodded and took out your lunch. He took out his own. You looked down upon seeing that he only has a sandwich. “What’s wrong? You look like you haven’t seen a sandwich before.” He said frowning. “It’s just. Doesn’t your parents help make your lunch?” You asked. “Of course not. This isn’t kindergarten! You know sometimes. You have to look out for yourself.” He said frowning. “I guess so.” You said. That was when you took out the napkin. He looked around. How did you get it? Vantias frowned. “What is it?” “Where did you get that?” He asked you. “My secret admirer gave it to me. I guess that it isn’t a secret anymore. Because Josh finally came clean. But,I just don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right though.” “That makes sense. Between you and me he wants to be more popular. He uses anyone just to stay popular.” He said. You looked down. “So all the gifts were from him?” “No. Listen I know all the kids in this school. I can tell you that he isn’t your secret admirer.” “You know who my admirer is?!” You asked. “No. But,I can help you find your admirer.” “Really?! Thank you Vantias!” You said hugging him. Vantias was very happy to receive a hug from you. But,he had to keep it in. “Okay. Can you stop hugging me?” He asked frowning. “If you let me share my lunch with you.” You said smiling. How could he say no to you? “S-Sure.” He said. The two of you made plans of catching your secret admirer.

Yozora wouldn’t be too surprised. Back in the day the two of you would bump into each other. Even when you were having a falling out. This was rare though. Usually you would make up after a few days and it would be okay again. You sat down next to him not paying attention. Your books were very heavy. “Here let me help you.” He said helping you. “Thanks. Ah!” You said surprised. Yozora was in the same class as you?! “Sorry if I scared you.” He said frowning. “It isn’t your fault. I just didn’t know that we’re in the same class.” You said frowning. “It can’t be too surprising. I see you every day at lunch.” He said. “Yeah,I guess...I haven’t thought about it before.” You said getting your things out. He had. As soon as he met you again. He knew that you would run into each other. However,because of what happened he had to start over. Meaning that you didn’t recognize him at all. “Can you tell me about your old school? I really want to know.” He asked. You looked down. “You don’t have to.” He said. “No it’s okay.” You said. You told him about all your friends and that last spring break. The big road trip you went on. You didn’t tell him the major details. Just things here and there. “Do you miss them?” He asked you. “A little bit. But,now that I go to this school I can start over.” You said looking at him. That was what he wanted. But,did this mean that you wouldn’t want the real him? Did you want to forget about him? “(Y/n) do you want to...” He began. However, class started before he could finish.

The rest of the day you hadn’t seen him. Maybe because it was you didn’t have another class together. But,still he usually ate lunch with you. You began to walk home. Only it began to rain. You bumped into someone. “I’m so sorry.” You said frowning. “It’s okay.” You looked up to see Yozora. “Let’s get you out of this rain.” He said frowning. He shared his umbrella with you. You agreed and walked you home like usual. Only you felt like you did this before. Just being with him reminded of your friend. You shook your head as he help you home. Maybe you should just move on. After all you couldn’t be stuck in the past. You looked at Yozora and then back down. But,you missed him the most. No text message,no emails and no phone calls. Was he safe? Did he still remember you? Did he want to forget you? “Hey are you okay?” He asked. You held onto him. “It’s just....I miss my friends.” You said. “It happens to me all the time.” He said looking at you. He missed you so much. The two of you were so close. That he loved you to pieces. He never told you though. Maybe it was because he didn’t want you reject him and have your friendship end. He didn’t want that. So,he never told you. The two of you stopped in front of your house. “Would you like to come in?” You asked. “No I really have to get going.” He said frowning. You stopped in your door way. All of this felt so familiar. He turned around. “Wait. Thank you for helping me. I didn’t know the school very well. Until you came to help. So, thank you.” You said smiling. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll see you later.” He said. You ran up to him to hug him. He didn’t know what to do. So he hugged you back. You couldn’t help yourself. Yozora has been so nice to you. You didn’t want to admit it. But, you were kinda scared when you first came here. You didn’t know anyone and you were so happy to find a friend like him.

The next day at school you were excited to see him again. However,he didn’t show up at school. This was strange. “Maybe he has a cold.” You said to yourself. Only after school as you walked home. You saw him. “Yozora!” You said smiling. He turned around. “(Y/n) what are you doing here?” He asked you. “I was walking home from school then I saw you.” You said frowning. That was when you realized that he was hurt. You looked at him. “What happened?” You asked. “It’s hard to explain. Let’s get you home.” “Okay...” You said frowning. You let him into your home and helped him with his arm. “I know it’s none of my business...but,you have to be more careful.” You said looking worried. He looked at you. You really haven’t changed. He remembered when he would get into danger. You would always get concerned about him. You are very caring. This is one of the many things that he loves about you. You made him something to eat. You looked down. “It’s going to be okay. I ran into some trouble. That’s all. I’ll be careful from now on.” He said looking at you. You remembered your best friend saying that before. You looked deep into his eyes. Upon feeling your face get hot you looked away. “Oh that’s right...I got your homework for you. Here you can borrow my notes!” You said with a smile. “Thank you.” He said. The two of you worked on homework. However,you couldn’t shake the feeling that you knew him. Maybe you met Yozora before.

[scoobysnack1107]

So grateful I was able to commission the incredible @rainbow-taishi again for another gorgeous RokuNami piece! As always, Jin did an absolutely amazing job! The colors and atmosphere are warm, the expressions soft, and the detailing exquisite 🥺💞 Thank you again Jin for making making my day and bringing a huge smile to my face 💖

For anyone interested, I wrote an accompanying story!

You can read it below or on ao3: Un Rendez-vous Romantique

(special thank you to @jysumrae for using her French skills to help me with the title 💖 )

                                       Un Rendez-vous Romantique

 Naminé checked the time on her gummi phone again. Five minutes before seven o’clock. Five minutes before Roxas was supposed to arrive at the bistro for their date. Their first date she reminded herself.

    All around her, tables were filled with laughing couples sharing colorful concoctions that were placed onto tables by waiters dressed in well-tailored suits. Naminé, dressed in her signature white dress and blue sandals, was the only one sitting alone.

    She couldn’t help but wonder how seriously he had taken the idea. He had been the one that asked her out with that boyish grin she was powerless to resist. But this was the first time they would be together like this. Unencumbered by heartless, the Organization, Diz. Tonight, it was just the two of them in the most romantic place in town.

    Unless…he stood her up.

    Naminé’s heart sunk, and as the people milling by the bistro cast her curious looks, she started feeling more and more self-conscious. Did they think he wasn’t coming?

    “Don’t worry, Naminé. Trust me, he’ll come.”

    Startled, Naminé looked up and found Sora offering her a comforting grin. He was dressed in a white chef’s uniform and tall toque that somehow managed to stay atop his spiky head of hair. In his hands, he was carrying a large, unopened box decorated with golden fleur de lis and something scribbled on top in black marker.

    “Sora? Why are you—” she trailed off, suddenly remembering that her friend had become an occasional helping hand at the restaurant during his travels. Though, admittedly, it was strange to think of Sora as a chef in a high-end bistro like this. “Thank you. I guess I’m just a little nervous.”

    In the distance, the bell of the clock tower tolled, signaling the passing of another hour. Seven o’clock.

    Sora had to be right.

    “Excuse me! Coming through!”

    Outside the bistro, some kind of commotion had started. The tram stopping in its track as a boy riding a black and white skateboard came racing through. A flock of pigeons wandering the bistro’s checkered plaza dispersed in a flurry of feathers, and one of the waiters nearly dropped a plate of ratatouille before said boy arrived in front of Naminé’s table with an apologetic smile.

    “I am so sorry, Naminé,” Roxas said, finally catching his breath, “I promise I didn’t forget. Really. I got caught up delivering letters again because Lea ‘sprained’ his ankle and couldn’t finish his half.” Roxas shook his head. Of all the days Lea felt it necessary to fake an injury.

    Naminé couldn’t help herself. She laughed, and the anxiety that had been chipping away at her nerves dissipated with the sound. “It’s fine, Roxas. I’m glad you were able to make it. I can’t say I expected that kind of entrance though.” Another laugh slipped past her lips when she noticed a stray feather in his hair.

    Roxas scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I can’t say I really planned it that way.”

    Plucking the feather from the skater’s head unceremoniously, Sora handed his friend the box he was holding. “Well, now that you’re finally here, I’d say it’s time for you two love birds to enjoy your date with a little Tarte aux Fruits, courtesy of Little Chef and I!” Sora patted his toque affectionately, prompting a tiny gray mouse to peek out from beneath the hat before scurrying back inside with a squeak. “He’s a little shy,” Sora whispered.

    “He’s cute,” Naminé cooed.

    Roxas flipped open the lid of the box to examine the dessert. Inside the box was a round and colorful tart decorated with fresh strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, and peaches. “Sora, you know it’s just the two of us, right?” Usually, the bistro only served the desserts by slices. Not entire tartlets like this.

    Sora pushed the lid back down and pointed to the writing on top.

      Enjoy your date!

      - Sora and Little Chef

    “Yep! But you’re my friends and Little Chef insisted. It’s not like you can’t take the leftovers home. I’m sure Lea and Xion would eat a few slices for you.”

    Curious, Naminé stood up to peer inside the box too. Sora really was too sweet.  Everything about the dessert was handled with care, with each fruit arranged so precisely, Naminé could only imagine how long her friend had spent perfecting the delectable concoction. “Thank you, Sora. This is perfect, but you know, we’ll be saving you and Little Chef a slice too. It wouldn’t feel right for our chefs not to taste their own creation.”

    “Heh, guess not,” Sora agreed, scratching his cheek.

    “You can drop by the Old Mansion after work if you’d like,” Naminé suggested, “No one goes to bed early anyway, since it’s summer vacation.”

    “Yeah, and plus, you still owe me a rematch on Classic Kingdom Melee,” Roxas said with a competitive glint in his blue eyes.

    Sora chuckled and laced his hands behind his head. “So eager to get your butt handed to you again?”

    “I have Naminé’s good luck charm this time,” Roxas said confidently, “So, there’s no way I’m gonna lose again.”

    “We’ll see,” Sora said in a sing-song voice. The two boys jibed one another for another minute until Sora was called back into the kitchen by a short, portly chef with a silver whisk and a toque taller than him.

    Roxas set the box with the tart on the table and moved to pull Naminé’s chair out for her with a flourish. “Madame.”

    “How gentlemanly,” Naminé giggled as she took her seat.

   Taking the chair across from her, Roxas signaled over one of the waiters who promptly brought them two plates and utensils to slice their dessert. Naminé, her hands small and adept, cut them each a generous piece.

    The window behind them cast a warm golden glow and was embossed with the bistro’s name, Le Grand Bistrot, in neat gold lettering. Inside, the restaurant’s staff busied themselves, the sound of clattering dishes and whirring kitchen appliances blending with the soft instrumental tune floating from the speakers outside.

    Naminé spoke again first. “So, you and Hayner are entering the Struggle Tournament this year?”

    “We’re gonna win this year” Roxas boasted with a grin. He picked up his dessert but didn’t take a bite as sparks of excitement began to dance in his eyes. “We’ve been training every day since sign ups.”

    “Confident I see,” Naminé teased.

    “Always,” Roxas returned, his grin turning sly, “And besides, I’ve won the digital version once already. The real thing can’t be any harder.”

    Naminé conceded with a smile. “That is true.”

    As Roxas explained his new strategy for this year’s tournament, Naminé listened attentively, offering nods and questions at different intervals as she nibbled at her dessert. She liked seeing him so excited. After everything they had been through, happiness like this was well-deserved.

    “Promise to cheer me on?” Roxas asked. His gaze was intense now, making Naminé’s heart skip a beat.

    Naminé averted his eyes, playing with her hair as she answered shyly. “I’ll be in the front row the entire time.”

    “U-Uh, thanks” Roxas blushed at her words and drew his own gaze away. “But um…anyway,” Roxas coughed, “How about you? You mentioned buying some new paints the other day. Have you been able to try them out yet?”

    This time, it was Naminé’s face that lit up. She pressed her fingers together and tilted her head happily. “I have! I’ve been painting lots of landscapes with them, and I want to try portraits too.”

    “Is this your subtle way of asking me to be your model?” Roxas joked.

    “Mmm, maybe. Though, I’m not entirely sure you’d be able to stay still the entire time.”

    Roxas raised his eyebrows. “That sounds like a challenge.”

    “You really think you can sit still for more than an hour?” Naminé asked dubiously.

    “With the right kind of incentive.”

    Without hesitating, Naminé replied. “Sea salt ice cream?”

    “Bingo,” Roxas said and bit into his slice of the tart.

    Naminé didn’t try to conceal her laughter. Roxas really was predictable. And adorable.  “I think I can arrange that.”

    “Then, we have ourselves a deal!” Roxas held out a hand across the table, and Naminé shook it as if it was actually some kind of serious, contractual agreement.

    The two continued to talk, reminiscing over the new memories they had made in the real Twilight Town. Like the first time they had all gone to Sunset Hill for a meteor shower or when they took that impromptu trip to Radiant Garden because somehow Twilight Town had run out of sea salt ice cream. Granted, it had been a particularly hot day. But still…

    “I feel like summer vacation is too short,” Roxas complained, “and who thought it was a good idea to assign homework? We’re supposed to be on a break.”

    Naminé’s lips twitched knowingly. “You still haven’t started, have you?”

    “I tried, but the computer keeps crashing on me, so I can’t do any kind of research,” Roxas explained, pouting as he crossed his arms.

    “You and computers,” Naminé sighed, shaking her head, “What are you writing your report on?”

    “Not sure yet. Hayner, Pence, and Olette want to do something about the seven wonders, but that’s a little too déjà vu for me, you know?”

    Naminé tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, maybe you can do a report about the beach?”

    “The beach?” Roxas cocked his head curiously.

    “Yeah, like what kind of fish are in the ocean here or ways to keep our beaches clean,” Naminé continued. Roxas loved the beach. The first time they went, Roxas nearly tripped over himself running across the sand to get to the water, and he didn’t come out until it was time to leave.

    “Looks like we’re going to the beach this week then, huh?” Roxas asked with a coy grin.

    Naminé returned the smile.  “Looks like it.”

    By the time they were ready to leave, with their leftovers secured in a to-go bag, the last embers of the twilight sky above had faded, blanketing the sunset hues beneath a veil of stars. The night air was still, the bustle of the usually busy town subdued as most citizens retired to their homes to sleep.

    “I had a lot of fun tonight,” Naminé said, staring down at her feet bashfully.

    “Me too.” There was a brief silence that hung between them before Roxas added in a hesitant but hopeful voice. “Maybe we can do it again sometime?”

    “I would love that,” Naminé answered softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

    “Y-You know, there’s gonna be that new movie playing down at the theater this Friday. We could grab dinner here and then go see that?”

    “It’s a date!” Naminé agreed happily, and her heart soared.

    Roxas took her hand and intertwined their fingers. “It’s a date.”

[phoenix-downer]

Autumn Mending Chapter 3: Firelight Confessions

~1650 words. Romance, Angst, Pining, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Comfort, Healing, Making Up. For SoKai Day 2021.

Sequel to Kisses and Lies because I couldn’t just leave Sora and Kairi hanging, now could I?

Happy SoKai Day!

Summary: Sora and Kairi are still broken up, but with the help of old friends and Twilight Town’s fall festival, the spark between them just might be rekindled.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Sora felt lightheaded from the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside his heart. So much had happened today. Kairi had shown up here on Twilight Town and had apologized for breaking up with him. Was it possible she still loved him? That she still cared? 

The way he kept catching her looking at him sure made it seem like she did. And now this hayride. He didn’t want it to be over. He wanted her to be snuggled up next to him, holding his hand, for the rest of his life. 

But while his heart and body cried out for joy and begged him to be closer to the one he loved, his brain was yelling at him to put on the brakes, to slow down, to be cautious. What about that guy he’d seen her with? What about the past year and a half of anguish and torment? Could all of that really be forgotten in a single day? 

He wanted to forget. He wanted to put it all behind them. He wanted to forgive and move on and mend things with her. Even if it meant risking getting hurt again. The chance of being with her for good was worth it.

So all that kept his mind occupied to the point he was barely listening to the ghost stories. Before he knew it, the hayride was over and it was time to pile out of the wagon. A pang went through him when Kairi had to let go of his hand, and he wondered if she was as starved for his touch as he was for hers.

Hopefully they’d get to talk about it soon. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had rented one of the campfires nearby for the evening, and that was enough to temporarily distract him. Their little group spent the next couple of hours hanging out, cooking hot dogs and roasting apples and making s’mores. Sora loved sitting by the crackling campfire and spending time with his friends, but as the minutes ticked by, his eyes kept wandering to Kairi. She was seated across from him, and she looked really beautiful in the flickering firelight. Their eyes met, and she smiled and looked at him the way she always used to look at him. 

“Oh gosh, I almost forgot!” Olette said, clasping her hands together. “Our pumpkins! We should grab them so we can light the tea candles in them.” She stood and stretched. “Hayner, Pence, come with me so we can grab everyone’s pumpkins and bring them back.” 

Hayner and Pence finally got the hint and followed after Olette, leaving Sora and Kairi alone. He stood under the pretense of roasting another marshmallow, but really, he just wanted an excuse to sit next to her. He loved being close to her, and her natural scent mingled with the campfire’s smell in a way that reminded him of all the times they’d gone camping as kids back home. 

“The embers are best here,” he said to explain his sudden change in position, and she smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Oh are they now.” 

“Yeah.” A few seconds passed, and he added, “Listen, Kairi, about earlier—”

“I’m still in love with you,” she blurted out, and he dropped the marshmallow and stake into the fire. Didn’t even care about them anymore. Something far more important was at stake here. 

“But—I saw you, with that guy—It’s why I left again—”

Kairi shook her head, and her eyes watered. “After our mission, I was hoping you and I could work things out, but I felt like you were avoiding me. I figured you didn’t love me anymore, and I couldn’t blame you. So when that guy asked me out, I thought, why not give it a shot. Why not try to move on and give you your space. But then he tried to kiss me, and I just… I couldn’t.” Her voice broke and she was crying in earnest now. “All I could think about was you,” she sobbed. “How badly you’d be hurt if you knew. How wonderful it feels when you kiss me. And I knew I was still in love with you. I knew my heart would always be yours. I knew it was pointless to try to move on.” 

Sora stared at her, his heart pounding in his chest. Kairi still loved him? Kairi still wanted to be with him? That guy he saw her with was nothing more than a quick fling that made her realize the one she truly wanted to be with was him? 

She wiped her teary eyes. “Say something, please.” 

He gently caught her hand and tugged it away from her face. She searched his eyes, and he smiled and cupped her cheek. 

“I love you too, Kairi,” he said, softly, tenderly, then brought his lips to hers. He kissed her with all the pain and homesickness he’d felt the past year and a half, all the pining and aching and longing, hoping she’d realize just how much he wanted this, how much he wanted her. And she kissed him back, so unguarded and wild and joyful that his pain started to fade away. What had happened couldn’t be undone, but it could be mended and healed, could be turned into something beautiful and good, could become another part of their love story. 

When it was over, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. She leaned against his heart and gently touched where his scar was hidden under several layers of clothes. She knew it so well that she didn’t even have to look to know where it was. And he didn’t have to look to know where Xehanort had struck her down either; his hands had held the very spot countless times before and remembered exactly how to comfort her.

“I love you,” he said, his voice full of emotion. 

“I love you too.”  

He kissed her head and stroked her hair. “I’m gonna make you a new promise,” he said. “You mean everything to me, and I want to settle down with you, get married, start a family. The past several years, I’ve been saving up munny so we can do just that. Maybe we should go to college first though, that would probably be good. We’ve gotta provide for our family and for each other somehow. And I know it’ll be an adjustment for me. I’m not naive enough to think it won’t be. But you’re more than worth it.”

She sniffled and clutched his hoodie. “I’m sorry for doubting you.” 

“It’s okay. You had a lot of reasons to be concerned. I’ve left you behind too many times before.” 

“But you always come back to me,” she said as she looked up and searched his eyes. 

“That’s right. I made you a promise, to always return.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her lucky charm. 

She teared up again and curled his fingers around it. “Keep it till we get home. For good, I mean. Then, and only then, will I take it back.” 

“Deal.” 

He tucked it back into his pocket and held her and kissed her and comforted her. He shared his hoodie with her too because even with the campfire nearby, she was getting a little cold. Plus it was just nice to be this close to her. He’d missed her, so much. And something about the fire was cozy and calming and enchanting. He could hold her like this and stare into it forever. 

Well, until Hayner, Pence, and Olette returned with the pumpkins. They had big smiles on their faces, and Olette told them to close their eyes. Sora heard the lighter flicking a couple of times as their friends lit the pumpkins, and then when he and Kairi opened their eyes, he could see why Olette had wanted this to be a big surprise. 

Kairi had carved the same drawing of him that she’d drawn in the Secret Place when they were kids, complete with the paopu fruit she’d added to it years later. It matched perfectly with his pumpkin because he’d carved the drawing he’d made of her with the paopu fruit too. A big smile lit up her face as she saw the two pumpkins side-by-side, and he grinned and kissed her cheek, only for her to kiss him properly on the lips. There was much whooping and hollering from Hayner, Pence, and Olette, much to he and Kairi’s amusement. 

“Operation-get-the-lovebirds-back-together is a success!” Hayner crowed, high-fiving Pence. 

Sora raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you guys planned this?” 

“Maybe,” Olette said with a teasing lilt to her voice, and Hayner and Pence both had triumphant smirks on their faces. 

“I can believe you did,” Sora said to Olette, “but these two interrupted Kairi and I so much tonight I was convinced they were trying to keep us apart,” he finished, jabbing his finger at Hayner and Pence.

“Reverse psychology, it works wonders,” Pence said. “We figured it would get you more desperate to talk to each other.” 

“I guess it worked then,” Sora said wryly. “Because as great as that hayride was, it was not worth all the interruptions.” 

Hayner, Pence, and Olette laughed, and Kairi giggled and nuzzled his cheek. Sora soon joined in with the merriment. He couldn’t hold the scheming against his friends, especially because it had worked. He and Kairi were together again, and while it would take time to mend all the hurt between them and forge a path forward, he knew they would. Tonight was a good start, and he was determined to make this work and so was she. 

When their eyes met, he knew something else, too. He loved her and she loved him, and that was more than enough for them to make their own storybook ending and happily-ever-after.

~~~

A/N: Last year I wrote nine kiss prompts for SoKai based on this list, and I wanted to write one more to hit ten, so, this story fits... 

11. ...in joy, 

30. ...as comfort, and 

50. ...out of love.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

[atomic-taco-muffin]

Can you please make another KH boys HC? One where he get jealous when somebody tries to flirt with the reader and the reader was blushing. And actually the reader kinda liked them saying all those things. But this causes him to get sad or angry. In the end the reader says that they are the only one for them.

Here’s the one where the reader is jealous

KH Boys When They’re Jealous

Warnings: GN!Reader 

Sora: 

You and Sora were on a date in Twilight Town. You two went to a cute café and Sora went to go get your food. While you were waiting for him, some creep came to your table and started flirting with you. You couldn’t help but blush at the comments. Sora saw the creep flirting with you and your somewhat uncomfortable face. He saw the creep reach for your hand and he snapped. He stormed to your table to give this creep a lesson.

“Hey, creep. Keep your hands off my partner.” 

“Oh shit, man. They’re yours? They’re cute.” 

“I’m going to repeat myself one last time. Get your hands off my partner.” 

“Or what?” Sora punched him in the face, took your hand and ran out of the café. When he thought he was safe, he let go of your hand and looked away. 

“You okay? You seemed kind of jealous.” 

“I-I wasn’t jealous!” He looked at you with a blush on his face. 

“You’re jealous! That’s so cute! Don’t worry, Sora. I love you and only you.” 

Riku: He looks so hot here

You and Riku were on a mission in Radiant Garden. You got hungry so Riku took you to a local restaurant. Riku told you that he had to go to the restroom and would be right back. You told him okay and waited for your food to arrive. While you were waiting, a buff guy came up to you and started flirting with you. You tried to tell him that you had a boyfriend and was not interested but he wouldn’t listen. Riku came back from the bathroom and saw the guy making you super uncomfortable. 

“Hey, big guy. Why don’t leave my partner alone. Unless you want a black eye.” 

“Really? You wanna go? Let’s go.” Riku summoned his keyblade and the buff guy paled. 

“Y-you know what? I’m late for work.” The buff guy ran out of the restaurant.

“You okay?” 

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

“Anytime.” 

“I hope you don’t mind me asking but were you jealous?” 

“Maybe. I just don’t like seeing people make you uncomfortable.” 

“You don’t have to be jealous. But thank you for looking out for me.”

Terra: 

Terra saw you had been hanging out with Ventus more often than usual. Terra sulked as he watched you and Ventus together. Aqua knew that he was jealous and sent you a text message saying so. You told Ventus that you would see him later and went to Terra. 

“Aqua told me you were jealous. And I just want you to know that I will love you forever.” 

“Thanks, (Y/N).” 

“Anytime, Ters.” You kissed him on the cheek and spent the rest of the day with Terra. 

Ventus: 

You can and will always be able to tell when Ven is jealous. Whenever he’s jealous, he would take one of your plushies and hug it while pouting. You were able to catch him in his jealous state when you were hanging out with Aqua. He sat in his room, hugging your favorite plushie and pouting while watching an anime, not really paying attention to it. You walked in and gave him a side cuddle. 

“Why’re you jealous, bubs?” 

“You hang out with Aqua too much.” he said, still pouting.

“Baby. I only love you. Aqua was just helping me figure out what to get for your birthday.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” 

“It’s okay. It’s cute seeing you jealous. Now, which episode are you on? I haven’t watched this anime in a while and I need to catch up.” 

Axel: 

Seeing Axel jealous is one of the cutest things in your relationship. This man would cling to you, almost like a koala. One day, you were talking to an old friend of yours and when you got home, Axel just would not let you go. Even to the bathroom. 

“You jealous?” you asked while making a sandwich. 

“Maybe.” he mumbled. You giggled and scratched his head gently. 

“Don’t worry. He already has a girlfriend, so I’m all yours.” 

“Thank you, baby.” 

Roxas: 

Roxas gets jealous so easily, it’s almost funny. You were hanging out with Olette and Xion in Twilight Town. Roxas sat on the clock tower ledge watching you and the girls having fun. You knew that Roxas was on the clock tower and that he was jealous. When you went to check up on him, you saw that he was definitely jealous.

“I can tell you’re jealous. You always come up here when you are.” 

“That doesn’t mean I’m jealous. Maybe the others pissed me off. You don’t know that I’m jealous.” 

“Whenever the other’s piss you off, you buy yourself an ice cream. I’m not seeing an ice cream anywhere.”

“Fine. I’m jealous. You’ve been hanging out with Olette and Xion and not with me for the past month.”

“Well, that’s because they’ve been helping me plan our anniversary.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” 

“No need to be sorry. It’s cute.” 

“I’m not cute.” 

“Yes, you are.” You then spent an half an hour arguing about who’s the cutest. 

[embraceyourdestiny]

For the ask game!

🧡- Sora

🧡- everyone I ship this character with

(Romantically bc sora is everyone’s friend)

-Riku

-Kairi

-Naminé (sometimes)

-Hiro (big hero 6)

-Ariel (the little mermaid, sometimes)

-Olette (haven’t thought about it much but I think they’d be cute)

-Pence

-Hayner (would be cute too)

-Strelitiza (if she comes back and she’s 15~16 like Sora I think they’d be cute together)

-Neku from TWEWY (…listen they’re cute ok. but ofc og twewy neku not neo neku since he’s 18. unless bc of the time skip sora’s 17 while neku’s 18 and then that case yes.)

-Beat from TWEWY (same as above)

-Honestly let’s add Shiki in their too

Sora honestly doesn’t have that many romantic options since half the cast are… well… him so I’m hoping we get some new characters who are the same age as Sora so he can get more love ☺️💕

Ask game

[your-1up-girl]

Birthdays and Promises

Okay! So this is my first work for @aerith-week I am happy with how it turned out and I just wanted to do a little something for the flower girl we all know and love! This is a Cloud/Aerith fic so please keep that in mind! I hope you guys enjoy it 

Word count: 1744

Pairing: Cloud/Aerith (Kingdom Hearts)

Day 1: Happy Birthday Aerith!

Read on Ao3

Check out the beautiful fanart done by the equally beautiful @sammilimyy

How they were able to plan a birthday party for Aerith without her knowledge would remain a mystery to her. She wasn’t shocked that everyone was able to fit inside Merlin’s little cottage. He is an amazing wizard after all and if he could fit the entirety of his house in his bag, then expanding the cottage was child’s play to him. 

There was no suspicion on her part when Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Naminé arrived, bags in tow, or when Leon sent her out in a hurry with a list of stuff to collect for tonight’s dinner.

“I don’t think some of this stuff even exists Leon.”

“The nephews have been getting some new product in their shops lately. I’m sure they’ll have what we need. And if not them, then try the Moogles.”  

She left with a smile and her worn basket in hand but once she shut the door, she stared down at the list again perplexed at some of the items. Brushing off any doubt, Aerith left for the marketplace. 

“Oh, you should get this one Aerith!”

“If you add this one to soup it makes it extra spicy!”

“This is good for when you have a cold!”

“Yes but is it from the list?”

“Don’t listen to the list, just take our advice Kupo!” 

Shopping so far has been a disaster. Aerith was barely able to get four things from this list before she had to ask the Nephews and the Moogle for help. And that in turn, created an even bigger disaster. Some of the stuff they brought her she knew she didn’t need and yet they tried to convince her otherwise. She wasn’t annoyed, perplexed was the better fit. “Listen, this has been very helpful, but, I think I should get going.” The Nephews and Moogle stopped in their tracks. “I’ll let Leon and Yuffie know to just make whatever we have left over.”

“But you can’t leave yet! (Kupo!)” The four yelled at the same time, Moogle even going as far as to block the door of their shop. 

“But why? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you four are stalling? 

“What does stalling mean?” Louie asked and was promptly hit in the back of the head by his two brothers. Aerith sighed and from the corner of her eye saw Kairi, Naminé, Olette, Xion, and Aqua all by the jewelry stand across the market. Other than wondering when Olette, Xion, and Aqua arrived, it wasn’t out of the normal. What threw Aerith off was that Cloud was with them shaking his head as the other girls held different products to her.

Aerith gave Moogle her list saying, “I’ll be right back; just help me find these things if you can.” Left the shop and went to the stand. Getting closer she saw that it was a beautiful jewelry stand the woman was selling things that Aerith had no idea could be found in Radiant Garden. 

“Oh Aerith!” Kairi stepped in front of her and the other girls did the same, basically blocking Cloud from her view. “What are you doing here?”

“Leon sent me out to get some things for dinner. Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Moogle are helping me at the shop.” As she conversed with the girls, she looked up to see Cloud casually leaned against stall’s post, arms crossed and head down. The shopkeeper was miserably failing at hiding the smile on her face. Aerith went around the girls to Cloud. “Hey.”

“...Hey.” She and Cloud have been dating for a few months now but he still seemed to have that adorable blush on his face when she was around. Today however, it seemed that it was more pink than usual.

“So, what brings you to this jewelry stand?” Aerith was having fun. Anything that would make Cloud fluster made her smile. It was her favorite hobby.

“Uh...the girls. They dragged me.” 

“Really? Then I must tip my hat to you ladies. You five managed to do something that I could never do.” Aerith turned to them with a small wink. “He hates to go shopping with me.”

“No!” Cloud grabbed her hand with both of his and held it close to him. “Don’t tell them that. You know that I love spending anytime I can with you.” Aerith hugged him and planted a small kiss on his cheek.

“I know. I just like messing with you.”

“AERITH!!!” The group looked back at the shop where the nephews were still waiting for her return. 

“I’ll be right there!” She called back and sighed. “I feel like Leon is sending me on a wild goose chase for some of these things but I just don’t know why.”

“Don’t worry about it.” This time he gave her the kiss but it was closer to the corner of her mouth. Ready to go back to the mess that was her errands, Xion gave her another piece of paper.

“Another list!? Leon what more could you possibly need!”

“Actually this one is from Cid.” Any hope that Aerith had of coming home early flew out the window. When Cid sends anyone on a trip, they almost never come back at a decent time.

Not sure how she did it but somehow she managed to get what Leon needed and the parts Cid asked for. Moogle had ended up taking her second list to get a head start on it while she and the nephews took care of the first one. Basket filled with items she’s almost positive they will never use, Aerith approached Merlin’s house. Huh, that’s strange. The lights were off. But it actually wasn’t that late. Thanks to Moogle, she was able to arrive while the sun was barely visible over the horizon. Yuffie normally has all the lights going at this point.

She opened the door, “Cloud? Merlin?” 

“Happy birthday Aerith!” When the lights came on, Aerith almost dropped her basket. Everyone was there to celebrate her birthday. Suddenly all of today’s antics make much more sense.

“I forgot today was my birthday.” She laughed as she dried the tears from her cheeks.

“How do you forget your own birthday?” Sora came over to give her a hug and the rest of the party followed suit. The last hug was from Tifa who lingered next to the b-day girl as everyone settled in. 

“Did you seriously forget?”

“Yes! When Leon sent me out I genuinely thought it was for groceries!”

“But didn’t you run into Sora and the others while you were out?”

“Yes, but I was so focused on the stupid list it didn’t seem out of the ordinary.”

Tifa gave a full belly laugh that Aerith joined in on. “Oh man, so you would have done nothing for your birthday? It’s a good thing Cloud planned this then.”

Aerith paused for just a moment, “C-cloud planned all this?”

“Oh yeah, when he asked you if you were doing anything on the seventh and you said no, he got a phone, everyone’s number. We all helped but Cloud was pretty much in charge of everything.” Aerith didn’t think Cloud would want to do all of this for her. She assumed that it was Sora, Ventus, or Yuffie who planned everything. But know that she knew it was Cloud; that just made the evening all the more special. 

The rest of the night was amazing. Cid cooked the food (and used some of the ingredients Aerith bought, at her request) and Xion, Roxas, and Lea made the cake. Merlin sat her down to open the presents everyone brought. People sang and danced and took photos of today's events but Aerith knew that this would be a night she would never forget. As it got closer to the end of the night, Cloud approached her. 

“Can we talk?” The party had settled down now and people were just relaxing and holding conversations. Aerith could see that Cloud was nervous so she led him to the stairs that opened to the roof of the house where they could be alone. Both of them sat comfortably looking at the night sky. 

“Did you like the party?” He was less nervous now that they were by themselves.

“Yes, I loved it. Thank you for planning this.” Cloud stuttered at her response and Aerith laughed. “Tifa told me, said you got a phone and everything.”

“Yeah well, Chip and Dale have been wanting me to get one for a while now so…” They sat there in silence for a bit longer. Someone inside put on some soft music and it could be heard by them above. Aerith scooted closer to Cloud so that their hands touched. Cloud responded by holding her hand in his. 

“Soooo, tell me. What were you really doing at the stand today?”

He was quiet and then said, “I wasn’t lying when I said the girls took me. I didn’t forget about your gift. I just wasn’t sure what to get you. That’s when Olette and Xion told me about the jewelry stand in the market and they all took me to get you something. We didn’t expect you to still be in the Nephew’s shop.” Cloud took a deep breath before reaching into his pocket and gave her a small gift. The paper had beautiful roses on it and a yellow bow. Aerith looked from him to the box a few times before opening it. Inside was a velvet box that contained a thin, band rose gold ring. Parts of the band seemed to branch off to look like tiny leaves. Said leaves were made of a type of gem.

“Cloud...this-this is-”

“It’s not an engagement ring. I don’t think we’ve been together long enough for us to take that step. But, this can be something like that. I guess, if you don’t like it the-”

Aerith cut him off by giving him a kiss. With her free hand she turned him to her and leaned forward. Cloud was taken back but eventually held Aerith only letting go when she stopped. 

“I think it’s beautiful. I knew it wasn’t an engagement ring but that doesn’t mean it holds any less value in my eyes.” She slipped the ring on the left ring finger. it glimmered in the moonlight beautifully. Aerith leaned into him and Cloud held her. 

“I love you Aerith, happy birthday.”

“Thank you Cloud, I love you too.”

[simgerale]

CHAPTER NINE ; 1/3

The day after Olette listened to Sheridan's story, she set out to tell her sister.

TRANSCRIPT:

The Volais Empire, present day

olette: Maggie, do you have a moment? I need to discuss something important with you.

magdalena: Perhaps in an hour, Olette.

o: Well... alright.

. . .

o: Empress? Are you available now?

m: Oh, Olette! Not now. We shall talk at supper, yes?

o: …

. . .

o: Empress? …Empress Magdalena?

m: Hm?

o: May I please have a word with you now?

m: I apologize, Olette, but I need to decide on an ally before the night is up. I do not have time for—

o: Maggie... Please. It is important.

advisor: But your majesty, we need to—

m: Empty the room.

[themelodicenigma]

FF7R Localization

Wow. This is getting ridiculous. All the people screaming at Square Enix NA for the localization/translations of FFVII Remake—you really should stop and think about what perspective you have at this moment. I understand though, really, and I’ll express why further down, but seeing the rationalization at the heart of these criticisms is making it difficult to not be frustrated at the fandom’s behavior.

A lot of you are really showing you haven’t spent the time understanding the localization/translation process that takes place within the company. Not to mention, that you refuse to listen to what the people who are officially involved with the game are telling you. This process in question directly involves the localization team internally in Tokyo at Square Enix Japan. A process that is accomplished alongside the developers and staff directly involved with the project in Japan. The recording sessions where people are physically location-wise isn’t one unified place, nor might be those who are outsourced to be a part of the process, but communication and involvement is retained through this process across the world. There are a myriad of paratext that describe this process that Square Enix has done for many different projects—Kitase talked about this for FFXIII, Nomura talked about it for KH3, and now Ben Sabin talks about it in multiple interviews for FFVIIR (here and here, go nuts). Ultimania interviews also typically cover it as well, the Asako Suga (Supervising Dialogue Editor for most KH games) interview in the KH3 Ultimania is a very good one as well. Honeywood, who was responsible for beginning the steps to a better localization process after the OG FFVII, left the company with a good foundation here for what they do and how it’s achieved.

Differences based on the team, circumstances, and even those outsourced to assist should be considered for every project SE does, but the overall approach to localization/translation is done about the same way. Has been for years now, with the changeup being in what is affected by the goal of either closer or simultaneous releases between the different languages, especially ENG and JPN. It’s a joint effort and everyone is on the same side—if you have a complaint about how something was handled in the game, this isn’t the sole responsibility and accountability of one person or one division of the company. The localization team are still people who work on the game, the final product we receive, directly and deserve more recognition than being treated like outsiders to, what could be considered, the primary developers.

But, that’s even if the issues at hand are actually issues to begin with.

It’s absolutely okay if you don’t like the way a localization turned out, that’s totally fair to not be satisfied. If a fan’s mindset behind translation/localization is to get the same experience of that of the original language, then I can’t blame you for such a goal—if anything I feel the same way, and objectively that’s a good goal to have. Additionally, it’s also fair to even have a preference between any of them, and I definitely encourage learning and understanding whatever the primary language is for a game.

However, I would implore you to also understand that this goal, through the effort and agreement of those creating the game, can be met in different ways, and analogous to that, a translation can be expressed in a multitude of ways within a context. There is an allowance of flexibility to capture the context in whatever way they see fit—and if it has a different approach or wording than the original, that does not make it “wrong” or a “mistranslation”. This type of thinking is very limited in how translation/localization works, especially for a creative project, and it fails to acknowledge the multitude of ways in which something can be said, and how contextual elements can influence the expression that can be made. There’s a difference between being wrong on a translation level by the book and being wrong contextually. It certainly can happen both ways, but often, fans will complain of things that aren’t contextually “wrong” to a consequential degree and that were intended to be the way it was in the target language.

I mean jeez, it’s all too typical that to a fan who has engaged in heated, and probably nonsensical, debate of LTD shit for 20 years would want to look at the differences through the lens of this offense. I’ve seen the same shit before in other fandoms and it’s stupidly petty.

Was it written for Olette to say “What a romantic story!” because the localization team are “Sokai” shippers? Or, is it because they saw the opportunity to add a more direct connotation to Olette’s response to Kairi telling her about Sora? You know, the person she literally has romantic storytelling with?

And for the hot topic, was Aerith’s lines in the train graveyard of claiming Cloud as her bodyguard there to preserve some apparent self-indulgent need to be “Clerith fans”? Or, was it done to express that light part of Aerith’s character in this situation where both other people are clearly much more tense? With a line of dialogue that characteristically match what she is physically doing?

“Context” is multiple and broad in meaning. The context of the circumstance and the responses by either characters did not change in either the JPN and ENG version, but there was however a different approach to their lines that emphasized a certain connotation that already fits other elements of the context of the scene. It really isn’t an issue objectively or false in nature, and there’s no means in which you can say it’s not intended to be what it is when the people with the authority of working directly on the project collaborated with the very same people you’re saying it goes against. It’s made, finalized, and meant to be what it is by decision.

C’mon, if you’re actually comprehending the multitude of resources that describe the localization process SE as a whole does for their games, knowing this is done with cooperation with the developers and those who can even fluently speak ENG and JPN who are on the development team [e.g. Yasue for KH3]—how can you truly have the audacity to say that something isn’t intended for how it was written in the target language? Really. Now there are certainly mistakes and contradictions that can be pointed out that actually DO change context and affect the understanding of the game’s world—FFXIII being the example for lore concepts—but people going line by line and pointing out the most inconsequential differences, things that don’t actually change the context of the scene or contradict all pertaining elements/persons involved....

Wow. Let’s talk about the actual mistakes that matter for understanding the story and not a line of dialogue that hits your personal nerve regarding shipping.

Wanting the game’s localization/translation to be as close to the original language [specifically, the primary language of those creating it] isn’t a problem, but the behavior and rational I’m seeing that treats this process by the lens of the LTD definitely is. Not to mention, the lack of understanding that the above goal can be met on a contextual level that has every right to be additive in whatever way the official team who produce these games see fit in the chosen language. The FFVII fandom really needs to stop treating everything as some conspiracy and mal-intent to give a false version of a game that everyone’s, including the development staff, efforts have been put into. This commentary that SE NA are the ones to blame, that there is even blame deserved to be had, and that the translation approached wasn’t intended by all parties involved in the process—how about we wait until someone from the development team somehow reveals that the localization managers rebelled against everything they worked on together and the end result was different than expected.

Otherwise, @-ing at Square Enix NA about how their creative team has an “LTD agenda” and are “Clerith-biased” is not going to be a good look for you in their eyes.

[vannahfanfics]

Smile for the WIPs

Lucky you, Anon! There are lots of examples!

Shadows and Light (Ochako & Toga; My Hero Academia): “The dull yellow light fell upon Ochako Uraraka like a halo, threading her soft brown hair with seams of gold. Himiko watched the young hero from the shadows, a dreamy smile spreading across her face.

Seaglass (Riku/Kairi; Kingdom Hearts): ““No, it isn’t,” Riku would always reply. Every time, it was growing harder and harder to smile, because Riku’s heart broke a little more each day that he was at a loss to assuage her grieving. 

Remember Me (Ash/Dawn; Pokémon): ““Huh?” he cried as he whirled around to see Johanna walking down the slight incline, holding her rippling apron to her legs as the wind played with it. She smiled serenely at the slightly blushing boy, stopping beside him and inhaling deeply. 

Pretty and Fierce (Alucard & Seras; Hellsing): “However, the tall vampire only leaned down to gently pat her atop the head; as his gloved fingers nestled into her fluffy blonde hair, she felt a shiver of excitement crawl through her body. She peered up at him through her lashes to find him smiling, a rare true smile that she seldom got to see.”

Home Part II (Minato/Kushina; Naruto): “Kushina, he thought with a sleepy, sappy smile. His hand slid over the sheet-covered mattress in search of her plush body.”

Dog Days (Kirishima & Bakugo; My Hero Academia): “He grabbed the railing when he reached the gate at the end, his smile growing impossibly wider and his sharp, shark-like teeth glinting in the bright summer sun.”

Daffodils Bloom After Winter Chapter 7 (Shikamaru/Ayumi [OC]; Naruto): “With a jovial smile and some friendly small talk, he wrapped up some white chicken breast in paper packaging, even throwing in a few extra ounces for “providing such a valuable service to the community.””

Crazy, Stupid Love (Kirishima/Bakugo; My Hero Academia): “Eijirou reclined against the arm of the couch with a smile and rested his cheek in his hand as she read the first pair of names, leading to a ripple of whoops and cheers across the room. As he half-listened, he found his gaze sliding over to Katsuki, who was sitting beside him and looking like he absolutely didn’t want to be there.”

As The Crow Flies (Daichi & Sugawara): “Koshi leaned back against the wall as he smiled dreamily, basking in the wistfulness of his halcyon days. Unlike some, he’d decided against pursuing volleyball as a career in favor of becoming a teacher.”

3 a.m. Musings and Cherry Lip Gloss Part II (Hayner/Olette; Kingdom Hearts): “A giddy smile spread across his face, pulling on his cheeks until they ached a little. However, after a brief blip of dreamy euphoria, reality came crashing down, as did his stupid grin. Hayner had kissed Olette.”

Untitled Shoto/Momo (My Hero Academia): “The practiced smile automatically graced her lips as she lightly said, “Hello?””

Untitled Roy/Riza (FullMetal Alchemist): “Riza released an unflattering sound as she jerked awake. The files she’d been poring over before she’d nodded off sailed into the air as her arms flailed. She blearily watched them flutter to the wooden floor and Roy smile wryly as he crouched down to gather them up.”

Untitled Milo/Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire): “That really didn’t sound so bad at all, she smiled to herself as her bones and skin crystallized. A shining gem she became, ever to glow under the canvas of twilight… Or so she thought.”

Untitled Bakugo/Jiro (My Hero Academia): ““Well, at least you’ve got a back-up plan. You look too smart to be some starry-eyed girl who swears she’s gonna be the next big thing,” he smirked, and Kyoka smiled thinly, unsure if it was a compliment or an insult.”

Untitled Hancock/Ace (One Piece): “The scent of disturbed earth wafted through the slightly cracked window, over the dewy sill up into Hancock’s nose. She breathed it in, and her eyelashes fluttered as she smiled.”

A Meaningful Life Part II (Itachi/Hinata; Naruto): ““Indeed,” Hinata appraised before sitting up with a sweet smile. “However, I’m sure he’s very confused and would like to return to his leaf. Why don’t we deliver him there, hmm?” she said and rose from the stone bench on which she was perched.”

[sourcherrybomb]

The SoKai Denny’s AU:

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Grand Slam

Synopsis: After a long and arduous day at work, Sora brings Kairi to the local Denny's to unwind and have a pleasant meal. But of course, things go to shit.

Sneak Peek: “Kairi… You’re not thinking straight…” I said as I slowly raised my hands towards my girlfriend. “Please, I just want to talk. Just put down the-”

But my words landed on deaf ears as she quickly rushed at me, a syrup-drenched butter knife in hand.

Tags: Romance, Denny's, F/M, Food

Words: 2.5k+

Fanart / Graphic by: @blissfulnightrain @the-secret-place

[OCTOBER 31, 2020 - 9:09PM]

Please just give us the details on the incident right before we arrived.

“Kairi… You’re not thinking straight…” I said as I slowly raised my hands towards my girlfriend. “Please, I just want to talk. Just put down the-”

But my words landed on deaf ears as she quickly rushed at me, a syrup-drenched butter knife in hand. Before I could even process which way she swung her weapon, I jumped backwards. Grabbing the butter knife that Kairi had previously knocked out of my hand from the ground, I blocked her attack.

In Kairi’s eyes, I saw the rage of a thousand beasts. Wild, untamed, and out for blood.

Around the two of us, as the cool autumn winds blew past us, an onlooking crowd gasped. Whether it be in fear or amazement, I’ll never know. However, what I did understand is the confusion that they all share and the one question everyone asked:

Why the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks are these two people having a knife fight in a Denny’s parking lot?

[OCTOBER 31, 2020 - 6:27PM]

Care to explain to details as to how she broke into this rage?

Of course.

Kairi headed out to her job at the cafe hours ago, being called into work due to the Halloween rush. She was hesitant at first since it was her day off, but she reluctantly left anyways because she knew the extra pay would help out with rent later in the month.

As for me, I didn’t have work today, so I was home for most of the day doing my usual routine. This is usually made up of playing video games, doing housework, and bothering my friend, Riku. But today I had decided to surprise Kairi by cooking dinner for her when she got home!

Great plan, yeah? I thought so too, right up until I realized I had ruined the spaghetti I made by burning the sauce... and somehow also the pasta? Like I didn’t even know that was possible, but somehow I did it?

I swear, the smell was bad enough to make a rat gag.

By the time I realized I had messed up, I knew it’d be too late. In the middle of my mad scramble to clean up the kitchen and get rid of any evidence, Kairi walked into our apartment.

Now I may be an idiot, but I’m not stupid. I took one look at Kairi and could tell that she was not having any of it. Her work uniform was disheveled and covered in various stains and crumbs. Kairi’s thumbs were fidgeting with the hem of her work shirt. When I looked into her tired, glazed over eyes, I saw a seething flame within them.

It was like a ticking time bomb in the shape of my girlfriend.

“Sora…” Kairi said tiredly. “Were you trying to cook? Again?”

I laughed nervously, shamefully resting a sauce pan into the sink. “I knew you’d be tired from work, so I wanted to make sure you could at least eat something when you got home!” I dried my hands and signaled Kairi towards me. Following suit, she practically kicked the shoes off her feet as she walked towards me.

“Dude, I love you,” she said this as she slumped into my arms. “But please stop burning things in our kitchen.”

“Sorry…” Slumping further into my arms, it was like she was melting. I had to sort of prop her against our kitchen counter in order for me to keep on carrying her. “Listen, let me at least make it up to you.”

“How?” Kairi looked up at me, the fire in her tired eyes dying down a bit.

“I was thinking of bringing you out somewhere to eat while we let the apartment air out…”

“It does smell like a burnt down Pizza Hut in here.” Kairi sighs as she traded her flats for sneakers. “Where were you thinking of taking us?”

I opened up my phone and pulled up my bank account.

Available Balance: $365.13

“Let’s just say I’m looking for a place that’s budget-friendly”

“Oh thank god,” Kairi said. “I can wear sweatpants and not give a crap.”

“Exactly!” I let go of Kairi and started to dump the burnt mass of pasta into our trash bin. “You take a load off and dress into more comfy clothes while I get rid of… this.”

[OCTOBER 31, 2020 - 7:16PM]

You know, bad days at work don’t usually cause people to attempt a stabbing.

Trust me… If it was just the bad shift, I’d agree.

Normally when I bring my girlfriend to the local Denny’s, it’s surprisingly not a bad time. Our friend Olette works as the hostess there, so we can usually get our seats pretty quickly. I usually get a Grand Slam to get my fix on pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. It’s a combo that always hits the spot when it’s 3AM, I’m hyper-aware of the world around me, and Riku is trying to find someone to take home on Sparklr. Kairi usually gets a Hammy & Cheese Omelette, mainly because she prefers the pancakes at IHOP. I always like to joke about giving her a Grand Slam once we get home.

Tonight was not the night to make those kinds of jokes. It was like the gods themselves had it out for my girl tonight.

7:45PM: Kairi and I arrived at Denny's and were told that Olette took the night off due to a cold. We were told that the wait would be close to half an hour.

8:02PM: Kairi’s left earbud died as the toddler next to us started bawling as she sang the ‘Baby Shark’ song. Mother of the child in question was too busy flirting with a busboy 20 years her junior to quiet her child.

8:07PM: Kairi dropped 27,000 Jewels in JHUX gacha trying to get a SN++ Illus. JH III Zola. All the medals obtained were ones that had been out of the meta for months.

8:17PM: Kairi and I were finally seated. Our table had sticky spots from syrup and crumbs on the seats. We asked our waitress, Asheleigh, if someone could come clean this up. The two of us were met with an unenthusiastic “Uhhh, sure?” as she called over a clearly stoned janitor. He sprayed the table once, wiped it once, and knocked the crumbs off the seats. Asheleigh took our orders with a sigh.

When I looked over at Kairi, I could tell the last half hour had done a number to her. An hour ago her anger was already near its boiling point, but now… It was like the seething fire within her eyes had evolved into a star about to burst into a supernova.

A beautiful sight indeed, but also one of pure destruction on a cosmic level.

“So Kai…” I nervously said. “Looking forward to the weekend?”

Her hands folded on the table, Kairi’s dead but fiery eyes staring out the window.

“...yes.”

C’mon man, think! I thought to myself. Anything to take her mind off this fustercluck of a situation!

“So I don’t know if you heard about this at work, but looks like JH: Master of Melodies is gonna have a preorder bonus!”

Silence.

“Y-Yeah, turns out if we get it over at Game Central Station, you get a couple bonus songs that would have been DLC! Isn’t that great?”

“...preorder exclusivity bonuses force game developers to split content amongst greedy retailers, alienating groups of consumers from experiencing the game at its 100% value.” Kairi says in a deadpan.

Crap, she’s being critical about video games... I thought to myself. Now I know I’m never gonna get through to her… Why can’t this food come any—

“Soooo I have your food.” Our waitress said, as she hastily put our plates on the table. “A Grand Slam for the spiky haired dude and a Hammy & Whatsits Omelette for his lady. Enjoy, or whatever.”

“Thank you…” I awkwardly said as I thanked whatever deity heard my prayers. “Well Kai, time to dig in!”

Silently, Kairi cut into her omelette and brought a piece over to her mouth. As if it were on cue, the food fell from the fork and onto her pants. She nonchalantly picked it off her pants and shoved it into her mouth, the look in her eyes somehow becoming even more dead.

I let out a deep exhale and started to stuff my pancakes in my face. I didn’t even notice that I held my breath in. I was honestly just quite relieved that Kairi didn’t explode then and there. We could finally just sit down, eat our food, and take a load off.

[OCTOBER 31, 2020 - 9:01PM]

Man, she really went through the ringer.

Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t go feral sooner.

Luckily for the both of us, the incident with the fallen food was the only thing that got in the way of our meal. I was able to finish my Grand Slam and Kairi was able to scarf down her Hammy and Cheese Omelette. Looking at her face, I saw that some of the restrained rage in her eyes had been replaced with a much more tired aura.

“Hey Kai…” I softly put my hand on hers. “How ya doing?”

Sighing, she gently put my hand to her cheek. “I… I just want to get home, lie down, and forget today happened.”

After giving her a small peck on the cheek, I smiled. “That can be arranged! Now c’mon, let’s just hand this bill over and head out of here.”

But things are never simple as they seem to be.

Just as Kairi and I got out of our chairs, an ear-piercing “Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo,” came rushing down the aisle. Out of nowhere, Baby Shark Toddler bumped into Kairi, spilling the milkshake in her tiny hands all over Kairi’s legs.

“Oh sonova- Hey you!” Just steps away from the child, her mother called to us. She talked and walked with the cadence of a woman ready to chew out a teen part-timer at their first job. “Just what do you think you’re going to do about this?”

“Excuse me?” I asked in obvious confusion. “I’m pretty sure your daughter was the one who bumped into my-”

“Wasn’t talking to you, Spiky!” she snapped. “Listen up, Red, I want some recompense for my kid’s spilled drink! You think that cheap manager is gonna give me another one for free?”

“Hey now, names are uncalled for!” I retorted. “And not like it’s our fault your daughter ran into my- Kairi?”

A quiet but powerful groan escaped Kairi’s mouth, cutting me off. Her formerly clenched hands had started to crookedly flex open and contort. The tiredness in her eyes died away, being left with the energy of the ticking time bomb.

One that was seconds away from levelling a building.

“A…pologize,” Kairi said in a shaky voice. “Riiiiight. Now.”

“Apologize?” The woman mockingly laughed in her face. “Why woul-”

Before I or any of the onlookers realized, Kairi had the mother pinned down to the ground, a butter knife held to her throat. “APOLOGIZE! APOLOGIZE YOU-”

“KAIRI HOLY MOTHER OF-” As soon as my brain caught up with my eyes, I ripped Kairi off the mother and made space between them. When I turned around, I saw the woman crawling away in a frenzy, trying to escape like a dog walking with its tail between their legs.

“AaAAAaaaaaRrhrrhhgg…” A nearly inhuman growl came out of Kairi’s mouth, the grip on her butter knife tightening. When I looked into her eyes, I understood.

In removing the rude mother from the equation, I had become the focus of Kairi’s blinding rage.

“Kairi…” I slowly raised my hands towards her. “I know you’ve been through a lot today. The car is right outside. I can take you back right now, all you need to do is calm-”

“AAAAaAAaAAaaa!” Lunging at me like a mad dog, Kairi let out a guttural yell.

This is because I told her to calm down, isn’t it? I asked myself mid-dodge. Before a second thought could even pop into mind, Kairi spun into another attack from her lunge. I rolled backwards to dodge the attack, and picked up a butter knife off the table to defend myself with. After all, it was the best I could do right now. With how fast and unpredictably Kairi was moving, my only options were to dodge fast enough, or block if I was too slow.

It was like I was defending myself against a dancing blender with a knife.

Before I knew it, Kairi’s vicious attacks and my continuous defense brought us back to the entrance of the Denny’s.

And into the parking lot.

[OCTOBER 31, 2020 - 9:32PM]

“And right before your girlfriend was able to stab you with the butter knife, we arrived-”

“And tased her, yes.” I respond. “Officer Lockheart, I understand you were doing it for my safety, but I’m honestly still super concerned for Kairi.”

“And that is completely understandable,” she responds. “I can assure you that the officer that took her in exercised the most caution as effectively possible when using the taser.”

“Thank you. Is it possible to see her now?”

“The shock seemed to bring her back to her senses, so her questioning seemed to go by smoothly.” Officer Lockheart taps a pen on her chin. “I suppose it would be fine.”

After signalling one of the other officers to open the door, the two of us walked out of the interview room. Down the hall, I see Kairi wrapped in a blanket, drinking from a cup of coffee. As soon as she notices me, she puts down the mug and rushes into a hug.

“Sora, oh my god I’m so sorry!” Kairi says as she nuzzles into my chest. “I-I just really lost myself and-”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” I chuckle. “Honestly you’d give Riku a run for his money in a sparring match if you fought against him one-on-one!”

“I’ll let you two comfort each other for a bit,” Officer Lockheart tells us. “For now just stay here, I’ll see what the higher ups have to say about the situation.”

“Thanks, ma’am!” Kairi says back. Smiling and nodding, Officer Lockheart walks away.

For a while, the two of us sort of just sit in quiet. People who enter the room pay us no attention, but occasionally an officer would come up to us and ask if we needed anything. Other than that, it was just the two of us enjoying each other’s comfort.

“God, I really needed this,” Kairi tells me.

“Cuddling in a police station?” I question. “Or getting arrested for attacking people in a Denny’s”

“Jerk.” Kairi giggles as she flicks my forehead. “Nah, I mean just this! Me and you wrapped in a blanket.”

“Honestly I wish we could have done it back at the apartment. Luckily, by the time we get out of here, it should stop smelling like a I blew up a pizzeria.”

“That would have been nice in the moment, but when we get home I think I’d want something else.”

“Oh? What would that be?”

“Weeelll…” Kairi checks her surroundings, then leans towards my ear. “You never did make that Grand Slam joke of yours back at the Denny’s. Does that mean I won’t get one once we get back home?”

The whisper of her voice is enough to send a shiver down my back. I look into her eyes and instead of the rage or tiredness I saw before, I saw something much more… Carnal.

I give Kairi a peck on the lips and flash a mischievous smile.

Destiny Island Denny’s, we might never be allowed on your establishment ever again, which I understand.

But thank you for possibly the best Grand Slam of my life.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

A long one this time since I’m “cheating” again and posting a selection from a random old draft so I’m not empty handed.

The spray of hot water from the showerhead seemed like a blessing from a god who’d been listening to the appeals Hayner had made over hours of practice in the overcast and heavily damp--but not raining, naturally, since Roxas had promised to call struggle practice if it rained outright instead of misting on and off. Hayner adored his friend and could think no wrong of him usually, but he was beginning to develop the paranoid delusion the help of several hidden, trained water spirit monsters had been enlisted to soak up the water in the clouds and keep the rain at bay, since he knew from the pictures Olette had sent him that it had been storming heavily on the other side of town all afternoon. 

Roxas kept saying he couldn't control all the weird monsters that still periodically appeared in Twilight Town, but those white zipper mouthed haunted onesies sure seemed to answer to him, and that Vanitas guy who'd dropped by last tournament had conjured three demon bunnies that he ordered around like servants, so it sure seemed like monster training was part of the whole "keybearer" deal. Roxas had explained the different between Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed and the special situations in the latter groups--Vanitas's relationship with the Unversed and the lesser Nobodies attuned to different masters that had once been more powerful Nobodies-- but it all seemed like semantics, excuses, and gibberish. To be fair, Hayner had a hard time paying attention when it had been explained because Roxas had ripped off his shirt after practice, and was standing with his Twilight Town University Tanukis struggle jersey slung around his neck, hair matted in ways that shouldn't have been attractive but were, and arms crossed behind his head, making it difficult to focus on anything but the muscles in his arms, the progress of a bead of sweat rolling slowly down his chest, or the flex of his stomach as he spoke, especially when the warm sound of his voice was so much more interesting than words. 

If it had been strategies for their first match of the upcoming season which included a face-off for Hayner against Dawn State's champion struggler, Edward "Edge" Geraldine, he could have retained it. That was important. The ins and outs of what legions of mutants could be trained and by whom? Unless Roxas was going to tell Hayner how he could master his own mutant army, or at least cop to being chief mutant wrangler himself, it was not nearly as interesting as wondering how likely he was to be able to pass it off as testing Roxas's reflexes or just seeing what what the look on his face would be if he kissed him right then in the middle of the struggle lot. Not that he would actually do it. He respected boundaries.

Hayner knew it was pathetic to still be crushing on his best friend when Roxas had been dating the same guy for “longer than he’s been alive” as Kairi had put it (however that worked). Axel had been a constant right from the start, already wrapped around Roxas--literally, hugging him from behind, arms wrapped loosely around him and chin resting on the top of Roxas's head while he wore a rather superior look that already knew Hayner wanted what he had and that reveled in rubbing it in, or so Hayner read into it at the time--when Hayner first awkwardly, unnecessarily introduced himself to him, handed him the picture of them from the fake Twilight Town Sora had given him that he was reluctant to pass on as much as he thought Roxas should have it, and told him, "I feel like I've known you my entire life." 

Hayner tended to write Axel out of that memory though, except when he was feeling especially masochistic, and only remember Roxas smiling so wide it crinkled the corners of his eyes and his voice warbling with emotion he'd rarely show easily in such force in times after, at least not directed toward Hayner, as he replied, "Please, can we pretend you have? I don't think my heart could stand it if we ever had to be strangers."

The friendship had continued like it had started. Roxas and Hayner were connected by invisible ties, instantly in sync, inside jokes about things that never actually happened already understood and able to finish each other's sentences. They challenged each other both to be better and, in other ways, so much worse than they were separately (The incident where they switched out the scheduled movie for the outdoor theater by Tram Common with a home video of various Twilight Town denizens not aware they were being filmed sprang to mind, as did the incident with Seifer and the feathers). 

Even so, it was always Axel who had Roxas's greatest devotion, and he'd go spiraling back to the redhead like they were magnetized, even when they fought, even the year Axel took off with his ex-boyfriend ("His best friend! Isa's just his friend like you're mine!" Hayner remembered Roxas's protestations well, and the shadow of doubt and pain in his eyes that Hayner had cursed himself for not being quite selfish enough to encourage. "And they're not on vacation. They're on a mission. They're looking for someone. Axel invited me to go. I was the one who said I wanted to stay here") and they only kept in contact by gummi phone. Roxas loved Axel more than his own life; he said as much, often and with vehement determination like he expected arguments.

It wasn't that Hayner didn't want to argue, but the injustice of Roxas being skateboard in the sky, face scraping the pavement in love with Got It Memorized the Former Kidnapper instead of him was matched by the fact that Axel wasn't a jerk, a cheater, or any of the other things Hayner had tried to paint him as in his mind in the beginning. Axel was constantly mocking him, that Hayner had been right about, but, other than that, he was, as much as Hayner wished it weren't so, a pretty cool guy, funny as hell, always had your back in a fight, and loved Roxas to the point of stupidity--and Hayner was forced to respect it...mostly.

Hayner tried to tell himself that he and Roxas were too similar in all the ways that would make them get on each other's nerves (too much to prove always, too impulsive, too quick to lose their cool, too used and turning everything into competition and too committed to always being the winner) and too different in ones that would leave them working up hill when it came to trying to carve out any long-term plans as well as soon scrambling for things to talk about other than taste in bands, boards, struggle, or what a dick Seifer could be--and even those sometimes failing after Roxas had shifted to offworld music rather than local, solar boards over skateboards, and had seen a "entirely different Seifer" during his brief relationship with Xion. Even knowing each other well enough to predict each other's thoughts was a curse when you thought about how hard it would make necessary white lies or trying to end a fight when you weren't yet completely sorry, particularly considering that, when Hayner reflected on it, he found he didn't regret any mean comment he had made in his entire life. 

Hayner also tried the tactic of reasoning with himself that he loved Roxas, but wasn't even really in love with him, or even consistently in lust as Roxas could ruin any effect he had with a single flash of self awareness, the kind that tended to solidify to outright conceit and smugness (gods Roxas could preen when he remembered he was pretty) that left a bitter edge in Hayner long after it faded. Even with all these tactics though, and every bit of good advice he could tell himself, Hayner couldn't shake that feeling he'd had since he first laid eyes on Roxas in the alternate Twilight Town's group photo outside the Old Mansion. He knew in his bones he was born to love that face as surely as if soulmate imprints had stepped out of science fiction and become real alongside the magic and aliens that had come to populate Twilight Town.

Hot water made everything seem better and brighter, loosening tight muscles and sweating out every problem until it existed no more. The memory of the fall he'd taken during practice, particularly brutal to his pride if not physically devastating, when he'd spun at a bad angle that made his left knee buckle, the ankle underneath it scream, and threw off his center of gravity swirled down the drain with dirt and grit picked up from the struggle lot pavement. Soon after it went the mud Roxas had smushed through his hair when he'd ruffled it after practice, laughing and ducking away as Hayner swung at him with the bat still in his hands and managing somehow to carry on laughing harder even while wincing in pain when the bat connected with a crack. A large purple splotched bruise had already been forming by the time Roxas left the locker room after the post-scrimmage strategy talk,  still covered in a layer of half dried sweat and with his hair sticking up more than usual on one side (Roxas didn't shower on campus after practice. Hayner only made the mistake of asking about it once. Roxas showered at home. Hayner had been informed of this with a wink form Roxas and a cheerfully lewd remark about how Axel liked him dirty). Hayner was sure he'd feel guilty when he saw the bruise in full form next time he saw Roxas, but, in the moment, Hayner had thought Roxas deserved it--and even more once he started questioning where Roxas had gotten mud in the first place and what implications it had for the theory Roxas was controlling weather. 

Lathering shampoo through his now mud-free hair and scrubbing harder at his scalp than necessary to also banish continued thoughts of his blond best friend, Hayner found himself startling and nearly slipping on the slick tile of the shower floor when he heard none other than the voice he was trying to banish calling out tentatively, "Hey! Hey? Sorry for bursting in on you."

 Hayner recovered, head snapping from side to side comically as if he'd find Roxas lurking in the corner of the stall when he should have known from the distance of the voice that Roxas was likely  on the other side of the locker room with the actual lockers and benches. If that was the case though, why was Roxas apologizing for bursting in? 

Hayner was still puzzling through it when Roxas continued shouting to him, this time something with a lot higher stakes in possible meaning. "Axel's already left for Wonderland and I thought you might still be here." 

Hayner let out a strangled noise of confusion that would have been him playing it cool and asking what he could help Roxas out with if his voice hadn't betrayed him. Shampoo dripped into his eye and it took him a second to even register the burn.

"I'll just sit out here and wait for you I guess, if you don't mind?" 

Hayner was concerned he had actually slipped in the shower and hit his head and was now suffering from a dying dream or concussion. 

"You're awfully quiet." The trepidation was back in Roxas's voice, and it caused an answering sympathetic flutter of nerves to tingle down Hayner's body and rest low. "I'm not talking to a stranger, am I? Or a ghost who turned on a faucet? That would be embarrassing."

"I'm here," Hayner found his voice but it refused to cooperate beyond those two words. His body was slightly more tractable, agreeing with his brain that he needed to wash the shampoo out of his hair and attend to washing the rest of him as swiftly as possible and not keep Probably A Dream Roxas waiting. He turned the water temperature up even higher. Maybe if he boiled himself until his flesh melted he might find a backbone under his skin and actually be able to carry on a conversation (and be able to follow through with whatever Dream Roxas was proposing so he wouldn't be left with a regret that would follow him until he died). 

“Do you have a cold? Your voice sounds a little weird.” 

“Weird how?” He squeaked and then overcompensated like a sitcom character, rumbling, “Weird how?” in a gravelly tone as he turned off the water and reached for his towel.

“Less like listening to a recording of my own voice,” the wry and completely nonsensical in Hayner’s opinion, reply came, Roxas’s voice quieter but a lot closer.

“I never thought we sounded alike.” Hayner finger combed his hair and wrapped the towel securely around his waist before performing a mental countdown to pysch himself up before stepping out of the stall to meet what turned out to be a complete stranger. Hair too long and a shade too light to be Roxas’s falling over the collar of a pale blue and  sunflower print kimono jacket Roxas wouldn’t be caught dead in. The absence of a tan and the addition of freckles were further confirmation of an eerie but imperfect doppleganger, but the dumbfounded look with lack of recognition in the eyes was the real cincer.

“You’re not Roxas!” Two voices chorused in near unison.