When I'm Sixty-four
Roxas is never your typical kind of guy. If people do this, he will make an unexpected turn and does that instead. Oh sure, he was very famous back in high school — he had a band and tons of fans — but somehow she just fell for his creative personality. While other guys busied themselves with flowers and asked for a dance before kissing their girls, he brought her ice creams and taught her how to skate before stealing her first kiss. Well, she was trying to adjust to the slightly weird flavour of this sea-salt ice cream (his favourite), so he sort of caught her off guard.
The same unexpected thing happened when he asked her about engagement — they were sky-diving when he asked, and being terrified of heights (she honestly did not know what made her agree to accompany him in the first place), she immediately screamed: "ARE YOU CRAZY?"
And he replied, "YEAH, CRAZY FOR YOU!"
So she can somehow easily tell that it is his doing when she hears the thunk, thunk! noise early in the morning that day. Her bed is exactly next to the window, and it looks like someone is throwing stones or pebbles at her window. Groaning slightly as the noise becomes louder (she suspects that more that one person is currently throwing those stones), she sits up and frowns out the window.
The first thing she sees is Roxas' grinning face. He waves at her as she opens the window. He greets, "Morning, lovely!"
"This had better be good," she replies.
"Sure! Look — look, there!" he says, pointing at the road in front of her house. She looks, and sees a band — complete with an upright piano and the drums — in the middle of the road!
Before she can say anything, Roxas, Axel and Demyx (who had been helping Roxas to "wake her up") run towards the band in the middle of the road and take their positions: Roxas at the piano, Axel with the bass and Demyx with his sitar. Sora is already sitting at his drums, and Riku is already holding his guitar and standing in front of the microphone stand. He is the back-up singer. Hayner is, as usual, the lead guitarist.
She turns to look at her clock for a while, and once she sees the time, she whispers, "This had better be good, Roxas!" It isn't even seven yet -- and it's Sunday, too!
She stares out the window again: the guys are talking to each other in low voices, and then Roxas gives a small "One, two, three!"
Mr. Vexen next door lifts his eyebrows as the band begins to play. The scientist is in his gardens and, with an expression that says, "I do not approve this, you know" he turns to look quizzically at her. She gives Mr. Vexen an apologetic smile.
"You'll get hit by a car soon!" she warns, but the guys merely smile and grin. And then Roxas begins to sing:
"When I get older, losing my hair —
Manyyyyy years from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine,
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?"
She lifts her eyebrows. Well, she is indeed deeply in love with him right now, and is pretty sure that she will remain the same when he loses his hair many years from now….
"If I've been out till quarter to three, would you lock the door?"
Roxas grins as he sings this line, and this line also earns glances from the neighbours all around.
"Depends on why you've been out so late!" she shouts. The blonde male still has the grin on, but continues to sing, nonetheless:
"Will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?"
Hayner plucks at his guitar, Sora continues to drum, Axel and Demyx play harmoniously together, Roxas' fingers dance across the piano and Riku prepares for the next "Oohs" or "Aahs". She notices Selphie, her housemate, standing in the garden below, recording the whole scene with her camcorder, with Kairi giggling next to her. She also sees Mrs. Matsuda across the street — she is dancing with Mr. Matsuda in front of their gates ("I love the Beatles!" cheers the old Tom Matsuda while his wife laughs).
"And you'll be older too…" sings his lovely voice,
"And if you say the word,
I — could — stay — with — you…"
Feeling slightly embarrassed now, she tries to not meet anyone's eyes but Roxas'. He starts to sing another verse:
"I could be handy, mending a fuse when your lights have gone,"
She laughes: what a way to promote himself!
"You can paint a scene of the countryside,
On Sunday mornings, we'll go for a ride.
"Doing the garden, digging the weeds, who could ask for more?
Will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?"
Mr. Strife, who is on his usual delivery task, stops and stares at the band in the middle of the road before honking repeatedly at them. Riku patiently points at him to go around the band and not through them. Strife rolls his eyes before steering his motorbike around the band and saying, "Go play elsewhere!"
But Roxas continues to sing, pressing various piano keys that produce a lovely, harmonious sound as he does so:
"Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear…
And we shall scrimp and saaaave…"
Here, the boys make their voices sound as girlish and possible, and go, "Ahh...ahh..."
"Grandchildren on your knees: Veera, Chuck and Dave."
She laughs yet again: Veera, Chuck and Dave? Come on, they can come up with more creative names…! But clearly Roxas isn't thinking about Veera, Chuck and Dave -- for he now has this satisfied kind of twist on his lips -- a kind of smile, but not quite -- and he sings the final part of the song:
"Give me your answer, fill in a form — mine forevermore,
Oh will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?"
With that, Roxas stands up, aims, and throws something in her direction. With a small shriek, she ducks down as a small object flies into her room through the window, falling onto the floor with a small noise. Realising that it is not a bomb, she carefully peers at it — and —
"Oh…oh!" she gasps, picking it up. It is a very beautiful object, indeed…! It is a simple black velvet box, with her name printed on it with golden letters. She takes it with trembling hands, and opens it. As she sees what was inside, tears begin to form on her eyes. Wiping them away, she returns to the window just in time to see Roxas kneeling down on the streets in front of the piano.
"Will you marry me?" he shouts.
"People don't go throwing rings during proposals, you twit! And you'll get hit by a car!" she screams back, tears running down her cheeks once more.
"That a 'yes'?" he shouts back, grinning, his blue eyes twinkling.
"OF COURSE IT IS!" she screams before crying some more, hugging her Mr. Pillow tightly. Sometimes Roxas just took her by surprise — he does the sweetest, most unexpected things…
Roxas jumps and punches the air, cheering -- and all around, his band members ruffle up his hair and give him high-fives. Sora is shaking his hand non-stop and is saying something rapidly with a huuuge smile across his face. Mr. And Mrs. Matsuda cheer too, and so do Selphie and Kairi (Selphie now has the camcorder directed to the window where she still sits by). Mr. Vexen rolls his eyes and continues whatever it is he is doing previously. Then, Roxas makes his way towards his waiting Princess (as she waits for he knight in shining armour), who has just agreed to be with him until he is sixty-four — and beyond.
—End—
"You can paint the scene of the countryside" is something that I made up myself. Can you think of the real verse?
Notice that the female character is just "she" in this one. This way, this fic is open to all pairings — Namixas, Roxette, etc — but obviously it's not an Akuroku or Roxas-Kairi. But since I created that verse up there, about the painting, you can easily guess what pairing I prefer.
"When I'm Sixty-four" belongs to The Beatles, the coolest band of all time.