Birthday Present
It was a quiet evening. The sun slowly set over a calm sea as it tinted the sky orange, pink, and yellow. A young blonde male sat on the edge of the pier. His blue eyes made perfect reflection against the sky and the ocean water; which occasionally splashed against the wood he sat on landing on his spiky swirly hair. On his hands a light blue, rectangular bar of salty-sweet ice cream slowly melted into the water.
His eyes were fixed far away into the horizon, making it clear that his mind was somewhere else. Another boy with spiky brown hair, who looked a lot like him, came over and sat down by his side, also holding the same kind of ice cream he had.
"Are you gonna finish that?"
The boy remained silent.
"ROXAS!"
"What…? ...oh sorry"
"What's wrong?"
"Tomorrows her birthday…and…I couldn't find anything to give her"
"I'm sure shed like pretty much anything you give her!"
"That's what makes it so hard to decide… got any tips for me?"
"Roxas, you have a heart now…just follow it…listen to what it tells you"
"I see…"
The brown haired boy gets up and walks away, having finished his ice cream. The blonde boy calls out to him.
"Sora!"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks"
"No prob"
Sora smiles and walks away. Roxas remains thoughtful for a few minutes, then he gets up, his ice cream had now completely melted. He throws the piece of wood to the ocean and walks off.
"Listen to my heart" Roxas said under his breath as he walked off silently.
The next morning a young blonde girl is woken up by an invasion to her room. Her startled expression vanished at the sight of her friends walking into her room holding balloons, silly string cans, mini muffins with candles on top, and yellow colored, home made, sea-salt ice cream bars.
"Happy birthday Naminé!" they all shouted in unison.
Naminé sat up wiping away her straight blonde hair from her clear green eyes. An expression of joy and happiness filled her face, until she noticed something that turned it completely upside down.
"Where's Roxas?" she asked sadly
"He left this for you" Riku said as he handed Naminé an origami folded yellow paper envelope.
Naminé unfolded the paper quickly, but being careful not to break it. She smiled as soon as she read the first three words.
"Dear Nami-chan"
Roxas was the only one who called her Nami-chan, which she absolutely adored of him. She continued reading…
"Something
just came up. I'm sorry I wasn't there to wake you up, but I
promise Ill be there before the sun sets. That way we can watch the
stars light up one by one…together.
Love You!
Rox."
Naminé smiled, and folded the letter back to the way it was.
"What did it say?" Kairi asked
"He'll be here soon…he promised"
She smiled trying to show she wasn't worried. She gets out of bed and goes out to the dining room to see an enormous banquet set there just for her. That morning she enjoyed the biggest breakfast she ever had.
Roxas found himself running through the woods. Flashes of sunlight invaded his eyesight every few seconds. He was miles away from town, nobody could see or hear him, yet he kept running as fast as he could. Where was he headed? Only time would tell. Deeper and deeper he ran, as the forest became thicker and thicker. Soon there was barely any space left for him to run.
He locked his view into a long branch high above his head. He took a few steps back for momentum, and then ran forward with all his strength. He leaped straight toward a tree and flipping in midair pushed off with his feet toward another tree at an acute angle. He once again flipped around and pushed off against it, then against another tree, and another, finally reaching the target branch.
Once there, he scanned the area for a good enough vine. He grabbed one and pulled hard on it. It felt strong, so he pushed off and swung his body toward the next closest vine. Grabbing it, he let go of the other one and let the vines do the rest. Vine by vine he swung forward at high speed, not looking down at the height he had reached. Moments later he arrived at the spot he was looking for. He lets go of the vine and lands on a nearby tree.
He looks around and spots a long branch which went all the way down until it seemed to become one with the ground. He hops on it and slides all the way down sliding a little on the moist ground which caused some water to slip inside his shoe.
"Ah, yuck!" he said as he shook his shoes trying to get the water out.
He looks forward towards a big tree. This one was different than the rest, as it emitted some kind of shine that the rest of them didn't. He gets close to the tree and, summoning a silver keyblade strikes the tree. The outline of a door begins to shine on the bark. It opens up revealing a crystal ball mounted on a sort of pedestal, which shone almost s brightly as the sun. He grabs the crystal ball and smashes it against the ground. It shatters releasing what was inside, then reforms and places itself back on the pedestal.
From the ground, Roxas picked up a card with the appearance of a crown.
"I knew id find a use for this eventually" he said pointing the card forward.
A big white door with black streaks appeared and opened up. He slowly walks inside as it closed behind him.
As he walked out and the door closed behind him he found himself in a very familiar place. It was a dark corner of a street that never existed, in the intersection of what is, yet never was. He walks around searching for something …something big. He looks up to the dark, starry sky and spots what he was looking for. A beautiful glowing yellow moon, shaped like a heart. He saw it, but he would have to go higher to reach it.
"Kingdom hearts" he whispered under his breath as he continued walking around the wet floor, while his hair dripped small drops of water every now and then.
Just when he thought the road would be easy an enormous amount of pure black creatures appeared from out of nowhere. They surrounded Roxas in a matter of seconds. There was no place to run, and no place to hide. He would have to stand his ground and fight.
"Oh no…I'm NOT in the mood for you guys today!" he shouted.
Crossing his right hand to the left and his left hand to the right, then with a smooth slashing sound he begins to bash away at the heartless wielding the silver oathkeeper and the black oblivion. As more and more heartless came toward him, faster ad faster they were slain by the keyblades. He had no doubt that they were going to make him late, and he wasn't going to let that happen.
After a few minutes he decides it was enough. He takes a mighty leap over the heartless, landing clear on the other side of them, and beings to run toward a shining road in midair. Not looking back he continues running until he reaches the white floating castle… the castle that never was.
Inside the castle everything seemed to be under control. It was very quiet, as if no body lived there, which he was honestly relieved by. He ran to the next room; where the elevator was, remembering all the things he did there back when he was part of organization thirteen. However those things were in the past, he had a new life now, and was proud of it. It was then that ne noticed his shirt had been torn in several parts, as well as his pants. He figured his adrenaline was so high he must not have felt the attacks from the heartless in the battle.
Once the elevator stopped he continued moving upward in the castle. After a few minutes, he encounters the outside. Looking up at the rainy, starry sky, he sees his target closer than before. He felt as if he could almost touch it, but he would have to keep going up. After a few minutes he was once again inside the castle. His feet were getting tired, as it had been a while since he hadn't been there, and he had forgotten how big it was.
After continuing his journey, he thought of his dear Nami-chan which gave him the strength he needed to go on. The wounds from the battle were now kicking in on the pain and he began to bleed slightly from most of the wounds. After a long time of walking while looking at the ground, he came to a place where everything seemed to be dressed in rainbow. He took a step where thee wasn't anything to step on, when suddenly crystals formed around his feet giving him solid ground. He knew he was close; all he had to do was go a little further.
Once reaching the outside he walks slowly up a fleet of stairs until he reaches a platform. There was a man in a cloak standing there, just looking up at the now very close kingdom hearts.
"I knew I'd find you here…Ansem"
"Well hello, Roxas. I see you've been battling."
"I'm not here for that…"
"Then what are you here for?"
"That!" Roxas said as he pointed up towards kingdom hearts.
"You well know 'tis impossible to contain kingdom hearts"
"I don't want to contain it…I want a piece of it…just a small piece, that's all I need"
"And what do you need it for?"
"That doesn't concern you"
"Ah Roxas…trivial as ever aren't you…very well…if it's a piece you want…then a piece you'll get"
Ansem walks over, using an invisible path, and removes a piece of the glowing yellow heart. Coincidentally the piece itself was shaped like a heart. Ansem hands it to Roxas who was holding his arm in slight pain.
"I see you could use some help" he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a potion. He threw it toward Roxas. It broke in midair releasing its energy and healing Roxas's wounds.
"I didn't ask you to heal my wounds… thank you anyways"
"Anything else I may be of assistance with?"
"Can you take me back to the island?"
"With pleasure"
Roxas's vision went blank. When he opened his eyes he was back at the island. The sun was about an hour away from setting…he made it back on time. He got up quickly and ran up to the big house. As he opened the door he saw everybody eating cake.
"I can't believe you started without me!" he said
"ROXAS!" Naminé screamed as she ran to the door. "Look at you! …your clothes are all broken! Where were you? I was so worried"
Roxas calmly puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a brightly glowing piece of hearts shaped rock. He puts it in Naminé's hand.
"Happy Birthday Naminé"
The sun was setting and the sky was tinted orange, yellow and pink. The warm sea water splashes lightly at Roxas's and Naminé's feet. The soft sand massaged their backs, as they lay on the sand looking up at the sky. Naminé's new heart necklace shone brightly. She looks at an open shirted Roxas who stared back into her eyes.
"I love my present Roxas"
"I new you would…my heart told me"
"Now its time to pay you back for what you did"
She wipes her hand over his well built abdomen, and then moves it up little by little until she reaches his chest. She then puts her head on his chest. They look at each other and begin to move closer until their lips meet. They kiss again. They kiss once more. They kiss a fourth time. Naminé rests her head on Roxas's chest, while he wrapped his arms around her. They look up at the stars and picture themselves together for all eternity… together.
