A/N:

I figured it was time for my third one-shot, so I decided to change it up Kingdom Hearts style!

This will be my second Christmas one-shot, and my first one that was actually posted near Christmas. This one will be about Roxas and his love for sea salt ice cream, even during winter… and of course, it'll also be about his love for the ice cream vendor… hehe.

Well, that's about it!

See ya at the bottom!

Sea Salt Ice Cream

I suppose it began in summer vacation, when I got my job at the ice cream station in the park.

Not long after I got my job there… in fact, it was my second day on the job… a cute boy with spiked up dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and a weird taste in fashion showed up. He asked for the least popular kind of ice cream at the station: sea salt flavor.

I remembered seeing him from my school. He was always in the popular crowd, which made his choice of clothing at the time seem a bit odd. Still, I gave him his sea salt ice cream, and the happy look on his face left me breathless. I had never seen that smile at school, where he always looked so… distant.

After he left, I asked the manager of the station why he ordered that flavor. The manager simply said, "Sentimental value."

After that, he came every day, ordering sea salt ice cream every time he came. I always wondered why he didn't get sick of it. One time, about a month after I started working there, I struck up a conversation with him. I found out that his name was Roxas, and that he lived with his brother, Sora, who was also amongst the popular crowd at school.

Every day, from then on, we would engage in pleasant conversation while he ate his sea salt ice cream. Later that month, I learned that he had hooked up with a person named Xion. It crushed me. That was when I knew…

I had fallen for him.

I didn't tell him, of course, for fear that he might distance himself from me. I knew that fear was groundless, seeing as he just wasn't that type of person, but I still kept silent.

Eventually, we started to get together outside of the ice cream station. He introduced me to his many friends, and they all seemed genuine. They accepted my readily, saying that Roxas had told them, "quite a lot about me". I giggled at this, and Roxas blushed furiously.

And then… it happened. When Roxas finally introduced me to his girlfriend, Xion, she instantly hated me. I think she knew that I liked him. At one point, she even tried to get Roxas to stop seeing me, but he still did. He said that I was his best friend, and that he wouldn't let me go for the world.

I felt ecstatic. Even so, a little voice in the back of my head kept saying one thing:

You're only second best.

Throughout all this, Roxas always managed to come by the ice cream station whenever I was on duty. I almost began to think that he only went there to see me, but I dismissed the thought.

After all, you're only second best.

When school started again, I continued to work at the ice cream station, and Roxas continued to come every day, without fail. Every once in a while, we would meet each other in the hallways of our school, and every time, he would greet me with a wide grin.

Then, the winter season came around. He still made it to the ice cream station every day, and I still worked there just to see him every day. I never understood how he could eat ice cream in the winter without getting cold, but he did.

Now that it's the morning before Christmas, I know that I won't see him today…

It's gonna be lonely… and I still can't believe they make us work through the holidays…

I got up out of bed at the sound of my alarm, getting ready to head to the ice cream station. We had the next few weeks off for winter break, so I had to work full time.

When I arrived at the station, dressed in many layers, I quickly started to put the sea salt ice cream that Roxas always bought at the front of the ice cream freezer before remembering…

He probably won't come today… it's snowy outside, and he's probably spending time with his family… or Xion…

"Hey! Namine! How are you doing?" a voice said from behind me.

I turned around to find Roxas, standing by the front of the station.

"R-Roxas, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I told you that I would come every day, right?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"I don't go back on my word," he said matter-of-factly. "Hey, want to ask your boss if you can come with me for a bite to eat?"

"Sure!"

Just like that, my boss, Aqua, granted me permission to go have some fun.

A half an hour later, we sat inside a coffee shop side by side, sipping at our hot drinks in a comfortable silence.

"Hey… Roxas?"

"What is it?"

"Why do you like sea salt ice cream so much?"

"Well… you see… I had this really great friend who loved the stuff. He would share it with me all the time, so I eventually grew to love it almost as much as he did. He was in college at the time, and he was a friend of the family. He was the best friend I ever had. But… he died in a car accident when I was fourteen."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked!"

"Don't worry. I'm over it now. Anyway, when he died, I was inconsolable for several months. Then, I remembered his love for sea salt ice cream, and that he always came to a certain station to get it. I went to that station and talked with the boss there, and she was really nice to me once she found out that I was that man's friend. Apparently, they were very good friends as well.

She always gave me a warm welcome whenever I went there, so I ended up coming every day. I guess the real reason why I love sea salt ice cream so much is because I feel like I'm paying homage to him every time I eat it."

"That's so sad…"

"Don't worry about it."

"I do have one more question, though. Sorry, but this has nothing to do with what we were just talking about," I told him.

"Shoot."

"Why aren't you using this time to spend with your girlfriend?"

"Oh, you mean Xion? We broke up a few months back. She got mad at me for being 'too close' to you, so I broke up with her for insulting you so much," Roxas said casually.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because I didn't want you to worry about it. You're the type of person to do whatever it takes to make others around you happy, even if it means suffering for you. You probably would've distanced yourself from me, thinking that it might help me and Xion repair our relationship."

He knows me well, that's for sure…

"That, and I knew something else. I'm not as dense as you might think," he said, adopting a serious tone.

He was silent for a few seconds before he finally said, "I know that you like me."

My cheeks flushed a deep crimson color, and I closed my eyes tight.

How did he figure it out?! When did he figure it out?!

"I-I'm sorry…"

"You know…" Roxas said, taking my hand. "There's a reason that I kept coming back to that ice cream stand every day."

"What…?"

I opened my eyes wide, looking into Roxas's deep blue eyes to try to read what he was trying to say. Sadly, I had never been able to do that with Roxas.

"Yeah… I like you too. Even before I broke up with Xion, I had developed feelings for you."

I looked at him in disbelief. "You're not just messing with me… right?"

"Of course not!" he shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the coffee shop. "Well anyway… will you…"

I looked at him, my eyes filled with anticipation.

"Will you go out with me?"

Tears built up in my eyes, and I immediately hugged him tightly.

"Yes!"

A/N:

How was that for a one-shot?

So yeah, I'm beginning to love writing about this pairing. You might see more RokuNami one-shots coming from me in the future, so stay tuned!

Now it's time for that despicable line! The disclaimer!

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything/one I use from it!

Until we meet again!