A/N: A request from The Last Letter, with the prompt, "Imagine your OTP proposing repeatedly at different restaurants to get free food" with Axel/Saix/Lea/Isa. Way more depressing than her intended fluff, but it's alright!
Enjoy, read and review please!
Toy Rings and Fake Love
"Will you marry me?"
The stone-cold expression slowly melted, stoic mask falling away in to nothing but pure, unadulterated joy. "You're kidding me, right?"
The redheaded youth stood from the table, kneeling down upon the suede carpet on one knee, with a small, plastic toy ring in his hand, fake diamond glinting in the romantic candlelight of the classy restaurant. "I know I'm young, but I've got a lot of love. If love for you was money," he announced tenderly, "I'd make you the richest man on earth." His emerald eyes were unabashed, full of earnest longing and affection.
The other man's icy blue eyes glinted with tears threatening to tumble, as he ran his hand through candy-blue locks. "Lea, what-"
"Please, Isa," Lea murmured, reaching a hand up to cup Isa's cheek. "Trust me."
Grabbing Lea's outstretched hand, Isa shut his eyes and nuzzled his cheek against it. "Okay," he breathed, and suddenly, uproarious applause filled the room during their embrace, the entire restaurant finally letting out bated breath and overflowing with joy for the newly engaged couple.
A young waiter, grinning ear to ear, approached them, murmuring, "Excuse me, sirs, but I just wanted to inform you that your meal tonight will be courtesy of the staff here. Congratulations!"
The young men detached themselves from each other, Isa slipping on the childish ring, the epitome of shy bliss. "Thank you," he whispered to the standing boy, voice seemingly too emotional to speak louder.
Lea buried his nose into the other's neck, holding the hand bearing the ring. "It looks beautiful, babe," he whispered, then the redhead dragged his chair over to sit closer to his blue-haired fiancé.
As the restaurant's finest steaks were procured before them – free of charge, along with a bottle of beautifully aged red wine – the nearby diners continued to make their way over to the couple, giving their blessings and congratulations.
And no one was the wiser to the way the two men's eyes lit up at the sight of their gourmet meal, the distinctive lick of their lips, or the low-five they shared under the table, away from prying eyes.
'Fiancés', indeed.
"Do you think they'll ever figure it out?" the redhead murmured, spiked locks swaying in the gentle evening breeze as the pair stretched out on the rooftop of Isa's home, the sun painting the sky in a myriad of warm hues. He had long before undone the knot of his tie, leaving it hanging around his neck underneath an unbuttoned collar. The place they had gone was a suit-and-tie affair – not his style exactly, but definitely worth it.
The indifferent other, still dressed primly, loftily stated, "That was confession number 12, Lea, and yet no one in town has realized that we're not in a relationship yet. I highly doubt they'll figure it out anytime soon."
Rubbing an extremely full belly, Lea smiled at his best friend, green eyes shining mischievously in the sunset's light. "How would they figure it out, babe? We're so in love."
"…I like the free food too, but I'm not going to be the woman next time. I hate faking tears."
"Sure, Isa. I can be the chick for once." Raising a hand to his heart, Lea held the other one upwards, palm facing the sky with dramatic flair as he sang out in a wobbly falsetto, "I'll be the woman of your dreams!"
Isa chuckled, used to Lea's bizarre antics, until his friend settled down again from his own fit of laughter. Once he had calmed down enough, the blue-haired boy passed over the single purchase of the day – a bar of sea-salt ice cream. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff."
Lea happily took a bite of the procured dessert before offering it to his friend. "But it's delicious! I don't care if I'm becoming a 'grownup' – I'll never stop liking this flavour."
Sighing, for he knew that Lea would never stop holding it out until he ate some of the treat, Isa leaned forward and nibbled at the top of the bar. "It's so strange," he muttered, nose crinkling in confusion. "Salty, and still sweet."
"Yup! Exactly like it should be. Got it memorized?" was the only response he received.
As Lea finished up his dessert, serene calm soon filled the pair as the sun continued drifting further below the horizon of Radiant Garden. The reds were slowy beginning to be taken over by the darkness of night – a sign that the best friends needed to head home soon.
"But seriously though, give my ring back now."
"No – I told you, I'm the guy next time."
"But my ring!"
Isa smiled.
The two men stared at each other, tension practically palpable off the cavernous, white, sterile walls of the castle. The hall was empty and echoed every rustle of their black coats, but their voices were muffled, hushed, for their interactions weren't meant to be occurring – not anymore.
Acid green eyes burned a hole into the ground, while amber stared off into the sky, the man's lips moving emotionlessly.
"Put it this way – which would you rather suffer the loss of: some make-believe friendship," and he turned around, eyes flashing as he faced the silent redhead, tone suddenly not as impassive, "or a real one?"
The other – Axel, he was now called – flinched at that, guilt tracing upon his normally guarded face.
Stepping past Axel, the taciturn blue-haired man continued, "Things are finally right again. Of course we're better off this way-"
"Maybe…" Axel interjected, cutting Saïx off short. The moving man stopped, shifting slightly to watch the fire-wielder's expression, as it changed from guilty, to broken, to empty.
Saïx paused, turning his head to walk away again – but he wasn't expecting the small box thrown his way, his hand shooting out to catch it moments before it could land upon his cheek.
Axel turned away, disgust and scorn and something only resembling sadness filling his voice. "Maybe you're the one who's forgotten who his true friends are. I never did." And with that, the redhead left, leaving a dumbfounded Saïx behind.
Long after the footsteps had receded from the hall, Saïx found the strength to slip the box into a pocket – soon, the other members would be returning from their daily missions, after all, and there was no need for prying eyes to witness this – and eventually he made it back to his chambers.
The weight of the unknown box pulled him down more than his claymore ever could.
The moment he entered his room, however, he slammed the door shut ferociously and slid to a sitting position, back leaning heavily against the wall. With shaking fingers, he pulled out and examined the small box – a jewelry box – gently prying it open.
It was a ring box, containing a single, simple mythril band - and underneath the ring, a small scrap of paper.
'A real one at last. I think you've probably forgotten, but I just don't have the heart to put into acting like I have. I remember. And all the times I gave you that cheap old ring, back when we were still Somebodies – I was never lying about what I felt.
'And, if you still could believe me, I'd say that I'm not lying, even now.'
Trembling from head to toe, Saïx knelt down to one of the few cupboards in the room, pulling open the small drawer and removing the contents.
A yellow and brown plaid scarf lay on the top. Briefly, he held it to his face, breathing in deeply.
The scent of his best friend – something spicy and musky and warm and just Lea – was almost faded away, forgotten.
And below that sat an old, dusty toy ring, fake diamond dull underneath the light of the heart-shaped moon. Seeing its lack of shine, amber eyes flew up to Kingdom Hearts, which rested eternally in the night sky outside of his window. The moon would have answers, after all – it was where he drew his strength, how he found the will to fight. The moon would give him all the answers he desired.
"Kingdom Hearts, the bearer of all hearts – why is this happening… if we do not have hearts of our own to feel?"
For it made no sense, the trails of saline water which journeyed over the curves of his cheek and past his chin, rolling off the leather coat they hit with each drop. His tongue flicked out, a tear within its reach.
Salty. Not sweet.
Not the same.
"C'mon, Isa! I spent 40 munny on that ring! Give me a break."
"No."
Lea pouted and lay down, all obstinate disapproval. "Some friend you are."
Clutching the fake ring in his hand, Isa closed his eyes. "Your one and only."
That brought a feline grin to his resting friend's face. "Yeah, yeah, I love you man, alright? Keep the damn thing, stingy bastard."
Isa stretched and lay down beside his friend, feeling the wind upon his flushed cheeks. He remembered the first time they had begun this ritual of proposing - Lea had been so impressed by the free ice cream they had earned by it, that he had insisted on repeating the scandal over and over again to get more food.
"Nice speech, man! That was so classy, I almost fell in love!" his friend had joked.
Isa had been serious, and too broke to buy a ring, and too nervous that he had stammered out a heartfelt confession in the middle of a diner out of the blue. There had been no lie in his eyes.
But that was Lea and his naivety, and he wouldn't give up his fiery friend for the world.
The ring, now printing lines and circles into his clenched fist, was held like a holy object – but that was alright. It made it real, his.
And if he tightened his grip hard enough, maybe all the playfully acted words – originally intended by the other to earn them a free meal – those words, which were always accompanied by thin lips and beautiful jade eyes, would all become real, his, too.
But Lea didn't feel that way, and so, Isa could only hold it close and allow himself to dream of a day where maybe, maybe Lea's sweet proposal would be directed towards him in reality.
Maybe in another life.
For now, it was time to lie back beside the giggling redhead and let the sun's last rays wash away the lies used, the regret left behind.