Bound by Fire & Moon Light
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl
Summary: Axel has three best friends in the universe, and the four of them together are made of love and adorableness. AkuSaiRokuShi and variations, possibly with an occasional side of Jasmine; no slash.
A/N: I put a short introduction to this in my Saix/Roxas Day fic (which is, according to FFN, the second chapter of "alternate"). Basically, this series with the horrible stupid OCD title is where I'm going to put all my non-Stepsiblings AkuSaiRokuShi and Bound by Moonlight stories. And AkuRoku and AkuShi and SaiRoku and SaiShi and trios (all platonic, for you new readers) and most variations involving Jasmine, IDK I'm just throwing random OT4/5 stuff in here. XD AkuSai, SaiJaz, and RokuShi already have their own series.
If none of that made sense to you, just don't worry about it... These stories should hopefully all stand alone (and they will definitely take place in various universes and most will probably be AU), but I'm sure they'll make more sense if you've read lots of my other Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. *sweatdrop*
Vacation Notice (rough draft)
A/N: Lol, this is my post-KH3 headcanon for them. XD There will be more where this came from, this is just an introduction.
o.o.o
There had been a big argument about Radiant Garden vs. Twilight Town, before Lea finally threatened to flounce off to Wonderland and sulk so that no one got what they wanted. Even then, though, it just turned from yelling and borderline boss battles to whining.
"But Axeeellll, we used to go to Twilight Town every day!" Xion insisted.
"I don't wanna leave," Roxas pouted, artfully enough that, even as a teenager, he still seemed cute rather than like an oversized toddler.
"They're doing it again," Isa stormed. "Don't look in their eyes, that's exactly what they want."
"I'm not looking," Lea grumbled, holding the strategy guide so close to his face that he actually couldn't read it anymore.
"Radiant Garden's all, like, rickety."
"That ninja girl keeps picking on me."
"It's our home," Isa growled. "Don't you want to see your family again, Lea?"
"I haven't seen them in ages..."
"You're frightened."
"What?! No I'm not! Nobodies don't have hearts, we can't-"
There was a long pause. Then the kids started giggling, and Isa folded his arms and looked away, not smiling but not frowning, either.
"Being human is hard to get used to," Lea amended ruefully. "Okay, fine; I'm scared that Mom won't recognize me or that she'll...or that she'll hate me..." As if she would be able to look in his face and somehow see evidence there of all the horrible things he'd done while her heart had been wandering in darkness. "But who cares! Why do you want to go back to the Garden so bad? The University's a wreck."
Isa gestured violently as he spoke. "I lost everything at age 15, everything except my best friend. We watched our families be consumed by darkness, we literally watched our world crumble, we were nearly lost to darkness ourselves, I've spent the last ten years trying to get my life back. I want to see my home restored and I want to see my mother again and I WANT TO GRADUATE COLLEGE, LEA, BECAUSE NORMAL PEOPLE GET TO GROW UP AND GO TO SCHOOL AND GET THEIR DIPLOMAS AND WE ARE NORMAL NOW."
Lea glanced at the younger two and told them conversationally as he pointed at the ex-berserker, "For the record, kiddos, this is not normal. Just so you know."
"Okay," they chorused readily.
Isa made a sound of disgust. "Never mind. I'll go without you."
Lea grinned. "No, you won't."
Isa didn't say anything.
Lea and Roxas and Xion waited.
Isa still didn't say anything.
They waited some more. Lea started feeling sorry for him, and the Keybearers began to get bored.
"...I hate you."
"Well, I don't hate you, Isa." Lea held up a hand to get the kids' attention again. "Hey. Rox, Xi. Four years in Radiant Garden, okay? Then we'll go to Twilight Town."
"Four years-?!"
"Three," Isa said in a low voice.
Everyone looked at him again.
Isa said to Roxas and Xion, "It's still more than double your lifetimes, I know. But truly, compared to the rest of your lives, it's not very long at all. Please trust me."
They gazed at him, Roxas with a frown, both with eyes full of memories and words unspoken.
"Trust me, then," said Lea. "Radiant Garden's not so bad. And three years is better than four. Isa's giving up something to make you happy, see?"
Isa glared, but didn't say anything.
"We'll really get to go to Twilight Town, then?" Roxas hedged.
"Yeah. Promise."
Now Lea was the one they were looking at, almost reproachfully. He couldn't stand it. "Okay, I know I've lied to you before, and sometimes I can't keep my promises very well, and-"
"Listen to me." That was Isa. "Like it or not, the four of us are together now. I highly doubt that either of you could leave any more than...any more than I can."
"Aw, I feel so loved," Lea muttered under his breath with a grin, and was ignored.
"That means that we are family. I know you don't have any experience of what family is, but it's when-"
"It's like when we were fighting together," Xion said quietly. "Sora and Aqua and Kairi and Ven and Riku and Namine and everyone...all of us...when we all helped each other and protected each other..."
Roxas gave a heavy sigh. "So we're stuck with you, great. Fine. Promise we'll go to Twilight Town again, both of you. If you lie this time, I'll beat you both up, AGAIN."
Lea grinned and stretched out his hand. The kids stared at it curiously; then, after a moment's hesitation, Isa laid his own hand on top of it. Xion and then Roxas dubiously followed suit, until the four of them were joined by those hands, a gesture of alliance and trust and camaraderie. Xion decided that she liked being in a family.
"First the Garden," Lea affirmed, "then Twilight Town. Heh, not like there's much to do there - you don't need some fancy-schmancy degree for that sleepy little place, right, Isa?"
"I simply refuse to be a dropout like they always said you would be," Isa grumbled.
It was painful, picking his way through the crumbled, half-rebuilt neighborhood, drawing closer and closer to his old house with his heart sitting heavy in his chest. "Isa...I don't think this is such a good id-"
"Stop whining."
"I'm not whining!"
He could see it now. Someone had re-painted the shutters the same color as his hair, as if they were calling out to him. "Hey, you guys go catch up with everyone, I'm gonna head around to the shops and see if-"
Isa wordlessly and firmly linked an arm through his, Roxas did the same on the other side, and Xion patted him soothingly. "It's okay, Axel."
"Hey! Let go, what, you think I'm gonna run away or something?!" They didn't even bother responding.
Joyous reunion, blah blah blah; apparently his mother wasn't a mind-reader, and it didn't hurt as much as he'd been afraid it would, seeing Zell and the girls grown up instead of still being the little kids he remembered, those lost children he still thought of vaguely at the back of his mind whenever he looked into Roxas's and Xion's eyes. The Keybearers seemed to enjoy the sight of their towering mentor being smothered and babied by his own mom, and they definitely relished the look of horror on Isa's face when his mother, rushing over from her house down the street, called him "Saa-chan" as she flung her arms around him.
"I like that name better than 'Saix,'" Xion decided. "And I'll remember it better than 'Isa.'"
"Yeah. We'll call him that from now on."
"Don't you dare," Isa snarled over his mother's shoulder.
"Saa-chaaaan, what happened to your beautiful face?" she cried in distress, finally pulling back and stroking the scars as he shied away uncomfortably.
"Such things happen in battle. Mother, please."
"And who are these cuties, Lea sweetheart?" his mom asked with great interest as she finally acknowledged the fact that her long-lost son wasn't the only person inhabiting the universe at the moment.
"Um, these are my..." 'Best friends' didn't quite convey the fact that they didn't have anywhere to live except with him, and 'kids' was probably not the best choice. "...my family."
"Oh?"
As the weeks passed, it became apparent that the house was too small to comfortably accommodate all of them: parents, five teenagers, and grown son who felt weird heading out every day to wait tables and earn munny rather than slay monsters and gain experience points. Instead of returning to the comfort of Twilight Town, to the huge shadowed castle and co-workers who mostly ignored him as he fended for himself, it was the tiny, crowded, messy warm house, people everywhere, constant chatter and yelling, constant noise and confusion, great food and so many questions and stories and laughter. It was awesome.
But it was going to take a while to get used to.
"Isa?"
Just the two of them for once, waiting out in the courtyard until the kids got out of school, Isa drowning in textbooks as always, Lea still in his work uniform as he absently licked at an ice cream bar.
"Hm?"
"It feels weird being treated like a kid again..."
"I know what you mean."
The house they found was tiny, but it sat perfectly between the university and the high school, and the rent was tolerable. Xion fell in love with the flowers growing in the window box out front, and doted on them like they were her babies. Roxas liked having easy access to the skater's park. Isa didn't hate it particularly more than he hated everything else these days. Lea was just glad to have a haven where he felt like a man again instead of an overgrown kid who'd never settle in.
o.o.o
"Ugh." His Organization days were over, and he was still waking up at five in the morning. Isa dragged himself out of bed, shuffled around getting ready for school, and found Lea sitting in the dark living room, staring blankly at a black-and-white movie on television as he cradled a mug of coffee in his hands. "Early shift again?"
"Yeah..."
"I'll make breakfast."
"Thanks."
Xion soon came in, perhaps drawn by the smell of cooking food, looking sleepy but eager to see what the new day would bring. Isa often envied her youthful enthusiasm. "Can I help, Saa-chan?"
He had long since given up protesting the humiliating nickname, at least when they were in private. "Make a fresh pitcher of juice, please."
"Okay."
"Did you finish your homework last night?"
"Almost..."
"What didn't you understand?"
"The 'motif' thing."
"Bring it here, I'll explain it to you."
"Okay. Thanks, Saa-ch- Isa."
"Hmph."
College was dang expensive, it sucked up munny like Luxord's Grim Reaper. It was clear that they were going to exhaust their Organization earnings within a few semesters if they didn't take steps now, and both of them refused to touch Roxas's and Xion's munny, so Lea took on a second job. If Isa could kill himself with 18-hour semesters with nothing more than wordless scowls, then Lea could handle two jobs without complaining, too. And there was always the kids, their bright eyes and innocent curiosity and carefree laughter, to remind them why they'd longed so much and worked so hard to get this human life back again.
o.o.o.o.o
Something was wrong.
Isa finally managed to lift his head off the desk, wincing at the crick in neck, and realized what both sources of wrongness were at the same time. One, his desktop was clear - there was no sign of the books, papers, and computer he'd fallen asleep in the middle of working with. Two, daylight was starting to creep through the window. His alarm clock hadn't gone off for some reason.
He was up and bursting into the living room in a flash - where he came up short. Lea was not in uniform - he and the younger ones were bustling happily about, Lea tossing things toward Roxas for him to pack into a couple of beach bags, Xion running up to announce triumphantly that she'd found the sunblock.
"What are you doing?" Isa said sharply.
"Look, Isa." Roxas pointed at the sliding door, onto which was taped a paper reading 'VACATION.' "I got to make the Vacation Day this time."
"Lea, you've got work today," Isa snapped.
"Traded my shift," Lea said airily. "Do me a favor and grab a few towels, Isa."
"I'm late for school."
"Saa-chan," Xion said patiently, as if to a small child, "Vacation Day means that you don't work. You go out and have fun. We're all going to the beach together."
"Lea!"
"Chill, you can miss a day. It won't kill you."
"Lea! It's an eight-hour class! Missing one day is like missing an entire week of school!"
"You can copy someone else's notes like I did that time I was sick," Roxas said. "Here." He reached a blueberry muffin up to Isa's mouth. "Me and Xion made them, they're good."
"Get that away from me." Isa whirled in a panic and lunged for his desk again before remembering that everything was gone. "Where are my books?!"
"Don't worry about 'em."
"You don't need books on a Vacation Day, Saa-chan."
"Duh."
"They're in the closet, aren't they." Isa went and yanked at the doorknob, which was locked. "Where's the key!"
"Now, where did I put that thing again?" Lea wondered playfully.
"Xion, open it now."
"Ummm...my Keyblade broke," she said, blinking innocent blue eyes.
"Roxas!"
Roxas summoned his Keyblade, whirled it in the fancy gestures he had learned from Sora, and ended with the weapon pointed at the closet door. Nothing happened. "Huh. That's weird." He dismissed it and went back to stuffing sandwiches into a plastic container, obviously hiding a grin as he did so.
"You three are lucky I don't assign you missions anymore," Isa snarled, raising a hand to retrieve the books himself. It was just once, and a small one, for such short distance-
Suddenly Lea was there, gripping his arm to stop him and chirping in a fakely bright voice, "Splendid idea, Saa-chan! Let's open a dark corridor and toss out a welcome mat for Xehanort's Remnant to come waltzing back into your heart so that you turn back into a Vulcan-eared, butterscotch/topaz-eyed jerk and we have to drag Sora out of retirement again to save you and turn you back into the green-eyed jerk we all know and sometimes wonder why we love." His voice and expression abruptly went cold. "Just hope that Sora's willing to dive back to your pillar, because I won't be doing it this time."
There was a long silence. Finally broken when the worried-looking Xion whispered to Roxas, "I'd rather give Saa-chan the closet key than him turn back into Saix."
"But he'll miss Beach Day," Roxas whispered back.
"He'll miss Beach Day if he's Saix, too."
"Oh." They both looked at him unhappily.
Isa slowly lowered his arm, and Lea finally let go of him. "...I need to study."
"You're doing this for us," Lea said softly. "Killing yourself with these crazy semesters so you can get through sooner and spare us an extra year of this. We want to do something for you, too, Isa."
Xion came over and took their hands. "You said we're a family now, right? Families are supposed to go on vacations together and do fun things together and be together. Your mom said so. We're not Numbers anymore who have to work all the time."
Roxas shoved his way into the circle. "Your books are boring, anyway, and you hate them. You'll have more fun at the beach."
"...This is true," Isa acknowledged. He gave a long sigh. "Fine. I'll fail the class and waste thousands of munny just to humor this whim of yours. You had better make this worth it."
Lea chuckled. "So dramatic."
"So we're going to the beach?" Xion asked, her face lighting up.
"Yes."
"You'll like it," Roxas promised. "We'll teach you how to build a sandcastle."
He was a little surprised when Isa grinned back at him, just a little. "Is that so."
This time, Lea laughed outright. "Rox, remember how I said that I knew someone whose sandcastles could pose for magazine covers?"
"Yeah?"
Lea pointed at Isa.
"That was Isa?!"
Isa turned away without answering, though he looked a little smug. "If we're going to be spending the day outdoors in this weather," he said in a brisk tone, "we're going to need much more sunblock, that bottle is half-empty. Lea, make sure we don't forget the parking pass; Roxas, go fill several bottles with water, we need to stay hydrated; and Xion, come with me, I need your help fetching the..."
"Man," Lea commented as he watched them walk off. "Still bossy as ever."
"At least he can't sic us on Leechgraves and stuff anymore when he's mad."
"Heh, true."
They high-fived and then went back to packing.
o.o.o
Author's Notes: The butterscotch/topaz stuff is from Cleolinda Jones. ^^