This is a Christmas present for all Roxas-s, so...Merry Christmas Roxys! I hope you enjoy this ^_^

~~I do not own Kingdom Hearts~~

Roxas's Christmas Present

"So, Axel, where do you think we should string this tinsel?", asked Roxas sarcastically as he balanced precariously on the top of a rickety stepladder. He turned and glared at Axel who was carefully lining up candles in some of the bigger windows of the Grey Room.

"EVERYWHERE!", shouted Axel, lighting a whole row of candles with one shot of his chakrams. Roxas laughed and turned back to wrestling with a string of tinsel that would not stay on the banister the way he wanted it to.

"Okay, okay, I will!", Roxas shouted back, giving up on the tinsel and casually tossing some around the banister.

"Hey Roxas...", started Axel, his eyes sparkling dangerously as they wandered up the staircase.

"What?", asked Roxas warily, having learned a while back that when Axel's eyes glint like that a deadly prank or two was on the way and he was usually blamed for them whether he helped or not.

" Let's see how many members we can annoy with one song!", he answered giddily, snatching Roxas's arm and dragging him up the stairs, deaf to everything except the foolish plan that was running through his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Zexion, why does Xemnas not want us to celebrate Christmas?", I asked him curiously, pausing my sketching to push my hair out of my eyes. He shut his book carefully with a sigh.

" Namine...he has never explicitly banned Christmas, we do not celebrate it because a joy-filled holiday is pointless for beings who do not have the ability to experience emotions, like us", he explained. "You are more than welcome to travel to a world that does celebrate it, if you wish", he continued, as I finished my current sketch of Roxas wearing his Organization cloak.

"Don't the Beast and Belle celebrate it?", I asked, already formulating a plan.

"Yes...and I believe that Axel and Roxas should be returning from their mission there any moment now", he said cautiously, wondering why I was interested all of a sudden. I just nodded, satisfied by his answer, collected my drawing supplies and left him alone in the library.

After several minutes of steady walking I heard a faint noise coming from the staircase. Opening a door at the end of the hallway, I was nearly knocked over by Roxas, who seemed to be running for his life. "What's going on?!", I screeched as he grabbed my arm, tugging me back down the hallway.

"Xem...nas!", he finally managed to pant out as we ran closer to the library. Realizing how much danger he was in, I yanked him off-course into the relative safety of the library. He fell into a chair, out of breath, as I quickly ran back over to Zexion.

"Zexy help! Xemnas is chasing him, can you cast an illusion so he is invisible? Please, Zexy!", I pleaded, hoping he agreed soon. Eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, he nodded yes and quickly cast an illusion. Calming my breathing, I sat back down and started to sketch again. Just then I heard an explosion and the hallway door flew past the open door of Zexion's library. Wincing, I tried to find the appropriate expression for my face before I settled on an expressionless mask.

"NUMBER XIII! COME BACK HERE AND GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!", bellowed Xemnas as he raced down the hallway. He peered into the library and, seeing only me and Zexion, he quickly continued down the hallway, screaming for Roxas at the top of his lungs the whole time. Breathing a sigh of relief, I thanked Zexion over and over again as he released the illusion. Since Roxas had passed out, I quickly fed him a Hi-Potion and watched his cuts heal as the color returned to his face.

"Is he gone?", he whispered hoarsely.

"Yes, he is gone. What did you steal? He seemed pretty pissed off", I laughed as he laughed along weakly.

"Actually we stole his secret stash of sea-salt ice creams. Axel went to hide them and keep them cold, while I acted as the decoy. Luxord dared us to do it after seeing our reactions to finding out about the stash. He only told us to shut us up, we were bugging him with Christmas carols", he said, laughing stronger this time, the Hi-Potion having done it's job.

"Where did you guys plan on meeting back up?," I asked curious. He stood up, brushing dust off his cloak.

"That's none of your business", he said with a sad look on his face before portaling away. I sighed, thanked Zexion again, and began the walk back to my room for the second time that evening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Roxas! You're alive!", shouted Axel, as Roxas tried to walk into the room without being noticed. He sighed and plastered a big fake smile on his face, hoping that Axel would not ask him tons of questions about how he had gotten away from Xemnas earlier.

"Yeah, I am, so where did you hide the ice creams?", he asked. Turning around when he heard a whoosh behind him, Roxas was surprised to see Larxene portal into the room holding a rather large blue cooler.

"The ice cream is right here", she said, tossing the cooler in Axel's direction.

"Thanks for agreeing to this Larxy, I never could have hidden them on my own", said Axel, pulling her into a kiss in the doorway. Steading the cooler to prevent it from toppling over, Roxas shifted uncomfortably when the kiss still hadn't ended five minutes later.

"Ugh, I'm still here guys!", teased Roxas as Larxene finally slapped Axel away.

"Sorry little buddy, I was just taking advantage of the mistletoe", he apologized, rubbing his cheek where Larxene had hit him.

"Mistletoe?", questioned Roxas, looking up at the innocent looking plant strung up in the doorway.

"Yeah, if two people get caught underneath it together they have to kiss!", exclaimed Axel gleefully. Eyes widening, Roxas snatched a frozen sea-salt ice cream out of the cooler and casually retrieved the mistletoe hanging in the doorway. He studied the plant carefully as he munched on the frozen treat. With a plan forming in his devious little mind, he wondered where he could find a jewelry store open this time of night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Xigbar can you do me a favor?", I asked him as sweetly as I could.

"What is this so-called favor?", he asked suspiciously. I quickly plastered a huge smile on my face and tried to appear as innocent as possible.

"Could you pin a plant to the ceiling in one shot for me? I heard Demyx and Marluxia say you could so...", I trailed off as his smile grew more and more evil.

"Ya got a specific plant in mind?", he asked, interested in what I was planning.

"Actually, yes", I said, showing him the plant I had had in a death-grip ever since I had swiped it from Marluxia's garden. Eyes brightening with understanding, he gently took it from me and asked me if I had a particular patch of ceiling in mind. I whispered my answer to him so no one in the Grey Room could overhear us. Mission accomplished, I walked back to the library to read for an hour or two in peace with Zexion and ask him some more questions about Christmas.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later, Roxas decided to abandon Axel and Larxene to their special Christmas celebrations. He snuck out of the room, not that Axel or Larxene would notice if he set off an atomic bomb near them, since their lips seemed to be held together with superglue at the moment. Figuring Namine would still be in the library, he portaled there silently once he was out in the hallway. Opening the door to the library as quietly as he could, Roxas was disappointed to see only Zexion sitting calmly in the library.

"Where is Namine?", Roxas asked tonelessly, trying to not let any of his emotions slip to the surface. Zexion, without looking up from his book, shrugged noncommittally. Roxas frowned. "Fat lot of help you are", he mumbled, turning to leave. Yanking the door open, he was pleasantly surprised to find a very happy-looking Namine on the other side. Although startled, Roxas quickly recovered and blurted out the first thing that popped into his mind.

"Thanks for hiding me from Xemnas earlier! I would probably be dead right now if it wasn't for you...", he trailed off. Noticing she was shivering, he quickly asked, "Do you want to go to the Common Room of Solitude? There's a fireplace in there where we can warm up , plus some comfy couches too" She smiled happily, indicating with a wave of her hand that he should lead the way.

"Yes!", I screamed inwardly. My plan was working so far... I just hope Xigbar came through on his end or my plan would fall to pieces.

"Here we are", Roxas said, gesturing to the row of comfy chairs in front of an empty fireplace. "Fiagra", he muttered under his breath, pointing his keyblade at the fireplace. A small ball of flame shot out of the tip and ignited all the firewood in one go.

"Thank you", Namine said sincerely, rubbing her hands together near the blaze to warm them up.

"Your welcome", he replied, blushing a little as he retrieved a blanket from the closet to further warm her up. Smiling gratefully, she wrapped herself up in it, sighing happily when she was fully encased in the fleecy warm material. Standing in front of the fire, she warmed herself up completely. "You know, Namine, Axel told me about a tradition for Christmas that I think we should try", Roxas said, nervously fiddling with the sprig of mistletoe in his pocket.

"Really? What is it?", she asked with an odd look on her face. Roxas took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and continued.

"Umm, well, the tradition is that when two people stand under this plant called mistletoe they have to...kiss", he explained, his eyes nervously darting from side to side.

Smiling warmly, Namine walked up close to him and softly said,"Do you have any then?" Eyes widening, Roxas nodded yes and slowly pulled the mistletoe out of his pocket. Noticing the frown on her face at the sight of the mistletoe, he looked closely at it. To his horror, the plant was torn up and mangled from its stay in the pocket of his cloak. It was not even recognizable as mistletoe anymore! Not sure what to do, Roxas looked at Namine sheepishly, mentally kicking himself for not taking better care of the precious mistletoe, the one crucial thing needed to make his plan work.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Feeling the moment vanishing quickly I decided to take drastic action. Time for my master plan to be put into motion! "Roxas, look up", I said softly.

"Huh?", he said, glancing upward to the patch of ceiling directly above our heads. Innocently pinned there, a little snippet of mistletoe hung beneath a bullet hole. Half the stem could clearly be seen while the rest of it disappeared into the hole in the ceiling.

"Did Xigbar do that to that poor little mistletoe plant?", he asked amazed. I nodded, smiling the whole time. We leaned closer together until our lips gently brushed against each other. We stayed motionless like that for only a moment or two before a huge torrent of water hit us both in the face. Spluttering, I wiped my sopping wet bangs out of my face, glaring at the grinning pair who stood in the doorway. Demyx and Axel, realizing how mad we were, quickly prepared to run for their lives.

Just as I was about to spring on them and pummel them to within an inch of their existence with my sketchbook, I heard Roxas growl beside me. I turned, alarmed, just in time to see him summon his keyblade and yell, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH!" I flinched away when he growled again and launched himself at the still-grinning pair. They barely dodged his first attack and quickly dashed out into the hallway in a bid for freedom, laughing hysterically all the while.

Worried that they were going to cause some major damage, I followed the battle out into the hallway while trying to keep a safe distance away at all times. After about ten minutes of fierce fighting and dozens of Limit Breaks, Roxas finally won, leaving Axel and Demyx unconscious in a big puddle of water.

"Done?", I asked, my hair still soaked all the way through. Shrugging sheepishly, he took one big step towards me, slipped, and fell flat on his face in a huge puddle of water. Covering my mouth with my hands, I tried to suppress my laughter as I walked quickly over to him and helped him up. "Eww, your hair looks horrible flat", I mused, staring at his flattened spikes. Much to his surprise, I quickly ran my fingers through his hair, spiking it back up instantly.

However, before he could say anything a loud shout of, "NUMBER XIII! I STILL HAVEN'T PUNISHED YOU YET! GET BACK HERE!", resounded through the castle. Smiling in a rather disturbing way, Roxas turned to me and gave me a quick hug.

"Stay right here, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes", he said in a rush. I nodded and he portaled away before I had a chance to blink. Deciding to listen to him for once, I rewrapped my slightly damp blanket around myself and sat down on the floor to wait for him to come back from wherever he had portaled away to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Portaling away from Namine, Roxas smiled a private evil grin. Revenge was always fun, he decided, even if you were going to be hurt in the process. 'Okay here goes!', thought Roxas as he snuck down the hall to where Xemnas was trying to decide how best to kill him for stealing his precious sea-salt ice creams.

"Hey Xemnas! What are you doing?", asked Roxas, trying to look as innocent as he could. Spinning around faster than Roxas's eyes could follow, Xemnas tried to pin him to the wall using his Ethereal Blades. However, sensing what he was trying to do, Roxas blocked the blades with Oathkeeper while stabbing the wall with Oblivion to provide a stable foothold for him to stand on. "What did I do?", he yelled, blocking yet another attack from Xemnas.

Growling angrily while leaping up to try to dislodge Oblivion from the wall, Xemnas shouted back, "YOU STOLE ALL MY SEA-SALT ICE CREAMS! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR IS TO FIND?!"

Forcing a look of shock onto his face, Roxas quickly shouted back, "OH! Is that what the blue cooler I saw Axel and Demyx carrying was full of?" Keeping Oathkeeper in front of his face for protection, Roxas carefully peered around the blade down at Xemnas from his precarious perch on Oblivion. Surprisingly, he was still, his Ethereal Blades motionless in his hands.

"Hmm, Axel and Demyx, eh? It appears I have targeted the wrong Nobody. Thank you, Number XIII", he mused to himself. Shifting nervously on his keyblade, Roxas didn't trust himself to speak as Xemnas thought things over below him. Suddenly Xemnas turned to look up at him. "My fight is no longer with you", he shouted up at Roxas before disappearing into a portal.

"I can't believe that worked!", marveled Roxas, laughing rather evilly as he disappeared into a portal himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The freckles in our eyes are mirror images, and when we kiss they are perfectly aligned...", I sang quietly to myself as I waited for Roxas to return, hoping he wouldn't be too long. Just as I was rewrapping my damp but warm blanket around myself for the third time I heard the soft whoosh of a portal being opened.

"Axel! Demyx! Get ready to turn into Dusks!", I heard Roxas laugh gleefully. "Namine?", he asked in a more normal voice. I stood up and quickly walked up behind him.

"Yes?", I asked from behind his left ear, scaring him senseless.

Laughing it off, he said, "Let's get out of here. Xemnas will probably be here soon and, believe me, you do not want to be here for that! Axel and Demyx are in for a very rude awakening..." I just stared at him.

"You didn't", I said in disbelief.

"Oh, I did and we need to leave before Xemnas decides to search this room, c'mon!", he said , pulling me towards the door. Giving in, I let him pull me all the way to the top of the stairs before I finally yanked my arm out of his grip. After giving him a brief smile, I continued running alongside him.

"I really hope that Axel doesn't...", Roxas began before he was interrupted by a scream coming from the floor below us.

"NUMBER XIII!" Glancing at each other for a brief moment in fear, we quickly started running faster.

"So, where are we going to hide?", I asked as we ran. He just shrugged and continued looking for a door to disappear through. Taking a closer look around, I suddenly realized what part of the castle we were in.

At the next turn I pulled him to the left instead of the right, knowing that an excellent hiding spot lay dead ahead. Reaching my bedroom, I shoved him inside and hurriedly locked the door. Using a spell that Zexion had taught me so I could hide from Larxene, I made my door just another patch of blank white wall.

"There!", I said, barely finishing in time. Silently, we listened to Xemnas run past my door, not even hesitating for a second, before continuing his search. When he was gone, I sighed in relief and plopped down on my bed, exhausted.

"Wow, that spell must come in handy...Could you teach it to me?", Roxas said eagerly from his spot on my floor. I smiled and stood up, flexing my fingers and stretching out like a cat.

"Sure! You can also use it on people, but it doesn't work as well on moving objects as it does on motionless things", I explained. Handing him the charm for the spell, I let him practice in front of my mirror while I drew a fresh sketch of the intense three-way brawl I had just seen.

Once he had eventually gotten the hang of it we ventured downstairs to survey the damage from the battle and steal some dinner from the kitchen. While it was strange to be unable to see Roxas standing right next to me, it did feel nice to finally be spending some relatively peaceful time with him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

After eating some dinner and walking around for an hour or two, Roxas led Namine back to the Common Room of Solitude. Sitting down on the couch in front of the still-blazing fire, he gently pulled her down to sit next to him. "What a crazy night this has been", she mused, quietly releasing the spells. Silently agreeing, Roxas carefully handed her a small red box with a silver bow on top that had been hidden in is cloak most of the night.

"I know that you are supposed to wait until Christmas Day, but I want to give this to you now", he said nervously. Smiling happily, she gently opened the box and gasped in surprise. Inside the box lay a stunning necklace. A small oval of jade that was enfolded in a gold turtle hung off the end of the delicate gold chain, attached by the head of the turtle. She slowly lifted it out of the box by the chain and gazed at it lovingly.

"This is for...me?", she asked, amazed.

"Yes, it is for you, after all, it's Christmas isn't it? Do you...like it?", he asked, even more nervous now.

"Yes, I love it. Can you help me put it on?", she asked gently. Roxas let out a relieved sigh and shifted closer to her end of the couch.

"I'm glad you like it, and yes, I can help you put it on", he said, all the nervous tremors in his voice gone. Carefully taking the chain from her hands, he slowly unfastened the tiny golden lobster claw clasp. Still smiling happily, she swept her hair into one hand and held it up, so he could clasp the necklace without painfully catching any of her hair. Once it was on, Namine fixed her hair and turned back around.

"It looks...beautiful", she exclaimed, turning it over and over again lovingly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thank you so much, but I don't have a nicely wrapped present for you", I said sadly as I played with the necklace. He drooped a bit but kept smiling.

"It's okay, I don't need one really", he said honestly. I shook my head, trying to figure out how best to phrase my thoughts.

"No, I never said I didn't have a present for you. I just said that it wasn't nicely wrapped, or rather, that putting it in a box would be quite difficult", I said, pulling him near me. He caught on and smiled, inching closer to me.

Somewhere in the castle a bell tolled midnight as our lips for the second time that night. "Merry Christmas Roxy", I whispered softly as I finally gave him the gift I had been planning to give him all night.