Christmas Shopping in Neverland
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl
Summary: Lea & Aqua can't seem to keep track of their kids...
A/N: Takes place during a theoretical KH3.
o.o.o
"What the heck, does this thing zip upside-down or something?" the boy was muttering to himself as he struggled with the coat.
Lea sauntered over. "Having trouble, Rox?"
"Uh...no...because, um, I've worn this thing a million times, so I should know exactly how it zips, ha ha ha..."
"This is true," Lea agreed, eyes twinkling.
They stood there for a while in awkward silence.
"Um, can you kind of not watch me get dressed?" Roxas said.
"Sure." Just before he rounded the corner, Lea called over his shoulder, "Try that top zipper all the way, first, then the bottom one - going halfway up, see?" Then he got out of sight and waited.
And soon heard a long, "Ohhhhh" of comprehension.
Lea came marching around the corner again. "Give it up, Ven, it's not gonna work."
"What?!" the boy yelped. "I'm not Ven, I'm-!"
"Reeeeaally? Well, that'll be easy enough to prove, seeing how the real Roxas isn't ticklish." Lea held up his fingers and wriggled them threateningly.
"N-No, wait, wait, okay, wait, I'm Ven!"
Lea nodded in satisfaction. "For the record - I sympathize, kiddo, I really do. But Aqua's your mom, not me-"
"She's not my mom!"
"-and I'm not gonna cross Master Queen of the Universe Aqua, so c'mon, let's go find Roxas."
o.o.o.o.o
"What the heck, is this a clip-on or something...?"
Aqua frowned as she watched the young Keyblade wielder struggling with his armor piece. "Ven?"
"Uh...yes?"
"You can't have forgotten how to put your armor on."
"...Of course I didn't, silly, I just..." He struggled a minute longer. "Gah, stay on!" The armor clattered to the floor.
Narrowing her eyes, Aqua scooped it up, pressed the catch to release the clawed fastenings, and slapped it onto his arm roughly enough to prompt an indignant, "Ow!"
Then she took hold of his face and growled, "Who are you?"
"I'm Ven, duh- Ooowww, owowowow OKAY OKAY I'm Roxas, ow, geez!" He rubbed his squeezed face resentfully. "You're so mean."
At that moment, a dark corridor opened, admitting Lea and his young companion.
"Ven!" Aqua cried.
"You got caught, too?" the boy in the coat said unhappily to his lookalike. The other sighed and nodded.
"Boys, sit down," Lea ordered.
They plopped down onto a bench side by side, looking sulky.
"Now, Ven," Aqua started, "we've discussed this."
"I want to go!" he burst out. "I'm not a baby, Aqua! I wanna go out and fight with you guys, not be stuck in Neverland where no one can die because it's a big fantasy dreamland for immortals!"
"Yeah, I wanna go to Neverland," Roxas said stubbornly.
Aqua frowned. "Ven, I already lost you once, I am not going to put you in danger again."
"Why don't you trust me!"
"She does trust you," Lea put in. "Even's pretty sure that at least one of the attacks'll be on Neverland, so we need you there."
Ven glared. "We know for SURE that Radiant Garden's gonna be hit soon, so I know you'll need me there."
"And I can cover Neverland," Roxas said in frustration. "I've been there a million times, Ven's only been there once."
"Rox," Lea said, "I know you're upset that Santa didn't give you anything for Christmas last year, but I'm telling you, finding the little bug-girl isn't gonna help."
"She's a fairy, and I never said anything about Santa!"
"So why are you so fired up to go to Neverland?"
"...I miss flying."
"You have Super Glide."
"I miss flying for real."
"Why can't you wait 'til after Christmas?"
"Be...cause..."
"Because he has to get some Christmas presents from there, too," the other boy supplied.
"Yeah! I have to get Christmas presents from Neverland."
"Lea, you're letting them distract you with rabbit trails," Aqua said in annoyance. "Ven, you are not going to Radiant Garden, and that's final."
"But-!"
"Unless you want to try to defeat a Keyblade Master," she said threateningly, summoning her weapon.
The boys exchanged a quick look. Then Ven sighed loudly and said "Fine" in a huffy tone.
He and Roxas exchanged glances again, then Roxas raised his arms to open two dark portals. "If you see Tinker Bell," Roxas said anxiously, "tell her I'm really, really, really, really really sorry for not helping her with the pirate ship thing, okay?"
"Okay, Roxas," Ven said glumly, and trudged off into the Neverland corridor. Roxas glared at Lea and flounced off into the Garden one.
"Ugh, those boys," Aqua groaned once they were alone.
"I will never get tired of them," Lea laughed.
"What?"
"What?"
She eyed him. "...Lea, do you really think I'm being overprotective?"
He shrugged. "Gotta do what you gotta do to keep your kids safe, huh."
"I hear that didn't work out so well in your case..."
"Well, you're a better mom than me," he grumbled. Then looked up when she didn't answer right away.
"Do you really think so?" she said softly, her eyes shining a little.
"Uh...I mean, it was a joke...duh you're better than me. You're a girl, for one thing; and you didn't lose your heart for ten years or spend your adolescence killing people in cold blood..."
"What?"
"What?"
She gave him a suspicious look. "Do I want to ask?"
"Probably not..."
She shook her head. "Well, Roxas and Xion turned out well, I wouldn't say you did a terrible job of it yourself." This time it was her turn to look up when he took too long to answer.
Lea had a hand pressed to his chest, eyes distant, smiling a little. "Man, I can't convince my heart that you were just being polite, it keeps thinking that you totally made my day."
"I wasn't just being polite," she said with a small smile. "Those two adore you, and I think they have good taste."
"Aqua, go easy on me, okay? My heart's still... A little bit goes a long way, you know..."
"Forgive me," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "It's been difficult for you to adjust, hasn't it."
"Nah, I'm fine. I'm just better at wisecracks and butt-kicking than mushy stuff, you know?"
"That's not surprising." She suddenly frowned.
"What is it?"
"Lea," she said slowly, "can you open dark corridors without moving your hands?"
"Uh...well, yeah, but you have to be really concentrating. It feels more natural to kind of gesture, you know?"
Now she looked alarmed. "So you can open corridors without moving?"
"What's wrong?"
"Try it now," she said sharply. "On the count of three."
"Count of ten. I need to concentrate."
"Fine; one, two, three..."
Lea was surprised that Aqua raised her arm when she spoke the number ten - it looked exactly as if she had summoned the corridor, rather than him. He suddenly went cold. "Wait...you don't think...?"
"They know each other so well by now," she said rapidly. "They've had time to practice-"
"They couldn't have-"
"Ven wouldn't have thought of Christmas shopping in Neverland-"
"Flaming-!"
o.o.o.o.o
A boy in a black coat was walking along a sunny beach, surveying the lagoon before him with satisfaction. He paused. "Guess what?" he called loudly. "I do believe in fairies!"
Within a minute, a tiny girl in a dress made of leaves was practically launching herself at his face, tinkling wildly and dripping pixie dust.
"Hi, Tink," Roxas said happily. "You need help again?"
"*tinkle tinkle TINKLE!*"
"Don't worry, I'm not on a mission this time. Lead on, I'm right behind you!"
o.o.o.o.o
A boy was sauntering down the streets of Radiant Garden, twirling Wayward Wind. "Just you try invading the Garden, Heartless. I am totally ready for you."
"Roxas!" Ienzo called, hurrying up to him. "I'm glad you're here, we were wanting to-" He stopped, looking at the Keyblade. "Ventus?"
The weapon was hastily dismissed. "What's up, Zexion?"
"...Never mind, either one of you will do. Come along, I need to get you outfitted and then we can give you your assignment..."
o.o.o
Ventus and Roxas may have been separated by several worlds, but their hearts were connected strongly enough for them to sense each other's figurative high-five.
o.o.o
Author's Notes: Lol, if you don't get the Santa thing, it's a reference to my fic Christmas at the Castle. XD
So...this is now the second time I have attempted to write an Axel/Aqua story for Bon-Bon, only to watch it get eaten by their kids. XD *headdesk* Axel, my muse really hates shipping you, doesn't it. *sweatdrop*
And oh my gosh I could NOT think of a title for this! DX So close to calling it "untitled," yet again... orz
Ftr, all these Christmas gifts were supposed to be 300-word drabbles, but apparently I'm incapable of writing stuff that short unless it's in the Stepsiblings universe. *sweatdrop*