Hello everyone. This story is written as a Christmas special. I've only published one since I joined, so, with enough ideas, determination, and time, this is created for this year's Christmas (or at least, December).
"..." - talking
italic - Xion's thinking
Here's Part 1 out of 2. Hope you all would enjoy.
Disclaimer: I did not own any characters, songs and mostly everything in this story. Each belongs to their own respective owner. I only own the story plot.
Winter Companion
Part I: Winter Meeting
The sound of squeaky metal filled the quiet playground as a little girl sat on one of the swings. She would occasionally kick herself into the air with her heels then allowed physic to do the rest of the work until the swinging eased into a stop. The playground was empty except for the lone girl. It was winter; around the mid of December. It was cold and the many previous snowing had covered the ground and everything that stood with a sheet of pure white snow. It was one of those prefect days to stay at home, drinking hot chocolate while keeping warm in front of either a fireplace or a heater.
However, the girl had decided to come out in such a late icy afternoon.
A chilly breeze blew by and the little ravenette shuddered by the sudden cold contact. Tightening the bunnies printed dark blue scarf around her slender neck and lower jaw, the girl continued to sit on the swing, peering out to the playground's entrance that led to the side road, waiting…
Footsteps? The girl shifted on the swing as she looked on, wondering who the advancing footsteps she heard belongs to. Then, she heard soft humming. Whoever that was coming was a boy; she won't misidentified the pitch that belongs to male. However, this belongs to a young male, and he seems to be alone as well.
The soft humming of a familiar song came to an abrupt stop as the hummer stopped by the playground's entrance, the timid figure on the swing had caught his attention. For the next few minutes, the two children silently looking at each other; inspecting each other.
The boy surely was around her own age of 7; the age for entering the First Grade. His hair was in golden-like blonde color and spiky, reminding the little ravenette of the sun in the many illustrated children storybooks she read back at home. His eyes were the same as hers; blue, but his was in a lighter shade. The boy wore a pair of white earmuff, black cotton gloves and a black and white checkered scarf circled around his neck. His winter coat was dark brown in color and reached until his mid-calf. Underneath was a cotton beige sweater with a little checkered pattern knitted at the bottom right side. The ankle length cotton pant he wore was also in a beige color with white at the top and finally, a pair of black sneaker protected his feet from the biting cold.
'He looks kinda rich,' was the first thing that came to her mind after she had studied him. She looked down at her own clothes; consisted of an old scarf, black long sleeves cotton sweater with another plain white one that was thinning underneath to provide her more warmth, grey knee length pants and dusty grey tennis shoes that were started to show wears from the longtime use. The little girl had hopped she had worn warmer clothes before she came out, but her warmest clothes were in the laundry, and they didn't get dry as quick due to the cold weather. If only we have extra munny for some new clothes…
The little girl sighed, her breath clouded before her as she absent-mindedly rubbed her unprotected hands for warmth. "It wasn't him…" She mumbled. As her attention was on her pale fingers, she heard the sound of crushed snow getting closer to her. She wasn't intended to see who it was until a young voice spoke up. "Hey… You are Xion Glacio, right?"
The girl's head shot up to meet the pair of blue orbs. "Huh?"
The blonde boy asked again. "Are you Xion? Umm… The scientist's daughter, right?"
The girl slowly nodded her head, quite surprised that someone actually knows her name and was currently talking to her. "How do you know?"
The boy smiled. "Of course I would know. You are in the same class as me, don't you remember?"
Xion's face went blank as she gathered up her memories in school. She wasn't a people-person in school, and often sat alone in class. If there is someone with such spiky hair in her class, she should have noticed it. Then again, she didn't pay much attention to her classmates… She thought it was unnecessary, especially all she heard from them was them making fun of her being the crazy scientist's daughter and a bookworm. 'This boy must be here to mock me too.'
"Sorry. I don't remember." The ravenette told him emotionlessly. However, the boy before her didn't seem to be fazed by how monotone her reply was. The warm smile stayed untouched on his face. "It's alright. My name is Roxas Strife. Nice to meet you." The boy said and held out a hand, waiting for a handshake in return.
Once again, Xion was stunned. No one has personally introduced themselves to her for a very long time, not to mention offering a handshake as well. She didn't know what she should do next. "Why are you doing this?"
Roxas was confused by her question. "What do you mean? Don't people shake hands when they meet each other?"
"I know, but… Aren't you just like the other classmates? Come and mock me?"
"They did that? I didn't know. I won't make fun of you, I promise!" The blonde exclaimed. His hand still stayed in midair, waiting for acceptance from the timid girl.
Xion sat there, looking at the boy's hand then to the boy. "Really?"
Roxas nodded, the warm smile stayed like a small ray of sunshine. One that Xion found herself wanted to see more… Hesitantly, Xion reached out to his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Roxas." He could be her friend, right?
The blonde kept on smiling before breaking the handshake and joined Xion at the swings; sitting on the vacant one next to her. "So, Xion. Why are you here alone?"
"I'm waiting for my dad. He always passed by here after work. How about you?" Xion told him, surprised that she felt comfortable in sharing things to this new… acquaintance.
Roxas kicked himself up and swung in the air before he replied. "Just for a walk. Kinda bored at home since holiday started."
Xion nodded in understanding and wrapped her hands in the scarf that caressed down from her shoulder for warmth. She tried to strike up a conversation but no subjects came to mind until she heard the swinging blonde boy hummed out the same song he did earlier. She was sure she heard it somewhere before…
"What song is that?"
"Huh?"
"That song. The one you were humming just now."
"Oh. It's called 'Lazy Afternoon'. You know the song?"
Xion felt herself grinned. "Oh yes! I love that song! From the musical storybook 'Town of Orange Bricks', right?"
Roxas skidded himself to a stop as he looked at her with mutual interest. "You know the book too? My dad has been telling me to stop reading that small children's book and more books for my age. I didn't know someone else would like it like I did!"
"There's no way I could hate it. I love the story and the song. It's my favorite book of all."
"Mine too!" Roxas exclaimed happily. Soon, the two kids laughed merrily, glad to find someone with the same interest as theirs.
Xion eventually stopped giggling and said, "You know, you sing quite well."
"Thanks. I bet you sing well too." Xion felt her heart fluttered by such a simple compliment, even though the boy has yet to hear her sing. "But you haven't even heard me sing."
"I know. But I just have a feeling you can sing well, your voice is cute after all." If they were older, they would notice that what Roxas did was flirting. However, despite the null knowledge on that subject, Roxas's words did make Xion's face flushed a light pink.
"Thanks, Roxas."
The blonde smiled before kicked himself into the air again. The metals above squeaked softly. "What time do you dad come?"
Xion sighed then said, "Usually around 6; before the sun sets." The ravenette looked up to the tall circular public clock in the playground. The time was 5.50pm. "He should be here any moment now…"
"Well then. Let's talk some more before he come then. I wonder what else we have in common."
Xion turned to the beaming blonde and smiled. "Ya. I wonder too."
For the next half an hour, the two First Graders talked happily with each other, sharing each other their interests and comparing them. By the time the casual conversation nearing to the end, they realized they both had shared quite a number of same interests; Sea Salt Ice Cream being one of them. Of course, they have differences as well. However, those differences pulled their curiosity towards each other even more.
"Is this 'Struggle' game hard?" Xion asked, her head rested upon her gloved palms in interest.
"Not really. Once you understand the rules and give it a few tries, it's fun." Roxas adjusted his scarf with his bare hand before continued, "Maybe next time, you can give it a try."
"Maybe~" Xion said and rubbed her cheek, helping the blood circulation to provide her warmth. Earlier in the conversation, Roxas had lent her his gloves after he noticed her shivered and rubbing her pale hands together. Xion had tried to decline his offer, but the blonde eventually won with his 7 years old young-gentlemanlike demeanor.
"Your dad is quite slow huh." Roxas stated.
Xion looked up to the clock then nodded her head. "Ya…" It was almost 6.30pm. The sky was getting darker and colder by the passing minutes. If her father still doesn't show up, she would be left alone in the cold darkness. She wasn't anticipating for that…
The spiky blonde kid seems to notice her uncertainty as he suggested, "You want to call him? There's a public phone here."
"Ya." It was probably the best thing she can do in this situation. "Umm… Do you have any spare changes I can borrow?"
After inserted a few munny coins she borrowed from Roxas, Xion dialed the oh-so-familiar number of his father's cell phone and waited for him to pick up. The dial tone rang for a few seconds before a slight British accent and higher pitch male voice spoke on the other end. "Hello? This is Vexen Glacio speaking."
"Daddy. It's me, Xion." Xion spoke.
"Ah~ dear. Where were you earlier? I've been calling home for a lot of time now, and you didn't answer." The scientist said.
"I went out, dad."
"Alone? Xion, you know that is dangerous, right?" Her father reminded her worriedly. "Did you get hurt or anything?"
"I'm fine, dad. And I'm not alone. I'm with a…" Xion glanced over to Roxas, who was still sitting on the swing, swinging back and forth slightly. "Friend."
Vexen chuckled with hint of excitement. "Really, love? You're out with a friend? I'm happy for you."
"A-Ah… Dad, when are you coming home? It's late." And dark. Xion found herself unable to say the last two words. She really hated the dark…
"Sorry, Xion. That's what I've been trying to call you about. Daddy got overtime in the lab tonight, so daddy won't be home until 10."
"What? Why?" Xion whined.
"Daddy has to listen to his boss, dear. Have dinner and go to bed without me, okay? Unless you want to wait till I come home to tuck you in." Vexen told his daughter.
Xion shook her head hard, even though her father couldn't see on the other line. "But the house would be all quiet and cold!" And dark. "I don't want to be alone!"
She heard her father sighed. "I'm sorry, dear. But daddy can't leave. Well… Why don't you stay over at your friend's house for tonight then?"
"Staying over?" Xion was stunned for a while. Staying over at Roxas's place? They only met –well, truly meet and talk- about an hour ago. She doubt Roxas would just invite a new friend –wait, are they even friends?- who he just know to his home that easily. "But… Isn't that troublesome for his family?"
"Oh~ It's a male friend, huh?" Vexen chuckled once more. "But you don't want to be alone, right? Try to ask your friend, and then tell me where he lives, so I can go fetch you home tomorrow."
Xion sighed in defeat. "Okay…"
"Then see you tomorrow, love."
"Bye dad." Soon, the line went dead.
Xion placed the handset back onto its original place and walked over to Roxas, who got off the swing once she got near.
"So? Where's your dad?" Roxas asked before stuffed his hands into his winter coat's jacket.
The ravenette tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before telling him. "He's not coming…"
"Huh? Why?"
"He has to stay late at work. So, he won't be going home so early."
"Oh… I see." Roxas simply said. "So, um… It's getting late. Want me to walk you home?"
Xion absent-mindedly intertwined her fingers as she tried to ask. "A-Ah… Roxas, you see… I need to ask you something…"
The blonde tilted his head in confusion. "What is it?"
"C-Can I… Can I stay over at your house tonight?" Xion blurted it out, her face reddened in embarrassment. "I-It was my dad's idea. So I don't have to stay alone at home." The ravenette explained, hoping the blonde wouldn't view her as a scaredy-cat.
She had prepared for him to reject her request or voice out an excuse for not having her over. She had even prepared to go back to the dark, quiet building she called home before the blonde stood in front of her smiled.
"Sure! A sleep over. It would be fun!"
Xion did not expect that answer. "Y-You sure? You are okay with that?"
Roxas only grinned wider. "Of course. That's what friends do, right?"
The girl was shocked at first, slowly, she couldn't help but relaxed and smiled back to the blonde as the word he said sunk in. "Ya…"
We're friends.
That's all for this part one. Second part would be out before the 25th, in order to fit to the storyline.
Okay, I'm being paranoid here due to Xion's um... behavior. Some people did mention that children about those age are energetic, naive and being innocent. They don't truly understand isolation, depression and any kind of abuse. So, I would like to explain below:
Q: Why is !child Xion acting like this?
A: In this story, I viewed Xion as an introvert; likes to be alone, but not lonely. That's what I think Xion as in the game as well, because introverts are loyal once they made real friends. Being an introvert made her very hard to make friends in school, and eventually just give up on trying. Thus, when someone friendly and like Roxas appeared, she was confused. Well, eventually things got better. To answer it more, this story was partially my own life experience from childhood until the start of my high school year.
I hope the above answer clear up the question. If you have other questions, you're free to PM me bout it, or you could... not. I (hopefully didn't already) won't give out too much to spoil the next part.
Fav it, alert it, review it if you want to~ Hope to see you next part!
P.S. Does Vexen really sounds like that in English again? I searched youtube for it, and he sounds like that to me. XD
