a/n: Hello, lovelies!

So, longer chapter this time...it's like, over twice as long as the last one xD I just couldn't stop writing, so...yeah!

I'm really glad you guys are liking the story so far :3 I actually love writing it, so this is a good mix xD

So you'll meet some familiar people this chapter! :D I hope you guys enjoy, and I hope I'm getting peoples' personalities right haha...that would be awkward if I wasn't o_O

Right, so I won't ramble any more xD on with Chapter II of Parenting!

~A-Far-Off-Memory


Chapter II

They made their way out the door to Roxas' beat-up old car and got in. Naminé held her backpack on her lap and buckled up, while Roxas started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Do you have the address?" he asked, glancing over at his baby sister.

Nodding, she pulled a slip of ripped yellow construction paper from her backpack and handed it to him. Written in purple crayon in her messy, six year old scrawl, he barely made out a misspelled Trinity Apartment Complex, Building 2, Apartment 813.

"So tell me more about Kairi," he prompted, wanting to make conversation since his radio was broken. Plus, he wanted to hear more about her new friend.

Naminé lit up immediately. "Kairi is my bestest friend! She's in my class, and she was really the only one who was nice to me. She introduced me to her other friends, so now I have lotsa friends at school!"

"She seems very nice," he commented with a smile. He was so happy to hear that Naminé was making friends—back at her old school on the other island, she hadn't had any at all. The kids all made fun of her because she was different from them and they couldn't understand, plus she was smaller than most kids her age. She was also kind of…offbeat, so that didn't exactly help. Kids could be cruel little bastards sometimes.

"She is!" the tiny blonde said enthusiastically. "And her big brother is reeeeeeally nice too! He takes care of her like you and Venny take care of me, because she doesn't have a mommy and her daddy left like our mommy did…" She looked down sadly then, and it broke Roxas' heart so much. Reaching out, he wrapped an arm around her skinny little shoulders.

"Mommy's just having a really hard time right now, kiddo," he told her, sighing. "She loved Daddy very much, and it made her really sad when he passed away. I'm sure she'll come back someday, okay? Don't cry." His voice was soft as he wiped away a tear that had slipped from one of her eyes. He could have dealt just fine with his mother leaving if it had just been him and Ven, but for her to leave Naminé, who couldn't understand? It was ridiculous.

"I just miss her, Roxy…and Daddy too." She looked over at him, fear in her teary blue eyes. "You and Venny won't ever leave me, right?"

Luckily, they were at a red light. Leaning over the middle console, he hugged her tightly and kissed the crown of her head. "Never in a million, billion years, Nami. You'll always have us, okay?"

Sniffling, she nodded. "I'm really glad I have big brothers like you and Venny, Roxy. I love you a lot."

Letting her go since the light turned green, he smiled softly. "I love you too, you little monster."

She giggled at that, wiping away any leftover tears, and he knew she'd be okay. For a little girl, she had an exceptional kind of strength to her. She was definitely one of a kind.

They soon reached the Trinity Apartments. They got out of the car, and Roxas pressed the button to lock the doors before taking her hand and leading her to Building 2. She stared up at the tall buildings in wonder—they were higher than the buildings on the island they were from, and she hadn't really been here. They'd lived in the suburbs, and so she wasn't used to huge buildings.

They headed inside and went to the elevator. Roxas let Naminé press the button, and as they waited, she practically vibrated where she stood.

Chuckling, he questioned, "Excited?"

She nodded vigorously, a wide smile on her little face. The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and Naminé nearly ran right into an elderly woman that was exiting in her excitement.

"Sorry about that, ma'am," Roxas apologized, nudging a sheepish-looking Naminé as he held the elevator doors open.

"Yeah, miss, I'm real sorry," she murmured, looking down and twiddling her thumbs.

The old woman smiled and laughed, waving a hand dismissively. "It's quite alright, dear. Just be more careful and watch where you're going from now on, okay?"

Smiling brightly, Naminé nodded. "I will, miss!" she promised.

"You have fun, dear," she said before heading out the door.

The siblings stepped onto the elevator, and Roxas told her to press number eight. She did so after taking a few seconds to find the correct button, watching as the doors closed and feeling the elevator start to move.

They quickly reached the eighth floor. Roxas took his little sister's hand, and together they located apartment thirteen. Naminé immediately knocked, practically buzzing with excitement. A squeal was then heard from the other side of the door, which was opened seconds later by a small girl with short, bright red hair. The shade looked familiar to him for some reason, but he couldn't decide why…

"Nami!" the little girl squealed, throwing her arms around Naminé. They were the same height, which made Roxas smile.

"Hey, Kairi!" the blonde exclaimed, letting go of the redhead. "Kairi, this is my big brother Roxas!"

The little girl smiled shyly at him. He returned the smile and waved, causing her to giggle. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Kairi."

She giggled again. "You too, Roxas!"

Roxas knelt down to pull his sister in for a hug, kissing her cheek. "You have my number written down somewhere, right?" he questioned, pulling back to look her in the eyes.

She nodded. "It's in my backpack!"

He smiled. "Okay, kiddo. Call me when you're ready to come home…but not too late, you know your bedtime is nine on Saturdays," he said seriously.

She sighed. "I know, I know…can I watch a movie with you and Venny later?"

"If he's home early enough," he promised. He poked her nose, making her giggle. "Have fun, Naminé. I'll see you later on."

"Well well well," a new voice cut in. "This is a surprise!"

Roxas froze, recognizing it instantly. Slowly standing, he turned to find none other than Axel Brenton standing behind Kairi. His emerald green eyes sparkled with mischief, a smirk adorning his face.

"You're Kairi's older brother?" he asked incredulously, blue eyes wide.

"The one and only," Axel replied, smirk widening. "Man, when Naminé said that she had two older brothers, I should have known it was you and Ventus. The resemblance is uncanny."

Scowling, Roxas crossed his arms over his chest. Of fucking course it had to be Axel. Axel, the stupid prick in his Philosophy class who insisted on bothering him with suggestive remarks. "Whatever. Take good care of my baby sister, got it?"

"Of course!" he replied, moving closer and leaning against the doorframe. "Naminé'll have lots of fun, right?"

Naminé nodded vigorously, grinning. "Don't worry about me, Roxy! I'll be okay, Axie's lotsa fun and he makes us good food!"

Sighing, not wanting to leave his sister with a douche like Axel, he nodded. "Alright, kiddo." He turned back to Axel, blue eyes guarded. "If anything, anything, happens, she has my cell phone number written down and it's in her bag. Call me immediately if anything goes wrong," he ordered.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got it. You don't have to worry, I'm not retarded. I can take care of two little girls just fine."

"Yeah, whatever," Roxas muttered. He looked to his little sister, forcing himself to smile. "Have fun, Nami. I'll see you later…I love you," he told her, eyes softening.

Nodding, she ran inside. "Bye, Roxy! I love you too!"

He left then, feeling uneasy. He hated the thought of Axel taking care of Naminé all day, but if his little sister's words were true, then the redhead was in a similar situation to him. He let that thought be his sole comfort as he made his way down to his car and started it up. He immediately headed towards his home, seeing no reason to stay out.

He was just parking his car when he felt the desire to get some ice cream. Sighing when he realized he needed to go to the grocery store anyway, he started the car back up and headed toward the nearest store.

Once there, he grabbed a cart and started combing through the aisles for the things he needed. He got some Cocoa Puffs for Naminé and Frosted Flakes for Ven, as well as some Cinnamon Toast Crunch for himself. He also grabbed a box of blueberry Poptarts, throwing in a box of chocolate ones as well since they were his guilty pleasure. He also picked up some fruits and vegetables, as well as some meat to freeze until it was needed.

He gathered other random things he needed before heading to the frozen section, where he grabbed two tubs of sea-salt ice cream, as well as cotton candy for Naminé. Satisfied that he had everything he needed, he headed toward the checkouts.

"Oh my god! Roxas, is that you?"

Roxas turned at the voice, eyebrow raised. He was met with the sight of a spiky-haired brunet of average height, with sparkling cobalt eyes and a wide grin on his face. It took him a moment, but then it clicked.

"Sora?" At the brunet's nod, Roxas felt himself start to grin. "Oh my god, Sora!"

Sora ran over and immediately enveloped him in a hug. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, though his tone was a happy one.

"'Here' as in the grocery store, or 'here' as in Asha Island?" he asked with a cheeky grin, blue eyes sparkling at seeing his old friend again. He hadn't seen Sora since they were eight years old, when the Fair family moved from little Madoc Island to the much larger Asha Island. They'd kept in touch for a little while, but they'd sadly stopped talking when they were ten.

Laughing, Sora smacked him lightly. "Asha Island, silly!"

Smile dropping slightly, Roxas sighed and rubbed his face. "That's right, you didn't hear…"

Sora's brow furrowed. "Hear what?"

The blond looked down, biting his lip. "Dad died a few months ago. Car accident, he apparently died quickly upon impact. Mom moved us here last month…"

The brunet gasped, blue eyes going wide as he raised a hand to his mouth. "Oh my god, Roxas…I'm so sorry to hear that." He glanced around. "Where is your mom? And Ven?"

Roxas sighed again. "Mom left…and actually, I think Ventus is with your brother. I just came to get some groceries after dropping my little sister off at her friend Kairi's."

"Wait wait wait wait wait," Sora said rapidly, eyebrows shooting up. "One, what do you mean by 'left'? Two, Ventus is hanging around with Vanitas and he didn't think to tell me? And three…you have a little sister and she's friends with Kairi?"

"One: I mean left. She left the week after we got here, spouting bullshit about not being able to look at any of us because we look too much like dad. Two: yes, he paid my sister off so that she wouldn't tell me, but I found out anyway. And no offense, but your brother's always been a dick. Three:…yeah, I do. Her name is Naminé, and she's six. She met Kairi at school the week before Christmas break, I guess," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Holy shit," he mumbled. "Dude, so you're like, looking after your brother and sister all alone?"

He nodded. "Roxas Strife: Mother, Father, Brother and Art Student," he muttered, scuffing his shoes against the floor. "Oh, and proud employee of Dairy Bar, can't forget that one."

"Fuck man, you need another hug," Sora said as he grabbed Roxas once more, squeezing him tight. "I could never have the strength required to do what you're doing, Rox. I can't imagine taking care of Xion alone."

"Xion?" Roxas questioned, pulling away from the hug.

Smiling softly, the brunet nodded. "My baby sister. Also six years old and friends with Kairi." His smile widened. "And there she is with mom and dad! Come say hi, they'd love to see you again!" Not giving Roxas a choice, he grabbed him by the arm and forced him to drag the cart along while waving his parents down.

"Well I'll be damned!" The voice came from a tall black-haired man with sparkling blue eyes, who was smiling widely. "Is that you, Roxas?"

Nodding, he offered a wave. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Fair, long time no see!" Smiling down at the tiny black-haired girl that was clutching her mother's hand, he waved to her as well. "You must be Miss Xion."

The little girl giggled and waved enthusiastically, while her mother let out a delicate, airy laugh. Her long brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her emerald eyes were just as kind as Roxas remembered them to be. "Roxas, when have you ever called us that? You know you can just call us Zack and Aerith."

The blond blushed a little. "Right, sorry. Just haven't seen you in a while."

Zack laughed heartily, reaching out and clapping him on the back. "You guys move here?" he questioned. At Roxas' nod, he laughed again. "Ah, so you're doing some grocery shopping for Tifa, then. Could never ask Sora to do that, he'd mess it up." It was said in a playful tone, and he continued. "I'm surprised Cloud never called us up to tell us you were here!"

Roxas looked down, while Sora smacked his palm into his own face and groaned. "Dad…" he hissed.

"It's alright, Sor, he didn't know," Roxas said, taking a deep breath as he looked back up at Zack and Aerith. He cleared his throat. "Three months ago, Dad was hit by a truck when he was driving home from work. It was an instant death, we were told…"

Aerith gasped, her pretty green eyes filling with tears as she covered her mouth with her hand, while Zack…

Zack looked as if he'd been punched in the gut and gotten the air knocked out of him. He and Roxas' father had been friends since childhood, so it must have been a blow to just be finding out now about his death.

"If we'd still had your number or something, we would have contacted you," he said softly, sighing. "But Mom just couldn't focus enough to find it, and I never thought…I'm sorry."

"No, Roxas," Aerith whispered, letting go of Xion's hand to wrap her arms around him. "No, don't apologize for that…how's your mother doing?" she asked as she pulled away, wiping at her eyes.

Roxas' jaw tightened. "I'd love to know. She left the week after moving us here last month."

Zack's brow furrowed. "You mean your mother left you and Ventus alone after that? You haven't heard from her since?"

He shook his head. "Not even just Ven and I…we have a six year old sister, Naminé, too…I've been taking care of them."

Aerith toyed with her long ponytail, chewing on her lip. "That just doesn't sound like Tifa…did she give you a reason?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "We remind her too much of Dad, I guess. She could barely look at us without crying. So she left us. She's sent money, of course, but that doesn't exactly make up for leaving her six year old daughter. Ven and I would have been just fine, but Naminé…she can't process things like we can. So it's up to me now to look after them and make sure that they're both okay."

Sora reached out to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze, looking at him with sympathetic blue eyes. He hated the pity he saw there—he didn't want pity.

"Roxas, son…you listen to me right now," Zack said, blue eyes serious. "If you need anything, anything at all, you come to us. Our home is always open to you, your brother and your sister, alright? Consider us family."

"No one your age should be faced with the burden you carry," Aerith added, voice soft. "Just remember that we're here for you, okay? You aren't alone, honey."

He wasn't going to cry in the middle of the grocery store. Not a chance. Choking back his tears, he nodded, unable to say anything. Seeing this, little Xion stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his legs.

"I don't like it when people are sad," the little girl told him. "And you look really sad, so don't be. Okay?"

Choking out a laugh, he nodded. "You remind me a lot of my baby sister, Naminé," he told her, smiling as he blinked the moisture from his eyes.

Her face lit up. "I know Naminé! She's in my class! And she's friends with Kairi, and I'm friends with Kairi so that makes us friends too!" she babbled excitedly, blue eyes shining happily. "She's really nice, and she helps me in art class!"

Sora laughed. "Well, would you look at that. Our baby sisters already know each other," he said with a grin. "We'll have to have to two of you over sometime! Will you be picking her up before supper tonight? Because we'd love to have you, right Ma? Dad?"

Aerith and Zack nodded, both smiling. "We'd love to have you for supper, and your brother and sister as well," the brown haired woman told him with a smile.

He returned the smile, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "I'm waiting on Naminé's call to pick her up, so I don't really know about her. And Ventus…well, I'm almost positive he's with your oldest son right now," he replied with a sigh.

"Ventus? With Vanitas?" Zack questioned, eyebrows raised. "I wasn't aware that they were friends…you'd think he would have told us that you three had moved here…"

"That's exactly what I thought when I found out," Sora muttered. "But Vani's a dick so…"

Aerith swatted him on the arm, while Xion giggled. "You said a bad word, Sora!" she crowed.

"Yes," Aerith said slowly, quietly, making Sora gulp. The woman was sweet as can be, but she was terrifying when she wanted to be… "You know not to speak like that in front of your sister, Sora Angeal Fair!"

Roxas snorted. "Dude, you got the full name…you better run."

Zack laughed. "And fast," he added, grinning at Roxas.

"Sora's in trouble, Sora's in trouble!" Xion sang, giggling.

Eyes wide, Sora exclaimed, "I'm off!" before running off.

Aerith smiled serenely, turning back to Roxas. She produced a notepad and pen from her purse, writing something down before ripping the page out and handing it to him. "Here's our address, honey. We'll be eating supper around seven, so come anytime before then. And if you can track Ventus down and if Naminé calls you before them, they're welcome to come with you," she told him, smiling softly. "I also wrote Sora's cell phone number down so that you can text him and let him know if you're coming."

Smiling, he took it and folded it before sticking it in his pocket. "Thank you, guys. I haven't had a nice homemade meal in ages, so I'll be there," he said, chuckling.

Zack grinned. "Then we'll see you later!"

He nodded, taking hold of his cart. He smiled down at Xion. "It was very nice to meet you, Xion," he told her, grinning.

She smiled brightly up at him, pushing her short black hair out of her face. "You too, Roxas!"

They separated then. Roxas went to the checkouts and paid for his food, shoving the bags in his cart and wheeling it to the door before taking them all into his hands and heading out the door.

He found Sora outside, looking around warily. Laughing, he waved at his old best friend, receiving a wave back as he walked away.

"I better see your sorry ass at my house tonight!" the brunet called, earning a few glares from people as they passed by.

Roxas snorted. "Yeah, dickwad, I'll be there!" he called back as he reached his car, unlocking the doors and shoving his groceries in the back. He then climbed in and started it up, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in months as he drove away with the promise of a home cooked meal and people who cared for him.


Review Replies:

ultimatedarkness: I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for being the first to review :3

Namine01234: The way I picture little Nami is just so adorable like I just wanna pinch her cheeks xD I'm glad you liked the first chapter, thanks for reviewing!

Lil Dorito: Aww, thank you :D I hope I don't end up boring you or anyone else, haha!

Cold Music: Of course I'll go on! I don't intend on quitting this story like, ever...well, until it's done that is '^_^ and haha regardless, thank you for the offer, I'll keep it in mind :)


Okay, so that was chapter 2...I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review!

So now we have little Kairi, Axel, Sora, little Xion, Zack and Aerith! And we know who Roxas' parents are! Exciting, right?! LOL probs not...ANYWAY, next chapter will bring another familiar face! Guesses as to who he/she is? First one to guess correctly just might get a prize if I'm feeling generous :3

Well, adios amigos/amigas! Until next time!

~AFOM

P.S. I'll try to update again on AkuRoku day, as long as I get my oneshots and twoshot done and up first xD