Author's Note: Oh look, I've written more het. Wow. I don't know what's gotten into me lately. Really.
Reviews are appreciated-I check my Reader Traffic, so I KNOW somebody's reading this. Please leave a comment! If you think this story sucks, please tell me why. As always, please don't flame me; I don't have the time or the patience.
DEDICATION: To moon maiden of time, who is awesome and rocks and was the only one who reviewed this Fic so far. Thank you SO much! :D
DISCLAIMER: One of these days…but not today. I don't own "Kingdom Hearts," "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories," or "Kingdom Hearts II." That honor belongs to Square Enix, Tetsuya Nomura, and Disney, Inc. I make no money off writing this Fic. NOT A CENT. Which stinks, cuz I could use the cash…(lol)
NOTES: This Fic takes place just as the events of "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories" start to occur, just before Zexion shows up. I know Roxas probably left after "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories," but for the sake of the story, let's pretend he left just as Sora arrived in Castle Oblivion. It's also set in the real Twilight Town, as opposed to the one DiZ made for Roxas to live in before Sora woke up. It was implied in-game that no one from the actual Twilight Town knew Roxas (since he didn't really exist anyway) so I'm just running with that assumption for this Fic. I'm also assuming that the Twilight Town kids all have families…I mean, they have to be living with SOMEBODY, right?
Now let's get this party started.
PAIRING: ZexionxFuu
Ordinary Day
It was just an ordinary day for the inhabitants of quiet, sleepy little Twilight Town, a world not threatened by darkness. The citizens went about their everyday business, such as chores, jobs, schoolwork, or just goofing off, in a relaxed and calm way. Every aspect of their lives, from their perpetual smiles to their ways of moving and speaking, reflected the views of a people who are completely, utterly content with their lives and live them without a care in the world.
Fuu hated it.
Living in Twilight Town, as far as she was concerned, was completely, utterly boring. Nothing ever happened, and she doubted anything ever would. Everyone around her was boring and predictable-well, almost everyone. Her three best friends, Seifer, Rai, and Vivi, were interesting enough. But even they could get annoying at times, with Seifer's huge ego, Rai's inferiority complex, and Vivi's…well, Vivi-ness. Still, she'd hung around with them ever since she was six, when Seifer had rescued her from a gang of bullies down an alleyway she'd used as a shortcut. They were the only ones in town, Fuu's parents included, who didn't mind that she was quiet, not saying more than one or two words at a time. There wasn't anything to say, as far as Fuu was concerned, and she certainly wasn't going to start crapping words out like everyone else in town, jabbering on about the weather and other such nonsense. She couldn't stand that.
And today, unfortunately, seemed like it would be an especially boring day. Seifer hadn't felt like stirring up trouble with Hayner's gang (which would have livened things up, in Fuu's opinion) and had instead decided to get in some early practice for the Struggle match at the end of summer. Despite the fact that it was only the end of spring now, he and Rai were currently beating the shit out of each other with the standard blue foam Struggle bats. Usually, Fuu would have Vivi's company during this tedium, but Vivi's mother had dragged him across town to go shopping for new clothes today. So Fuu was even more bored than usual, watching Seifer and Rai act stupid and idly wondering why the town put so much importance on a sport where two people hit at each other with foam bats, anyway.
Just then, out of the corner of one dark brown eye, Fuu saw a swirl of black fabric. It appeared and disappeared in the space between two buildings faster than she could blink.
This was extremely unusual, because no one in Twilight Town ever wore black. Ever. The town lived under a perpetual sunset (practically the only interesting thing about it, in Fuu's opinion, and even that got old real quick) so all the town's inhabitant's wore bright, cheerful colors to match the skies. Reds, oranges, yellows, light blues, the occasional light purple or violet, whites-these were the colors you saw on the inhabitants of Twilight Town, day in and day out. It was like an unspoken dress code. Only Seifer's gang dared to wear a little black, and even they paired it with brighter colors, such as Seifer's white trench coat and Rai's orange tank top. Plus, Seifer and Rai were right in front of Fuu, and Vivi wouldn't be back until this evening.
At first, Fuu wondered if she hadn't simply imagined it. But she'd never been the type of girl to conjure up weird things. She prided herself on being sensible and down to earth, always keeping her head in a tough situation. So that swirl of black had to be real.
And as a member of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee (a.k.a. Seifer's Gang) it was Fuu's job to check out and…dispose of…any potentially dangerous strangers. Anyone wearing large amounts of black was definitely not a native of Twilight Town. She opened her mouth to alert Seifer and Rai to the danger.
"Hey, Rai!" Seifer yelled. "Betcha I can hit that lamppost from here!"
"No way!" Rai responded, arms folded across his chest. "I bet even Setzer couldn't hit a lamppost from all the way across the Sandlot, y'know?"
"Oh yeah?! How much munny you wanna bet on that?"
…On second thought, Fuu would just go check it out herself. Wasn't like the boys would miss her. So she stood up in one quick, fluid gesture, yanking up the dark collar of her midnight blue tank top and tucking her head inside it in order to hide her unusual, chin-length silver hair. No one in Twilight Town had silver hair but Fuu and the town Struggle champion, Setzer, who was the idol of Fuu's entire high school class. Because of this, Fuu often found herself asked if she was related to him, something she took great offense to.
Fuu ran down the narrow alley space between the two buildings where she'd seen the black streak, her baggy khaki capris making a soft swishing noise as she went and her light blue and white sneakers padding quietly along the cobblestones. She ran around several corners without seeing any sign of people dressed in black. Finally, she ended up just outside the tiny, dead-end courtyard where Mrs. Takashi often got bee infestations and hired local kids to help her get rid of them.
But today, there were no bees. Rather, standing still as a statue in the center of the courtyard, there was a person dressed head to foot in a long black coat.
Fuu hid quietly behind one of the buildings surrounding the courtyard, and peered around it at the figure. She'd never seen someone dressed so oddly-Twilight Town was fairly warm even during the winter, and it was late spring now. The person had to be sweltering in that long coat, which was coupled with black boots and gloves.
Fuu had a feeling the person was a man-something about the way he held himself told her so, despite the fact that his back was to her. The coat was pretty form-fitting, and Fuu could see that he was thin and slight for a guy. He was also on the short side, only slightly taller than Fuu herself. But the oddest thing about him was his hair. It was only slightly longer than Seifer's, ending at the nape of his neck. And it was as gray as the storm clouds that frequented Twilight Town in late July.
Fuu had never seen a young man (she could tell he was young as well, by some odd kind of intuition she'd learned not to doubt) with gray hair before. That was even stranger than someone dressed all in black. By this point, Fuu was starting to get nervous. She wondered how this person had gotten to Twilight Town, and more importantly, whether or not he had any weapons hidden under his coat. Fuu was already doubting his sanity, as he'd been standing stock-still in the middle of the courtyard for several minutes already. She was starting to regret not taking the boys with her after all.
Fuu started looking around for something she could use as a weapon, just in case. Only a few feet away from her was a nicely sized piece of plywood that would do in a pinch. She began inching her way over to it, willing herself to move as quietly as possible and even holding her breath a little. And she probably would have been able to get to it, too-if her foot hadn't accidentally hit a pebble, which bounced off against the side of a building with a clatter that was nearly deafening in the silence.
Panic froze Fuu's body in place. Despite her brain screaming at her, "RUN, YOU IDIOT!" she couldn't move an inch.
The man whipped around, a thick white book appearing in his hand. Despite the fact that she might die or sustain severe injury, Fuu couldn't help but notice that the man's hair was longer in the front than in the back, a long sweep of bangs stretching down almost to his chin and covering up half his face, including one of his eyes. The one eye Fuu could see was a deep, piercing blue, and fixed on her instantly.
"Who are you?" The man's voice rang out clear as crystal in the empty courtyard.
Fuu couldn't speak. She could only stare at this strange man, dark chocolate eyes wide.
"Answer me!" The man moved his book slightly so it was in front of him. Fuu could see strange, swirling silver script on the front in a language she couldn't read.
"F-Fuu," she finally managed to stutter out.
"What are you doing here?"
"N-Nothing." She couldn't seem to get rid of that nervous stutter, and the man's eyes narrowed further.
"Tell me, Fuu," he said, a little softer. "Do you live here?"
"Yes."
"Good." The slate-haired man leaned against the wall of a building, tucking the book away in a pocket of his coat. "I'm looking for someone. Do you know of a boy with dark blond hair, swept up on one side like this?" The man pushed up one side of his hair to show her, though unfortunately not the side covering his face, which Fuu found herself wondering about. Still, the gesture seemed a little silly, and Fuu found herself stifling a giggle. One thing she did not do was giggle.
"He also has blue eyes, and he's around fifteen or sixteen," the man went on. "I need to find him rather quickly, you see. He's…a relative, and he's lost."
Seifer's gang knew everyone in Twilight Town. They had to, in order to make sure no strangers got in and, as Seifer put it, "mess up the place." So Fuu knew that there were no boys in Twilight Town with dark blond hair like that, or with light blue eyes, who were fifteen or sixteen. The only blond boys her age were Seifer and Hayner, and Seifer wore his hair down in longish, greasy locks, while Hayner's was cropped short.
Fuu shook her head at the slate-haired man.
"I see." The man sighed, and cast his eyes down to the cobblestones. Fuu relaxed a little, since the man didn't seem about to harm her, and leaned against the building opposite him. "Where could he be, if not here?" She heard the man mutter to himself.
"Thank you for your help, Fuu." The slate-haired man nodded at her. " I'll take my leave now." He turned to go…but paused at the mouth of the alley.
"You have…very nice hair," he said softly. "I knew several people who had silver hair like yours." He gave a dry chuckle. "Now why did I say that? It's not like me to be sentimental."
He turned on his heel and headed out of the courtyard.
"Wait!"
Fuu had no idea why she'd called for the man to stop. Even at the time she'd known it was foolish. But she had to know why he'd appeared in her life-why he'd shattered the normalcy that had made up her days until that moment.
Still, the man stopped and turned back to face Fuu, looking at her expectantly.
"Your name?" She asked.
The man laughed again, but there was no humor in it. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You'd only forget." And with that, he bolted away from her out of the courtyard, coat flapping out behind him, disappearing around a building.
A few minutes later, when Fuu got over her shock and raced after him, he was gone. There wasn't a trace of him anywhere. It was as if he'd never been to Twilight Town at all.
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Fuu didn't know why she woke up so suddenly that night. She thought later on it might have been some little noise that startled her awake, such as an animal playing around on her roof, but she couldn't be sure. And she certainly didn't know how the mysterious slate-haired man from earlier got into her room, since she locked her doors and windows each night, no matter what the weather. But there he was nonetheless, standing on the other end of her room by her desk, as still as if he were made of marble. His eyes were fixed on her.
Fuu had never been a screaming kind of person, so even though this was a situation that would cause any other girl to scream bloody murder and hope the guy ran off, Fuu didn't. She stared at him, dark eyes wide and wondering.
"Zexion," the man said by way of greeting. "My name is Zexion."
"Zex…ion," Fuu rolled the strange name over her tongue, tasting it in her mouth. "Zexion."
"I apologize for coming in here and disturbing your sleep," Zexion said, even though he'd been perfectly silent and Fuu had woken up on her own. "I couldn't get you out of my head, and I don't know why."
"…Oh." Fuu didn't know what he wanted her to say, and she didn't want to admit that he was the only thing she'd been thinking about, either. Not yet, anyway.
"You don't talk very much, do you?" Fuu thought she saw a small smile on Zexion's face, but it was dark, and she couldn't be sure.
"No."
"That's all right." Zexion moved quietly over to the side of her bed, and Fuu sat up a little straighter, her blanket slipping down to her ankles. "I'm surrounded by chatterboxes, and I don't like it at all."
Fuu couldn't believe Zexion was this close to her. This was all happening so fast…She had to be dreaming.
"I'm leaving," Zexion continued. "I'm going…very far away, and I don't know when I'll be able to come back. If I'll be able to come back."
"Why?" Fuu didn't know why her breath was hitching in her chest.
"My…superior…is reassigning me there," Zexion whispered.
They were both silent for a few minutes longer, desperately drinking each other in.
Fuu saw a hand stretch out, pale and white in the darkness, and gently smooth away the long bangs covering Zexion's face. His hair felt soft and almost ethereal, like brushing against a bird's wing.
It took her a moment to realize that hand was hers, and that she was staring into Zexion's whole face, both of those impossibly blue eyes wide and staring at her in shock. Fuu doubted anyone had touched the man's hair before save for him.
Fuu didn't know how it happened, but suddenly she was kissing Zexion, tasting sweet rainwater with a hint of fresh blackberries. She didn't want to admit it, but it was her first kiss, and Zexion was amazing, gentle and tender. She blushed red as a cherry when they pulled away, breathing hard.
"I-" Fuu started.
But Zexion placed a gloved hand gently over her lips and shook his head. "No," he whispered. "They're just words, Fuu. People try to put how they feel into words all the time. That's why there's so much conflict in the world. Some things…just cannot be said."
Zexion then laid his head gently on Fuu's chest, right atop her pounding heart. Fuu stiffened, staring down at the gray-haired head. She wasn't experienced in these matters at all, but she didn't think anyone did this after kissing all the same. "Please," Zexion murmured. "I need this. Only for a few moments, I promise."
So Fuu relaxed back against her pillows, enjoying the feel of Zexion's soft hair and warm head against her chest. And Zexion loved the sound of Fuu's beating heart. It made him feel like he had a heart of his own, and he could ignore the tight ache in his empty chest cavity for a little while.
The two laid like that for a long while, not moving or speaking, only listening and feeling. Fuu occasionally played with a few strands of Zexion's hair in an almost unconscious gesture, marvelling at their softness. Zexion leaned ever-so-slightly into her touch, and the faintest ghost of a smile touched his lips, something Fuu thought seemed utterly foreign and yet so right on his face.
Suddenly, Zexion was sitting ramrod straight in Fuu's bed, staring hard and disbelievingly out the window. Fuu followed his gaze and saw that the sun was getting brighter in the sky, lighting up the whole town with a soft orange glow. It was what passed for a sunrise in Twilight Town, since the sun never actually rose.
"I'm sorry." Zexion leapt to his feet. "I have to get back. I've stayed too long as it is. Damn, I didn't realize what time it was…"
Muttering quiet curses, Zexion absentmindedly smoothed Fuu's bedcovers, as if to hide any traces of his having been there and bewildering Fuu even more. Then he went to the window and flung it wide, letting fresh, cool morning air waft through the bedroom and gently ruffle their hair.
Fuu didn't remember getting out of bed or moving over to Zexion. All she knew was that she was probably never going to see him again, and she was kissing him, hard and fast. And he was kissing her back. Zexion nipped gently at her lower lip, and Fuu gasped at the contact, allowing Zexion's tongue to snake into her mouth. Their tongues wove together, wrestling and sliding, and their teeth clashed, and Fuu was drowning in blackberries and rainwater and Zexion Zexion ZEXION.
The two broke apart for air, breathing hard and fast. Fuu's heart felt as if it were going to burst from her ribcage at any moment. She felt an arm slip around her waist and draw her close against Zexion's chest. Not really thinking, just feeling, she looped her arms around his neck and tangled her hands in his air, burying her head in the soft material of his coat. And they held each other like that for a few moments.
Then Zexion gently pushed her away.
"Thank you, Fuu," he whispered. "I'll always remember this."
Then he leapt out the open window, and Fuu watched as he landed with inhuman grace on two feet right on the ground outside, even though her room was on the second story. He pulled the hood of his coat up over his head, hiding his face and becoming another nameless shadow to flit about the street corners. Then he ran off, around the corner and out of sight.
Fuu stayed watching the corner where Zexion had disappeared for a few minutes longer, then went back to her bed and watch the sun come to its full brightness.
It had just been an ordinary day for Fuu.
Until a slate-haired man in a black coat came along and changed everything.
Author's Note: It's FINALLY done! Yay! It was supposed to be done this past weekend, but with one thing and another (otherwise known as WORK) I just couldn't find the time to write.
I fairly agonized over this story, too. It wasn't easy to write, since Fuu only speaks one or two words at a time and Zexion doesn't give off an air of talking much, either. I guess I thought they'd be a good couple for that reason, though. (But Zexion talked a lot in "Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories," so go figure.) Anyway, since Fuu is a very minor character in the game, it was really hard to avoid OOC-ness, but I hope I managed OK. If they're a little OOC, I'm sorry. I've never written Fuu before, and I only wrote Zexion before once in a short little AU one-shot.
The original version of this was way longer, but after their first encounter in the little courtyard I saw I was already at five pages, and I didn't want to have this story drag on forever like some of my other stuff has. I also wanted to have Fuu find out Zexion was a Nobody, but I just couldn't fit that in there. Besides, it occurred to me that Zexion might be a bit ashamed of the whole not-having-a-heart thing (which is why he doesn't break down in tears or say "I love you" at all in the Fic) so maybe it's just as well.
Well, I'm ending here. You probably don't care about Why The Story's Not The Same Here As It Was In My Head…this is just here on the off-chance that you do.
REVIEW CORNER Thanks for Reviewing:
moon maiden of time
If you cared enough to get this far, you should care enough to tell me why. And if you have any crack pairings you want to see in this thing, give me those too. I can always use ideas.
NEXT WEEK'S PAIRING: SephirothxHades
