Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Story Title: Straight From The Heart
Chapter Title: Valentine Visit
Rated: PG-13
Story Word Count: 7,854
Chapter Word Count: 3,962
Romance: Sora x Roxas
Notes: I wrote this for the Kingdom Hearts Exchange Project and since permission has been given to reveal, I'm posting this and thus...revealing that I wrote it. It was written for remi_chan and I hope everyone likes it. This takes place after the ending of Kingdom Hearts II. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.
Summary: It's nearing Valentine's Day and Sora has a little problem: he's in love with Roxas.

"All right, is everyone ready to go?" Sora asked, glancing around the Gummi Ship. Unlike his other trips, he'd actually gotten a chance to pack first. Not that he was bringing much other than the various potions and other things that they might need if they ran into Heartless or Nobodies. He had put back on the clothes that Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather had given him when he'd started out the last time, for much the same reason he was bringing the potions: just in case.

Kairi, on the other hand, had a bag that looked to his inexperienced eye as if she'd packed half of her wardrobe in it. He wondered if it were a girl thing of some kind. He'd never lost track of the fact that she was one, but sometimes it was just more evident than others. This was going to be one of them, he thought. He hoped she wouldn't go too crazy once they got to Valentine's Day Town. Girls could be like that around the holiday, he'd noticed before.

Riku was as simply dressed as he usually was, and if Sora hadn't known better, he would've thought that his friend had only planned a casual stroll to the other side of the island, instead of an expedition to another world altogether. Riku traveled light, obviously.

All three of them had their Keyblades, of course, though they weren't visible to the naked eye. Sora still had no idea of where the blades were when they weren't holding them, but that didn't really matter, as long as they were there when they were needed. Kairi wasn't as good as either of them were in a fight just yet, but they'd been working on teaching her as much as they could. She could at least handle some of the lesser Heartless, which could make a fight a bit easier on them. That was Riku's assessment anyway, and Sora agreed with it.

"Yeah, we're ready," Riku said as he leaped up into the ship. Their parents had, thankfully, not given them that much trouble. That might possibly have had something to do with the fact Sora hadn't exactly told them that he wanted to find the best gift he possibly could for the Nobody they didn't quite believe existed. "What was it you told them, anyway, Sora?"

Sora flashed a quick grin at his friend. "I told them we were going to Valentine's Day Town so I could find the best present I could for the people who are the most important to me." At Riku's look, he shrugged. "I bet I'll find something for you guys, too. So I wasn't lying!"

"Sora, you are impossible," Kairi laughed as she joined them on the ship. "But I think we are all ready to go."

"So let's go!" Sora dropped himself into the driver's seat and started up the engines. Before all that long, Destiny Islands had dropped away beneath them, and space itself folded around them, taking them to the realm between the worlds.

"How long is this going to take?" Kairi wondered as she peered out the window. She'd done a little Gummi ship traveling with them, but it was always something fresh and new. Besides, they'd never been to Halloween Town or the environs before.

"A couple of days, I think. It's hard to figure out time between the worlds, you know," Sora told her as he set the course and the ship started to move.

Sora. Roxas's voice echoed slightly in his mind. Are you sure this is something you want to do?

Hey, if I can't get you your own body, at least I can get you something, Sora settled back in his chair and concentrated on talking with his other half. I know it's the thought that counts, but still…

Roxas grunted something that Sora couldn't quite make out and wasn't sure if he really wanted to. How are you even going to get it to me?

That won't be too hard. Sora mentally shrugged. All he'd really need to do was leave it where Roxas could get to it and then let his Nobody take over for a bit. He still didn't know what it was going to be, but maybe whoever it was that ran Valentine's Day Town could help him figure it out.

This is crazy, you know. There wasn't quite as much conviction behind the words as Sora might have expected. You're crazy. How can you…or we… The words were a bit disjointed, but Sora could figure out what they meant anyway.

I've done a lot of crazy things. Why shouldn't we be able to do this? Sora's logic was unassailable. In his mind, anyway, and that was what mattered as far as he was concerned.

He didn't quite shiver when he felt Roxas a little closer to him, like he'd been when they had eaten the sea salt ice cream, but he did imagine what it would feel like to touch Roxas's hand. He could almost feel it in more than his imagination, that slightly cool skin, as hardened as his own from fighting, with the faint pulse of life that vibrated in time with his own, and was there something that was a cool brush of breath across his face? He didn't want to open his eyes and not see Roxas, so he kept them closed and saw him as hard as he could, in real, breathing reality of the mind. Roxas was all but staring at him, he thought, and he moved forward just the smallest bit, and he could feel Roxas's lips so close to his own, and all it would take was just another moment, when…

"Sora, watch out!" Riku's voice shattered his fantasy, and his eyes flew open to see they were a bare moment or two away from crashing into the heart of an asteroid field. He grabbed for the controls and got them out of there as fast as possible, a thin trickle of sweat going down his back as he did. "Talk to Roxas when we're not trying to get through a place that could kill us if you blink wrong, okay?"

Sora plainly felt Roxas rolling his eyes at Riku and ducked his head some. "Sorry about that."

Riku gave him a look as he settled back into his own seat and then turned to stare out the window. Sora kept his own attention on trying to get them through everything in one piece. Even with the pathways between the worlds open, there was still quite a bit of danger in traveling like this.

The dark corridors are open still, Roxas mused in his head. I haven't tried to get to them, though.

Sora shuddered just at the thought of that. I think I'll pass. He knew that you didn't have to be evil to use them. Riku and King Mickey had proven that. But they still sent a chill down his spine.

They're not that hard, really. But I don't know if I could anymore. Roxas was a bit practical-sounding about it. And now's probably not a good time to try, anyway.

No kidding. Sora shuddered again, and hoped that neither Riku nor Kairi would ask him what he was shuddering about. He stared at the path ahead of them, and tried to figure out how long it would really take them. A couple of days was his best guess, but he wanted something more definite than that. And it gave him something else to think about.

Do you really want to kiss me? Roxas asked suddenly, and Sora was glad that he didn't jump too high just then. At least he could blame it on a passing meteor if he had to.

Yeah, was his reply, and he was fairly certain there was a blush somewhere on his cheeks at that. Saying that he 'really really really' liked Roxas just didn't convey it all the way he wanted it to. He didn't know what would, if anything. Do you want to? It wasn't the most elegant way of asking, but Sora was a teenager as well as the Keyblade Master. Inelegancy was permitted.

As the moments slid by and there was no answer, Sora bit his lip a little nervously. Maybe he'd asked too soon. Or he shouldn't have asked at all.

Yes. Roxas said it quietly but firmly. I do, Sora. His fingers weren't solid, but Sora could feel them wrapping around his hands regardless. He squeezed just the tiniest bit, not enough for anyone who might have been watching to notice, but he knew, and Roxas knew, and that was enough for the both of them.

Sora did manage to keep himself focused on driving the Gummi Ship until Riku declared he'd done it long enough and now he was going to take over for a while. "You get some sleep," Riku told him, nudging at him with a foot. "Or whatever."

Sora opened his mouth to ask what Riku meant by that, but a sharp look from the silver-haired wielder told him this one time, it might be better to be quiet. So he went off to where he usually laid down for rest on the longer trips and curled into a comfortable position.

He'd barely been there for five whole minutes before he was sound asleep, and standing in front of Roxas. Both of them stared at each other, but it was Sora who moved first. He leaned in, pulled Roxas closer to him, and did what he hadn't been able to bring himself to do with anyone, not Riku, not Kairi, and no one else.

He kissed him. Sora kissed Roxas.

It wasn't the most wonderful kiss in the world. Noses bumped and it was more than a little sloppy on both their parts, and Sora wasn't sure just what to do with his tongue, and he didn't think Roxas had the first idea of what to do with his either. But they both managed to at least get a reasonable kiss done, and Sora knew he was grinning like an idiot when they broke apart.

"That…was weird," Roxas said at last. "People do that a lot when they…uh…" He trailed off, but Sora knew what he meant by it.

"Yeah. I've seen people doing it before." His parents did it a lot, and he'd seen Will and Elizabeth, and Belle and the Beast, and lots of his other friends. He was sort of breaking new ground doing this with a guy, but someone had to do that, right?

Roxas nodded a little slowly, but didn't move too far away from Sora. Sora glanced around a bit, trying to figure out where they were. There wasn't much around them here, and what there was looked like a mixture of his own bedroom, the beach, the Usual Spot at Twilight Town, and parts of what he thought might've been the World That Never Was. "So…what is all of this?" he asked, more for a lack of anything else to talk about at the moment. He supposed he could've brought up something about where they were going and why, but they'd covered that for the most part anyway.

"I'm not even sure. I stay here when I'm not up there," he waved a hand above to what was a mixture of clear blue sky and thick rain clouds. "I think it's sort of everywhere I've been."

Sora nodded again and started to look around. Then he looked back at Roxas. "Uh, this is going to sound really stupid, but…want to go for a walk?" He knew how dumb it was. Not only was he actually asleep, but they were inside of his mind or Roxas's mind or dreaming. At any rate, they weren't where you could usually take a walk.

Roxas looked back at him, and then smiled, just a tiny bit, but all the more precious for that alone. "Yeah. Sure. Why not?"

And as surprised as Sora was by the fact he'd asked and Roxas had accepted, he was even more surprised by himself a few seconds later, when he reached for Roxas's hand, and found Roxas reaching back for him.

To be honest, Sora had expected Cupid, the leader of Valentine's Day town, to look much like he did on all the greeting cards: a cute little cherub about two feet tall. Which was why he just kept on staring and couldn't quite get his brain and mouth to actually work together for over a full minute.

Cupid, to put it bluntly, was hot. Smoking hot. He was a bit over six feet tall, with curly blond hair, warm blue eyes, and his every feature was perfect, flawless, and divine. He was dressed casually, in slacks and a sweater that fit him like a glove, and the way he moved drew the eye, no matter what. When he smiled, Sora had never felt so warm or loved by anyone before.

"So nice to meet you at last," he said, and his voice was as gorgeous as the rest of him. "Sora. Riku. Kairi."

"You know us?" Riku's eyes narrowed briefly, but Cupid only waved a languid hand.

"I've spoken with Santa Claus and Jack Skellington about you all. We don't usually speak to each other; keeping charge of our particular holidays takes up most of our time. But I've also seen you, Sora, near some people I keep an eye on. So I wanted to know more about you." He leaned forward, sky-blue eyes all but glowing. "So, you've fallen in love with your Nobody."

Sora flushed a deep shade of red, and Cupid grinned briefly at him. "It is unusual, I'll say. But you three make a habit of that from what I've heard. And I do understand love. It's my specialty, after all. So…you want something special. Unique, I'm sure. Something that will really show how you feel to him…and maybe to everyone else?" He raised one eyebrow in the most perfect arc possible, and Sora wondered if he could get anymore red and managed to nod. "Well. I suggest you go visit the Marketplace, and see what you can find there that calls to your heart." He raised a finger at the sudden look on Sora's face. "No one can make that kind of decision for you. You have to pick it for yourself. A true gift comes straight from the heart. You know that, right?"

"Yeah…" Sora managed to work out the word, and he was certain that he could hear Roxas laughing in the depths of his mind. They'd went on mind-walks whenever he'd slept on the trip there, and every time he woke up, his determination for this to succeed had grown by greater and greater leaps and bounds.

Cupid nodded slightly, then motioned them out of his temple-like home. "The Marketplace is down the road and to your left," he said. "Keep an eye out for trouble, too."

"Heartless?" Sora snapped himself into business mode. "Are they around?"

"Some. Not as many as there used to be, but some do crop up now and then," Cupid toyed briefly with the tip of an arrow, and Sora wondered when he'd brought it out. "My arrows don't work on them, but we've managed to get them to leave Valentine's Day Town sometimes. But just watch out. You never know what could happen when you let your heart be your guide."

Kairi was as red as Sora himself as they left the temple and started down the road that Cupid had indicated. "He's…he's…" Words failed her and she flailed helplessly at the air in an attempt to convey what was on her mind. "He's…so…"

"Yeah," Sora nodded slowly in agreement. Riku just shrugged, as unaffected as he always was by everything.

"I wonder why he doesn't look like he does on the cards," the silver-haired wielder wondered a bit distantly. "Santa Claus does, after all." He didn't appear to be bothered by the fact there was one, despite what he'd said when he was younger. Sora reminded himself to take the time to tease him about it soon.

"He used to," a voice came from ahead of them, which was revealed to come from a young blonde woman. Her eyes were very kind and her smile gentle as she waved at them. "But people were spending more time staring at the pictures than they were at their real sweethearts, so we came up with the cute little cherub look to stop distracting them."

"I can understand that," Kairi murmured, and the other woman laughed gently.

"I'm Psyche, Cupid's…assistant." The hesitance to the word made Sora wonder if that was all she was, but there were other things on his mind at the moment as well. "Is there anything that I can do to help you?"

"I don't know," Sora shook his head a bit. "I want to find something for someone really special, and Cupid said to check out the Marketplace."

"Good idea." Psyche agreed with a nod. "You never know what you'll find until you need it. Or start looking for it." She motioned them in the direction that Cupid had mentioned. "Good luck to you."

The Marketplace was as varied and strange as anything that Sora had ever seen in all his travels. There were places to find food, most of it with some kind of sweet or Valentine theme to it, and places for armor and weapons and potions, just like in every other place he'd been. He thought he even saw a Moogle stand. There were places to buy perfume and jewelry and cards and books and anything that he'd ever thought of that could be remotely connected to Valentine's Day, and a lot of things that he hadn't ever considered at all.

"Whoa…" Kairi breathed out what was on his mind only for a moment before she leaped forward, tugging on both of their arms, and headed towards a stand with a light in her eyes they'd only seen when she was eyeing a sale at the mall.

How are you going to find what you're looking for if you're with her? Roxas wondered. Sora mentally glared at him.

You're not supposed to be looking. This is a present for you. A surprise!

I live in your mind, Sora. How can I not know what it is? Besides, how are you going to know if I like it if I'm not here?

Sora wanted to grump and pout some more, but even as he started to do so, something caught his eye from across the Marketplace square. He tugged his hand away from Kairi, who didn't even notice as far as he could tell, and headed over there.

The stall held many lovely items of jewelry, earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces, and so many others. Sora had never seen so many in one place before. The stall owner smiled at him warmly as he came up.

"Looking for something for someone special, are you?" she asked, brushing her hair back with one hand. "I can always tell." At his incredulous look, she laughed gently. "The way you came over here instead of staying with your friends, dear boy. It's nothing to it. Now, what do you think your sweetheart would like?" She waved a hand at the display and Sora bent over to take a better look at it all.

Nothing. Roxas almost sounded disappointed as Sora looked over each tray. Nothing there was anything less than beautiful, but nothing grabbed him at all. Either of them, really. Sora sighed, and was about to give up when a loud shout came from the far side of the Marketplace: where Riku and Kairi were.

Before Sora could move, the stall owner shrieked as well and backed quickly away. The Keyblade Master turned in the direction she was looking at, and the Keyblade was in his hand a moment later. There was a small collection of Heartless there, turning over stalls and scattering everything that was in their path. A quick look towards where he'd heard the first cry showed that there was another pack of them there, but he could hear grunts and thuds that also told him Riku and Kairi were on the job.

Which means this is for us! There wasn't quite a hint of bloodthirstiness in Roxas's mind-voice but it was close, and Sora didn't argue with it right now.

After all, right now, he felt the exact same way.

With a fierce and angered cry, built up of frustration and anger at having had the search for the perfect gift interrupted, he threw himself towards the Heartless, Keyblade leading the way. He struck first into a Neoshadow, a furious growl on his lips, and hit over and over until it vanished. That was just the beginning. Every time a Heartless presented itself, he attacked, scarcely taking time to breathe, and hardly feeling as if he needed it.

When it was finally over, Sora looked around slowly. Roxas was slowly withdrawing from the uppermost parts of his mind, where he always was when they fought together. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. "Everyone all right?" he asked.

"We're all right," the stall owner he'd been speaking to before answered. "What about you?"

"I'm fine." Sora shook his head, then started away. He had to find Kairi and Riku and make certain they were all right.

Before he could get too far, the stall owner stopped him, her hand held out. "This is for you. For everything you did." She opened her hand, and Sora's eyes widened at the sight of a keychain there, shaped like a heart.

Yes. Roxas's reply was only one word, but it meant everything to Sora as he stared down at it. Yes. This was it. This was what he'd been looking for. He didn't know what it could do or what to call it, but he knew.

"Thank you," he said softly as he took it. "Thank you very much, ma'am."

"It was my pleasure, for all that you did for us," she replied, then motioned him along. "You'll want to find your friends. Go on."

Sora nodded, tucking the keychain into a pocket, and hurried along. Roxas was doing everything but purr in his mind, and he was a little too worried about Kairi and Riku to wonder why just yet. All of the worrying faded when he saw the two of them, probably as tired as he was, but unhurt, and starting over towards him.

"You all right?" Riku asked, Way To The Dawn still in his hand. Sora nodded quickly.

"What about you guys?"

"Just fine." Kairi replied, stretching a little. Now that he was closer, he could see a couple of empty potion bottles on the ground, which meant they probably hadn't been unhurt, but at least they were fine now. There were a few scratches here and there on him as well, but he didn't worry about them.

He nodded some. "I've found what I was looking for." He hesitated for a moment as he realized something else. "It's almost Valentine's Day. Want to stay here until it's over with?"

Kairi and Riku glanced at each other, then back at him. "Sure," Riku answered. "There's no where we really need to be." School was going to be closed for a few days so the teachers could do something…teacher-y. None of them had really cared that much about the exact details, except that they got the time they wanted to be off on this quest. Their parents had only asked that they be back before school started up again, and Sora had promised that they would be.

As they started back to find some place they could stay until they were ready to leave, Sora fingered the keychain in his pocket. Whatever it was, whatever power that it held, he wanted to find out. Even if it was something as simple as just adding a little extra force to their attacks, that didn't matter. It was going to be his gift to Roxas, and that made it as special as it needed to be.

To Be Continued