Title: Soaring

By: Metamorcy

Rating: M (for safety)

Pairing: Leon/Cloud, Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas, Demyx/Zexion

Disclaimer: don't own

Summary: High school was never a normal place. And it only got weirder when the Leonharts came along… Cleon, Soriku, AkuRoku, Zemyx AU


Chapter 7: Thanksgiving Special!

Leon huffed, folding his arms and stared at the oven before him. He was looking inside at the turkey that was covered in a thin foil then to the ham that had the same thing over it. However, at the base of the ham, the liquid was sizzling. A pleasant aroma filled the kitchen, it was the scent of honey, cinnamon, and a couple of others and it was heavy in the air. Pulling the red mittens on, he opened the oven door carefully, weary of the temperature inside. His eyes squinted slightly at the wave of heat that burst into his face and reached forward to pull the ham out, quickly applying another layer of glaze on it before pushing it back in. Leon did the same thing with the turkey, placing the foil back when he finished. He could hear Zexion in the background, pounding at the potatoes, trying to get them into tiny pieces.

As the eldest Leonhart placed everything back, he stepped away from the oven still looking inside. The bowl that contained the sugary liquid was placed to the side and he turned to check on his brother.

"How is it going?" Leon looked over Zexion's shoulder and saw that most of the potatoes were crushed.

"Almost done. Just needs some salt, pepper, and maybe a little more milk and butter." Zexion grunted as he struggled to pull up the masher from the bottom of the pot. A large lump of potatoes followed, sticking to the utensil like glue. He hit the side to make it fall back down. "How's the turkey and ham doing?"

"Same, just needs to cook a little bit longer. The apple pie is cooling down at the moment and so are the green bean casserole. The cranberry sauce is out and cut. The cheesecake is thawing." Leon looked around, trying to check their list. "Is there anything else I'm forgetting about?"

"Biscuits?" Zexion offered, momentarily turning to add some extra ingredients.

"Got that."

"Gravy?"

"Yep."

"Salad? Stuffing? Dressing?"

"Yep."

Zexion paused, not sure if he had left something out. That was a lot of food already but they were having some people over, more than the year before when it had been them, their father, Riku, and Axel. Zexion stared at the pot and stopped moving, the mashed potatoes were done. Now he had to transfer it into a different container and went around the kitchen looking. He was so deep in thought and his search that he almost missed a single sound.

The door bell had ringed.

Leon looked up from the plates of food that were placed on the kitchen table for the time being and went towards the font door. He went around the extended dining room, looking over it as he passed, and checked outside through the peeking hole. All he needed to see to know who it is was the bright red hair, a pair of them. Leon opened the door, welcoming the Hanabi brothers in.

"Yo! Squall!" Axel cheered, holding up a plate. "I brought chocolate chip cookies!"

"It's Leon and thanks. Put them on the kitchen table." He moved to the side, opening the door wider to allow the two in. His eyes turned to the eldest red head with a nod. "I take it that you're Reno…"

"And you must be Leon." Reno grinned then pointed to his forehead right below where he had goggles on. "The scar gave it away." He went closer, looking over the brunet then patted him on the shoulder lightly. His voice changed to that hopeless sensation as he spoke. "So I finally get to meet the great Leonhart. My poor dear brother has talked so much about you and Zexion."

"I would hope he didn't give anything away while he was at it." Leon glanced at the other red head, who was currently peering into the oven, and had a glitter of humor in his eyes. Zexion finally managed to find a container to pour the potatoes into and sprinkled some cheese on top to complete it. Reno chuckled and reached behind his head to scratch, pushing down a few of the red points.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Anything he said, I can keep. I'm not stupid enough to mutter a few things that really shouldn't be spoken, not even when I get smashed." Reno then folded his arms and grinned wider at the brunet.

"Hey, Leon! This looks pretty good." Axel waved, pulling away from the oven and went towards the food on the table. He looked like a child that was overly excited on his birthday, all smiling and shit. "Thanksgiving this year is going to be great! More food!"

"That's because there's more people coming over. Dad is coming back this time as well." Zexion mumbled from the side, placing the container with the rest of the dishes.

"Huh?" Axel paused, eyes widening. "Your Dad is coming home today?"

"Yeah. He managed to convince his boss that he needed to come home and snagged the last plane leaving for here. He actually came back today at one in the morning but decided to stay at a hotel then risk driving. It's a two hour drive here after all." Leon took out the mittens again and opened the oven. The heat wave hit his once more, making his hair flutter back. His lips shifted into a frown from at the blast of temperature, his scar tilting downward.

Zexion continued where his brother had left off. "He didn't want to risk driving that late at night so he'll be arriving soon." He turned to the two red heads. "Could one of you get the door while we finish putting everything together?"

"Sure, that's fine. I can do that." Axel answered, going over to his brother and suddenly remembered something he forgot to do. "Oh, that's right, Zex, this is my older brother, Reno. Reno, this is Zex."

"It's Zexion…" The younger Leonhart huffed.

"Nice to meet ya." Reno winked.

"Likewise."

Axel lifted his head up when he heard the faint sounds of the door bell ringing, multiple times actually, and stood up. "I'll get it. Reno, just sit at the table there. I'll be right back." He left, leaving the three alone in silence.

"Hey, Leon? Zexion?" Reno called out from his spot with his legs folded, catching the brothers' attention. They didn't reply since they were busy but it was obvious that they were still listening. They had even noticed that the light voice had suddenly turned dark and serious. It made them a little curious but there were plenty of things to finish. Reno noticed this and went on. "Hey, I wanted to say this for a while. You've been taking care of Axel while I've been busy with work and helping him out in places when I couldn't. So thank you for looking out for him. I'm really grateful for that, man."

The two Leonharts paused and nodded at the same time.

"Hey, look who it is." Axel jumped right back into the room, breaking the mood instantly. Reno's face switched from the seriousness to his cheerful grin and glanced at the newcomers. The red lines on his face slid up at the grin, giving it an angle. "It's the Genovas, four of them."

Riku was the first one to appear, waving at the Leonharts before sitting down next to Reno at the kitchen table. The food that had been placed there before was moved further to the end to keep it away from some sticky fingers and Leon made reinforced that since he was holding up a butcher knife in warning. The Hanabis and Riku flinched at the threat, eyeing the glittering knife wearily. The sliver-haired teen tried to turn the attention elsewhere, like to the three people at the door. They all had the same color of hair and green eyes like his own. Two of them looked similar in figure while the tallest was more muscular. "L-Let me introduce them. These are my cousins, the eldest is Loz, next Yazoo, and then the youngest is Kadaj. Apparently, they heard me talking on the phone to Zexion about the Thanksgiving lunch and wanted to come along. Sorry about that."

"But dear little cousin, we'd rather be with you then with mean Septh." Yazoo cooed, wrapping his arms around Riku's shoulders. His long silver hair fell over the face and he had a smirk on his red lips.

"Anywhere is better than those damn dinner parties our families keep having." Kadaj grumbled, flicking a lock back from his face and folded his arms. "I've had enough of those things, they've always ordering us around. We have to look perfect for Septh, get dressed, comb your hair, make sure about manners, etc, etc."

"Make sure you have your makeup on too." Riku whispered, earning a smack from the youngest cousin. He cradled his head in pain, holding it protectively, and glared up at Kadaj.

"You deserved that one, Riku." Yazoo commented from the side, releasing his hold on him.

Reno snickered, standing up from his seat while Axel went to his brother's side. The Leonharts continued to work in the background, trying to ignore everything. Introductions were made and the group chattered on though it wasn't that friendly. The cousins weren't willing to enter the conversation and just watched. The group slowly moved into the dining room, getting comfortable in their seats as they waited. Soon after, the food came out but no one went to eat yet, there was still one person missing. The cousins would have started if they hadn't noticed that no one else was trying to eat and decided to sit back and wait. The agony of that empty chair showed in the eyes of the Leonharts though their faces remained frozen.

"What do we have here? There's so many people this year!"

A voice yelled from the side.

Everyone looked up in shock, not having heard the footsteps. A tall man stood in the opening with shaggy brown hair that was similar to Leon's and had light blue eyes. The hair looked like it had been blown to the side with the bangs covering up a portion of the face. There was a grin on his lips and there was an air of cheeriness that almost seemed to sparkle. Two large suitcases were on the floor next to him, leaning against the door frame, and he suddenly ran forward towards to two in the back. Just as Leon and Zexion put the food down, they were tackled by the older man. "Oh my god! Look at my handsome sons, all grown up!" He cheered, laughing to himself, and squeezed tighter on his children. The sharpness in Leon's eyes weakened and he relaxed into the grip, Zexion following soon after.

"Dad…" Leon grunted, nearly getting crushed in the hug but didn't pull away. "Welcome back."

"Yeah…I know. It's been a while. But I'll always come back, you're my children after all and nothing's going to change that! But look at you now, both of you are all so grown up! You've changed over the years, I'm so proud of you!" Laguna cried, looking like tears were going to fall. The brother tried to stop their father from breaking down, perhaps until later when they were alone. It was a wonderful reunion between the two but they had to get that attention elsewhere since people were staring.

"Dad, let us introduce you to our friends and their family." Zexion tugged his father's sleeve and pointed to the people at the dining table, who were still staring at them in wonder. They blinked a few times when the father looked at them. "Let's all sit first so we can get started. I bet you're hungry after all that traveling. We'll do the introductions later and happy thanksgiving."

"Right!" Their father, Laguna, yelled with happiness. His tearful face was gone, washed away by all the pleased expressions, even the cousins had a faint smile. "We must feast like no tomorrow!"

Axel snickered from his spot, turning away for a moment. He found this funny. The sons were so serious and quiet and here is the father, the complete opposite, with enough brightness to cover for the two.

Riku had the same thoughts in mind and smiled gently, a little jealous that their father was so kind but it seemed even to him, their family troubles against his own. 'We're are all so messed up but when we're all together, we manage to forget our horrors back home and relax. This is the aura of the Leonharts, the calming effect they have on everyone…' He tilted his head, absorbing the memories of this moment like he was afraid that it would disappear if he looked away. 'We complete each other, perhaps not wholly but partly…'

"Alright, let's eat. Oh and I'm Reno by the way!" Reno smirked, motioning the father to his seat.

"Alright, Reno! Let's feast!"

Riku smiled and it felt like the load on his shoulders had dropped as he saw a faint curve on the sons' lips. It was small but it was a smile nonetheless.

It was going to be a pleasant holiday.


"Roxas, could you pass the butter?" asked, folding up a knife for the yellow paste. The blond did as he was told and looked over the food they had, if they could call it that…

It was more of a sad attempt since some of it was burnt. They ate silently, trying to get used to the taste. Some of the food was edible since it had been prepared by the store like the turkey while others were microwaveable. It was basically anything goes since they were also having chicken too.

But it was nice. Demyx had to agree with that thought. Even though the food wasn't the best, it was still a great thanksgiving. He glanced around at his family, seeing the twins devouring the turkey meat. Cloud was on the mash potatoes, adding cheese since it had gotten a bit dry from the microwave. Mrs. Stife had the chicken and was dipping it into soy sauce since it didn't have any taste at all.

"Sorry if it's not what you're used to." apologized, noticing the wandering sea-green eyes. "But you know us and cooking."

"Oh no, I'm actually happy. You've tried your best and that's what counts." Demyx smiled happily. "This is great."

"Oh please…" Roxas grumbled, not believing a word.

"Roxas…" Sora sighed, nudging his brother at the side. "Don't say things like that."

"Actually it's true, it's more fun when there are more people to share the experience with." Demyx grinned, taking Roxas on. "I mean before, back home, the food was better, but we could never eat a lot or do anything fun since the neighborhood wasn't exactly the…best." Demyx trailed off from there, not liking where he was going. He didn't want to remember those moments but he knew it would get the others off his case. It was his victory…

He paused.

Since when did he start getting sneaky?

"Let's just eat before it gets cold. It's Thanksgiving." Cloud sighed, going towards the turkey and cut a few pieces for himself.

"Yes, no arguing for today. This is a one year thing." The mom cut in.

Roxas grumbled. "Just wait until Christmas…"

Demyx sighed, well this year it wouldn't be too bad. He glanced out the window and smiled gently as he saw a group of people standing outside from across the street. Happy faces were on them, all smiling and hugging his neighbors.

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone."


Yay! It's finished. Hope you enjoy this entire week.