Author's Comments: Super surprisingly, I came up with this last night. I was tired as heck, but I managed! Yay! I hope you enjoy reading this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani.


For the fifth time, Kairi whines wordlessly. "Will you at least bury your nose in one of your textbooks so you look like you're studying? We don't all have insane memory skills like you do."

"I'm too tired to pretend I'm studying," I moan, burying my head further into my pillow. "If you're irritated that I can pass my midterms without studying, then go back to your own dorm and wait for Selphie to come back from work."

"It's not fair," she grumbles, raking a hand through her hair and flipping a page of her notes noisily. "Who's dumb idea was it to give exams on Christmas Eve?"

"We started school late because of the campus reconstruction, remember?" Namine reminds her. "You've only got two, anyway. Roxas has three."

"And Imani's only got one!" Kairi cries.

I roll my eyes. "Stop complaining. I had two labs and four papers to do. And I have to work tomorrow."

"Can you still sleep over?" Namine asks, shifting her glasses further up her slender nose. "Luxord wants us to help set up the house."

"I should be able to," I nod. "I finish at five-thirty."

"He wants you to make quiche for the party, too," she adds. "Preferably spinach."

I nod again. I'll have to run to the grocery store after work, then.

"Ugh! I hate studying!"

"So I take it things went well during lunch?" I murmur to Namine. "You don't seem disappointed in any way."

A light flush blotches her cheeks. "I-It went well. He said he's going tomorrow."

"Good," I smile. "Kairi said Sora's going, too. I'm happy for both of you."

"Is Axel going?" she asks, her tone barely concealing her slyness.

My lips tug down into a frown. "Yeah. Unfortunately."

"That's a good thing!" Kairi jumps in. "I haven't seen him since the concert."

"You should be happy you haven't." I heave a sigh. "If you heard half the things he said to me…"

She shakes her head, smirking at me. "You're in denial, Imani."

"Get back to studying," I order softly with a glare.


"Thank you! Have a good day!" I bid the latest customers who've finished eating.

"Don't forget to wish them merry Christmas," Olette tells me as she passes behind. "At least say it so I remember that it's tomorrow."

Belle hums in agreement. "Isn't it a little sad? It doesn't quite feel like Christmas this year. I don't know what it is."

"Maybe because it hasn't snowed yet," I suggest, grabbing a wet towel and wiping the counter. "Or because none of us have been able to really relax and soak in all the Christmastime atmosphere."

"Well, that's a good explanation for you," Olette laughs. "You're always so busy. Have you even found time to buy presents?"

"Of course I have!" I reach into my apron pocket and withdraw two square envelopes. "See? One for each of you."

They both gasp and hesitantly accept the envelopes. "Aw, thank you!" Belle says with a smile. "This is so sweet. You didn't have to."

"Yeah," Olette nods, carefully slipping it into her own apron pocket. "It's enough that you volunteered to find Tifa's gift from all of us."

I bite my lip anxiously. "I hope she likes it, though."

"FINALLY!"

In bursts Kairi, her exam stress practically melting off her and dissipating into the air. The three of us laugh as she stumbles to the counter and nearly drops her purse. "How'd you do?" Olette asks.

"I don't know! I don't wanna jinx myself!" she moans. "I've told myself that I'm not going to think about it!"

"That's a good girl." Tifa joins us, wiping her hands on a towel. "Que cera cera."

"Exactly," she snaps her fingers. "So are you almost finished, Imani?"

"If Tifa doesn't need me to do anything else, then yeah." I look to my boss who scans the entire café carefully.

"I think we can take care of the rest," she eventually replies, turning to me with a grin. "Merry Christmas!"

I wish everyone a merry Christmas and retreat to the back kitchen, tugging the strings of my apron loose and signing myself out on the work hour sheet. Tifa's gift—a gift basket of bath and body products from her favorite boutique—sits quietly on her desk. Once I finish signing out, I stuff my apron into my bag and head out the door to meet up with Kairi.

"So what do you need for your quiche?" she asks on the way to her car.

I count off the ingredients with my fingers. "Eggs, half-and-half, nutmeg, salt, spinach, garlic powder…a pie crust…"

"Let's go to the store down the road from Luxord's," she decides, clicking a button on her car key to open the doors. "Namine took your sleepover stuff already."

"Okay…wait." I shut the door behind me, eyeing Kairi warily. "You didn't switch out anything I'd packed, did you?"

Her flinch is so tiny I almost miss it. "Of course I didn't," she answers coolly, revving up the car and pulling out of the lot.

"I'll know if you did," I inform her. "You know I'll spot it."

"I know." Kairi focuses intently on the road. "I'm telling you I didn't switch anything out. It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not."

I'll find out eventually, I conclude, settling into my seat and watching the town pass by leisurely. Maybe Namine did it.


The black front door opens to reveal Luxord in jeans and a collared shirt. "Alas, the master chef and the chatterbox have arrived," he announces jokingly. "Now this preparation party is starting to pick up."

"You're terrible, Luxord." Kairi rolls her eyes but hugs him anyway, handing him the plastic grocery bags she'd been carrying. "You need to work on being a good host."

"I am a good host," he argues, stepping aside to let us in. "I have food. I have alcohol. I have a flat screen TV. I have cards. That's all guests ever bother the host about when they attend house parties."

I hold back a shudder. Ugh. Cards.

"And how are you, Imani?" Luxord shuts the door and pulls me into a hug. "Namine tells me you've been quite preoccupied lately."

"It's all thanks to you, really," I mutter into his shirt, his cologne wafting in a light haze around my head. "You and your cards and your video. My week has been going great because of you."

"You're certainly pouring out the love tonight," he chuckles, pulling away and heading for the kitchen. "Spinach quiche, right?"

"Just for you," I sing-song, slipping my coat off and hanging it in the closet. "Set the oven to three-fifty."

"Yes, ma'am."

The living room already shows hints of Christmas. A couple of logs stand propped up against the brick fireplace. Silver tinsel winds around the tree and a few presents (including the ones I packed) sit beneath its bottommost limbs. Candles of different shapes and sizes sit scattered around the room.

As I near the kitchen, soft Christmas music lilts through the house and mingles with more of Kairi and Luxord's laughter. "Hey, Namine," I wave to the girl sitting at the dining table.

She looks up from her handiwork—an arrangement of acorns and pine branches and ribbon. "Hey! How was your day?"

"Fine," I reply. "The front looks great already."

"Thanks," she smiles. "Kairi wanted me to wait for her before I could continue decorating the tree."

"I figured as much," I nod. "I think I'll let you two decorate and I'll cook."

"Are you going to make dinner, too?" Kairi calls hopefully. "Make pasta!"

"Don't listen to her," Luxord counters easily. "We're all eating Special K cereal for dinner so we don't gain too much weight tomorrow."

All three of us burst into laughter. "You eat Special K, Luxord?" I weave in between giggles.

He sighs dramatically. "Of course I don't eat that crap. I have noodles in the cupboard. Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge, too."

"Make it now, Imani!" Kairi cheers. "I'm starving!"

"Fine, fine." I begin rummaging through the fridge and pick out tomatoes, basil, cheese…

Cheese…

I gasp loudly, standing up straight and almost dropping the ingredients. "No! I forgot about the cheese!"

"For what?" Namine asks.

"The quiche!" I groan. "I knew I was forgetting something."

"Terrible, Imani," Luxord chides, clicking his tongue. "Whatever happened to remembering everything?"

"Hey, it's been an off week for me!" I protest, quickly setting the tomatoes and basil on the counter. "Kairi, can I borrow your car?"

Her brow furrows but she holds out her keys. "You're going back to the store? Luxord has Kraft singles in the fridge"

"Those won't taste good in it," I shake my head, snatching the keys and jogging out the kitchen to the coat closet. "I'll be back in half an hour."


I sigh in defeat. Why must the solid cheeses be too big and the right-sized cheeses too creamy? Can't they sell solid cheeses that are the size I want them to be? Why are they all so expensive?

Ah, whatever. I randomly grab a solid provolone and glance at the price (this just has to be some sort of conspiracy!) and reach into my pocket for my cell phone.

"Imani?" Kairi answers on the third ring.

"Do you guys need anything from the store?" I ask tiredly, inspecting the cheese for any mold. Maybe if I file for food poisoning, I could start a movement towards lowering cheese prices.

"Um…not really. Did you find everything you needed for the pasta?"

I nibble on my lip thoughtfully. "Does he have olive oil?"

"Y…eah."

"Garlic?"

"Yeah."

"…Mushrooms?"

"…No."

"Alright then," I sigh again, making my way to the produce section. "I'll grab those while I'm here. You sure there isn't anything else I need to get?"

"…Luxord wants Chips Ahoy. Not the chewy kind."

I snort. "What? He doesn't want to bake sugar cookies for Santa?"

"I know, right? So not festive. He even has a box of mix in the pantry."

"Give me the phone," Luxord demands faintly in the background.

"No!" Kairi giggles. "She'll get your cookies, okay?"

"Play nice, you two." I halt in front of mushrooms galore, examining the boxes of white mushrooms. "Don't make Namine play ref."

"Just come back soon. We're about to open up a bag of potato chips."

With a laugh and a click, I hang up and select a mushroom box. "Chips Ahoy, Chips Ahoy," I murmur under my breath, beginning my search for the snack aisle.

Frozen foods…more frozen foods…spices…breakfast foods…ah! Snacks. I grin, turning the corner and entering the aisle.

"Where the hell are the pita chips?"

My heart stops. Instantly I dash back around the corner, pressing up against the end of the row. What's Axel doing here?!

"Jackass!" a high-pitched female voice sneers. "I already got everything else on the list and you're still stuck on a bag of chips?"

Something tugs at my mind. That voice sound so familiar…

"Now, Miss Imani, I just need you to relax…"

I clap a hand over my mouth to muffle my cry of surprise. It's that girl who gave me the massage! Larxene!

"Well, you try finding them," Axel shoots back, his sultry tone tinged heavily with frustration.

How does Axel know Larxene? They sound very comfortable with each other.

Maybe she was one of the girls he…did…

I gulp. My chest tightens uncomfortably, but why?

"Dammit, where are they?"

"See? I've been searching this aisle so much I have it memorized! Who're you calling a jackass?"

Forget Luxord's cookies. I stride nervously to the nearest register, praying neither of them will notice me before I return to the car.

"Hello, ma'am," the employee greets dully. "Did you find everything you were looking for today?"

I nod, whipping out my wallet. He scans the cheese and the mushrooms, dragging his arm across the counter ever so slowly.

"Twenty-four sixty-four," he drones.

Twenty! Five! I shove the bills into his outstretched hand. Push those buttons faster! If you're not going to put my stuff in a bag, then I will!

"Thirty-six cents is your change."

"Keep it!" I whisper, snatching the bag and darting through the exit so quickly that I slam into the door before it can automatically open fully for me.


EDIT: Thanks, Dance of Flame, for pointing out my slip-up! My mind must've been more exhausted than I thought.

Author's Afterthought: And there you have it. I honestly wanted to skip right to the Christmas party, but then that would've meant skipping an entire day. (One less day of Imani being stressed out by Axel is no fun, right?) It took me at least an hour to figure out how to get from the sitting-on-his-lap scenario to the Christmas party without jumping too much.

Personal experience alert! I planned to make spinach quiche for my family Christmas dinner, but I completely forgot to buy cheese. All the stores were closed by the time I realized this and all I had at home were Kraft singles and six or seven tiny cheddar cubes from a snack pack thing. I had to slice up those tiny cheddar cubes. (Thankfully, the quiche turned out pretty tasty.)

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