"Merry Christmas, Rox!"
"Axel, if I wake up and find mistletoe over my door, they're gonna be cleaning your blood out of the hallway for weeks," Roxas muttered. He'd had some very freaky dreams last night, and he was barely conscious, so that made sense to him.
It didn't to Axel. "...The hell?!"
Roxas sat up and brightened the room, rubbing his eyes. "Morning, Ax...and Merry Christmas, I guess...what are you doin' up so early?"
"In case you've forgotten, I've temporarily returned to the inconvenience of a tightly controlled schedule of injections...and why the hell would I put mistletoe over your door? For whose benefit? Naminé's?"
"Now that I'm more like fully awake, that's a good question..." Roxas groaned and rolled out of bed. "I'm sure it made sense when I said it."
"Well...probably..." Axel shrugged. "If I don't get breakfast in about five minutes, I'm going to keel over from low blood sugar, so, see you at breakfast." He disappeared, leaving Roxas to shower, dress, and haul himself down to the kitchen.
No mission assignments were being handed out, and no one was missing on a long assignment - their schedules had been arranged so that everyone would have Christmas off (except Vexen, but that was pure bad luck on his and Demyx's part). Breakfast that morning was something Roxas had never seen before - it was a kind of custardy bread pudding with berries in it. Whatever it was, it was good - Zexion was showing his face at a communal meal for probably the first time Roxas knew of, just to get some of it. And there was eggnog being offered to drink, to which Axel helped himself willingly. "Don't drink too much of that," Roxas cautioned.
"Xaldin's not gonna offer the alcoholic version at breakfast," Axel said. "Go ahead; have some yourself. It's good with this berry whatsit."
"I was just thinking about what it might do to your blood sugar." Axel glared at him venemously.
Demyx didn't have very much appetite, but he picked more enthusiastically at the berry pudding than he'd really meant to. It was much better than the usual breakfast he got. Granted, he always got the same breakfast as everyone else, just a little older and a little colder, but this stuff was good.
That must mean it's Christmas, he realized. He tried to convince himself that that meant nothing more special to him this year than any other, but for some reason, the knowledge of what day it was made his eyes sting briefly.
Guess that means I shouldn't expect to see Axel or Roxas today...hope they have fun...doing...whatever it is they're going to be doing today...
He sighed. Well, maybe tomorrow we'll get back into the old routine, at least until I can get out of here. For now, he'd enjoy some better food than usual and try to forget how alone he felt.
"Come on, just go back to your room, and wait there for a minute." Roxas would have been in a better position to argue if he'd had any idea what in Kingdom Hearts's name Axel was planning, but he didn't, so he wasn't. All he could do was exactly what he'd been told: go back to his room and wait while Axel went and...did whatever he was going to do.
Axel was grinning hugely and a little nervously as he teleported back to his own room and retrieved a carefully-wrapped package. If he doesn't like this, I am going to feel so, so stupid...
He steeled himself and portaled back to Roxas's room with it. "Merry Christmas, Rox...hope you like it..."
Roxas blinked in surprise before accepting the package. "Thanks, Axel..."
"Don't thank me until you open it," Axel muttered. He couldn't figure out why he was so nervous. Probably because for the past four years, the one guy you liked well enough to buy a gift for was the guy who never wanted anything to do with Christmas, and you're afraid you're out of practice?
Roxas carefully peeled the paper off. "'Empire Souls II'," he read off the box.
Axel nodded. "Yeah, it's the latest game from Circle Nexi - the people who made those 'Ultimate Dream' games you like so much...well, the latest series, I guess; there's obviously a prequel, though I guess you don't need the prequel to play this one..."
"Well, with a track record like that..." Roxas smiled slyly. "I think I know what I'll be doing while you tear my room apart looking for your gift."
For the next few hours, Roxas played Empire Souls II while Axel searched for anything in a brightly wrapped package. "Is it actually in your room, or did you stash it in the empty room next door?"
"I can't get in there, doofus...besides, it's empty, which would make it kind of short of good hiding places..."
Finally, Axel managed to locate not one, but two wrapped packages. Feeling pretty pleased with himself, he asked, "Hey, Rox, how are you holding out?"
"I'd like to beat this Myde prick with his own shamisen," Roxas snarled. "He's supposed to be an easy boss, but he keeps kicking my ass all over the place..."
Axel couldn't quite hold back a laugh. "Game's got you by the collar, hasn't it."
Demyx found himself tracing notes on the bedside table, wishing he had some way to write them down permanently. It's okay. Really. It's just another day in the recovery room, just with better food. I can just pretend Axel and Roxas are gone on missions, not ignoring me. Whatever they're doing, they're probably having a blast...I bet they'll tell me all about it tomorrow...wait, wasn't I pretending they were gone on missions?
This isn't working.
He sighed and hummed the music that was playing itself in his head. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but it drew a lot of inspiration from the Christmas carols Axel had made him listen to. They also brought back memories of what should have been happier times that were somehow never really happy.
"What child is this, who -" He only heard the music in snatches as the shop door opened and closed. All the shops along this stretch were crowded with people taking advantage of steep Christmas discounts, or simply escaping from family and home for a few hours. The year before, he'd stationed himself on the bench outside the door and played, looking lonely, underfed, and generally in need of charity, and earned himself a decent amount. This year...well, he'd tried. But it hadn't worked out. He was too sick to play, and getting sicker.
"Finally!" Roxas exclaimed as Myde finally screamed and collapsed onscreen, fading into pixelly mist. "Thought I'd never beat him!"
Axel checked the clock. "Just in time for lunch; wasn't that nice of him?"
Roxas glanced up. "It's not quite time for lunch yet..."
"Time for my shot, though. See you there." Axel portaled back to his room, leaving both wrapped packages unopened on Roxas's bed.
"- who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping..." He shook his head, wondering why that song had suddenly popped into his head while he was sticking his finger for a blood glucose test.
Unzip robe, drop pants, sit down, stick needle in thigh, inject insulin - a routine he was so familiar with he barely needed to think about it anymore; he could let his mind wander freely. But where was it taking him?
"Whom angels greet, with anthems sweet -" It was the first Christmas after his little brother's death. You'd never be able to tell his parents had recently lost a child, he thought angrily, but damn, did it cut him deep. He'd made some excuse about a party in the city just to get out of the house; his parents didn't bother to ask for specifics about where he was going and when he'd be back. Which was good, because he didn't know himself. He found himself wandering outside a row of shops packed with post-holiday bargain hunters, trying to lose his thoughts in the noise - chattering shoppers, squeaking doors, ringing bells, snatches of canned music, and from somewhere nearby - coughing? Very violent coughing...
I need to get that song out of my head, Demyx thought. He switched his headphones back to his MP3 player, hoping listening to something that had nothing to do with Christmas would help. But the memory kept intruding, forcing itself between his mind and the music.
Every time he breathed too deeply, or too quickly, or took a breath of cold air, he started coughing, and when he started coughing, it felt like he'd never stop. There was no use trying to play for money; no one would want to get anywhere near him. No one would want anything to do with him. Instead, he'd crawled into a narrow, dark alley between two shops and hid, racked by coughing fits so violent they made him vomit, and gasping loudly for breath after each one. He was one asthma attack from a body bag, assuming anyone ever found him. He assumed no one would - until the brown-haired boy came.
"Axel, are you okay? You look distracted."
Axel rubbed his forehead. "I guess I am..."
The boy hiding in the alley didn't stop coughing until he finally doubled over and threw up on the pavement, then gasped with a loud whooping sound. He looked up at him with fear in his sea-blue eyes, as if he expected to be chased away. Well, just going by the look of him, he was probably used to getting chased out of places - he probably wasn't the original owner of a single article of clothing he was wearing, or of whatever was in the instrument case he wouldn't let go of. Wherever this kid's parents were, they probably hadn't had a ton of cash to spare for Christmas, if any - hell, apparently they couldn't even get him to a doctor. He was an odd-looking little guy - dark skin, blond hair, blue eyes, with a desperate, forsaken look that would make his parents call the police to get the little street rat out of there and back to the bad side of town, where he belonged.
Axel took another less-than enthusiastic bite of lunch. Distracted he was - why could he suddenly not get this memory out of his head?
He ran his fingers through his reddish-brown hair - it wouldn't turn bright red until after he lost his heart. The important part was, this kid was years younger than he was - thirteen, maybe fourteen at the outside - and sick; if he didn't get any help, like he apparently hadn't before now, odds were he wouldn't see summer. "I'm calling an ambulance, kid," he finally said.
He set his fork down on his plate and picked the plate up, along with his drink. "You know, I don't feel like eating in the kitchen right now..."
Roxas shrugged, trying to conceal his surprise. "Fine...where would you rather eat?"
Demyx was only picking at his own lunch. It wasn't like he had much of an appetite, even if his mind hadn't been somewhere else altogether.
He looked up in surprise. "An - an ambulance? Not the police?" He'd had people summon the police to get him out of places where street trash like him weren't good enough to be, but...a complete stranger - a complete rich stranger, going by the expensive shoes and designer jacket - calling for help, for him...
The other boy rolled his bright green eyes. "Of course an ambulance, not the police! What the hell would I call the police for? You just stay there; I'll see if they'll let me use the store phone to call 911. Left my cell phone home." He nodded; it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. He curled up against the cold brick wall, hugging his sitar and hoping the older boy wasn't just pulling his leg. He didn't quite believe what was happening until he heard the sirens - they didn't sound like police sirens.
The door opened, and he was suddenly dragged back to the present. Axel and Roxas walked in, both carrying full plates. "Thought you could use a little company," Axel said. Demyx couldn't help but smile.
The brown-haired boy emerged from the shop as the ambulance pulled up, and watched silently as he was loaded into it, and the EMTs tried unsuccessfully to make him let go of his sitar case. It wasn't until almost the last possible moment when he finally asked his savior: "What's your name?"
"Getting a little lonely, were you?" Axel grinned as he started eating again. For some reason, lunch was tasting better now.
He couldn't help but smile. "My name's Lea - that's L-E-A, got it memorized? Not L-E-E!"
The sick boy smiled back. Boy, that was a freaky hairstyle he had; why on God's green earth was he only just noticing it? Well, Lea would probably never forget it now... "L-E-A...think I got it...my name's..."
He didn't think he'd ever forget those fiery green eyes. "...My name's Edmy," he answered, just before the ambulance doors swung closed.
Demyx laughed briefly before his broken ribs made a serious protest. "How the hell did it take six years to put it together?"
Axel stared in surprise. "What the - what are you - the hell - you..."
Roxas stared at both of them. "...Is there something going on that I don't know about?"
Axel shook his head. "I da- I don't know - I've had this...memory from my Other's life bugging me since just before lunch...and I...Demyx, you..."
"Finally connected the dots? I don't know why it took so long; it was probably the first nice thing anyone ever did for me on Christmas..."
"You...had...same...thoughts..."
Demyx's eyes suddenly widened as he figured out why Axel was so freaked out. "I...guess so...that is...strange..."
Roxas sighed in exasperation. "Would one of you be so kind as to let me in on the secret?"
Axel and Demyx looked at each other and shrugged. "This is gonna be a long story..."
AN: What did Roxas get Axel? And why were there two packages? Mostly to get me to write another chapter...
Poor Demyx has been getting his chain yanked by sad memories the last couple chapters. This one isn't so sad. Also: 8D Axel with his pants down. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, got it memorized? Also, merry Christmas.
