Nine
I still cannot believe this.
I am fairly certain Demyx feels the same way.
Somehow, Zexion and Marluxia have managed to drag us through the city at six a.m., and we are now standing outside the door to a little café. It is packed between two other shops- a little bookstore and an eccentric-looking thing with tarot cards and crystal balls in the window- and, at least from the front, looks tiny. The sign on the white-painted wooden door reads "Two Sisters Bakery, Café, and Coffeehouse" and the smells drifting out onto the street are what managed to wake me up. (Demyx, on the other hand, is standing there groggily, leaning on Zexion, who is not entirely pleased with this.)
"Well, then," I say after a moment or five of just standing there enjoying the aromas. "Are we going in or what?"
"Wuzzat?" Demyx says, starting awake at the creak of the door as Zexion pulls it open. He stumbles into me as Zexion walks in, and I push him so he's standing upright.
"We," I say solemnly, gesturing around at our little group, "are going," as I "walk" my fingers to indicate movement, "inside," finishing by pointing into the darkened building as Zexion peers carefully inside.
Demyx stares blankly at me. "'Kay," he mutters, then slumps onto my shoulder. I roll my eyes and follow Zexion and Marluxia inside.
"Jamie?" Zexion calls as we step inside. "Lacey?" He flips the lights, sending the room into gentle relief.
It's one of those undeniably cute little cafés. Each table and chair is unique, an eclectic blend that perfectly suits the place as a whole. It's bigger inside than it would appear from the street, but still not overly large; there's only room for a few four-person settings and around three two-person ones, plus the counter near the back wall, behind which there's a door.
"Oh! Zexion!" comes a sweet voice from behind the door. "Good morning!"
And then from behind the door comes the perfect match for this voice. She is tallish, sandy blonde, thin and willowy, with a spattering of freckles across her nose. She's holding a platter of cinnamon rolls (I would guess that they were the smell that was so wonderful- they look fresh), and her shining blue eyes are puzzled and staring at us. "…oh?" she says quietly. "Zexion, who's this?"
Zexion clears his throat and glances between us and the sweet girl. "Good morning, Lacy," he says hastily. "These are… well…"
"Are they friends of yours?" she asks brightly, smiling widely at us.
"Yeah," Zexion says rather lamely. "They're… yeah, friends of mine. Yeah."
Setting the tray of cinnamony goodness down on the counter, she claps her hands in delight and skips over to us. "Oh, this is wonderful!" she says. "You've never brought friends before! Hi there," she adds, smiling at us again with enough wattage that Demyx is actually blinking awake. "I'm Lacey Alcanter. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"These are Axel, Demyx, and Marluxia," Zexion tells her, pointing us each out in turn as he says our names. Then, hesitating, he adds, "They're… er… they're like me."
Lacey's eyebrows shoot up. "Like you? You mean…?"
Zexion nods.
Lacey blinks at us like she's considering us in a new light. "Ohhh," she says, as though Zexion's just told her the meaning of the universe.
I furrow my brown and glance questioningly at Zexion.
He shrugs. "Lacey and her sister found me unconscious on the side of the road. They took me in, befriended me, and believed me, somehow, when I told them what I remembered of my past, and… 'waking up'."
"Speaking of your past," Lacey breaks in. "If you three are… like Zexion, then are you… were you… members of that Organization, too?"
Zexion nods at her. "yes, they were. And what really intrigues me is that I remembered more of the past as I met each of them"
"And we're experiencing the same thing" I add, then, glancing at Marluxia, correct myself, "Well, at least I know Demyx and I are."
Marluxia shakes his head. "No, I am, too. Well, to be fair, I remembered quite a bit to begin with, but I definitely got more information after I met you three."
"Yeah," Demyx adds, finally awake enough to participate in conversation. "I had no idea who I even was, at first, but then I ran into Axel- literally," he giggles, "and I could remember stuff. It was really weird."
Lacey glances between us, eyes shining. "Amazing," she breathes, then turns to Zexion. "I'm going to go get Jamie," she tells him, then twirls and darts away as he nods.
"Jamie?" I inquire of him, raising an eyebrow, once she's gone.
"Jamie is Lacey's older sister," Zexion explains. "They inherited this place from their mother and aunt. It's been the Two Sisters as long as anyone in this town can remember, apparently."
I can't deny that this impresses me. I didn't know stuff like that existed outside of movies.
I hear the door swing open again.
"…and they were all members of the Organization!" Lacey is saying enthusiastically.
"Oh, really?" replies another voice. I turn to face them.
Jamie is taller and slightly stockier than her sister, and that is the most similar thing about them. They are like night and day; Jamie's hair is jet black, her skin is olive, and her eyes are a deep brown. As compared to Lacey's heart-shaped face, her features are sharp and angular. Also, they dress very differently; Lacey's soft yellow floor-length dress and white apron are in stark contrast to Jamie's tight black jeans and gray turtleneck t-shirt. It's hard to believe they're related.
"Wow, you weren't lying," the new arrival comments to her sister. "They'd sure stand out in a crowd, eh? Hey, I'm Jamie," she adds in our direction.
"I'm Axel," I reply, tossing her a quick smile and refraining from adding a 'got it memorized?'. I'm still not entirely comfortable with my recently-remembered catchphrase.
"Demyx," says the blonde, smiling brightly in that perky was he has.
"And I'm Marluxia," adds the last member of our group.
Jamie nods at us, eyes thoughtful.
There is a bit of an awkward silence for a while as we all consider each other and the new things we've learned. Eventually, however, Zexion breaks the quiet. "Well," he says, glancing around at everyone. "The reason I brought these three here is so they could help out… and also to keep them, especially Demyx, out of trouble."
"Hey!" Demyx protests. "I'm not that useless!"
I sigh at him, shaking my head. Marluxia raises an eyebrow.
"Gee, thanks for the support," he mutters in defeat. I chuckle and Jamie grins at us.
"I like you guys already!" she proclaims, laughing, then turns to Zexion. "Fine by me. You, sis?" she queries of Lacey, raising an eyebrow.
The blonde smiles at us sweetly. "Of course! You all are certainly welcome here anytime," she says kindly.
"Well then, that's settled," says Jamie briskly after a moment. Just as she speaks, a timer goes off from the direction of the kitchen. "Oh! That must be my muffins!" says Lacey, hurrying towards the door in the back.
"Come on, you lot," Jamie says, following her sister towards the kitchen. "Time to start earning your keep!"
.x.x.x.x.
Dun dun dun duuuun! I'm ba-ack! My little break from updating any of my stories ended Monday, and I'm back with guns blazing! It served its purpose of spawning many little plot bunnies, especially for this story, so expect some fairly steady updating over the course of the next few weeks. Although, this week I'm going to be fairly distracted by this little thing called, oh, I don't know… E3! I've been watching live TV coverage and it. Is. AWESOME.
-le gasp- A new KH game for the 3DS, plus Final Fantasy, Kirby, Zelda, Mario, Kid Icarus, Metroid, and Donkey Kong? Well, and the 3DS itself? Yes, Nintendo has officially won the expo and totally owned the competition. No exceptions.
-cough cough- Anyway. Sooo, this chapter. Well, it was one of those I could clearly see playing out in my mind, but that proved really hard to put down on paper… er, computer. I'm not overjoyed at the end result, but I suppose it does its job well enough… including the introduction of the Two Sisters and the two sisters! Lacey and Jamie are currently the only planned OCs, but I have several ideas which I've been toying with, so that may well change. Maybe, right? Oh, and keep a close eye on that bookstore on one side of the café… I'm not certain exactly what I'm going to do with it yet- I have several different ideas- but just know that it will be important. ;)
Oh, and I can officially declare that I now know exactly how Fleeting will end. (It was one of those plot bunnies I mentioned.)Previously, I was just kinda making it up as I went along, but I now have a definite, planned conclusion… although exactly how I'll get there remains a mystery. Most of the new info I'll keep to myself (tee-hee), but I suppose I will tell you this much: don't expect to see Roxas until the very end, except for one quick cameo in a dream. (Whose dream, you ask? Now why would I tell you that? ;3) He will be pivotal to the end result, however- the dream he appears in is very important.
...well, then, I'll leave you on that mysterious note, and with a heartfelt thank-you to those that review and a plea that those that don't do so in the future! Adieu!
-Dawny :3
