Dedicated to...hmm...I dunno. Everypony who gets this reference. :3
The last thing Ansem and Kairi expected to see when they went to the store were two of her classmates desperately trying to give two kittens away. Curious, Kairi tugged on Ansem's hand, sending him a pleading look that he had no choice but to give into.
"Hi Lea! Hi Isa!" She greeted, bounding up to the two boys. The two, complete opposites of each other, seemed to be engaged in a peaceful, friendly conversation until Kairi interrupted it.
"Hey Kairi," Lea greeted, plucking the lone blue kitten from out of the basket at his feet. "Want a kitten? Better yet, want two?" He jerked his head at Isa, who silently grabbed the red kitten out of the basket and held it up.
"We still need to get rid of them," Isa explained, cuddling the fiery red kitten, "but whenever they're more than two feet away from each other, they throw a fit."
Ansem stared at the kittens, wondering why they were so similar to the two boys. The blue cat was the same shade as Isa's hair, and they both held the same cool, calm temper. The red one was the spitting image of Lea (in cat form, of course) with the energetic, fiery spirit to match. "You two are close, aren't you?" Ansem asked, unable to prevent the words from flowing out.
Strangely, it was Kairi who turned to answer him. "They're best friends, and his mom and his dad married each other last year, so now they're brothers!"
"Yeah. It's awesome, and even our cats got together and had kittens!" Lea announced happily. Ansem wondered why they were telling him this; Kairi didn't mention them often, but then again his family had always had the strange ability to let random people tell him about their lives.
"Yeah, but they married because of money issues," Isa shot back, his tone strange bitter for a 10-year-old, assuming they were the same age as Kairi. They certainly looked like it. "And now we have to move to a smaller house that doesn't allow pets, which is why we're giving them away in the first place." His expression stayed eerily stoic the entire time, almost like a soldier returning from the stresses of war.
"Daaaad," Kairi pleaded, clasping her hands together and looking up at Ansem with the best puppy-dog expression she could muster, "can we get them? Pleeeeaaaaase? Pretty please with sugar and sprinkles and cherries on top?"
He sighed, looking away from her expression. She always got him with that, but they already had five cats – the last thing they needed were two more. "Kairi, I don't think so. We-"
"Please?" She whined, ramping up the intensity of her puppy-dog eyes.
Ansem sighed again, unable to deflect the rays of pure sadness she was sending towards him. At that moment, every single bit of her heart desperately wanted those kittens, and it was visible. "...fine." He said. "We'll get them."
The cheer that followed was so loud that the two kittens looked at her in shock. With a delighted squeal, she took the blue kitten from Lea's arms, holding him as if he was a fragile doll. Isa gave Ansem the red kitten, whom he gently cradled in his arms.
She beamed at the kitten, gently scratching the icy blue belly with a single finger. "You're adorable," she told him, moving up to get behind his ears. "I love you."
The gleam that shone in the kitten's eyes when she told him that showed that he did too.
As the years went by, Kairi and Saix only grew closer. She would never admit it to herself, but secretly, Saix was her favorite. He was icy and eerily calm, even when he was a kitten, but she loved him all the same. He had a side that was only shown to the ones he cared for; a fiercely loyal, and unusually sweet. The first time he purred, Kairi was genuinely surprised. Unlike his brother, Saix hardly showed affection.
Saix wasn't too interested in the other cats; after all, most of them were uninteresting. However, the second the icy blue kitten saw a calm, mysterious silver-haired tom, he wanted to talk to him. He stood proud and tall and magnificent, just like Ansem did, yet possessed a strange quality that Ansem didn't, yet Saix couldn't place what exactly it was.
So Saix slowly padded up to the silver cat, fully aware of the face that he was just a little kitten and the silver-haired cat was an adult. "Hello," he mewed, trying to keep his voice as calm and level as possible.
The cat turned to look at Saix, golden eyes glowing with amusement. "Hello, little kitten. Your name is Saix, right?"
"You know my name?" Saix asked, fully surprised. Why would a cat, clearly one of the leaders, even acknowledge his existence?
The silver-haired cat purred in amusement. "Of course I know your name, Saix. I know the names of all of the cats in my family."
"F-family?" Saix stuttered in utter disbelief. He and Axel had just gotten there, and since they were just kittens and the other cats had all lived together for a long time, he thought that the older cats didn't like them. The other cats were definitely colder towards him and his brother than they were to each other. He felt like he didn't belong.
"Yes. Family," the older cat meowed, "the moment Ansem accepted you and your brother into the house, you became part of my family."
Little did Xemnas know, but those simple words meant the world to Saix. To think that it was even possible for others to so easily accept newcomers into their home was simply astounding.
Saix wanted to express the sheer gratitude he felt for the silver cat, but he simply didn't know how.
What he did know was that he would repay the older cat. Even if it took forever. He wouldn't rest until he could find something equal in value.
As time went on, Saix grew closer to Xemnas; he wasn't sure why the silver cat took him under his wing, but nonetheless, he remained grateful. While he always had his brother by his side, and, even as the number of cats slowly grew, Kairi never stopped loving him, there was still that fierce sense of gratitude towards Xemnas that never faded.
It was just another normal night. The humans were asleep, and several of the cats were lounging around the house. Axel, like usual, was asleep, leaving Saix by himself. Not wanting to be alone, he set off to go look for Xemnas.
He found the silver-haired cat sitting in front of the glass door, staring up at the beautiful shining orb hanging in the sky. He had seen him staring at it many times before, but he never understood why.
"Saix, isn't the moon beautiful?" Xemnas asked, entranced by the strange object.
"It is," Saix agreed, slightly confused.
"Yes..." he continued. "Just once, I would love to be able to see it up close. To put my paws on it, and see if it really is as majestic as it seems."
"But how, if its so high up?"
"I don't know, but I'll try. I'm not going to leave this world before setting my paws on that one."
At least to Saix, Xemnas's statement didn't make much sense. "But you're going to have to take your paws off of this world if you want to put them on that one," he pointed out, highly confused.
Xemnas purred in amusement. "Not literally, Saix."
"Oh." He glanced up at Xemnas, who had returned his gaze to the moon. If he wanted the moon, then Saix would get it for him. If he gave Xemnas the moon, then he'd finally be able to express his gratitude. It would be a present worthy of the alpha cat.
No matter how long it would take, Saix would get that moon. If he had to, he'd go up to there himself, and drag the moon itself to Ansem's doorstep. Even if it took years, he would get that mystical orb.
Axel was happy for his brother. He really, truly was. Not only did he instantly bond with the girl, he even bonded with the alpha cat and earned the respect of the others. He was practically second in command, and Axel was proud of him.
But he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit jealous. Even if Saix had tried to reassure him countless times, constantly telling him that Xemnas himself had accepted them into the family, he still felt lonely. All of the other cats, even the new ones, quickly formed new friendships while all he ever had was Saix. He loved his brother, but he just wished that he could find a friend of his own.
He tried to bond with the other cats. When Demyx arrived, he thought that maybe they could get along, but it never worked out.
He never held much of an interest in Luxord or his quirky habits.
The original cats never liked him that much, all respected Saix, but when it came to Axel, they thought much lower of him.
Like Axel and Saix, Larxene and Marluxia were siblings, so Axel hoped that he might be able to befriend one of them. Sadly, it just didn't work. Even though they quickly grew close to other cats, they didn't care for him. At best, Larxene would challenge him to a play-fight, and Marluxia would sit by and make snide comments.
Even though Zexion was the 12th cat to arrive (he was just a little kitten), because of the fact that he came from Ansem's co-worker, he was accepted as one of the original cats. It made no sense, but nothing about Zexion made sense.
Eventually, Axel realized something; he felt lonely. Compared to his brother, he was an outcast. Yes, they were all one big family, but he didn't feel it. The girl and Ansem still liked Axel, and they always paid attention to him, but he just wanted a friend.
Something must have heard Axel's request. Maybe it was that moon that Saix and Xemnas always watched, or maybe it was just fate.
One day, one of the girl's human friends; a boy with spiky brown hair, came in holding a small cage. Two blond kittens, exactly identical in appearance, huddled together, mewing in confusion. Kairi skipped over and started talking to him, but Axel was too far away to make it out.
Before long, she picked one of the kittens out of the cage and held it tightly, happiness practically radiating off of her. The boy left, and the girl happily skipped back to her room, still holding the kitten.
Curiosity pricking at his stomach, Axel decided to follow the girl, barely managing to slip into her room just before the door closed. He quickly hid underneath a table, sneakily poking his head out to watch her.
She set the blond kitten on her bed, gently scratching its head with a single finger. The small purr was quiet, but steady.
"Hmm..." She said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "You're a boy, and I don't wanna leave you out of the theme we have for the other cats. So, I'll name you...Arsox?" The kitten shook his head in disgust at the same.
"Hrm...Orxas?" She suggested, getting a pitiful mew in response. "Okay," she said, giggling, "not Orxas."
"Axel!" She chirped, looking over to him. He puffed up in shock. She knew he had been there the whole time? "Come on, join us. Maybe you can help me figure out a name for him!"
Hesitantly, Axel crept out of his hiding spot, quickly jumping onto the bed and sitting down next to the girl. The kitten watched him with wide eyes. "How did you jump that high?" He asked.
Axel stared at him dumbly. "I just...do?"
"I wish I could do that," the kitten mewed sadly. "Me and my brother aren't good jumpers."
"Wait, I got it!" The girl announced, startling both cats. She patted the kitten's head, giving him a huge, happy smile. "Welcome to your new home, Roxas."
She got off of the bed and went over to a dresser, quickly pulling it open and rooting through it. After a few seconds of watching her, Axel turned his attention back to the blond kitten, who was looking at him again.
"So...uhh..." Axel began, slightly unnerved by the kitten's gaze, "I'm Axel." He was about to continue, but the girl came back to them, frowning slightly.
"'Kay guys, I'll be back in a minute. Can't find a pencil." She left the room, leaving the door wide open.
Axel jumped off the bed and waved at the kitten with his tail. "C'mon, I'll show you around. Introduce you to the other cats."
"Uh, okay..." Roxas mewed, slowly padding over to the edge of the bed. He craned his neck to look over the edge, but quickly backed up. "I can't do it. It's too high."
"You'll be fine. You won't hurt yourself," Axel meowed, trying to convince the kitten to jump.
"Nuh-uh. I can't," was the response that came from on top of the bed.
Axel's whiskers twitched in annoyance. It wasn't even that high up! The kitten could do it; he just needed to believe in himself.
Although it was clear that he didn't. With a small groan, Axel jumped back up onto the bed and padded over to the kitten. "Are you sure you can't do it?" He asked, the finality in his voice coming through perfectly clear. Roxas shook his head, the clumps of fur sticking up on his head swaying with him.
"Alright..." Taking a deep breath, Axel gently bit the kitten's scruff, lifting him into the air.
"Wha! What's going on?" Roxas mewed in confusion. Axel hopped off the bed, gently setting the kitten down once they were on the floor. Roxas took several steps back, his bright blue eyes clouded with confusion and anger. "What was that for!" He mewed, offended.
"You wouldn't jump off the bed, so I did it for you." Axel's whiskers twitched in indifference.
"...oh. Then...err," Roxas looked down at his paws, trying his best to avoid eye contact, "thanks."
"Anytime. Now, how about I show you around the house?" Axel offered, waving his tail in an attempt to get the kitten closer. With a quick nod, Roxas was at his side, and they were off.
While Roxas was surprised at how friendly Axel was (just like how Saix had been with Xemnas when they first came, though Axel never knew about that meeting), Axel was just happy to finally have a friend. Saix could have Xemnas and Xigbar and everyone else, but Axel had Roxas.
And in Axel's mind, Roxas was the better choice.
GUYS I'M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND DON'T HATE ME! ;-; FFN wouldn't work last week whenever I tried to update, and Thursday I left to go upstate with my choir. It was so much fun, and so much stuff happened, but there was also a lot of drama. We got back Sunday night/Monday morning. I've been trying every day, and finally it works!
Rather than go on a long ramble about what happened, I shall tell you about my three new plush dolls.
Oswald - went to a mall in San Jose. There was a Disney Store there, so I looked in it. I found the ONLY Oswald plushie in the entire store and bought him. 3 Guess he really IS a lucky rabbit. ^^
Vancouver - we went to Great America (an amusement park) and I won a little purple lemur at one of the games.
Shaymin - They were selling Pokemon plushies at several of the games in Great America. I wanted one so badly, so my friend won one for me. :3 I swear I must have been telling him that I loved him for half of Sunday.
Yeah yeah I know its just an entire flashback chapter, but hey, it gives backstories to a few characters, right? And backstory is always good. _;
For me at least, its kind to sad to think of Saix as a kitten. I mean, he's so happy just to be accepted into a family, and yet by the time Roxas comes around, he's...well, cold. He's cold and mean and harsh. I mean, he gets into fights with his own brother.
The last bit with Roxas happens about a week and a half to two weeks before the first chapter, just so you know. :3
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter; till next Tuesday!