A.N - I'm sorry. I feel awful that I've taken so long to update this story. :( I've been struggling. Then, last night I showered (I usually only shower in the morning and then rush around all day) and suddenly knew how to finish this chapter! So I scribbled it down quickly before midnight and wrote it up this morning.

Warning - This has now been beta-ed by the lovely Leon Heartnet. Nothing major has changed, just a few mistakes and confusing sections where I word things oddly.

Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated. =[

Marluxia was the most demanding youngling that the nest had ever experienced. Not even Axel could match his son's stubbornness and wilful nature. The little pink haired faery, right from hatching, was incredibly insistent. He would not stand to be cared for by just any old faery and cried whenever Larxene was given some time to herself. He put up with Axel and Roxas to a degree, but it was only when Larxene was with him that the hatchling lit up with smiles and coos. And if Larxene happened to be shouting at someone, then it was even better. The nest would be trembling in fear of the female's voice raised in anger and then suddenly suffused with the bell like laughter from the newest male. It came to the point that the females cobbled together a harness for the baby and strapped him to Larxene's back, safe from any harm, as she ordered her underlings about the kitchens so that the child could be close to her. Sora had informed Ariel that he would be away for the winter but as spring showed signs of soon returning to the woods, the boy began worrying. Humans did not lay eggs, human males did not bear young and humans at six years of age most definitely knew little to nothing of having children of their own. What would happen to his eggs if Sora were to take on human form? In all ways possible, his body became human. He went from his adult Fae appearance to that of a human child. His eggs would either change with him or become irrevocably harmed. Riku was determined that Sora simply would not return to the humans. As far as they could tell, they had saved their home. However, Sora hated the idea of rudely ignoring the note Ariel was bound to leave him, requesting a meeting. Would she worry if this were to happen? The whole nest was soon aware of the dilemma and all brain power was turned to finding a solution that would satisfy both Sora and his over protective mate.

Roxas was seated comfortably in Axel's lap and popping dried berries into his mouth intermittently as he pondered ways for Sora to continue communications with the humans. Currently, the most popular solution was for Sora to write a note to leave the human female as she did for him. Riku liked this idea because it meant that Sora didn't even need to leave the security of the nest, however, Sora did not think a little note saying that he had to go away to visit family far away for practically a whole year was such a good idea. What would happen if Ariel were to need him? Roxas had been generally silent, not offering forth any opinions. He'd spent a great deal of time alone or interacting with Axel's clutch of daughter's, not telling anyone about the plan he was formulating. Rolling a sweet dried berry around his mouth, Roxas pondered the feasibility of his plan when Axel went unnaturally still. They were sat in the food hall and the redhead had been contentedly playing with Roxas' hair, braiding it and undoing the little plaits before redoing them again. The time he'd been spending with his daughters had had some bizarre, but not entirely unwelcome, effects on his interactions. He seemed quite content to play with their hair and even allowed them to weave sparkly bells and little stones into his own hair. Roxas looked around quizzically and was about to scold Axel, seeing who the redhead was looking at, when the faery's face lit up with a welcoming smile and he waved across the room at a pair of females. Roxas' jaw hit the table as Kairi and Yuffie meandered over to join them, soon followed by Xion. Twisting his torso around so that he could look at his mate, Roxas examined Axel's face for any sign of the usual distaste the redhead always exhibited around the female couple. Green eyes danced with amusement as they met sapphire blue and Axel's teeth gleamed as he flashed Roxas a sly grin. "What's wrong Roxie? Have I got something on my face?" he asked, eyes widened with faux innocence.

"N...no, but...you, and they...when? Why...how...huh?" Roxas babbled, gaze flitting between Axel and the girls, all of whom were wearing similarly entertained expressions. Axel chuckled wickedly.

"Me and the girls have been spending a lot of time together. Since you've been so busy doing something secret with magic." Roxas flinched and looked ashamed of himself. It was true, his plan to solve Sora's dilemma did involve magic and he'd been sneaking away from the nest to practice the spells. He was surprised that this had driven Axel into making friends with the female couple instead of pushing the redhead into pestering Roxas. All in all, he supposed it was a good thing. Axel's negative reaction to Yuffie and Kairi's relationship had been upsetting to the girls and caused a great many of the nests females to copy Axel's behaviour. However, regarding the stern but intrigued looks he was receiving from the three females and his mate, Roxas began to regret the new bonds of friendship, knowing that whether he liked it or not, they would manage to drive his secrets from him.

"So, you think you can hold the spell for long enough?" Axel persisted. Roxas rolled his eyes, the question had been asked more than once, by more than one person.

"Yes Axel, I've been practicing it. It's just a glamour. It's not that difficult." Axel wrung his hands anxiously.

"And you're certain that you'll both be safe? And that you will stay near home and..." Roxas sighed in frustration and planted his lips against his mates, effectively silencing him other than a slight mumble. It didn't take long for Axel to melt into a puddle of goo, Roxas smirked at the control he had over the redhead. After running soothing circles across Axel's scalp, Roxas snuggled up to him and sat comfortably in his lap.

"I promise you that we'll be fine. Nothing will go wrong. If anything even starts to look dangerous I can temporarily blind them whilst me and Riku help Sora fly away. He's not too egg heavy yet to fly, and with us there to help we won't be slowed down." Axel had buried his face in the crook of Roxas' neck. His heart was pounding with worry for his delicate blond soul mate. But it was also bursting with pride at the skill Roxas had with his magicks. So young and yet so proficient. Roxas found ways to use his control of light that dazzled the nest. He could do so much; it made Axel wish he'd paid more attention to his own gift. Surely he could do more than to just create fire. Though spring was still a while away, Ariel had requested a meeting. Roxas' plan was simple; he was going to cast a kind of illusion over Sora to make him appear in his human form. Sora would not be able to interact with anything since he was not actually changing form - the illusion was made of light. Roxas was going to cause the illusion to look unwell and Sora would explain that he'd been poorly and needed to stay at home a lot. This would hopefully mean that he could bring the meeting to a quick halt and return to the nest. If all went well they would be able to re-use this method of meeting with the humans until Sora laid his clutch. Roxas was even planning on learning to imitate his twin's voice so that when Sora found it too difficult to fly; Roxas himself could go and commune with the humans. Axel, much to his disgust, was remaining behind at the nest because the dying winter meant the weather was temperamental and cold, making Axel slow and sluggish as well as limiting his magick and power of flight.

The flight to the 'note tree' took much longer for the three faeries than it had Sora on his first foray into human communication. Riku, remembering how exhausted he had been following the faery and then the human child, had broken their journey into short hops with breaks for food and drink in between. Not only were the twins not as athletic as Riku, Sora needed to be careful because of the eggs and Roxas needed to keep up his strength for casting his spell. Other than these stops, Sora called a stop every time he spotted some of the suet left for the birds and spent great effort in prying the frost hardened foodstuff from various containers and then stuffing handfuls into his mouth until he resembled a squirrel hoarding nuts for the winter. At one such occasion, Roxas found himself watching his twin with distaste and fervently hoping that when he himself had eggs, he would never EVER crave the little gooey balls of fat studded with various seeds. In fact, he really would rather have his eggs in the late summer, even though he knew this would still mean he'd have to suffer through a winter. In the summer, Axel just wanted to be outside. Roxas could imagine himself sat in a comfy nest in a tree close to the home nest. And Axel would be flying around and bringing him sweet little wild strawberries to nibble on, they would watch the stars come out and it would be all peaceful and calm. "You want some?" Rudely awakened from his daydreaming, Roxas leapt back, narrowly avoiding the handful of suet Sora had generously offered and nearly shoved up his left nostril.

"No! Eewww! Uh, I mean...no thank you Sora. Why on earth do you think I'd want some?" Roxas blinked in confusion as Riku raised a quizzical eyebrow and Sora studied Roxas' stomach.

"Roxas...do you have eggs?" Sora asked slowly, knowing this was a touchy subject.

"No." The blond twin replied forlornly before frowning. "Why?" Sora shuffled, chewing the last bit of suet with obvious relish before responding.

"You were staring at my snack and drooling." He replied happily before grabbing Riku's hand and flying off, leaving Roxas gaping like a goldfish. He really had to keep his mind on their current objective and away from his mate back at home. He hadn't been away for long and he already missed the fire faery. He supposed it was a kind of separation anxiety, he had never actually been parted from Axel for any length of time, and the redhead had always been only a few short moments away. Slowly, sighing to himself, Roxas flew after Sora. He was getting nervous about facing the humans, envious of his brother, who at least had Riku's hand to hold.

As they got to their meeting place, the sky was filling swiftly with clouds, black and heavy with rain. Sora perched himself out of harm's way on a branch, and Roxas began weaving his glamour, fervently hoping the clouds could hold their burden for just a while longer. If it began to rain whilst they spoke to Ariel, the humans would want to take the poorly child somewhere warm and dry. And if the heavens opened whilst they were away from the nest, they would have no choice but to seek shelter. It would be impossible to fly. If anything, Roxas' bleak thoughts assisted him in creating a human sized replica of his twin when they had been much younger. The child was bundled up in a thick black coat, the bright red scarf wound about his neck and mouth only emphasised his paleness and the dark rings under his eyes. Roxas was rather proud of his creation and, taking a seat beside Sora – Riku hovering protectively on a slightly higher branch; he made his puppet of light shuffle around uncomfortably and experimentally squeezed Sora's hand to time the sound and motion of a deep cough. With the puppet's mouth hidden by the scarf, Roxas didn't have to worry about syncing the lip movements with Sora's voice. They didn't have long to wait for Ariel and the ever-present Eric to arrive. Roxas was momentarily caught off guard as the woman with long red hair let out a cry and ran towards the child with open arms and a big smile. The faery swiftly manipulated his puppet to raise its arms in an abortive gesture as Sora called out "STOP" in a crackly, weak voice to emphasise his 'illness'. Ariel halted looking hurt and confused. Roxas, squeezing Sora's hand, made the puppet cough. "I'm sorry Ariel, I just..." Sora coughed again and the fae watching saw the woman's face contort in sympathy and concern. "I'm just sick and I don't want you to get it. Mommy says I can't talk long. I need to stay in bed." Puppet Sora pouted adorably though only his eyes showed it. "But my father says it's rude to miss important meetings, so I came to see you."

"Well, we'll try to not keep you too long." Ariel smiled. "We really wanted to ask you a little more about your angel." Unbeknownst to the humans, high above their heads, faery Sora threw a quick glance up at Riku, blushing. He had taken to using 'Angel' as Riku's pet name. Roxas smirked at this little interaction as he directed his puppet to look curious as he nodded.

"Okay." Sora said, realising the humans were waiting for some sort of cue.

"Well, we were wondering what he looks like when he's small? When you described him before, it was when he was big, wasn't it?" Sora frowned, confused, his actions copied by Roxas' puppet.

"He looks the same."

"But, you were carrying him around. There has to be differences in his appearance." This time Eric spoke up, not entirely pleased to be encouraging this behaviour further.

"Ye-es...but he still looks the same. Just littler." Sora glanced at his brother and then at Riku. They both shrugged, not knowing what the humans were expecting. "He's just like a little grown-up...everything looks the same. He's just...little." The puppet's face scrunched up looking confused, frustrated and close to tears.

"Okay then." Ariel soothed. "Oh, Sora...You once said Riku was big when you were here in the woods." The Sora-puppet beamed and nodded before coughing quietly at a squeeze of Sora's hand.

"Yep." He said after recovering.

"Is he here now?" Ariel glanced around; wishing this guardian angel watching over Sora and the Earth was real.

"'Course!" Sora chirped, glancing at Roxas who indicated the shadowy branches high above them in the tree, making the puppet point there too. Riku, unnoticed, smiled as an idea hit him and a devious expression took over his features. "He's up there, where the shadows are."

Both adults looked up despite themselves. Where Eric quickly looked down, humiliated by his actions, and began sketching some of the winter landscape, Ariel's gaze lingered. "And what does Riku think of us?" she asked softly, enamoured of the world the boy's imagination painted. Sora smiled and allowed himself to talk in a slightly more mature manner, as if he really were voicing his Angel's thoughts.

"Riku says that it's good to see some humans remember their duties to the Earth. Everything we once knew has been forgotten and we poison the Earth. But people like you, who try to help and spread awareness about how we need to be more careful...Well, Riku says that there needs to be more like you. He is sad that humans have forgotten how to see the magick in the world around us." Sora was concentrating hard on referring to himself as a human, Roxas was amazed by the emotion his twin was putting into the speech whilst conveying an important message.

"There are angels everywhere, I bet. Where there's green stuff and lotsa plants. Riku doesn't like all the smoke and stone in human places." Sora's voice lapsed back into his more childish dialect. "Riku loves trees and flowers and stuff. Only us kids still believe in the old world where magick was something as normal as cars and malls and icecream. Riku told me once that only when an angel wants a grown-up to see him, and only if the grown-up really, really wants to believe in magick – then they will. Otherwise they're invisible." Sora squeezed Roxas' hand once more and coughed violently, hoping to start on their way home soon. He was getting hungry.

Shooting the boy a sympathetic glance as he coughed and spluttered until left wheezing for breath, Ariel glanced up at the tree where the trunk overshadowed some sturdy looking branches. Her eyes widened and, gasping in surprise and excitement, she spun to get Eric's attention. "What is it?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow at his wife's glowing expression. He followed her slightly shaking finger's direction to find himself looking up through the tree's branches to the angrily roiling clouds. Confused about why this had created such a euphoric expression on his wife's face, Eric turned to Sora. "We'd best be off, it's going to storm." He stated, oblivious to the awed expression his wife still held. "Would you like a lift?" Sora shook his head, copied by the puppet, as he eyed Riku's smug expression speculatively.

"No thanks, it's quicker to go through the woods." He said before calling out, "BYE!" as Roxas' puppet waved and scampered off into the woods.

Ariel allowed Eric to drag her to their car. Her hands were itching for pen and paper because, for that one short moment, Ariel had seen the shadowy figure of a winged man standing protectively over Sora from high in the tree's branches.

A.N - I hope you like it. I anticipate the story will finish soon. Should be less than 5 chapters left. Eeeh. We shall see.

Dreamy xxx