Disclaimer: Me? Own Kingdom Hearts? Nope. That right belongs to Square Enix and Disney. Oh, I don't own Final Fantasy X either.
There's use of the Al Bhed language in this chapter, so I figured it'd be nice if I put the translations here at the top. I've also got them at the end of the chapter.
Sus! Tyt!- Mom! Dad!
E's rusa!- I'm home!
Rikku! Famlusa rusa!- Rikku! Welcome home!
Ynah'd oui kuehk du ehdnutila ouin vneaht?- Aren't you going to introduce your friend?
So hysa ec Yuffie. Hela du saad oui.- My name is Yuffie. Nice to meet you.
Sus, luimt oui aqlica ic vun y susahd?- Mom, could you excuse us for a moment?
It Must Be Destiny
Chapter 11
Time breezes by with the group going to the club every other weekend. Sora has finally found his inspiration for writing the play, but he refuses to show anyone except for Demyx and Aerith. Axel and Roxas aren't together yet, but the same can't be said about Pence and Kairi. No one can tell if Olette and Hayner are dating or not, but that's normal.
The Fall Harvest is fast approaching and signs of it can be seen everywhere. The trees are beginning to turn the fiery reds, oranges, and yellows that fall is famous for and a chill has settled over all of Twilight Town. Each day more and more birds can be seen flying for a warmer climate.
Axel and Riku aren't too happy with the decrease in temperature, but they don't complain about it too much. Because while the fall does bring cooler temperatures it also brings the chance to ask Sora and Roxas over to dinner.
Axel is ecstatic to say the least and can't wait to ask his favorite blond. Riku is excited as well, but he just doesn't show it as much as Axel does. Riku's not really a 'singing/dancing/skipping around the house in joy' kind of guy anyway.
Riku's just happy that Axel doesn't act that way when they're out in public.
It's the last week before the Fall Harvest and everyone is excited about the upcoming week off. Plans are already being made to have dinner with friends or family or both. And it's because of one of those plans that Yuffie is bouncing off the walls.
Riku watches in amusement as Yuffie leaps up onto a stone wall and nearly falls off in her excitement. Like usual it's the two of them and Larxene walking to school together.
"Ninja-brat, you're worse than usual. Mind explaining to us why you're up on the wall about to kill yourself?" Larxene asks.
Yuffie jumps off the wall and lands expertly on her feet. "Rikku invited me to spend the holiday with her and meet her family!"
Larxene raises an eyebrow. "That's the reason for all of this?" She asks condescendingly.
Yuffie sticks out her tongue. "Just 'cause you don't think it's exciting it doesn't mean that I can't. So, Riku," She turns her attention to the white-nette quietly walking beside her. "Has Sora asked you yet?"
"Asked me what?" Riku asks.
"Nothing!" Yuffie says in a tone that clearly suggests that it isn't 'nothing'. "So what are you doing for the holiday?"
Riku shrugs. "Not sure. My parents have to work all week so it'll probably be just me and Axel eating dinner alone." He doesn't mention his idea to invite Sora and Roxas over.
"Well, if no one else invites you then you could always have dinner with Kairi, Demyx, Naminé, Luxord, and Larxene." Yuffie suggests. "Kairi's having dinner with them this year since I won't be home. Dinner with them is always exciting."
"I am not eating dinner with the firebug." Larxene says.
"Oh please, it's not like he'll catch the house on fire or anything! Right, Riku?"
Riku remains silent for a moment and then says, "Just keep all candles unlit and out of sight."
Axel rudely barges into Riku's room carrying a rather large cardboard box. "RIIIIIIIIIIIKUUUUUU! RIKU! Riku! Ri--"
"WHAT!?" Riku snarls, looking away from his homework to glare at Axel.
Axel just grins and jostles the box. "Mom wants us to decorate tonight. She said that if we don't do it then we'll wake up hanging from the ceiling again with the decorations on us."
Riku groans and puts down his pencil. "How is it that we get stuck putting up decorations every year while mom and dad just sit back and watch?"
"They work every day." Axel says.
"We have school, chores, and after school activities." Riku shoots back. "Not to mention we still have to find part-time jobs."
"Yeah, try explaining that to mom and dad." Axel replies, shifting the box in his arms. "Now get off your lazy ass and help me. This thing weighs a hell of a ton."
Riku rolls his eyes but gets up and helps his brother carry the heavy box to the living room, where they proceed to pull out many dusty decorations and put them in piles on the floor.
Mr. and Mrs. Firehaven relax comfortably on the couch and watch their sons.
"You'd think," Axel begins as he stretches to hang a string of fake orange, red, yellow, brown, and green leaves over the window. "That this would be a task for the whole family to do."
"But you boys do such a wonderful job." Mrs. Firehaven says with a smile on her face.
Axel and Riku exchange worried glances. The only time their mom says something truly nice it's either when something is wrong or she wants them to do something for her.
Axel quickly strings up the leaves and then hops down from the ladder. He dusts off his hands on his pants and then looks over at his parents. "Mom, is something wrong?" He asks.
Riku stops trying to untangle more strings of leaves from their wreath and looks up at his parents.
"Wrong?" Mrs. Firehaven asks, her smile not fading. "Why would anything be wrong?"
"You're being nicer than usual." Axel bluntly says, which makes Riku want to bang his head against the wall. Usually nothing good comes of Axel being blunt around their mom.
'Too blunt! Too blunt!' He tries to send the mental message to Axel, but the redhead doesn't get it.
Mrs. Firehaven looks up at her husband with a fond look on her face and he kisses her on the cheek and whispers, "Go on. Tell them."
Mrs. Firehaven looks over at her sons and squeals, "I'm pregnant!"
Riku's head falls with a particularly loud 'thud' on the table and Sora pats his back in what he hopes is a comforting gesture while the others look on.
"Pregnant, huh." Olette says thoughtfully. "I don't see why you're not excited about this. I mean, just think! Now you'll have a baby brother or sister!"
"And we'll have to help take care of her." Axel says dully. "I'm not good with kids! I can barely manage to keep track of myself!" He says, half-hysterical.
Sora sighs and reaches out with his other hand to pat Axel on the back. It's just his luck to be stuck between the two.
"It won't be that bad, Axel." Kairi says. "From what I heard from Sora you do well with your little cousins."
"Yeah, but they're not toddlers. We're talking about a little baby, Kairi." Axel argues.
"They act like toddlers." Riku mutters, lifting his head off the table. "And this is going to be weird. We'll be eighteen years older than the baby."
"Eighteen?" Demyx looks a little confused. "But you're seventeen."
Zexion rolls his eyes at his lover. "They'll be eighteen by the time the baby is born."
Demyx blinks. "Oh. Oh, yeah." He grins sheepishly. "Forgot."
"Who do you think she'll look more like?" Naminé asks. "Or better, who do you think she'll act more like?"
"If she's anything like Axel then we're all doomed." Riku remarks. "If she is then I am moving out."
"Yeah, well if she's like you then I am moving out." Axel counters.
"What if she's like one of your parents?" Kairi asks.
Riku and Axel exchange glances.
"Okay, if she's anything like mom then I'm moving out with you." Axel says.
"Agreed." Riku replies.
"What makes you guys so sure it'll be a girl?" Marluxia asks. "It could very easily be a boy. Unless you guys want a baby sister."
Axel shrugs. "Dunno. And I guess it doesn't really matter." He sits back in his chair and looks over at Sora. "How's the play coming? Care to share any tidbits of what I'm making props for?"
Sora smiles mysteriously. "You'll see." He replies. "Which reminds me, how are the costumes coming along, Dem?"
The tops of conversation remains away from the new Firehaven kid and stays focused more on school and related activities. Naminé tries once or twice to talk to Riku about his future little brother or sister, but each time Marluxia uses his favorite method of shutting her up.
An hour later the 10 teens leave to go home to do homework or chores. How all ten of them were able to fit at one around table is a mystery to all.
Sora calls Riku aside as they're leaving and tells Roxas that he'll see him at home. Roxas gives him a suspicious look but continues on and ignores Axel's attempts to walk him home.
"Riku, I was going to ask this earlier but I didn't have time." Sora says. "Would you like to have dinner with me and my family next Thursday?"
Riku looks down at Sora and when he sees those big blue eyes looking up at him he knows he can't say no. "I'd love to." He says, letting a warm smile spread across his face.
Sora smiles broadly. "Great! And Axel is invited too. I know Roxas wants him to come but it's not like he'd ever say that out loud."
Riku chuckles. "No, I can't imagine that either. But if we go have dinner at your place on Thursday, then you and Roxas come over on Friday for dinner."
A playful glint enters Sora's eyes. "You won't be cooking, will you?"
"No, I--" Riku stops and stares at Sora, who grins. "Who told you?"
"Axel." Sora replies. "And Roxas mentioned it too."
Riku sighs. "I can't do anything to Roxas, but Axel is wide open." He smirks and cracks his knuckles. "He's in for a surprise when I get home."
With all of them having something to look forward to during their week off, the remainder of the week crawls by. At one point during the week Hayner swears that the clock completely stops at some parts of the day which gets Yuffie arguing that it's because the school clocks are worth crap. And Larxene has been in such a foul mood that not only has she been snapping at everyone like usual, she is also violently shocking people who get too close.
When the bell rings on Friday the atmosphere of the school could rival the excitement at the beginning of High School Musical 2, only without the singing and dancing. Well, there's no singing or dancing at Twilight High School, but Sunset High School is a different story.
To celebrate their week-long break the entire group heads off to the club to hang out, dance, and goof off. By the time they split up for the night everyone is exhausted.
Early one morning, Rikku knocks on the Kisaragi's front door and when Kairi answers the door she gives the redhead one of her trademark bright smiles.
"Good morning, Kairi." Rikku greets. "Is my sexy Yuffie around?"
Kairi giggles and steps aside to let her in. "She's up in her room working on one of her 'super secret projects' that she won't tell me about. You know the way."
"Thanks!" Rikku practically skips past Kairi, who notes with some amusement that there are bells strung through her hair and that they jingle whenever she moves.
Kairi softly laughs as she closes the door and listens to the bells. "Yuffie has finally met her match." She says to herself. "Things are bound to get interesting with them together."
Upstairs, Rikku barges right into Yuffie's room without pausing to knock. Yuffie jumps nearly two feet in the air and drops whatever it is she's working on.
"Rikku! You startled me!" Yuffie exclaims, bending down to pick up the large object.
Rikku grins when she notices that Yuffie is clad in only a black sports bra and black shorts. "'cha working on?" She asks as she crosses the room to sit down on the bed. "It's all… flowery." She tilts her head to the side. "You don't usually like flowery things."
"It's for Kairi." Yuffie replies. "She and Sora and Roxas used to make these years ago out of cardboard and used to fight with them. I've finished Sora's already and it's hidden in my closet. I've got the base for both of Roxas's finished, but there's still little details to go over." She sighs and holds up one of the flowers. "I just got these today so I figured I'd arrange these where I need them and weld them on tomorrow before I paint it."
"Want any help?" Rikku asks.
Yuffie shakes her head. "They have to be just perfect." She gently nudges one of the flowers and tacks it in place. She repeats the action a few more times before sighing in relief and setting it aside.
"I never had you pegged for the artsy type." Rikku remarks, trailing a finger over the exposed skin on her girlfriend's leg. She raises her vivid green eyes to meet Yuffie's dark violet. "Don't you go to Twilight?"
Yuffie ignores the gentle touch for the most part. "I do, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate art. I'm just better at sports and physical activities." She rolls her eyes when Rikku grins at 'physical activities'. "Perv." She mutters.
"You love me and you know it." Rikku says, removing her hand from Yuffie's leg. "Now, believe it or not I actually have a reason for being here other than to spend time with you. It's about Thursday's dinner."
Yuffie looks at Rikku apprehensively.
"It's nothing bad!" Rikku quickly reassures, easily and correctly reading the look on Yuffie's face. "It's just that my family has the tendency to speak Al Bhed and not realizing that they are. It gets really bad when we go from speaking in plain English and then go straight into Al Bhed in the middle of a sentence."
"So I get to learn Al Bhed?" Yuffie excitedly asks.
"Oac!" Rikku cheerfully chirps. "That means 'yes'." She says with a wink.
"So I gathered." Yuffie responds. "So where do we start?"
"The basics, dearest Yuffie." Rikku says. "We start with the basics."
Sora hums as he adds the finishing touches to Thursday's dinner. He has all but banished the rest of the family from the kitchen and only allows Squall in every now and then to see how things are going.
The doorbell rings just as he's ladling gravy into a bowl but he continues to move at the same pace, not wanting to screw anything up or drop anything by moving too fast. He starts humming once again as he begins carrying food into the dining room and arranges it on the table. As he does so he catches snippets of conversation from the living room, but he doesn't stop to listen until all of the food is on the table.
"So, where are you two from?" Sora hears his mom ask.
"Destiny Island." Axel says.
"I've heard the islands are gorgeous. I almost visited them once but I had to cancel and go in to work. Do you think you'll ever go back?"
Sora decides he doesn't want to hear the answer. He quickly opens the door and, after putting a fake cheerful smile on his face, announces that dinner is ready in a deceptively happy tone.
He doesn't stop to wonder why he feels sick at the thought of Riku leaving. The thought doesn't even cross his mind as he directs Riku to sit right next to him.
"Looks good, Sora." Axel remarks as he sits down beside Riku and across from Roxas. "I can't believe how well you can cook."
Sora blushes, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Riku, who glares at Axel. Roxas notices the glare and gives Riku a warning look. Cloud, who is sitting at the head of the table, frowns when he notices. Squall chooses to ignore them and Mrs. Strife remains blissfully unaware.
Everyone makes sure to complement Sora on his cooking as they begin to eat and with each complement Sora blushes a little. The only time his face turns bright red is when Riku accidentally brushes his hand against his.
Cloud lightly kicks Sora in warning.
"Sora, Roxas, you never told me how you met Riku and Axel." Mrs. Strife says.
"I met Axel at Sunset." Sora says, happy for the distraction. "And I met Riku when I went over there to talk about drama stuff with Axel. Then Roxas came over to get me and Axel answered the door. It was funny 'cause Axel came running back into the room and yell-" He stops and hurriedly corrects his would-be mistake. "Yelled something. I don't remember what it was. Actually it wasn't all that funny." He stares down at his food and pokes at a slice of turkey.
Mrs. Strife smiles, apparently not noticing that Sora didn't tell her the whole story. "I for one am glad you four met. I don't think I've ever seen Roxas and Sora happier."
Roxas snorts into his drink and covers it up by coughing and pretending it went down the wrong pipe.
"So, Leon," Mrs. Strife turns her gaze to the older brunet. "I'm surprised you're spending another Harvest dinner with us. Still no girlfriend?"
Squall's eyes flicker to Cloud, who has automatically stiffened, and then he looks back to Mrs. Strife. "Still no girlfriend." He slowly says, choosing his words carefully. "Although there s someone special to me."
Mrs. Strife practically squeals. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! What's her name? What does she look like? Does she have a sister who Cloud can date?"
Squall looks vaguely amused by the last question while Cloud turns cherry red. Sora chooses to "accidentally" knock a fork under the table and proceeds to duck down to retrieve it. Roxas is swiftly paling and glaring daggers at Squall at the same time. Axel and Riku expertly hide their confusion and amusement.
Squall's eyes once again flicker momentarily to Cloud before a hint of a smirk crosses his face. "My special someone," He says in the same slow, thoughtful tone. "has a name relating to the sky,"
Sora's head comes in contact with the table.
"Blond hair and blue eyes,"
Roxas's glare intensifies.
"And two younger siblings." Squall finishes. "Both of whom already have significant others."
"I do?" Comes Sora's soft murmur from under the table.
Squall swiftly kicks him and Sora's head comes in contact with the table for the second time that night.
"Sora, are you okay?" Mrs. Strife asks, concern lacing her voice.
"I'm fine, mom." Sora says as he climbs out from under the table, fork in hand.
"Well I for one am happy for you, Leon." Mrs. Strife says. "It doesn't seem like any of my boys are interested in dating. And I was looking forward so much to having grandchildren." She gives a disappointed sigh.
Axel catches Roxas's eye and winks suggestively. Roxas promptly kicks him, but even that goes wrong as Axel engages him in a game of footsie.
Roxas is not amused.
He's especially not amused when he misjudges a kick to Axel's leg and ends up slamming his knee into the table when the phone rings. While his mom goes to answer the phone he fights back tears of pain and glares at Axel.
"What the hell are you thinking?!" He hisses. "My mom is sitting right beside us and you're trying to screw around!"
Axel's smile fades. "I was just trying to get you to lighten up. You're too tense."
"I wouldn't have to lighten up if someone," Roxas gives Squall a piercing glare, but the older male is too busy apologizing to Cloud. "Wasn't dropping hints." He fixes his glare back on Axel. "You. Are. Not. Helping." He growls.
"You can't hide it forever, Rox." Axel says. "It would be better to hear it from one of you instead of someone else."
"Like who."
"Hayner has a big mouth and there's no way I can keep from ravishing you at the club." He ignores Roxas's glare. "And there's also my parents, who will be informed when we begin dating."
"I will never date you." Roxas hisses.
"We'll see, Roxas. We'll see." Axel says, dismissing the idea that they'll never date. "You forget about Riku and Sora." He looks pointedly at the two and Roxas follows his gaze to see Sora and Riku sitting even closer to one another.
Roxas growls when Riku playfully kisses the top of Sora's head which causes the younger boy to blush.
"Riku hasn't realized how much he cares for Sora yet." Axel says, his green eyes no longer playful. "Right now he's confused; He doesn't know what to think or why he feels anything but friendship when it comes to Sora." He sighs. "But he'll figure it out. It'll take a while, but he'll figure it out."
Roxas says nothing.
"Ready?" Rikku asks, smiling at Yuffie.
Yuffie nervously nods. "I-I think so." She says unsurely.
Rikku kisses her on the cheek and then pulls back to look Yuffie in the eyes. "You'll be just fine. My family will love you! Just loosen up and be yourself." She smiles and then opens the door to her parents' house. "Sus! Tyt! Brother!" She calls as she steps into the bustling house. "E's rusa!"
A woman with Rikku's hair and eyes appears in the hallway, wiping her hands on her apron. "Rikku! Famlusa rusa!" She says warmly. "Ynah'd oui kuehk du ehdnutila ouin vneaht?"
Rikku smiles and nudges Yuffie. "It's my mom. Say hello."
"So hysa ec Yuffie. Hela du saad oui." Yuffie says perfectly, not once stumbling over the words.
Rikku beams proudly.
"You found a smart girl, Rikku." Her mom says, her English a little shaky. "It is a joy to meet you, Yuffie. I'm Alysia Spira. You may call me Alysia or mom or anything you like."
"Thank you, Mrs. Spira." Yuffie says softly, which makes Rikku frown and wonder why she's so quiet. Just that morning she was practically bouncing off the wall in excitement!
"Sus, luimt oui aqlica ic vun y susahd?" Rikku asks.
Mrs. Spira nods and walks back into the kitchen, presumably to finish up dinner.
Rikku pulls Yuffie off to the side where no one will see them. "Okay, what's wrong?" She asks.
Yuffie uncomfortably rubs her arms. "I always get uncomfortable around big families. I-" She stops and looks down. "Kairi and I have never had that. Our parents are divorced and dad lives far away. Mom's always traveling and we haven't seen her in over three years." She sighs. "She calls now and then, but it's not the same."
Rikku wraps her girlfriend in a hug, seeing for the first time a more fragile side to Yuffie. "It'll be okay. If it helps, you can think of this as just a big gathering of friends.
"Yeah, but in a group of friends I don't stand out." Yuffie says.
"You stood out to me at the club." Rikku reminds. "Amidst all the brightly clothed people the one who caught my attention was the sexy, energetic girl in black."
Yuffie giggles. "That's true."
"Don't worry." Rikku says, holding out a hand. "You won't be the only non-Al Bhed here. And you already know one of my cousins."
Yuffie's eyes light up. "Yuna's here?"
Rikku nods. "Yup! We can go say 'hi' if she's not sucking face with her boyfriend."
Yuffie slips her hand into Rikku's. "Lets go!"
At the Strife's, Riku and Axel are leaving to go back home while Mrs. Strife rushes around to get dressed for work.
"Thanks for dinner, Sora!" Axel cheerfully says as he pulls on his long, black coat. "Don't forget to come over for dinner at our house tomorrow. We've volunteered our dad to coo and he seems pretty happy about it."
"We can't wait." Sora says. "What time do you want me and Roxas over?" He asks.
"Dinner is at six, but you can come over earlier if you want." Riku says.
Sora bids both of them goodbye while Cloud and Squall stand back and watch. Roxas refuses to even look at Axel and only says goodbye to Riku, but then Axel somehow catches his attention and blows him a kiss before he leaves.
"I'm going too." Cloud stats when the door is closed. "You two won't be other there with them alone."
"But we won't be. Their parents will be over there too. And Riku and Axel would never hurt us." Sora says.
Squall rests a hand on Cloud's shoulders and leads him back into the living room. "They'll be fine." He says. "Roxas and Sora are smart and Riku and Axel are good kids." He swiftly places a kiss on Cloud's lips before the blond can protest and backs off just as quickly. "What do you say we go work on that problem in your room."
Cloud rolls his eyes and mutters, "Horny bastard" but adjourns to his room with Squall anyway.
End chapter
Sus! Tyt!- Mom! Dad!
E's rusa!- I'm home!
Rikku! Famlusa rusa!- Rikku! Welcome home!
Ynah'd oui kuehk du ehdnutila ouin vneaht?- Aren't you going to introduce your friend?
So hysa ec Yuffie. Hela du saad oui.- My name is Yuffie. Nice to meet you.
Sus, luimt oui aqlica ic vun y susahd?- Mom, could you excuse us for a moment?
Shiro: Well, I'd say this earns the title of 'second longest chapter'. And it also puts me one step closer to beating 'Family Bonds'. Bwahaha!
Bast: (sighs) Here we go...
Shiro: See, I've got this goal to have "It Must Be Destiny" hit the top of my stats pages and to do that I'm going to need a little help. So far in words it's my 6th longest story. In chapters it's 8th. In reviews it's 9th. In hits it's 6th. In Favs it is 4th. And I am very proud to say that it has tied with 'Truth Be Told' in alerts for 1st place.
Roxas: Why this story? Why us?
Shiro: I just love this story so damn much! (huggles story) It's my favorite of any I've written (except for maybe LAPOW, 'cause I had a super fun time writing that one.) so I want it to beat out the old one's I've written. And hey, it's good for a writer to have a goal. Or goals.
Keitaro: How is this going to benefit the readers?
Kaze: (smirks) Isn't 'benefit' a bit of a big word for you, Kiiro?
Keitaro: ...
Shiro: No fighting. Anyway, the readers should like this since it means I'll be writing more. And the more reviews I get the more I write and the sooner I update. See, it's all connected.
Roxas: (holds up a sign that reads: Save me from the psychopathic writer)
Shiro: Gimme that! (takes sign)
Roxas: (draws keyblades)
Shiro: Aww, shit! (runs)
Roxas: (chases)
