Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter Twenty-One: Summer Nights

For KeyofDestiny813

Theo looked away and tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling and after doing this for a few minutes she was able to answer him.

"Just...Someone I knew."

"I doubt she meant as little to you as that." Dr Anselm almost laughed. "Was she a close friend?"

"She was my girlfriend." She admitted this out of anger at him laughing. She raised a cynical eyebrow. "Are you shocked? Repulsed?"

"Why would I be repulsed?"

"Because I'm a lesbian."

Dr Anselm crossed his legs and tilted his head to the side. His own son was a homosexual and in fact one of his ex-lovers actually worked at the institute. However whether he could call him a lover could be questionable considering how Xehanort treated Terra. Terra's father was a major business man who needed to secure a deal with Xehanort so decided to through in a little something into the deal or more tried to persuade him to agree by throwing in his son. He knew his son was gay and despised him for it so it more of an act of vengeance on him being the way he was as well as a business move. He also knew that Xehanort was gay so really he was playing to his tastes when other businessmen would've called up an escort service. He had been previously married out of convenience and shockingly produced a son out of it but once homosexuality was no longer such a crime to society he came out and divorced his wife.

Anselm still stayed in contact with Xemnas and his previous daughter in law, more so than his son in fact. It wasn't out of distaste at his homosexuality but because of his character. Something which reflected in the relationship he had with Terra who he only used to relieve him of his sexual rather than emotional needs since the poor boy was seventeen. However during this Xehanort had another lover at some point which Terra eventually found out about while doing his law degree. He confronted Xehanort about it who just laughed in his face and revealed that he never meant anything to him. Now alone in the world, he dropped out since it was Xehanort paying his fees and his father more or less abandoned him once the relationship began. He remembered Anselm and arrived on his doorstep. Anselm knew he couldn't let the boy fend for himself so gave him a job and sheltered him until he had enough to buy himself a place for himself. The job being at the institution and was presently outside the door waiting in case Theo made a run for it.

"My son is gay and you would be surprised as to how many people here are also homosexuals so believe me that is something I have no issues with whatsoever."

She raised an eyebrow looking faintly surprised. "Really?"

"Yes."

She hesitated and almost looked more relaxed and perhaps content with talking with him more freely but like most patients Theo wasn't still sure as to whether she could trust him with her darkest secrets.

"She died."

Dr Anselm nodded. He knew this. He knew which girl she was likely to be referring to. Of course this was all from her file and was what triggered her depression. When some people were only temporarily depressed and traumatised for a few years. Others like Theo took it to the next stage. The girl in question died in the most heinous of ways which was a result of today's culture amongst young people who saw people as disposable and themselves invincible. Dr Anselm who had never witnessed such a thing and thank goodness could only see the effects of such a violent act on all those involved but never knew how it actually felt on the inside. All he could do was help them with how they were going to make the next step forward. He could only feign empathy but never truly know how it felt to be in that situation.

The young man who committed the murder discovered that he wasn't so invincible considering he had now been given a life sentence for his actions. A sentence he was sure Theo wasn't satisfied with. He knew when he told the news to her a week ago that she was not content with this and that he deserved to die. It was only natural for these emotions to come from someone who loved the person who had been murdered. However this was yet just another sign that Theo had no yet put the past behind her or even attempted making the first step in doing so. Even though it had only been a month or so by now Anselm was hoping that there could be some change in her development. An eye for an eye.

"Do you want to talk about that?"

She gulped and shook her head. "I want to talk about the person who did it."

"Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know you tell me. I suppose it must be because it seems like the natural first step to me."

She remembered his face. It was full of malice and anger. He wanted to kill everyone there if he was going to get his way but Xion wasn't going to let him. She believed she was invincible and that she was a hero. She died a hero. Instead of being proud that her girlfriend died in such a way she pitied her because she knew that Xion didn't want to die a hero. She wanted to return home to her bed with Theo in her arms knowing she may have doing something good with her life and that she may continue to do so with the rest of her life. However the next time she would lay down finally would be in the ground with no one in her cold, dead arms except for a bouquet of her favourite flowers: violets.

"What do you remember about him?"

"He was an ex-boyfriend of a girl staying in our house. I only met him twice and both those times I could see why people who knew him hated him and why she left him in the end. What I don't understand is why she stayed with him."

Dr Anselm said nothing. He just stared. After a while Theo saw this as a sign for her to continue.

"I could see that there was no way that the violent nature was ever going to be erased and that it had become so much a part of him I don't think even you would be able to turn that around."

For the first time in a while Dr Anselm's expression broke into a smile. "Really? He was that violent?"

"Well there are some people who are too far down the rabbit hole." She replied.

Anselm shrugged his shoulders. "This is true."

"The first night I met him..."

Her voice trailed off into the darkness of her past where she knew she was edging closer to the present. For many weeks she had been turned more in the direction of the past than the present or even her future. However now that it was edging closer and closer she knew she had to decide what frightened her the most.

~ (***) ~

The night reminded her of what Fitzgerald said about the parties at Gatsby's mansion. She remembered the little snippets from that chapter such as 'they came and went like moths' and describing the beauty and seduction of the hedonistic nights under 'the champagne and stars'. She never thought there could be anyone else who could describe celebrations under the night sky more beautifully and articulately than Fitzgerald. However instead of drinking champagne, Theo was drinking a glass of red wine which Xion had stolen from the wine cellar downstairs while the others were downstairs watched crony movies. So Xion and Theo took this as a chance to have some alone time which was difficult to have in such a crowded household. They had to take these moments as much as they could.

"How do you like the wine?"

Theo shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip. "I like red wine. Whatever red wine. Just as long as it's red wine I don't care." She whispered against Xion's smiling face and stole a kiss.

"I'm taking that as a yes." She giggled. "The guys want to go out tonight. To the bars in town."

"Oh yeah? I actually wanted to go to those when we were in town the other day."

"Yeah but the reason that we're going is to give Olette emotional support with the new beau she's currently 'sort-of' dating now. Personally I think it's too early for her to be dating anyone."

Theo grunted with agreement. "But I suppose it's alright with someone like him."

Xion tilted her head to the side and found that she had to agree with this. "He seems alright, miles better than Seifer which is the main thing. Just as long she's not relapsing its fine with me."

Hayner was the typical boy next door in Theo's opinion. Or for lack of a better label. Blonde hair, blue eyes, cute and atypical high school sweetheart good looks. Personality wise he was considerate, kind, loyal and always wanted to be there for their friends even if deep down they actually had another reason to but only applied to Olette. She could see why Olette found him so nice and if she was straight she would even date him. Although even if she as she wasn't sure if he would even be his type. Maybe he would be too cutesy. However since this wasn't exactly a problem she had to wrestle with she turned away from the subject. So in all to Theo he was harmless and if Olette was on the rebound or was finding what she really needed Theo saw no harm in it. But she could also see how it could be dangerous in starting to date at this stage. A woman needed a sufficient phase between each relationship to take a breather from dating. Otherwise she was going to crash and burn. Lesbian or not it applied to all women, including Olette. She couldn't speak on behalf of men but she had a feeling that this was a phase that wasn't essential for them in particular. She wasn't being harsh on them or anything this was merely from observation of male human behaviour.

"Still. I wish she would just try not to be with someone for more than thirty seconds you know?" Xion murmured, maybe more to herself rather than to Theo.

Theo smiled thinking her almost maternal concern for her friend was so adorable she climbed on top of her and took her face in hers and kissed her. Xion responded brushing her fingers down her waist to her thighs. Theo was about to deepen the kiss before they were interrupted.

"Er we finished watching the corny movies and we want to go out now." Axel announced with a waver in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah." Theo grunted huskily.

Xion gave her a devilish grin which Theo responded with a seductive growl which made her giggle. She jumped off the bed and pulled on the leather boots Namine gave her for tonight.

"Well I am not drinking that much tonight, considering we've already had a bit to drink." She chuckled.

The brown boots looked good against her tight black jeans and the grey blouse with lace and flowery design which she had to wear on top of a vest since it was see through. She wore a bracelet which Xion had given her from the small collection she brought with her and wanted to give something to her on the night they were first girlfriend and girlfriend. However yet again, she had an issue with using that term in a way since she didn't want to accidentally use the term out loud and scare the hell out of Xion. She turned to Xion for approval who looked her up and down and gave her a look as if to tell her that she more than approved by wriggling her eyebrows and gave her an air kiss. She gave her a slight grin and rolled her eyes. She saw now that there were a few things which came with the package of being someone's girlfriend that she had to get used to. She knew that was more than an okay-you-have-my-approval-to-go-out-the-house-in-that. She would've thought she'd have to put in more of an effort to impress her girlfriend with regards to turning her on but then again each to their own it seemed. After she was finished she made her way downstairs and waited with the others while those who took their time in getting ready were still upstairs. She flopped onto the couch with her legs hanging off the arm.

"So, Mrs Xion how are things?" Reno inquired.

"Huh? Yeah they're great. Fantastic, in fact. She's a really great kisser." She replied.

The men in the room chuckled at this remark and there were various 'good for you's' and 'thanks for the info'.

"Well we're glad you two have finally got out the fumbling, awkward stage of 'does she, doesn't she' and all that crap." Xigar commented.

Xion eventually emerged from the upstairs after about fifteen minutes but not that much could be

said for the rest of the girls in the house. She was glad that she had finally arrived considering that she felt almost alone in the midst of strangers when she wasn't took almost a full hour to get ready. When Axel didn't tell them they were going until they were ready escaped her. He knew Xion and Theo hardly took any time in getting ready. However she discovered it was less 'alone' time for them and he was able to make more comments about them. In other words so he could tease them a little bit more. Theo rolled her eyes at this reason and let the comments fly over her head since Xion was taking the role of being the defender of the relationship. She began to giggle with Xion almost began flying into a rage and calmed her down before she had the feeling that she was really was going to hurt Axel. Theo thought this may be difficult but she found that she had quite a calming effect on her girlfriend. Once the last girl, which was Namine surprise, surprise, stepped onto the ground floor everyone rushed out the door and made their way down the lane. They thought it would be much more fun to walk there rather than drive. Theo didn't care. She wanted to be under the stars tonight, hand in hand with Xion. She felt that she now truly was in a novel by Fitzgerald minus the cocktail dresses, champagne and gloomy ending. Or so she hoped.

"Beautiful." Xion commented after turning her eyes from the stars and gave Theo a quick kiss on the lips.

Beautiful. It was Xion's favourite word, it seemed to Theo. It came to her as a surprise and she thought that she would come up with a more original word to say more frequently but there was a wonderful simplicity in Xion choosing this word. It was almost like she was saying that there was no more words which were required or no more eloquent or extravagant to say how much she loved her and the world. She didn't need to find another word to describe how she felt when she was happy because that was enough.

"Hayner?"

Xion and Theo looked away from one another and saw a boy with a bloodied nose, a cut lip and a bruised eye running up to them. Olette ran to him and took his face in her hands. She quickly embraced him.

"Hayner what happened?" Xigar demanded in a concerned voice.

"Looks like we're going nowhere tonight." Xion muttered.

Hayner was so far away that Theo was only able to catch one word. Seifer. This was the name of Olette's ex. Even the name sounded harsh and brutal as the man who bore it. Xion gripped her hand tightly and turned her back to the house. She wrapped an arm around Theo as she felt her shiver but it wasn't that it was cold but it was because she was afraid. The stars were suddenly ablaze but others began to dim as if all the light in the world was beginning to go out. She wanted to believe that soon things were going to be alright but she still had this self-doubt hanging over her head. The foreboding message in the stars told her of something was coming. Something that would be asdestructive as a tidal wave.