DISCLAIMER
I do NOT own any of the Kingdom Hearts I & II rights.
Warning: Shonen-ai, boys kiss & hugs, language below.
Chapter 29
Axel's heart was heavy as he approached the finely crafted marble door. Giving a light sigh, he pressed the doorbell.
"Grandma." He started, tilting his head slightly towards his left side; his elbows rested on his knees as he sat on the comfortable sofa.
"There's a saying that the nobles never approach the throne without a business." Maleficent interrupted, "You must have something to say if you're here to see me, right?"
"Grandma, I was raised by you. The process must've been harsh on you."
"Talking about harshness… those were all in the past." Maleficent waved it off, "But if I don't say it's harsh, then wouldn't you get away with everything?"
Axel chuckled.
"Since you're a baby, I've been taking care of you." Maleficent recalled, "When you've got no appetite, I was afraid that you'll be hungry; when you've got too much appetite, I was afraid that you'll stuff yourself up. During winter I was afraid that you aren't warm enough; but during the sunny days I was afraid you would have sunstroke. Everyday, I was serving you this, serving you that. But these aren't the hardest to do-"
"In fact, the hardest thing to do is to make me listen to you, right?" Axel finished the sentence for her.
"Exactly." She answered, "I tell you to go this way, but you just have to go that way; I want you to do this, but you just have to do that. I brought you to an evening ball with the relatives once; I made you a nice suit, bought you a pair of new leather shoes, but in the end you still ended up going with a pair of slashed jeans. I told you to learn violin, to nurture some musical dignity, but you just have to learn that noisy electric guitar."
"And also," Axel added, "You used to hire a home tutor for me, to tutor my English and Spanish; but in the end, I swore on the teacher with Japanese."
"Hmph! Forget it!" Maleficent snorted and waved again.
"So…do you agree with me now?" Axel asked testingly.
"Me?" Maleficent repeated, "I will never agree with you ever in my life. I'm being very tolerant here. This isn't easy to achieve."
"Well somebody have got to loosen up." Axel frowned, "My temper is more impatient, so every time everyone tolerates me."
"Hm… Looping such a big circle, say it." Maleficent saw right through the redhead, "What kind of a bomb are you giving me this time?"
"Grandma-"
"Wait." She interrupted, sitting up from the sofa to reach for the pill bottle that sat neatly on the tea table, "Let me take two pills first, in case my heart couldn't take it." She finished, disposing two tiny pills from the bottle. Axel automatically reached for the cup of tea next to the bottle for her. She gulped and was ready, "I'm ready."
"Grandma, I have someone that I love." Axel started…
-- In a mall –
The tall silver-haired man was dragged around by a gleeful brunette, visiting stores and window-shopping. Smiles and laughter occupied faces and lips.
"This blue is too bright and girlish! It doesn't go with me!" "Aw c'mon! I'm Sora, of course we have to wear blue!" The brunette replied bossily as he twirled in front of the mirror with the overly bright blue outfit, giggling like a jubilant little girl. "Why do we have to do this…?" "Let's try it for once! We've never gone on a date wearing corresponding outfits like a couple! It's fun!" The couple even visited a sticker photo booth where they could take instant sticker photos with cute backgrounds.
Upon arriving at a café, Riku ordered a cup of pearl tea. "Um... We'll order one cup only." Sora said to the waiter, "Give us two straws, thank you."
A silver straw and an orange one were put into the coffee-colored beverage as the two males drank happily from it, faces two inches away. "Hehe." Sora chuckled, gulping in more of the drink before pulling away simultaneously with Riku.
"What else does a normal couple would do?" Sora pondered, his chin supported by his palm.
"So-chan."
"Hm?"
"I think you're acting like a little puppy today." Riku commented bizarrely.
"Why?"
"When a puppy sees a pole, they would immediately want to go pee, because they want to dominate land." Riku gave the utterly unusual explanation, "I think you're acting like that today; you're treating me like a pole."
"I'm not peeing around!" Sora whined loudly, "You're peeing!! I'm telling ya, you don't just pee when you see a pole, you'll even poop!"
"Ok ok… I'm sorry, I said the wrong thing." Riku apologized sheepishly, "Don't get mad at me."
"Mm." Sora's frown instantly turned into a smile.
"I just think that… you're kind of anxious." Riku reworded his thought, "Like you're anxious to tell everyone in the world that we're together."
"I'm just-" Sora hesitated, chewing his lips instead, "…Do you still remember how we got together in the first place?"
"It's because of the bet of a red umbrella." Riku replied without uncertainty. 'I know that it's really hard for you to forget about Roxas all of a sudden, but that isn't important; can't we also create some memories that belong to us? I'll take a bet, if the next person coming from the station is using a red umbrella, then we'll have a date.'
A smiled grazed over Sora's lips, "Even though it all started with a bet, but back then when I said I wanted to create memories that belonged to us, I was serious." Sora stared into Riku's aquamarine eyes solemnly, "So everything that I'm doing today is creating memories that belong to us."
"But everyday that we're together are memories." Riku said, "You don't need to do it so sedulously."
"…We always think that we will have an infinite number of 'everyday'." Sora explained, "But what if we won't? Plus, if we just wasted today, then wouldn't tomorrow's memories be left as nothing but a piece of blankness?"
Lost at words, Riku could only grin as the brunette continued to drink the beverage before them and join him.
-- On the way from Maleficent's house to Axel's hosue --
The fire-headed pyro was ambling back home when he saw a familiar couple pass by merrily, that's Sora and Riku… He chuckled; does every couple in love have to be so exaggerated?
"Well then, let me send you home today." Riku suggested.
"Hey! Didn't I say that I get to decide today's route?" Sora grinned.
"Then…where are you going?"
"Hm…" A sly and mischievous smile spread across Sora's lips as he pulled Riku along.
-- Riku's apartment --
The platinum-haired boy quickly tugged away all the scattered shirts on his bed, his face quite embarrassed, "My place is very untidy…"
"You're living on your own?" Sora asked, his electrified eyes scanning the décor of the small apartment.
"Yeah…" Riku nodded, "There's nothing to eat here; I'll go buy something from the convenient store, what do you want?"
"I want…" Sora glanced around, his eyes mixed with mischief and shyness, "…to sleepover here tonight."
Riku dropped both his jaws and the shirts in his arms.
-- Axel's room --
'Knock knock.'
"Come in." Axel let out a lazily dragged voice. The door opened and Roxas emerged into the room, "Where did you go for the rest of the day?"
"Bleh…" Axel shook his head nonchalantly to dismiss the topic, "I'm sleepy…"
"Oh okay." Roxas replied cutely; his face turning to a slightly shocked expression when the redhead took his right arm by the wrist to twirl him around and sit on the bed so that Axel can put his heap of ruby locks onto the blonde's lap, "Roxy."
"Hm?"
"When I came back, I saw Sora and Riku wearing corresponding couple outfits." Axel recalled, his voice an innocent whisper, "They looked so sweet togethe-no, I should say that they were disgustingly pretending to be cute." He let out a chuckle, "Isn't this great?"
Roxas remained silent, reminiscing the news that his friend told him, 'Riku and I… might break up. Because of my dad's job, we all have to move. I guess him and I can't go on like this anymore, right?'
"There's nothing we'll have to worry about anymore…" Axel added, his voice fading of tiresome.
Axel really seems tired, Roxas thought, after all, we're all really tired…In fact, he's the one most afraid of loneliness in all his bottled up emotions. Plus, I'm really happy that Axel can open up to me honestly like this…
-- Back at Riku's apartment --
Two hands were rubbing together nervously. Riku sat at the bottom edge of his bed, tilting his head a little sideways, not fully seeing Sora who was in the bed behind him. Both boys breathed nerve-wrecking-ly steadily.
"May I…really?" Riku asked; his voice no higher than a mere whisper. Behind him out of his sight, Sora clutched the sheets a little bit tighter, nodding his head and humming an approval.
There was a tinge of anticipation in the air, then Riku sharply turned around, climbing over Sora; but stopped right before their lips met. The silver-haired man's aquamarine eyes realized that those cerulean irises where shut tight behind the eye lids, Sora's face muscles twitching nervously.
"……I can't." Riku denied, "You're practically shaking, and your face is so pale."
"I-I'm fine." Sora insisted; eyes still closed, a sweat dripped down the side of his temple.
"Why?" Riku asked in a faintly desperate tone, "So-chan, I really don't understand. Is this also one of the memories that you're hurried to create?"
Sora let out a sigh and slowly fluttered open his eyes, "I really am willing to do it."
"Stop that talk." Riku said.
"Don't you want to be with me?" Sora immediately inquired. Riku didn't reply; but Sora didn't realize that Riku's hands were gripping the bed sheets hard enough to rip them. Riku exhaled a lengthy sigh, and backed away from Sora.
"I…" He started, but never finished before he rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. It was then that Riku realized he was panting and his heart was beating 100beats per minute. The first thing his mind could muster up to do was to turn on the faucet and splash his face with the freezing water. He lifted his head to look at himself in the mirror, I'm a healthy guy, my body structure is strong, my whole body feels like exploding any minute; of course I want to!
Riku sat back down onto the bed. Sora scooted near him and placed his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, "Riku, you're a really nice person."
"Stop it." Riku laughed, "Nice my ass."
'Ding, ding, la-la, Ding ding!' The brunette's cell phone chirped. Sora went over to dug around his bag and retrieved the noisy mobile. He flipped the cover open and annoyance immediately ran down his spine. It was his father. Pursing his lips together in a sheepish manner, he ignored the call and even turned off his cell phone.
"Is it really okay for you to come out and sleepover?" Riku asked concernedly, "So-chan, what's the matter? Tell me and we'll solve the problem together."
"My problem…is really big." Sora said after putting his cell phone back into his bag, "My problem is… my boyfriend isN'T EVEN INTERESTED IN ME!!!!"
"Stop it!!" Riku yelled, covering his hand over the brunette's mouth and thus pushing him down onto the bed. An awkward moment followed where Riku removed his hand and placed it on Sora's waist instead.
"It must be because I'm not sexy, nor attractive, so-"
"Shhh…" Riku cooed, placing a finger over Sora's lips, "Listen, even nice people have sex drives, so stop teasing me. If you won't stop, then I'll……" Riku let out an awkward sigh and the atmosphere softened, "It's late, go to sleep."
Sora nodded and they both settled on this decision. Riku laid his back on a pillow; Sora turned to him slightly, "Hey, can you tell me a story before sleep?"
"I-I'm not very good at storytelling." Riku answered.
"Well then just skip to the ending." Sora encouraged, "What happened to Snow White and the Prince in the end?"
"Hm… After the Prince saved Snow White, they lived happily ever after."
"Then… Sleeping Beauty?"
"The Prince kissed Aurora awake, and they lived happily ever after."
"Hmm…. What about Cinderella…?"
"The Prince found Cinderella, then they lived happily ever after." Riku whispered the last few words as he heard the brunette slowly falling into silent slumber. When Riku confirmed that Sora was deep in sleep, he moved so that the brunette can sleep in a proper position and placed a warm kiss on the sleeping boy's forehead before clicking the lamp off.
-- Hospital --
"The kids really said that?" Aerith asked, her tone relieved and relaxed.
"Yeah." Wakka nodded and sat next to Aerith at the edge of the bed, "They both wanted us to continue the remarriage."
The auburn-haired lady let out a peaceful chuckle, "Actually, what I'm really worried about is your mother's opinion. How should we tell her? Will Roxas and Axel get her approval in the end?"
"I'm sure they will." Wakka reassured, "We'll pray for them."
Aerith nodded kindly and clasped her hands together, but before she even started the prayer, Maleficent was already standing in the doorway.
"Mom…" Aerith started, causing Wakka to turn his head to his mother. "Hey Mom!" Wakka stood up and helped Maleficent into a chair.
"How's Aerith? What did the doctor say?"
"Don't worry." Wakka replied to his mother, "The doctor said that she only needs a couple more days of rest."
"How careless, you don't even know that you're pregnant yourself." Maleficent nagged, "Be more careful from now on."
"Mm." Wakka obeyed with a sheepish nod. Aerith suddenly stood up, "Mom."
"Aerith! Go sit down." Maleficent urged immediately.
"I don't know what I can do to get your forgiveness." Aerith whispered.
"Why? Just because you're too careless?"
"No… Because my son Roxas and Wakka's son Axel…" Aerith continued quietly, "They've fallen in love with each other. I'm really sorry! But I don't think they've done anything wrong…"
"Therefore you think that your two sons can be together and probably even get married?" Maleficent retorted.
"Mom." Wakka interrupted, "If you really have to pick on something and say it's wrong, then I guess it's the fact that their choice isn't perfectly what we wished for; but I think it's fine as long as they're happy, right Mom?"
Maleficent didn't reply.
"They're both nice kids with a good heart, that's why they're attracted to each other and will fall in love with each other." Aerith desperately tried to persuade her mother-in-law; finding no other words, she knelt down on her knees.
"Mom." She pled; Maleficent was going to urge her to sit back down but Aerith continued nonetheless, "If you allow me to call you Mom, then I beg you to accept their love."
"Aerith, if you want to be a part of our family, you can't be so weak." Maleficent ordered solemnly, "You stand back up."
"I know that in your standards, we're all too selfish." Aerith ignored Maleficent's request and continued on, "But I truly, honestly beg you that you can accept this relationship of us four that might seem complex and complicated to the others."
"And because you're fighting for the happiness that every one of you deserves in the future, you should stand up in front of me with your head held high." Maleficent emphasized.
"Here, Aerith." Wakka helped his fiancée up to her feet, "Mom, I don't care the least bit about what the other people would say; but I cannot not care about what you think! Your one single decision can change the outcome of our family, whether it is going to be perfect or shattered."
"Well then… you guys shall be shattered." Maleficent teased testingly.
"Mom…" Wakka took it as a real decision, "Mom. If I can't get your blessing, then I…I…"
The old lady in black dress sniggered, "Does my blessing really have that big of an effect?"
Wakka's tongue was screwed up over words.
"You're not even as half brave as a father than your son is!" Maleficent exclaimed.
"Mom… You mean…"
"Axel already came this afternoon." Maleficent explained, "You think your son is actually going to listen to me?"
"Grandma, I have someone that I love." Axel started, "Just like before, I know you won't accept it, but I don't care. The person that I love is-"
"Roxas." Maleficent finished for him.
"So you already knew." Axel noted.
"You should say…I just guessed it right." Maleficent sighed, "That's why I arranged a marriage between you and Naminé, and tried telling Aerith so she would pay more attention to you guys."
"So?"
"That should be what I'm asking you." Maleficent replied, "Do you think I should accept you two? You are going to be brothers, can I accept that?!"
"Grandma." Axel started, "Even though I hated how you forced me to learn violin when I was younger, but there was something that left a deep memory mark in me."
"Go on."
"I remember that the teacher who taught me held a very important concert; but God knows why, maybe someone wanted to fool him or something, just before he had to go onstage, he realized that the rarest world-known refined violin that he treasured was replaced with a violin that can't be anymore ordinary."
"I remember that." Maleficent nodded, "I dragged you to that concert that day. Before the performance started, I brought you backstage to give the teacher a bundle of flower; and that was when we saw that scene."
"At that time, I thought that he's screwed." Axel recalled, "But I didn't expect that he still went onstage and performed."
"Using the violin that can't be anymore ordinary." Maleficent finished.
"He said something to me that I will never forget." Axel said, "He said no matter the violin that he was holding was the world-known violin, or an ordinary violin, those aren't important to him; what matters is that the melody of the music is already in his heart."
"Yeah…" Maleficent dipped her head, "And why are you bringing this up?"
"Just like that violin," Axel related, "Only the people who don't know well enough will care whether he was holding a first class violin or an ordinary violin; the same in this case, no matter what relationship I'll have with Roxas, be it brothers or lovers, those aren't important to me. Because what matters is that Roxas is already in my heart." Axel finished strongly.
"Axel had already gotten to that point," Maleficent concluded, "What can I do? Dig his heart out? …Forget it. Even though I'm not exactly satisfied with your arrangements, but…" She eyed the two grinning adults, "Just do whatever you want. I'll call Naminé's parents to cancel the arranged marriage."
"Mom…" Aerith giggled, wiping her tears away, "Thanks for accepting us."
Smiles broke out on all three adults' faces; relief and joy filled the air…
