Come Home

Description: Inspired by the Ashika Sakura story of the same name. A single night's mistake separated them for six years. When chance throws them back together, it will take more than love to heal the wounds and bring them home. Cleon, Soriku, AkuRoku, Zemyx, and Yuffietine.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square-Enix. This should be nothing new to anyone.


End Part 2: Demyx and Zexion

Late February:

Zexion's hands were shaking. His stomach felt nauseous. He knew there was sweat on his forehead, but his limbs felt chilled. He was certain he had been hit with some insidious virus that caused instant flu symptoms. That had to have been it, since this violent of a physical reaction couldn't have come simply from the mental worry he was having over Demyx being in his apartment. Could it?

"Oh, wow, Zexy," the blond musician said as he showed himself around the main room. "It's just like I imagined it would be. So many books! And everything so neatly organized. It's nothing like my room at all. I mean, I have books and stuff, but they tend to be more thrown into piles. Just a big mess." He turned to Zexion with a giant smile, one hand coming up to scratch at the hair at the base of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Uh, hey, Zexion?" he asked with obvious hesitation. "Do you think you could … ? I mean, would you mind … showing me your camera?"

The question startled him, but he recovered quickly. "Oh, yes … if you like. Wait here a moment." Trying not outright run, he retreated to his bedroom and fetched his camera from its shelf in the closet. When he returned, Demyx was waiting on the couch, twisting his hands lightly in his lap.

"Yikes! That looks expensive," the blond commented when Zexion stepped up to him with the camera. "I'm glad I decided to sit down. I'd hate to drop it and break it … that is," he added with a worried look, "if you'll let me touch it at all. It's so fancy. I guess I wouldn't blame you if you -"

"Here," Zexion said, pressing the camera into Demyx's hands. Truth be told, he hadn't taken any pictures since he had realized he was in love with the musician. The pictures had been a way for him to try to understand the emotions inside him; now that he understood them, the camera was no longer necessary.

As Demyx happily investigated the camera and all its buttons, Zexion stared at the floor and quietly endured the feeling of being eaten from the inside out. For some reason, he was still so very frightened that Demyx would reject him and abandon him. Even though Demyx had chased after him and caught him, he couldn't seem to bring himself to believe that he no longer had anything to fear. There was still so much he didn't know, so much he didn't understand.

"Demyx," he began, lifting his head and turning, "I …"

A sudden flash cut him off and made him blink. Demyx lowered the camera from his grinning face. "Sorry about that," he said, not sounding regretful in the slightest. "I couldn't resist." As Zexion rubbed the colored dots from his eyes, the blond examined the picture he had taken with a critical expression. "Hmm, I guess it's not that bad, although I knew I wouldn't be able to get the same effects with lighting and stuff that you can." He fell silent for a moment, just looking at the camera with a thoughtful expression. "Zexy," he finally said, "why do you hide one of your eyes behind your hair like that?"

Zexion looked up and faltered when he found blue-green eyes gazing at him with something like disappointment in their depths. Swallowing heavily, he managed to answer, "I have a very young face for a person of my age. People are always mistaking me for a teenager. It is quite annoying. However, I found that with this hairstyle, I am less likely to be mistaken for someone much younger. People still have trouble believing I am twenty-one, but at least I am no longer accused of being sixteen."

"I see," Demyx answered. "That makes sense, I guess." He lifted one of his hands, and Zexion froze as callused fingertips brushed along his forehead and pulled the long strands of his bangs to one side. "It's a shame, though. You have such beautiful eyes." He laughed then, a wonderful sound that made Zexion shiver. "Guess I should just be happy that I can see them whenever I want."

"Demyx," Zexion whispered. He was shaking, actually shaking, from the feeling of having Demyx so near, looking at him like that. "Demyx, what do you want from me? A couple of nights ago, you said you wanted us to be boyfriends. Are we? What does that mean? What am I supposed to do? Please tell me. Please."

The blond's eyes had widened with surprise and confusion, but at Zexion's breathless plea, he quickly closed the distance between them and gathered the smaller man up in his arms. "It's okay," he murmured comfortingly, as if on instinct. "Don't panic; it's okay." After taking a moment to sort through his thoughts, he began, "I don't necessary want anything from you other than for you to keep being who you are. I kind of thought we had agreed to be boyfriends, yes, but you're right, we never said it formally. So, um …" He leaned back a bit until he could take Zexion by the chin and lift his face to meet his eyes. "Zexion? Be my boyfriend?"

"But what does that entail?" the younger man insisted. "Am I to take you out on dates? Are you to take me? How do we decide who is supposed to do what and when?"

Demyx just shrugged in response. "We can go on dates if you want, but that's not really that important to me. All I really want is for us to spend as much time together as our schedules will allow, and when they can't, we'll email or talk on the phone. I want to be the person you share all your thoughts and feelings with, and I want to share mine with you. That's all for now, really. Yeah, hopefully there'll be more later, but we can figure that out when we get to it. Right now, all I want is to be with you." He smiled down at Zexion who was staring up at him in a kind of surprised daze. "So what do you say? You want to?"

Zexion swallowed and lowered his eyes. Somehow during all this, his hands had lifted to grab Demyx lightly by the shirt. Carefully, he uncurled his fingers and forced them to return to his own lap. "Promise me," he said seriously. "Promise me that you'll tell me if I'm doing something wrong or if you want something that I'm not giving you. Promise me you won't leave me without giving me a chance to fix it."

"Absolutely," Demyx replied, completely serious as well. "Now you promise me that you won't run away from me again, no matter how worried or confused you get." When Zexion nodded, his face broke out into a bright smile. "Good. So does that mean … ?"

"Yes," Zexion replied simply.

"Good," Demyx said again.

They sat in silence for a while until Zexion finally lifted his eyes to meet the pair that were gazing fondly down at him. "Will you …" he said quietly, fighting the heat that was taking over his face. "Will you kiss me now?"

"Sure," his boyfriend smiled. "Whenever you want." A heartbeat later, he was leaning down, and Zexion happily closed his eyes.

xXx

April:

"So, how's the boyfriend treating you?"

Demyx looked up from his tuning to find both of his closest friends standing over him. Luxord, who had spoken, was smiling at him genuinely, but Axel seemed to be fighting back a smirk.

"Great!" he answered. "I don't get to see him as much as I'd like to because of our schedules, but when I do get to see him, he treats me great."

"Well that's good," his friend replied. "Hasn't tried to run away again, has he?"

"Oh no," Demyx assured him quickly. "He's gotten much more comfortable with everything. In fact …" He trailed off, face starting to burn at what he had been about to say. "Never mind."

But Axel was already squatting down beside him, grinning madly, and Luxord's smile had widened as well. "Oh, come on, Dem," Axel encouraged. "You can tell us. We're your best friends, after all. In fact what?"

"Well …" Their eyes were boring into him, making it extremely hard to resist. "Well, ever since I first realized I was gay, I always figured that when I finally had a relationship I would end up being … you know … the girl. But when Zexion and I started going out, he was always so nervous and skittish. I was the one who had to chase after him and hold him and kiss him and, well, basically do all the work. I didn't mind it, but it wasn't how I thought things were going to be. But now …" He trailed off again. His face was flaring, and he had to resist the urge to cover his cheeks with his hands.

"But now … ?" Axel prompted, exchanging a knowing look with Luxord.

Demyx frowned heavily at the pair of them and tried to regain some of his composure as he answered, "But now, he's starting to get comfortable with the whole idea of being my boyfriend. He's still confused about some things, but he doesn't let the nervousness get to him anymore. A couple of weeks ago, he started coming up to me on his own, touching me, holding me, and … and kissing me. It's … well … I like it." Composure once again lost, he ducked his head and tried to disappear.

It really had surprised him the first time he had kissed Zexion and found himself being challenged for dominance. Surprised and thrilled him. He had given in immediately which apparently had boosted his boyfriend's confidence tremendously. And the more Zexion's confidence rose, the more Demyx found himself in absolute heaven. The only complaint he had was that he apparently couldn't practice his music in front of the other man anymore. Every time he sat down with his guitar, it wasn't long before he felt his boyfriend's hands and lips on him, making it absolutely impossible to concentrate.

Axel and Luxord were both snickering at him, although Luxord was being more polite and trying to hide it. "Must be nice," the blond bar-owner commented, "having an intellectual as a lover."

"Oh yeah," the red-headed comedian agreed. "Can you imagine the sex talk? His vocabulary alone must be amazing."

"And Demyx has such a lovely tenor voice. Wonder what note he ends up hitting."

"Hey!" Demyx cried, looking up with an angry frown and his face on fire. "That's enough! You shouldn't talk about personal stuff like that. And besides, we're not … we haven't …"

"Maybe not," Axel grinned at him. "But you will."

"No doubt about that," his other torturer added.

Demyx whined and hid his face in his hands, but his head snapped back up when he heard someone say flatly, "Excuse me. Am I interrupting something?"

Instantly, Demyx was on his feet and scurrying over to Zexion's side. It was a little difficult trying to cling to him and bury his face in the other man's neck when he was the slightly taller one, but somehow Demyx managed. Besides, it felt so wonderful when Zexion slid an arm around his shoulder and held him there with a definite protectiveness.

"Are you two teasing Demyx again?" the scientist's cold voice asked.

"Well, of course," Axel answered, clearly not intimidated or ashamed in the slightest. "We're his best friends. It's in our job description."

Zexion's chest moved in a sigh before he answered, "Granted. But Demyx has a performance this evening. Do you think you could refrain from embarrassing him until he's finished, please?"

"Oh fine, if we have to."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Thanks, Zexy," Demyx whispered into his boyfriend's neck. Rather than respond, Zexion took Demyx by the chin and lifted his face until their eyes met. The smile on his face made Demyx weak in the knees. There was something about the smaller man's smile that he absolutely adored. Perhaps because those smiles were so rare, as if they were reserved only for Demyx, or perhaps because they gave Zexion the aura of a man who knew much more than he was telling. Whatever it was, that smile had him half-way to fainting even before Zexion started kissing him.

"Hey, hey!" Axel called before they could get too far. "None of that, now. You're the one who said he still has to perform, remember?"

Zexion sighed again as he reluctantly pulled away. "I suppose I did, yes," he grumbled. Demyx just laughed.

xXx

September:

Zexion bowed slightly at the polite applause and then began the process of gathering up his materials. He hadn't been nervous about giving this presentation on his summer research project, but all the same, it was nice to have finished with it. The preparations had taken up so much of his time lately that he had had almost no opportunity to indulge in more personal pleasures. It was almost as if the project had taken over his soul, at least for the past month or so. He was certainly looking forward to spending this evening with his boyfriend, relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

His thoughts, which had been in danger of turning towards subjects not appropriate for his environment, were interrupted by the approach of the two professors with whom he had worked. They walked up to the podium together and offered him rare smiles and even rarer praise.

"An excellent job, Zexion," Professor Vexen said, nodding happily. "Definitely a worthwhile lecture." He, Zexion had noticed, had taken notes during his presentation and had appeared suitably interested and impressed throughout.

Professor Xaldin had simply listened, although his expressions had been similarly favorable. "I agree, Wonder Kid," he added. "Good work."

Professor Vexen sighed at his friend and colleague and gave him a cold stare over the top of his glasses. "Must you call him that?" he complained with icy disdain. "It is hardly the compliment you seem to think it is."

Professor Xaldin shrugged, obviously unaffected by the other's disapproval. "Eh, he doesn't mind it, do you, kid?" The big man looked at him expectantly.

Rather than answer and involve himself in a much unwanted argument, Zexion simply smiled slightly and bowed his head. "Thank you, professors," he said politely. "Your compliments mean a great deal to me. However, I would like to return these documents to my apartment, and I still have papers to grade for class tomorrow, so if you will excuse me …"

"Of course," Professor Vexen murmured. He threw Professor Xaldin one more glare, which went ignored, and then turned to exit the auditorium. "Until tomorrow then, Zexion. Again, a fine job."

Zexion murmured more thank-yous to both of his professors as they left, then returned to the task of gathering up his presentation materials. A moment later, a large figure detached itself from the wall nearby and came up to help him. The young scientist welcomed its presence with a grateful nod.

"Your opinion, Lexaeus?" he asked simply.

"Excellent," his friend replied as he picked up the last of Zexion's things in his large hands. "Your data and theories were flawless, as usual, and your speaking abilities have improved."

"Ah," Zexion said with what he hoped was a light air. "I see. Good." He turned and walked out of the auditorium, Lexaeus following. In truth, Demyx had been the one to improve his speaking. His boyfriend had forced him to practice bits of his presentation in front of him again and again, and it was only when the blond had no more criticism of his technique that he was able to stop.

The two graduate students walked together down the halls of the science building in silence. When they exited into the early autumn afternoon, however, the much taller of the two finally broke it with a quiet, "Zexion?"

"Yes, Lexaeus?"

"I wish to speak with you, as one friend to another."

"Of course. Go ahead."

Lexaeus gazed at his feet for a moment, watching as they moved methodically down the stone path, then quietly began, "I have noticed that you have been different as of late. Actually, if I were being truthful, I would have to say that you have been acting strangely off and on for almost a year now. However, last winter you seemed to stabilize, and while you were not yourself, I was no longer worried about you and resolved to let it be until you were ready to tell me yourself. Now that spring and summer have both passed, however, I'm afraid I must conclude that you do not intend to tell me why you have changed, yet as your friend I cannot help but want to know, both why these changes have occurred and why you do not wish to reveal them to me."

"I see," Zexion interrupted gently. "What changes have I exhibited that caused you to conclude there is something to reveal?"

"You are warmer than you once were," the answer came almost immediately. "Your eyes smile even if your face does not. Your words are the same, but your voice has lost its coldness. And while you still resist all of my attempts to get you out and be social, during those few times I succeeded, you allowed yourself to become involved with the conversations around you." Lexaeus paused and lifted his eyes to gaze at his friend who was trying very hard to keep his face neutral. "You have opened yourself, Zexion," he stated, "and while I think it is wonderful, I am confused as to how it happened and why you have not spoken to me about it."

Mildly distraught, Zexion sighed and stopped walking. He had been dreading this moment even though he had known it would come. "It happened," he answered slowly, "because I met someone whose being is infused with so much sunshine that I cannot help but draw some of it into myself."

"Ah," his companion commented with a small smile. "So Quistis was correct. You have found love."

Zexion winced but allowed himself a small smile of his own. "Your lady is most perceptive."

"But why have you kept it a secret from me all this time?"

"Because," he sighed, resigned, "I was afraid of what your reaction would be when I informed you that I am homosexual."

Lexaeus did not comment for a long moment, and when he spoke, it was merely to ask, "You are a homosexual?"

"Apparently," Zexion replied. "Seeing as the one I love is the same gender as myself, it is the only logical conclusion."

His friend fell silent again, his face betraying only thoughtfulness. Then, he said, "It's the blond from Leonhart's, isn't it? Demyx." When Zexion's eyes widened in surprise, he smiled slightly and explained, "He was there today during your presentation although he didn't stay until the end. I saw him in the very back."

"Ah, yes …" the smaller man replied, suddenly fighting a rather urgent blush. "He had a shift this afternoon, so that's why he couldn't stay the whole time." Suddenly, he noticed Lexaeus's rather large grin and narrowed his eyes. "What are you smiling at?" he demanded angrily.

"The coloring in your face," Lexaeus answered honestly. "I had never thought to see you with such an expression. You look almost normal."

Zexion huffed and began walking again. He refused to look at his friend as he commented, "The last thing I wanted to be." Yet he couldn't stop the relief that flooded through him or the smile that crept into his lips as his best friend quietly laughed and continued along beside him.

xXx

October:

Demyx bit his lip nervously and swung his feet back and forth to bang against the baseboard of his bed. On the other side of his small room, Zexion sat in his desk chair, going over the data from Demyx's webpage on the laptop that he had brought over from his own apartment. Demyx himself didn't have a computer yet which was funny considering he had a professional web-presence and, if his hit counts and forums were to be believed, a fair number of online fans.

Zexion had set the whole thing up of course, using his contacts in the university to build the pages and then teach him how to maintain them. All Demyx had had to do was sing like usual. Zexion had videotaped his live performances and uploaded them both to his personal page and to his channel on YouTube. Now, he was working on putting together Demyx's first album made from the audio files of his live shows, and all this while he attended graduate classes, did whatever Vexen told him, and made his case for the best boyfriend the world had ever seen. Demyx didn't know how he managed it, unless of course the scientist had managed to build a time machine and hadn't told him.

"Your preorders just hit a hundred, Dem," Zexion told him, turning in his seat to send the musician a smile.

"No way!" Demyx cried. "Really?" He leapt from the bed and scurried over to Zexion's side to peer over his shoulder at the screen. "Oh wow," he breathed when he saw the number for himself. "Just … just wow."

"Congratulations," his boyfriend murmured in his ear, and a moment later, a cool hand was snaking around Demyx's neck, trying to pull him down for a kiss.

But Demyx backed away. As much as he loved kissing Zexion he couldn't do it just yet. There was something important on his mind, something that had him far more nervous and fidgety than he had been in a long time. "Um, Zexy?" he began timidly. "I need to … talk to you about … about something." Fear flared immediately in his boyfriend's deep blue eye, so he hurried to clarify, "It's nothing that you did and I'm not upset or anything! It's just … well … I'm not quite sure how you're going to react."

"I see," Zexion replied. He smiled gently although Demyx could see it was forced, an attempt to calm both of their nerves. "What is it?"

"Um, okay," the blond said. He took a few steeling breaths and then dived right in. "You know how I share this apartment with Leon, right? And you know how Leon has been dating Cloud for about six months now, although really they go back a whole lot farther than that. Well, Leon told me this morning that he and Cloud are thinking about moving in together, and since Cloud has an actual, you know, house and two kids and a dog, they both think that Leon should move in with him and that means I'm losing a roommate. Leon said I can stay here if I want, but he's going to have to advertise for another renter since he wants to make some money out of the place, and while I guess it would be okay to room with a stranger, I'd much rather room with someone I already know but Axel already has an apartment that he loves and Luxord has a townhouse, so that doesn't leave me many options except, you know, you, and I was just thinking that maybe … if you wanted … you could, you know … move in with me?"

Zexion was staring at him in complete shock. Demyx cringed. He should have known that it was too soon to suggest something like that. He and Zexion had only been going out a few weeks longer than Leon and Cloud, and those two had history and experience that neither of the younger men had. Shaking his head, he took a breath in order to apologize and take it all back.

A pair of arms encircling his shoulders stopped him. "Yes," Zexion whispered into the crown of his head. "I would love to."

"Really?" Demyx breathed, not able to believe just yet. "You don't mind?"

"Mind?" his boyfriend laughed, sending a shiver down his spine and forcing him to catch his breath. "Why would I mind?"

"Well, it's a lot farther from the university than you are now. And I don't know what you're currently paying for rent, but it's a bigger place so it's probably more expensive. And I don't know how good of a roommate I really am. Leon doesn't seem to mind, but I could be too much for you. And then there's -"

"Demyx," Zexion said, cutting him off, "you are offering me the chance to see you every single day. To not have to leave after we spend time together. To wake up to you in the morning and to go to sleep with you at night." He pulled back so that Demyx could see his smile and the gentle joy in his face. "Why would a little extra walking make me say no to that?"

Demyx's eyes were threatening to overflow, but he threw on his brightest smile and wrapped his arms around Zexion's neck. "I'm so happy!" he cried. "So very, very happy." An idea occurred to him suddenly, rocketing him out of his seat. "Oh! Hold on a minute!" He dashed over to his bedside table and, after a quick rummage, returned to Zexion who had managed to right himself again after nearly being toppled to the floor. Plopping himself down on the smaller man's lap, he lifted up the small camera he had found to point at the two of them. "We need to preserve this moment for posterity!" he declared.

"Demyx …" his boyfriend protested lightly, swallowing a chuckle.

"No, I'm serious! I'll title it, 'The Day Zexy Said Yes.'"

"That could mean a number of things."

"Just say cheese!"

"Coagulated milk-based product."

"Zexion!"

"Highly fattening dairy food?"

"I'm being serious!"

"So am I. Cheese is quite high in caloric content."

"Honestly! Here I am trying to take a picture of us to commemorate the day we decided to move in together, and you are not cooperating at a-"

Rather than continue the argument, Zexion had decided to silence his boyfriend with a deep kiss that resonated in waves through Demyx's body and curled his toes. And Demyx, realizing that he didn't care about the fight one way or the other, took the picture.

End "Indirect Youth"