Chapter 8 – The Words on My Tongue Burn

Chapter Summary: Alt title: Lauriam's Emotional Rollercoaster -Part 1-
Alt Alt title: Don't Give Lauriam Alcohol EVER Again

-/*text*/- = Blocked out memory


Another month passed by and Ruby was with Yang heading back to Patch. She sat near the window of the Air Bus, staring outside, not paying attention to anything. It was late afternoon turning to evening as Yang sat beside her, gripping her hand, but the brawler was currently engaged in a conversation with Lauriam, who after the month, and a small discussion with Yang, had decided to accompany the two girls back to their home. He wouldn't intrude on the house of Taiyang however, he would find somewhere on Patch to stay.

The man glanced at Ruby with concern. Over the past month he had watched as Ruby spent more and more time with him, asking him questions, and slowly start to tell him her problems. He recalled what he had said to Yang over a month ago now.

I am neither her confidant nor her friend right now. Currently I am a stranger who she is trying to get to know. Her real father, whom she knows nothing about, who has fallen into her life after she discovered that what she thought was real, wasn't.

Ruby would most likely claim that they are friends now. He was certain that he was also becoming one of her confidants. These past weeks Ruby had been on and off her Scroll, talking with her dad. She had started to call the man 'dad' again, but she had admitted to Lauriam that she still wanted a proper explanation to why he had left the truth to rot, and had already thought up a list of questions that she wanted to ask Taiyang in person. She's also confessed that she was worried that Yang was still angry at the man.

Lauriam sighed, realising that he was potentially going to end up stopping Yang from throwing punches if Ruby's worried proved true. The blonde brawler realised that the man had long since stopped listening and was staring at Ruby again. He had been doing that quite a bit during the trip.

"She's going to be fine, ya know," Yang commented with a grin, startling the man out of his thoughts. "Don't worry about her too much. She'll forgive dad, I'll probably forgive him too. Dad will probably say some things to ya, and then it'll be business as usual in the Xiao Long-Rose household!"

With a small smirk forming on his face, Lauriam realised that perhaps the pair didn't need his worry. Though from Yang's matching smirk, he knew it was appreciated. He went to look over at something which had caught his eye, was that a black cloak? However Yang called his attention back.

"Hey, so I like ya now," Yang hummed. "I didn't trust you at first. Thought you'd try to steal Ruby away. But…. You've given her the choice as to how close you get to her, and I respect that. I also know that you gave Ruby some good advice when she's needed it. So… if you'll allow me a weird request, would you let me call ya Uncle Lauriam?"

The pink haired man blinked in surprise, not expecting the request in the slightest. In his mind, he tried to reason with his tongue, Marluxia was dangerous; he shouldn't let these girls get closer than they already were to him, what if Xemnas came back? However his tongue didn't agree and his heart had already been warmed by the request, and he was agreeing, being met with Yang's smirk turning into a smile as bright as the Sun.

Nothing would make him regret it.

By that time the Air Bus had landed, so the trio of Ruby, Yang and Lauriam made their way off of the transport. Taiyang was waiting for them. Lauriam only noticed him because he was the man that looked like Yang, with short, curled blonde hair. He had blue eyes though, as opposed to Yang's violet, and he dressed casually.

"Hey dad!" Yang greeted cheerfully. Taiyang walked forward to meet the trio, returning the greeting that his daughter had given. He looked first at Yang, then at Ruby who waved slightly at him, though mostly because she was looking like the ride to Patch had started to put her to sleep, then finally at Lauriam. Taiyang's eyes flicked back to Ruby before he held out his hand to the pink haired man.

"You're Lauriam I see," he greeted, his expression becoming slightly unreadable. "Ruby told me you planned to find somewhere on Patch to stay while here. I can recommend a place, but would you like to come to our home first? That will give us a chance to talk."

There was a moment of pause as both men seemed to size each other up. Then Lauriam stretched out his arm and grasped Taiyang's offered hand in a handshake.

"Thank-you for the offer," he hummed. "I would appreciate the help, and if you wish to talk, I won't say no."

The conversation ended and with Ruby telling Taiyang about the mission they were on the month prior, the group made their way to the Xiao-Long-Rose house. Yang had taken to talking Lauriam's ear off about Patch itself. What the pink haired man noticed was a very conscious effort on everyone's behalf to avoid the impending discussion, though given that they weren't within the safety of what the family considered 'home', Lauriam decided he understood why.

It didn't take that long to reach the house, and Taiyang sent Ruby and Yang to get dressed out of their clothes and into their pyjamas then get ready for dinner. Lauriam suddenly found himself alone with Taiyang, who gestured to the kitchen.

"If you don't mind watching me cook, we can talk in the kitchen if you prefer?"

"I don't mind at all," Lauriam replied with a small smile. He followed the man into the kitchen, not entirely sure what to expect. What followed was a conversation that made the pink haired man distinctly uncomfortable. Taiyang asked him about his past, about why he didn't stay for Ruby or Summer. Questions about his life before Marluxia could only be answered with 'I don't know' and questions about his time as Marluxia had no proper answers, and Lauriam knew that the frustration at the lack of answers he could provide was written clearly across his face.

Taiyang seemed to inspect the former Nobody and his eyes softened. He took pity and told Lauriam to set the table, all but ordering the man to stay for dinner. Ruby and Yang flew downstairs at this point, both grinning and laughing. Both teens split off to help the adults, Yang going to help Taiyang, while Ruby assisted Lauriam. Silver eyes met ocean blue as the young girl looked up at the man who had fallen into her life just months prior, questions dancing in her gaze. Whatever she was going to ask however was whisked away by dinner being brought out.

Lauriam noted with a quiet interested hum, that Ruby had chosen to sit subtly closer to him, rather than Taiyang, though she still spoke rather animatedly. There was a hidden touch of hesitation in her eyes though. Then she pinned her curious gaze on the pink haired observer and dragged him into the conversation with a question that dripped with innocent curiosity, unaware of the turmoil the question would raise.

"Lauriam, you mentioned a sister in the Headmaster's office the day we met," Ruby hummed, tilting her head to the side. "I've been meaning to ask you about her… even if you may not be entirely sure about the details. Do you perhaps remember what she was like?"

The question was asked out of curiosity and nothing more, but the broken anguish that briefly flickered over Lauriam's face had the table pausing to look at the man.

"I… barely remember," he started quietly, placing down his fork as his eyes closed, trying to summon forth a clear memory of this sister he was more and more certain he had. "I think she was shy, she kept to herself a lot. I believe… she only really spoke to her friends… I… used to bring her flowers for her room… I still can't remember her name."

He pressed his hand to his head as he forced his memory further, desperately trying to grasp the memory that was just out of reach. A hand was placed on his arm, causing Lauriam's eyes to snap open. Ruby's worried silver eyes stared at him from across the table where she was seated, and the man realised that the concern was echoed on the faces of both Yang and Taiyang.

"Forgive me, I really know nothing more," Lauriam sighed, looking away.

"Don't force it," Taiyang advised as he stood up and started to collect the plates, shooing Yang and Ruby with a hand when they started to rise to help him. "Forcing memories can make it worse and give you a headache. Just give it time; you'll remember if it's someone as important as your sister. Stay here, I'll bring you something."

Yang and Ruby exchanged a glance which was both exasperated and slightly concerned, before they stood up together.

"Dad, me and Rubes are gonna head up to her room and hang up some pictures we got at Beacon," the blonde brawler commented. "We'll leave the two of you to talk. Just remember to say goodbye before you head off to wherever you're going to be staying."

The last part was aimed at Lauriam who smiled slightly and gave the two girls an affirmative wave before they both headed upstairs. Taiyang returned with two glasses full of a bronze liquid, then a bottle of the same drink. Lauriam vaguely recognised the bottle as bottle of beer, but he didn't recognise the brand, not that he knew any. He raised an eyebrow at the blonde man.

"I've never had a drink of alcohol before," he said in a bland voice, causing Taiyang's eyes to widen dramatically. Lauriam found one of the glasses in the man's hand all but slammed down in front of him.

"This is blasphemy!" The blonde exclaimed, pushing the drink closer to Lauriam. "At least once Lauriam, you have to try at least once."

The former Nobody sent Taiyang an incredulous look, but picked up the drink anyway. He didn't see the two sets of eyes watching him from the doorway.

A few glasses later, Lauriam's awareness was out the window, and he wasn't able to think straight. He and Taiyang had been talking about small things, about what Lauriam had been doing at Beacon, anything about Ruby and Yang's escapades. Lauriam, through his foggy mind, slurred speech and looser tongue, hadn't noticed that Tai was still sipping his first glass and that the bottle of beer was nearly empty. That really should have tipped Lauriam off to something being up.

That was when Taiyang asked THAT question.

"Did you love Summer?"

A regretful but also somewhat stupid grin crossed the now drunk man's face. He stared down at the glass in his hands trying to focus on it. Did he have one glass or three? He couldn't tell. That wasn't important though, now his mind was full of Summer, his memories of her from Marluxia. He sighed and glanced at Taiyang from the corner of his eye.

"'was phys'cal' inc'able of love whe' I mets her," Lauriam admitted, his words feeling thick on his tongue. "But I alw'ys tolds 'er tha' if I hads ah heash it would have belon'ed ta her an' 'er alonhe. She made me fefel like ki had da hearsh! Nob'dies don' 'ave hearshs, shee? No hearsh, no emot'ns, brok'n. S'mmer weres conv'ned zat I 'ad one dou. Xsssheeeeemnash would'da kilsh me fo' dat."

"Xemnas?" Taiyang enquired, remembering the name vaguely from when Summer had once spoken about Marluxia, so many years ago now. The name pulled a snarl of fury from the drunk man. Actually, Lauriam seemed to grip the glass in his hand tighter, the anger coiled around him like a rope.

"Xshemnash ish a baaaad guy!" The pink haired man snarled. "Ifs he knews ab't 'uby, he would of tak'n her an' ooshed her againshed me, like blekmal! Sho I sht'yed'way, no' come back; keep 'uby shafe."

The glass in Lauriam's hand broke as he clenched his fist, glass cutting into his skin, making him bleed, but he didn't seem to notice as he let out a drunken sob.

"F'teen," he spat, anger and despair lacing his words. "Ruby ish f'fteen now. I mished fift'n yearsh o' my d'ughter'sh life. All f'teen! Cause of Xshemnash! I hatesh him!"

Taiyang gently coaxed Lauriam's injured hand open and cleaned it of glass shards as the pink haired man lost himself to this foreign feeling of lost hopelessness, fury and despair, wretched sobs breaking from his unwilling lips. The blonde man beside him merely took care of the cuts on his hand though, cleaning then bandaging the hand.

"You're staying here tonight," Taiyang murmured once Lauriam had calmed down a bit, before he pulled the drunk man's arm over his shoulder and guided him over to the couch and laid him down. Lauriam let awareness fade into black.


Ruby pulled Yang away from the door they were eavesdropping from at the moment Lauriam started sobbing. The two girls made their way up to Ruby's room where they pulled Summer's pictures of Marluxia from Ruby's bag and started to pin them up on the walls, around the picture that had been dubbed 'the Guardian of Ruby's Room'. The pair were silent for a few minutes, listening to Lauriam breakdown in the kitchen.

"There was another reason you wanted Lauriam to meet dad… wasn't there?" Yang asked quietly once they were seated on Ruby's bed, looking around at their work. Zwei walked into the room and jumped up onto the young reaper's lap. Ruby's hand came up and scratched the corgi between the ears.

"When I first asked him to come I thought it was because I wanted help facing dad," she admitted. "But… I realise now that what I was really doing was asking dad if he trusts Lauriam. He's got a good judge of character, I like Lauriam, I want to help him, but..."

"You wanted to make sure that he wasn't trying to con you?" Yang finished, Ruby blushed and looked away with a half-hearted huff. The blond brawler laughed and ruffled Ruby's hair, grinning as Zwei barked happily. They sat there for a moment more, just enjoying the silence as they realised that there was no sound from downstairs anymore.

"Do you trust him?" Came the quiet question from the older sister.

"Yes," was the younger's response.

Taiyang walked up and smiled at the two girls in the room, looking around with a hum. Then he sat on the other side of Ruby and pulled his arm around the girls' shoulders.

"I gave Lauriam the couch," he told them both after a moment. "Letting him stay here, it is kinda my fault that he's in the state he is currently, I shouldn't have tricked him like that."

"You were drinking sarsaparilla?" Yang asked, looking over at her dad with a smirk. The man laughed and gave a thumbs up as his answer, making Yang and Ruby laugh as well. They fell silent again for another moment.

"Hey dad_" Ruby started before Taiyang pressed a finger to her lips. Both girls looked up confused. The man got off the bed and looked at Ruby.

"Why don't we save that title for Lauriam, when you feel comfortable with it," he suggested, and continued before Ruby could say anything. "And then I now have an excuse to finally teach you girls some Mistrali*."

Ruby and Yang looked at each other, and then at Taiyang, curiosity in their eyes. They didn't know what to be more surprised at. The fact that their dad knew Mistrali, or the fact that he was going to teach them.


That night Lauriam's dreams were plagued by nightmares and forgotten memories.

He was in a bright town, he could see -/*Elrena*/-Larxene in front of him, looking younger, she had a fringe, and she looked worried. She was holding something-/*Chirithy*/- that had no form. She was saying words, but he couldn't hear them, then he was running into a dark building, calling a name.

-/*"Strelitizia!"*/-

The name had no form, it was muted in his ears, and he could not hear it, no matter how hard he tried. The name was ripped out of his throat again, desperation flooding him. What was this name he was calling? Whose name was it, why did he need to find the owner of this name? What was the name? -/*Strelitzia, where are you?*/-

"I'm sorry Lauriam…"

The voice was Larxene's but when he turned around he saw Summer Rose, black and red dress like Ruby's, almost straight red black hair, similar to Ruby's. Then her voice was Summer's.

"You tried so hard and failed…" Summer murmured, walking up to Lauriam and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Ruby isn't yours anymore. You weren't there. You can't escape Xemnas. You cannot escape your past sins. You failed Ruby, you failed your friends, your sister, and you failed me."

Summer Rose pressed her lips to Lauriam's, her eyes turning gold and her hair white. The man gasped and tried to step away, but the woman had already caught him in her tight grip. She spun him around and brought her lips up to his ear. Before them was Xemnas, his Etheral Blades poised to strike down Ruby who was staring at Lauriam with fear.

"See all your failures… Marluxia."

And then Summer disappeared, as Xemnas struck out with his weapons. Lauriam cried out and threw his hand towards Ruby, but both she and the Superior dissolved into dust. In Ruby's place was Naminé, watching him with terror.

"Marluxia!" she whimpered.

"Lauriam."

This voice was painfully familiar, and it came from behind him. Naminé faded as Lauriam spun on his heel to come face to face with a girl in an Organisation coat, red belt around her waist, holding a bleeding heart flower**.

"Lauriam," she said again, bringing her hands up to her hood as if to bring it down. Blackness overtook the pink haired man.

In the waking world, tears fell down Lauriam's face, a face washed with heartbreak.

"Strelitzia…" The name slipped from his mouth, with no one to witness it. He wouldn't remember when he awoke.


*Mistrali - What I have decided to call Mistrals language - it will be a mix of languages from around Asia and Greek.
**Girl with bleeding heart flower - KHUx new union leaders image, has an unknown figure in organisation cloak and holding a flower. This is speculated to be Strelitzia and I agree with the speculation.

Behold! Another chapter that won't let me use strikethrough on my text. Well done FFN. Well done. Casually ignoring important formatting. Whoop-dee-do!

Poor Lauriam seems to suffer a lot with me writing. And yay! The reason Ruby brought Lauriam to Taiyang was because she trusts Tai's judgement. Also, Taiyang is totally way too pumped to finally have an excuse to teach his children a different language which he barely knows hahahaha It's like he was looking for an excuse to not look weird.

For Taiyang I'm doing a toned down personality from Chibi. I like his Chibi version, but Chibi bashes on him too much.

For those of you who can't understand understand drunken speech! Here is a translation (don't worry, if I hadn't typed it, I probably wouldn't understand much of it either):

"I was physically incapable of love when I met her. But I always told her that if I had a heart it would have belonged to her and her alone. She made me feel like I had a heart! Nobodies don't have hearts, see? No heart means no emotions, we're broken. Summer was convinced that I had one though. Xemnas would have killed me for that.

Xemnas is a bad guy! If he knew about Ruby, he would of taken her and used her against me, like blackmail! So I stayed away, didn't come back.,to keep Ruby safe.

Fifteen. Ruby is fifteen now. I missed fifteen years of my daughter's life. All fifteen! Cause of Xemnas! I hate him!"