Oooops I started on a new fic. Hehe, don't worry! I'm still working on my other story but I've had this little idea stuck in my head for a few weeks after reading another fic similar to this concept. I was also giving myself an excuse to write more Roxas/Kairi stuff 'cause I've been soft for this rarepair lately.
Anywhoo! This fic is gonna be based off some of my experiences at Disney World (which I've definitely been missing a lot lately) so hope you guys enjoy!
Laughter filled the air as Roxas quietly walked along the sidewalk with two of his favorite people. He was actually quite glad Sora suggested for him and Ventus to hang out on this nice Sunday afternoon. It hadn't been too long since the twins last saw their brown-haired friend, but with everyone being occupied with their own lives now, it might as well have felt like forever. Honestly, Roxas really missed it.
However, the small group of friends did try to keep in touch in their daily group chat. Roxas enjoyed the free time he had to join in on the conversations that went on in there, no matter how absurd they seemed at times. It was little things like these that made him feel lucky sharing a bond with such great people.
That is, until someone ends up pushing his buttons.
He didn't make a big deal about it most of the time. Though, it wasn't until one day that it finally got the best of him. And what he received in return was… unexpected.
Long story short, Roxas wasn't having the best day. And hopping into the chat later in the evening didn't do him any good either. Sure, he received some reassuring words from Ventus when the cheerful twin immediately noticed how upset Roxas looked once he arrived at their apartment. And he received some 'cheer up' messages from Xion in the group chat, followed by Sora shortly after. He then noticed Riku showed up in the chat as well, only to tease Roxas in the process. The blond brushed it off until everyone else began to do the same. He knew that they meant no harm and that they were only joking around, but it was starting to get on his nerves after some time. Heck, even Xion was in on it! One of the people he trusted the most! Roxas briefly caught a glance at Naminé trying to get everyone to stop but after all of that, he thought it was best to mute the chat and call it a night. He wasn't being too sensitive, was he? He scoffed at the thought as he lay in his bed.
Roxas would have expected for Ventus to knock at his door any minute now, probably to apologize for joking around so much. But no knock came. Instead, some time went by before Roxas heard his phone buzz out of the blue. He quietly sighed to himself as he reached over and peeked at the screen, which caught him by surprise. It was a personal message from Kairi. The one person he hasn't spoken to all that much... and here she was messaging him. Curiously, he opened it up, which read:
Kairi: Seems like we're both having a bad day today. I hope this cheers you up as much as it cheers me up :)
And just above her message was an image of what looked like a large Stitch plush toy that she owned propped up on her bed. Roxas actually found himself smiling slightly. He tapped on the screen and began to type out a response.
Roxas: No fair. I can't hug him like you can.
He waited a few seconds until he noticed the typing bubble at the bottom of the screen.
Kairi: Hang on, I'll hug him for you.
A few moments passed before she sent another image of her now hugging the large plushie. Meanwhile, he was able to see that she was wearing a purple tank top with matching pajama pants. He couldn't lie, the whole picture was actually kind of… cute? Roxas unexpectedly felt his cheeks flush. Wait... what?
Kairi: There. Feeling better now?
The blond tried to think of a reply as his mind clouded with whatever odd thoughts he was having at that moment. He rubbed his face when he realized he was staring at the screen for quite some time before finally settling on a simple response.
Roxas: Yeah. Thanks Kairi :)
Kairi: You're welcome. I hope you have a good night ❤
At the sight of the little heart at the end of her message, Roxas was pretty sure his own heart had skipped a beat. His thumb hovered over the screen and out of instinct, he sent her one last message in return.
Roxas: ❤
Once it was sent, he tossed his phone aside and stared up at the ceiling, trying to process what just happened. He was really out of it today. But… he had to admit, that brief conversation he shared with Kairi did make him feel a little better. It was unexpected, especially since they hardly ever spoke to each other, but he wasn't complaining.
She was thinking about me, he thought to himself.
Now that he thought about it, Roxas didn't see her in the chat earlier that day. He hoped she was doing alright as well. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why he was feeling the way he was feeling now, all from receiving a few simple messages. His mind then wandered back to the pictures she sent him. Reaching for his phone, he opened up the message app and stared at the image of Kairi with her plushie. Roxas let out a small chuckle, only to feel his cheeks burning up slightly again. He rubbed his face once more as he placed his phone on his nightstand. He really wasn't sure what had gotten into him all of a sudden.
Maybe he just needed some sleep. He'll get over it.
Spoiler alert: he didn't get over it.
Ever since that night, Roxas felt a bit timid whenever he saw Kairi's name appear in the chat from time to time. He just couldn't bring himself to speak to her. At least not with personal messages like the first time. He would have liked to, but he suddenly felt like a coward about it. And because of that, he found himself not really conversing in the group chat as much as he used to. Or at least not when Kairi was posting stuff in there.
Well… it's not like we talked much to begin with...
Roxas shook his head, wondering if he might have just been overreacting about the whole situation. His thoughts were interrupted when a hand waved in front of his face.
"Earth to Roxas! Are you there?"
The young man came back to reality when he turned his head and noticed his brown-haired friend flashing a goofy grin. He could hear Ventus laughing on the opposite side of him. Roxas sheepishly rubbed his neck and chuckled.
"Yeah yeah, I'm here."
"Good! Thought we lost you for a moment." The grin never left Sora's face as his gaze fell back to the path ahead.
Sora admittedly didn't have much planned for the day. Unfortunately, Riku had some errands to run throughout the afternoon and Kairi had a part-time job to get to at the local bakery cafe, so Sora thought it was a good time to try and catch up with some of his other friends for a change.
Luckily, Roxas and Ventus had some free time on their hands that day. One thing led to another and now they were out and about, talking about anything and everything. Not to mention the nice, cool weather gave them the excuse to take a stroll through the small town. Pretty soon, they found themselves walking down the path where the bakery cafe had been. Sora's face brightened when he realized this.
Quickly, he ran up ahead the two identical blonds and stopped right in front of them. "Hey, you guys wanna go say hi to Kairi?"
Roxas wasn't sure why, but he felt his stomach do a sudden flip at the mention of Kairi's name.
"Didn't you say she was working today?" Ventus wondered, tilting his head.
"Uh huh," Sora nodded as he gestured at the building with the large, clear windows just up ahead. "Right over here!"
He reached the entrance and pulled the door wide open as the twins followed, immediately getting hit with the mixed scents of coffee and pastries filling up the air in the shop.
Roxas stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stood in place for a few moments, taking a look around the shop. It wasn't as busy as he expected it to be, especially on a Sunday afternoon, but it was still a bit lively with some people sitting around. One thing that caught his eye were the minor pink and red decorations hanging around the walls. Heart decorations, to be more precise.
Right. Valentine's Day is coming up next weekend...
Not that it mattered to Roxas. He wasn't too crazy about the holiday. Though, he did occasionally enjoy taking some chocolate candy from Ventus whenever he would impulsively buy those large candy bags during the month.
Roxas's gaze eventually fell on the auburn haired girl just up ahead taking someone's order. Right away, he noticed her hair was picked up in a messy bun. He only stared for a few seconds until he felt Sora briefly pat him on the shoulder.
"Are you gonna get anything, Roxas?"
"Uh… I'm good. Thanks."
Once she was finished with the customer, Kairi looked up ahead and smiled warmly when she noticed her friends standing across the shop. Sora rushed over and greeted her as Ventus followed him with almost the same cheerful energy. Meanwhile, Roxas took this time to find some place to sit. He settled down at a table by the large windows, with his back facing away from his friends. And from there, he thought it was the perfect time to take out his phone to occupy himself with something.
He spent a few minutes fiddling around with the device until the sound of two gleeful voices made their way over to him.
"You sure you don't want anything?" Ventus asked, sitting down to the right of Roxas. In his hand was a vanilla cupcake with pink icing on top. A Valentine's Day themed cupcake, he assumed.
Roxas smirked and mischievously reached out, scraping off some of the cupcake's icing with his finger before popping it into his mouth.
Ventus's jaw suddenly dropped at this. "Aww c'mon! You could've gotten your own!"
"Nah, that's okay," Roxas chuckled, briefly licking the icing off his lips as he watched Sora sitting on the opposite side of Ventus, laughing at them.
"You know, I really missed this," Sora said with a smile, "I forgot how fun it was hanging out with you guys."
Ventus nodded in agreement. "Yeah! We should really do this more often!"
Sora briefly tapped his chin in thought as his eyes wandered over to Kairi as she prepared his order. "I kinda wish we could hang out with the whole gang. The last time I remembered getting together was when we… ummm…"
"We went to a concert together," Roxas pointed out.
"Yeah that's it! How could I forget about that?"
"I mean, we did stay up pretty late that night," Roxas shrugged, recalling the long night he spent with his night already seemed so far away. "Maybe you don't remember much 'cause you knocked out as soon as we arrived at Riku's house. So you probably thought it was all a dream or something."
Sora sheepishly rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I guess that explains a lot."
"Well, it can't be too hard to get everyone together again, right?" Ventus wondered as he looked up from his treat. His lips were now bright pink from the icing, which made Roxas chuckle a bit.
"Hmmm," Sora tapped his chin in thought once more. "Well… Valentine's Day is coming up. Maybe we can do something that weekend if no one is busy."
Roxas raised a brow at Sora's suggestion. "I don't know, that doesn't really sound like the most ideal time to hang out."
Suddenly, Sora gave the blond a disappointed look. "Why? What's wrong with that?"
Roxas nearly gave him an "are you serious?" type of look before reminding himself that Sora was sometimes still a bit oblivious about certain things. "Isn't that the time to spend with your girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever?"
"Well, sure it is! But we don't necessarily have to hang out the day of Valentine's Day. I was just suggesting this upcoming week because I'm free for the next few days."
"Are you ever not free?" Roxas teased.
Sora pursed his lips slightly. "Ha-ha, very funny, Roxas. Anyway, Riku mentioned he might be free those days too. At least I think that's what I heard… I wonder if Xion and Naminé have any plans…"
Ventus browsed his phone in the meantime as he listened to the conversation in the background and began to think of things to do or places to go with his friends. Then, almost as if it were on cue, a pop-up advertising prices for Disney World appeared at the top of his web browser. The blond stared at it with interest for a few moments before he jokingly spoke up. "Hey, maybe we can all spend it at Disney World."
Both Sora and Roxas stared at Ventus as if they were trying to process what he said. Sora was the first to react with his beaming grin. "Wait a minute… that's perfect!"
"Huh?" Roxas turned to look at the young brown-haired man with a puzzled expression.
"Haha! Yeah! Spending a few days at Disney World with you guys and everyone else would be so much fun!"
Ventus's eyes brightened almost instantly. He was only kidding around when he suggested the idea, but a part of him actually wanted to go, especially since he had yet to experience the large theme park resort. "Wait, really? You think it's a good idea?"
Sora was practically about to bounce out of his chair at this point. "It's a great idea!"
"Look what you did, Ven," Roxas chuckled, watching as the two almost shared the same level of excitement.
"Heh, sorry," he laughed, momentarily rubbing his cheek. "But hey! You and I haven't been there before, so this should be fun! What do you say, Roxas?"
"Well, I guess I can't complain," Roxas casually shrugged. He was trying to play it cool, but he was actually starting to get interested about the idea. Maybe this is just what he needed to get his mind off of some things. "It does sound like it can be pretty fun."
The wide grin remained on Sora's face as he pulled out his phone and impatiently began to tap on the screen. "I gotta tell Riku about this!"
"Tell Riku about what?"
Roxas nearly jumped at the sound of the familiar voice coming from behind him. Just as he was about to turn, he felt a gentle punch on his shoulder.
"Hey, Roxas. Long time no see," Kairi smiled as she placed Sora's hot drink on the table.
The blond timidly tilted his head up to face her, almost finding the courage to greet her until Sora sprung up from his chair. One sudden bump into the table and he probably would have knocked his drink over, but luckily that mess was avoided.
"Kairi! What do you think about taking a trip to Disney World with the gang sometime this week?"
The redhead couldn't help but give him a baffled look at the unexpected offer. "Whoa, where did that idea come from?"
Ventus guiltily raised his hand and smiled sheepishly. "Heh, I might have something to do with that."
Kairi's gaze fell on the cheerful blond before turning back to Sora, giggling at the sight of their enthusiasm. "No wonder you guys sounded louder than usual. You can count me in as well!"
"Yeah! So I was thinking…" Sora trailed off before briefly changing the topic. "Oh, hey. By the way, didn't Riku say he was free sometime in the next few days?"
The girl tapped her chin in thought as she placed her other hand on her hip. "Not tomorrow, but I think he's free for the rest of the week."
"Great! I'll have plenty of time to convince him about this then! I was thinking we can go just in time for Valentine's Day!"
"Oh…" For a moment, it seemed as if she hesitated, until she gave Sora a small smile. "I actually really like the sound of that."
"Oh uh, I guess I forgot to ask…" Sora let out a timid laugh before he went on. "Are you off those days?"
"I might end up being asked to come in but I'm sure I can get someone else to cover for me. It shouldn't be a problem."
Sora swung his arm slightly and gave her a thumbs-up. "Alright! Sounds like a plan!"
"You still gotta tell Riku though," she said, playfully poking his shoulder. "And I'll be sure to let Xion and Naminé know in case they're interested. Actually, while I'm at it…"
She pulled her phone out from her jeans and began to tap on the screen.
Meanwhile, Roxas temporarily blocked out his surroundings and quietly watched as Kairi typed something on her phone. The redhead immediately sensed the pair of eyes staring at her. Naturally, she peeked up from the screen and met his gaze for only a second before staring back down with a small smile.
"There. Now everyone knows."
Everyone's phone buzzed simultaneously at that moment, causing them to look at their screens right away.
Kairi: Who wants to spend this lovey dovey week at Disney World? ❤ (this was Sora and Ven's idea btw)
Ven read the message Kairi had sent to the group chat and laughed to himself before he began to quickly type something out.
Ven: I was just joking around about going but I blame Sora for getting me excited about it XD
Now Sora was the one to laugh once he read Ven's message. He looked up from the phone screen with a bright grin and pointed to his friends. "You guys can thank me later!"
Kairi giggled before tucking her phone back in her pocket. "Well, I better get back to work. I'll see you guys around."
"Yeah, talk to you soon, Kairi!" Sora waved as she walked away from the group of friends.
Roxas didn't realize how tense he was until now. He let out the breath he was holding in and quickly composed himself, looking over to his two friends.
"So I guess we're really doing this, huh?"
Riku was surprised once he saw the group chat flooding with messages talking about nothing but Disney World. He wasn't convinced about the idea at first, as Sora suspected, but with a little bit of help from everyone, Riku ended up caving in. From there, he began the process of booking the trip. That upcoming Wednesday seemed to be the best time to book an early flight. With that said, they all agreed to stay at Riku's house the night before to head out as soon as possible.
But those days seemed like an eternity away, especially since it was still Sunday night. At least, that's what Ventus described it as. All this talk of Disney made him wish they could just get up and go already. To pass the time, he decided to start packing his things for the trip that night. Roxas was eventually going to start packing his own things, but he decided to hang out in Ventus's room for a bit. The little time he spent there consisted of nothing but Disney songs sung by Ven as he took out whatever clothes he was planning to take and tossed it on the bed. At times, he would get so lost in the song to the point where he didn't pay attention to where he was throwing his clothes.
"Watch where you throw your stuff," Roxas chuckled, removing one of Ven's shirts that landed on his head.
Ventus looked up, laughing when he realized what he did. "Hah, sorry about that. Got a bit excited there."
"You've been excited the whole day."
"I know!" He beamed, bouncing with anticipation. "It's gonna be my first time at Disney! Can you blame me?"
"I mean, it's my first time too, so…"
"Yeah, and I thought you'd be just as excited. What's wrong?"
"I am excited," Roxas admitted, looking down at his phone for a distraction. "I'm just kinda tired, I guess. It's been a long day of catching up."
"Yeah, that's true," Ventus shrugged, attempting to organize the things he threw on the bed as he continued. "Still… you've been pretty quiet lately."
Roxas pursed his lips at Ven's remark, keeping his gaze on the phone screen. "Have I?"
"Uh huh, is something up?"
"Just got a lot on my mind," Roxas muttered.
"Like what?" Ventus attempted to fold his clothes as neatly as he could inside the suitcase, waiting for a response from Roxas. But he remained quiet. Ven took this moment to suddenly plop on the bed in hopes of getting his twin's attention.
"Hey, you can tell me anything you know!"
Roxas finally tore his eyes away from the screen to be met by a toothy grin. "The last time I told you something personal, you practically shared it with the whole world."
Ven opened his mouth to say something, only to let out a nervous chuckle. "Hah, right... that… I told you it was an accident…Anyway, c'mon! What is it?"
"It's nothing important," Roxas assured. "I'm just looking forward to the trip."
Ventus still wasn't entirely convinced about whatever Roxas might have been thinking about, but he supposed that'll do. "Heh, well... I'm sure it's gonna be a blast! And we're all gonna be together again, so that makes it even better!"
Roxas sunk into the bed, resting his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling with a deadpan expression. "Hmm, I'm not too crazy about seeing Riku again though."
"Well, that's not nice…" Ven pursed his lips and stood back up to finish his packing.
Roxas dropped the serious look he had on his face and chuckled. "I'm kidding."
"I knew that… Oh! Maybe I should tell Xion to bring some cookies again when we stay over at Riku's place!"
"Oh yeah, I really liked those last ones she made," Roxas smiled, repositioning himself to continue scrolling through his phone again.
"She's definitely improved her baking first batch she made were… well…" Ven scrunched his nose at the thought.
"Yeah, I know. They were pretty burnt."
"I still ate 'em anyways," the cheerful blond shrugged. He then stopped what he was doing and reached out for his phone on the bed to send a message in the group chat. "I'll ask if she can make some more."
They both fell silent for a few moments before Ven went right back to tossing some clothes into the suitcase, all while thinking back to the events earlier that day. "Looks like Kairi is doing pretty well with her part-time job, huh?"
There it was again. That feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever her name was mentioned. Why did that keep happening?
'Mmhmm' was all he managed to mumble out as he continued to distract himself with his phone. He hoped Ven didn't notice Roxas's sudden lack of interest, even though that wasn't really the case. He was just trying not to make it obvious about being interested in Kairi.
The room fell silent once more until Roxas heard Ventus laughing to himself. The quiet blond curiously looked up from his phone and raised a brow. "What are you laughing about over there?"
"Well, I know you talk to Sora all the time. And you get along with Xion and Naminé pretty well too. I still don't know what you have against Riku but… I don't think I've ever seen you talk to Kairi all that much."
Great. He noticed that...
"Yeah? What about it?"
"Heh, are you scared of her or something?"
"Seriously?"
"Or maybe you don't like her either...?"
Roxas suddenly shook his head in confusion. "Wha- Ven, what are you even saying?"
Not knowing where he was going with this, Ventus slightly threw up his hands in defense. "Just a little something I've picked up on, that's all!"
Roxas can feel his cheeks starting to warm up. Talk about great timing. He only hoped it wasn't obvious enough for Ven to notice. "Well, it's none of that. I just haven't had the chance to really talk to her. But we have talked," he added, recalling any conversations they had to prove his point.
Yeah…
Okay…
There weren't many. No surprise there.
Ventus gave him a lighthearted smile and shook his head. "No worries, Roxas! I think you'll get along with Kairi just fine. She's really nice once you get to know her! Come to think of it, maybe the two of you can finally hang out some more during the trip!"
Roxas thought about it. Or rather, it was something he had in the back of his mind ever since the idea was first brought up earlier that day. "I don't know, I feel like I'll be in the way. Besides, I'm sure she'll rather hang around with the others. And I'll be stuck with you in the meantime." The blond smirked and rolled up one of the shirts laying on the bed, quickly tossing it at Ven's head.
Ventus flinched at this and glanced back up with a pouty face. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"What I mean is…" Roxas paused as he scratched his head in thought. Then, a small smile formed on his lips.
"It's definitely gonna be a great time."
Ven suddenly beamed at his brother's words. "There you go, that's the spirit!"
With that said, Roxas rolled off the bed and began to make his way out of the room. "Anyway, I'm gonna start packing my own stuff. I'll be in my room if you need me."
"Yeah, okay!"
As Roxas headed over to his own bedroom, he heard his twin unexpectedly burst into song from across the small hallway.
🎵 Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phraaaase! Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craaaaaze! 🎵
He couldn't help but laugh at how eager Ventus was about going on the trip. All that excitement was definitely starting to rub off on him. Not to mention, Ventus was right. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to talk to Kairi. And possibly spend some time with her. And maybe… just maybe...
"Nah..." he mumbled, shaking his head at the silly thought of her being his Valentine for the weekend in the happiest place on Earth. What were the chances of that happening?
Wishful thinking…
Fun fact: I actually own a big Stitch plushie that I got for Valentine's Day one time :D
Heh I hope this turned out alright!
