Quick Authoress Notes: So sorry about long time to update. I've been a bit busy this summer, so I never really had the time to just sit and write. I can't guarantee when I'll update next, but this fic will be fairly short, so I'm not that worried.

DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED KINGDOM HEARTS, THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE NEED A JOB!

Oh and one last thing

Thoughts

Just to avoid confusion…

Keep Tryin'!

+-- Boxes, Books, and Bad rhyming? --+
a.k.a. First Impressions are everything, so dancing and singing about friends can be taken the wrong way…

"Damn it, you did that on purpose, Roxas!" Riku accused pointing an accusing finger at the blond before him, "you practically threw that book at me!"

Roxas just yawned, while behind him Sora rushed over.

"Riku, are you alright?" Riku gave a sly smile at Roxas, before theatrically clutching his head, "I think I feel a bump! Don't worry about it Sora, I'll be…why is the room spinning? Oh, why're there colors everywhere?"

"H-he's faking!" Roxas spluttered, face going red, he gave Sora an expression of disbelief, "don't tell me you actually believe him!"

"Roxas, you threw 'War and Peace' at him! He's lucky he doesn't have a concussion!" Sora pointed out frowning at his brother's attitude, then he turned towards Riku, "are you alright? I'm sorry about that, all you wanted to do was help us move in," he raised his voice at the last part, as if to chaste his brother across from him, Riku took this moment to 'fall helplessly' into Sora's arms and snuggle closer to 'his future boyfriend', "oh no, he fell! Riku, Riku!" With a determined look, he helped Riku on his feet, "you're just going have to lie down. I'll get Aerith to make you something to eat…here, you can just lie on my bed…"

Roxas almost reached over to strangle the silver-haired boy as he limped past, but then he knew, he knew that the little rat bastard would just further use that to his advantage.

Riku did have enough time to give Roxas a look of pure content, then smiling pure evil, he began softly, "Sora, would you lie down with me? I feel so cold…"

That was it, no more!

Roxas spun on his heel, ready to go and strangle that smug little bastard, until he felt a restraining hand on his shoulder, he didn't have to turn to figure out who it was:

"Let me go Cloud, I need to bash his face in. He is not going to stop until he's thoroughly molested my little brother!"

Why is everyone wanting to throw that book around? Cloud's eyes wandered over to the fallen weapon and he recounted how a few days earlier, Cid had almost had that particular volume launched at him by their resident ninja fanatic, outwardly he wondered: "I thought Sora was your age?"

"He is," Roxas admitted as an afterthought, "but he might as well be my little brother. He has no idea what this guy wants of him!"

Cloud rolled his eyes, moving his hand to ruffle Roxas's hair: "He isn't as clueless as you think. And that Riku doesn't seem too bad—" he ignored Roxas's pointed glare, "at least he's not as bad as Axel was."

Roxas stood stock still, pale and almost frozen in place, Cloud felt immediately guilty that he brought up such a tender subject but he knew it was only fair.

"Roxas, I'm sorry but, you know its true."

The blond didn't say anything and moved Cloud's hand off of his head, he continued on his way, acting as if nothing happened.

"What's with him?"

Cloud almost jumped, almost…he was slowly getting used to living in a haunted house.

"Nothing, I just said something that upset him, he'll be fine in a few minutes," he assured, more to himself than to the spirit next to him, "hey Paine, where are Yuna and Riku?"

Predictably, Paine frowned and said: "Where else? Rikku is with Kairi, Naminé, and Yuffie, while Yuna is in the kitchen helping out Aerith with lunch. I was just talking to Leon before I found you."

Leon, that really quiet guy, right, Cloud still didn't know what to think of him.

He still couldn't for the life of him remember what had transpired between the two of them, he just remembered that the other felt so familiar.

And speaking of the devil…

"Paine, have you seen…oh."

Heavy footsteps thudded behind him then slowly stopped.

Cloud turned more to be courteous than out of necessity.

"I'll just go and help Roxas," Paine suddenly volunteered, and before the two could say any protest she was gone.

The two men just glanced at each other awkwardly, silence reigning in.

"So…"

"So?"

"Do you still not remember?" Leon inquired, quite suddenly, almost anxious, "about…what happened?"

"What happened?" Cloud repeated, still confused, then rubbing his temples, he sighed and explained, " look, I'm sorry if I'm coming off as rude here, but seriously I don't remember."

Leon seemed to take offence to that statement as he demanded: "How could you forget? It's not something just as simple as bumping into each other on the street or a weird cliché like that—"

"Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about," Cloud answered, clearly exasperated, "if it makes you feel any better, this is driving me crazy too, but I have no clue. All I know is that you feel familiar."

"I 'feel familiar'?" Leon repeated, raising a brow and resisting the urge to childishly tap his foot.

"Yes, I know it sounds odd, but all I can get is this weird sense of déjà vu from you and that's all," Cloud responded looking straight at Leon, eyes glowing green in determination, "I have no recollection of us meeting or the circumstances that transpired during or following when we supposedly 'met'."

"How can you—" Leon began to growl, when once again, with suspiciously good timing, someone interrupted:

"Leeeon! Come here for a sec!" Yuffie dashed out with almost ungodly ease, grabbed the slightly surprised brunette, and dragging him away, leaving Cloud blinking in their wake.

"Yuffie, what the—" just as sudden as they started running, they stopped.

The shorter of the two, glanced around just for good measure, then let out a sigh.

Leon raised a brow at the change of attitude.

"Look, at the time, I didn't know, about…that…" Yuffie rubbed the back of her neck, uneasily, "Sephiroth and Aerith told me about it. I'm really sorry that I brought it up…ya see," Yuffie started to twiddle her thumbs, "it's better for now that Cloud doesn't remember what happened…cause last time…" she made sure to avoid his gaze, " he almost died."

The statement hung in the air, making Leon's insides quake and quiver, the wheels in his head turning, trying to accept what the girl before him just said.

"So ya see," Yuffie tried to lighten the oppressive atmosphere with a nervous giggle, "they said that he needs to slowly come to terms with what happened…ya know…with how you two met…so, even though ya don't want to, just sort of leave him alone with it."

"Are you suggesting I act like nothing happened?" Leon's brain was going numb as he considered what they were proposing, "isn't what you're asking me just going to hurt him more? To act like nothing happened?" Storm gray eyes pierced hesitant, usually bright brown orbs, " he needs to accept what happened, we all lost people that day! We all—" he stopped, pausing to remember the look of fear in the aforementioned blond's eyes, fear not for himself, but for that other guy, the one who placed himself in their place.

That one pained expression had been burned into his mind many times over.

"Even though he's the only reason I'm staying here," he growled, eyes narrowing while Yuffie gulped, "alright, I'll lay off for now. But soon, I'm going to talk to him."

"A-ah, o-ok, g-g-good for you," Yuffie really didn't like being the bearer of bad news here—this guy scared her shitless! "uh, I think I hear Rikku calling me—I-gotta-go-bye!"

Dashing off, she didn't notice the expression Leon held, as he stalked off, going back once more into his room…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Roxas groaned as he shifted to shoulder another heavy box, he glanced wearily at his sister, who was perched easily on her bed, calmly surveying his handy-work.

"How—" he moved his left hand to the right to ease the burning pain from the very heavy cargo, " many of these things do you have!"

Naminé didn't even bat an eyelash: "Oh, those old things? That's just my collection of sonnets…" she paused to consider, "…and all my cultural encyclopedias on English literature from the Elizabethan era and onward."

Roxas glowered as he set the box in front of the bookcase: "You couldn't be a normal teenage girl and like make-up could you? You had to go and be smart."

Naminé rolled her eyes playfully, as she recounted: "Yes Roxas, I decided to be myself, which just happens to be 'smart' just so I can mess up your back. However did you deduce my evil plan? I thought it was flawless."

Somehow the little smile Naminé gave after the statement didn't reassure Roxas, instead he just scowled further.

"Ok, they're on their way!" Kairi called as she walked into the room, putting away her pink flip-phone, brushing some stray strands out of her eyes, "since Riku is being such a baby," understandably she just looked to the heavens, as if really doubting her foster brother's maturity, "I asked our other friends to come over and help, I hope you don't mind."

"No problem," Naminé said, while Roxas let out a relieved sigh: "Thank God."

At the looks he got, he shot the two girls dirty looks: "What? You two said you needed my help—then made me cart everything here, by myself!"

"But we're girls, and you're a guy, you're built to carry heavy luggage," Naminé pointed out matter-of-factually. Roxas just scoffed and responded:

"Yeah, and girls are built to go and trick said guys into carrying their heavy luggage."

"You fell for it, not our problem." Naminé answered sing-songily and just reclined further into her bed, Roxas knew that it was far easier to just give in now and finish with the boxes than be tricked into again, and then this time with something extra as punishment.

With that in mind, he hoisted another gargantuan package in his lithe arms, only to drop it and barely (by the fortune gods' good graces) miss flattening his toes, when a certain blonde haired spirit popped out from the walls.

"Hey guys! I finally found the box cutter! It was downstairs in Sora's room," Rikku chirped and tried to force her hand through the wall to show her findings, there was a CLANK as she tried to move a solid object into another solid object, she gave a weak smile, "uh…one moment…"

With an POOF, she re-appeared right next to Roxas, who barely jumped. Barely.

"Here it is!" she thrust her find forward to Naminé in the same fashion of a loyal subject to her queen, then she noticed Roxas's incoherent spouts of anger, "what's with you?"

Roxas decided then and there, that seriously he was going to quit women, forever…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"So, where's this house again, ya?" Wakka drawled as he, Tidus, Zidane, and ViVi walked up the gates of the famed 'Zanarkand Manor', "are we sure that they aren't messin' with us, ya?"

"Quit with the 'ya's, you're making my headache act up," Zidane, adjusted his pony-tail, and glanced down at ViVi, "are you alright? If you feel sick at all or anything, you know I can carry you, right?"

"Really Zidane, if ViVi says he's 'fine' then he's fine." On the other side of Wakka, Tidus just crossed his arms behind his head, Wakka raised a brow at the action, Tidus practically walked the whole way from his house like that, didn't his arms ever get tired?

"Ya know how Zidane is always acting like he's sweet on the girls, ya? Well, he be doin' the same for ViVi," Wakka commented, elbowing the resident star of the nearby theater, "he's such a good actor that maybe this whole time, he be just eyein' us and using ViVi as n' 'scuse!"

"You wish," the blond tugged at his pony-tail once more, then placed an arm around ViVi never mind the fact that the other barely met his chest so he had to stoop, "you all aren't half as cute as my ViVi. He's the only one I'd be gay for."

"Uh, Zidane…you do remember what my grandfather said right?" ViVi reminded, almost warily trying to shrug out of the other's hold, no such luck Zidane was strong.

"Yeah, he said as long as I ain't kidding, you're all mine," Zidane tried to make an evil laugh, but no matter how good an actor he was, his build and voice were that of a hero's resulting in the sound just came out melodic and rich, "don't worry ViVi, those that can't except our love can go screw themselves!"

"Um, why would—" ViVi shifted in the other's embrace, while Tidus decided to have some pity on the boy.

"Oi, quit it Zidane, we're almost there. Go and molest the poor kid later," Tidus called from the front as he walked past the open gate, "if anything, we should have you arrested you pedophile."

"Pedo—?" Zidane's eyes narrowed and he let go of his prey long enough to chase after the other blond in front of him, "hey, ViVi isn't much younger than us!"

"Yeah, by like four years! He's almost fourteen! And how old are you again? Eighteen? Isn't there a law or something against that?"

"Love knows no age!"

"Suuure, pedophile!"

"Why you—"

Wakka slowed his pace to catch up with the youngest of the group. ViVi stilled looked uneasy.

"Don't worry about him, ya? He's just bein' a big dummy," he assured, " he'll quit teasing you after a while."

ViVi didn't respond, instead he looked up ahead at the change of landscape, he whispered softly:

"I hope not."

However the argument ahead drowned out his admission:

"Maybe we can bring you to the police department and get an award or something! That way I can get a new blitzball since you popped my old one!"

"I told you that wasn't me! And why would the Po-Po want me? I did nothing!"

"Indecent conduct with a minor, pedophile!"

"Quit calling me that!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Sora?" Smiling, the shorter of the two placed down his tray of goodies, and glided (or it seemed like it to Riku) towards the bed, "can I ask you something?"

"Yes?" Riku could feel the heartbeat speed up in his chest as the other leaned closer, their eyes meeting and never leaving. He felt as if all time stood stock still around them. It was the perfect chance.

Taking a deep breath, he began sincerely: "I know we haven't known each other very long, but, I really feel that we made a connection and I was wondering if—"

They say when karma hits you it isn't in small waves, its like a huge tsunami that tears you apart…so lucky Riku, irony over the many confessions he had trampled and rejected finally caught up to him…the doorbell rang.

Sora rose up and called over his shoulder: "Hang on a sec, ok? I gotta see who it is!"

Riku knew this wasn't just the beginning…and that wonderful fate probably had more nasty surprises in store for him.

How right he was…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

You can tell a lot about a person with first impressions, usually some people judge on that one instant alone, so your fate is sealed once that moment is over.

Unfortunately no one ever seemed to relay this information to Tidus and Zidane.

Imagine Cloud's surprise when he opened the door to find two blonds on his doorstep, one was dancing a full out jig and chanting, while the other turned an interesting kaleidoscope of colors, reaching over several times (and failing) at securing a hold on the other's neck.

"Vile, vile pedophile! Zidane goes to junior highs to get an eye-full! He robs cradles and poisons ladles—" Ok, it would probably be good to mention right now, that Tidus was not only one of the worst singers in the world, but he couldn't rhyme to save his life—he could however, run extremely fast. The result was a game of chase in the Strifes and company's front yard.

Wakka and ViVi were both behind the two, ViVi with his head in his hands, wishing he could go and disappear, and Wakka watching on in clear amusement.

Cloud took a few more seconds to process the scene, let out a tired sigh of an old man whose now seen it all and shouted over his shoulder: "Naminé, Roxas, Sora! You guys have guests!"

Shaking his head, Cloud just left the door open and started to mutter something that suspiciously sounded like: 'Kids, these days…'

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

After they'd coaxed Zidane down (he had Tidus cornered in a tree) and threatened Tidus, Kairi took it upon herself to make some semblance of sanity amongst her friends and gave out introductions.

"This is Zidane, he's usually the lead actor in the school's theater group Tantalus, he's used to be an really annoying ladies' man, but now he's moved onto…other…younger…people," Zidane squawked indignant at the side comment, but Kairi effectively stepped on his foot and in result he grew quiet.

Yup, hanging around these boys for God-only-knows long, had taught her how to take charge of them.

"This," she shoved a taller, tanner boy with an easy going grin on his face, "is Wakka. He's dumb but nice, the usual for an oaf," once again, she stepped on a foot, Wakka didn't even have the chance to open his mouth, "his accent may get annoying at times, but hey, you get used to it."

She turned to the shortest of the quartet, a boy with a small build and a hat obscuring his face from view, with a considerably gentler tone she gestured to him, "this is—"

"ViVi?" the triplets chorused and rushed forward.

ViVi stopped and his hat tilted upward at them.

"Remember us?" Sora demanded earnestly, "we used to live right across the street from you! Remember you used to hang out with that prick Seifer and we were with Hayner? Remember, remember?"

ViVi was just amazed the three even remembered him, he never really did anything that caught their interest, and he really never noticed them.

"Seifer, whose that?" the envy in Zidane's voice wasn't that hard to pick out.

"When we were little, there was always this group of kids that would boss everyone around, the leader of the group's name was Seifer," Roxas suddenly explained, recounting all the good times that they had had running around beating each other up. He couldn't help but grin, to think that in the end of it all, Seifer and Hayner had mutual crushes on each other.

"What happened to you? One day you just suddenly weren't there anymore," Sora tapped his chin thoughtful, "and Seifer and the others wouldn't tell us where you went."

"A-ah, yeah, we had to move because my grandpa got a job nearby," ViVi informed, then looking away he added, "Seifer was really mad, he didn't say goodbye when I left. None of them did."

"But, he just always bossed you around, why would he be mad?" Sora didn't notice Zidane was moving behind him.

"You mean to say, none of your friends said goodbye to you when you left?" Zidane's voice was icy-cold as he interrupted, "not even one?"

"It's because Seifer didn't want me to leave," For some odd reason ViVi still seemed to be loyal to his old friend, " he really doesn't like change."

Roxas nodded, just like Hayner; come to think of it, when they left, neither him nor Seifer, had come to see them off when they had driven away with Cloud and the others.

And yet, Zidane looked ready to break something or someone, luckily nothing fragile was near him.

"Don't worry about it, it's all in the past, It happened two years ago, if ViVi's fine with it, you should be too." Naminé interjected, once more dispensing a calm aura.

It was times like these Sora and Roxas both thanked fate for their sister.

"Well said Naminé, now, last and certainly least," Kairi finished her tour of bishies with her hands clasped onto a guy their age's shoulders, "this is—"

CRASH

"Tidus?"

Yuna was staring at the group, eyes wide, not even glancing down at the soufflé dish she dropped, putting her transparent hands to her transparent mouth, she whispered almost as if afraid he'd disappear, "what are you doing here?"

--TBC—

Whew! Re-writes and revisions (for the most part) done! We should be now rolling along smoothly with the new chapter sometime soon. I'll try (and I stress the word very heavily) to post the new chapter sometime this week.

Some quick little notes kids:

Before anyone asks, I spell 'Vivi' like 'ViVi' I even went out of my way to change it in FFIX, why?

-Cause, it just seems cuter to me.-

What's the deal with Cloud and Leon?

-Riiiight, not telling just yet.-

What happened to the Tidus/Selphie pairing?

-About that…:taps chin thoughtful:…well, I guess all I can say is that I'm a huge fan of FFX and no matter what any one else says, I consider FFX2 an intresting prospect…with that said, I'm still really loyal to Yuna/Tidus, so…yeahhh, but don't worry, Selphie's gonna be paired up with someone…:searches through scraps of paper: Uh, just give me one second to find who it was again…:laughs nervously:…

Oh, and why does Zidane call the Police 'the Po-Po'?

-Cause he can….that's pretty much it…maybe its cause he's a thief and stuff…he really doesn't call them 'Po-Po' just thought it would be funny if he did.-

Once again, feedback is heavily seriously appreciated, but not that necessary, it would be wonderful though…:shamelessly begging for comments:…