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Chapter 6: Family Names


"Crap we forgot about that…"

"Well, to be fair, we haven't had to deal with legal stuff… well really ever. Last time we were real people, we were teens and our parents handled this."

Axel groaned. "What do we do then?"

Tapping the side of his leg, Isa stared at the wall behind his best friend. "Well, I guess first we call Master Ansem and ask him if he can help. He'd be willing. And we need to talk it over with the other two tonight and explain it to them."

"Good idea."

Isa's gaze turned up to the sky. "People will be heading home soon anyway. You go downstairs and send a message, I'll handle things up here."

"Gotcha."

Going down to the basement, Axel booted up the computer and opened up a video call.

He nearly snorted when Demyx opened the call.

"Yellow?"

"Get away from there you dolt!"

"You weren't answering it!"

"I was GOING to!"

"But it's rude to leave them waiting."

Storming offscreen, Even and Demyx continued to bicker as Ienzo and Ansem came onscreen, looking a little annoyed, but also slightly entertained at the chaos.

"Hello, Lea. How are things?"

"Fine. Today's been pretty fun, but sadly I'm not calling for pleasantries. We have a bit of an issue, and we were hoping you could help."

Ansem leaned in closer, his expression souring slightly. "How can we help?"

"Well, we were contacted by a person here at the mayor's office and they asked for Roxas and Xion's birth certificates as well as the documents that they have a legal guardian between Isa and I. Do you… think you could help come up with something like that?"

"That's not a problem. We could discuss it tomorrow if you want. Actually, there was a message Merlin was supposed to return from visiting a business there in Twilight Town. Maybe he can bring you all here and then we can talk about it together. We can ask him."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow then."

"See you all tomorrow."

The call ended.

At least they had a world leader in their corner, and one that felt he owed Roxas and Xion. He'd totally be willing to help.

They could fix this.


Roxas flopped down on his new bed someone gave him. He buried his face in the red covers with a smile.

Home.

He looked around his new room. They'd painted a black stripe along the top of the orange walls. A simple desk sat against the opposite wall, flanked by bookshelves. A wooden dresser stood to his immediate right along with a shelf with square openings.

One of the construction people even installed floating shelves on the opposite wall.

His heart fluttered.

He'd fill up every space in this room with something new.

Something that made him happy.

Next door, Xion stood, smiling.

The soft walls, the same shade as her favorite ice cream, soothed her mind, while the one wall which faded into sunset colors, against which stood a lovely white four poster bed with soft sheer curtains, warmed her heart.

A small chest with a cushion on top stood at the foot of the bed. The violet cushions matched the gentle violet sheets on the bed.

A whitewashed wardrobe sat next to her window, under which a small desk stood.

A small bookshelf with a pink beanbag beside it, rested to her right.

Her room.

"Wow." Isa stepped inside. "They did a great job. Do you like it?"

"Yes." Glancing over, she asked. "What about your room?"

"They did a good job. I'm a pretty simple guy. I just needed essentials. And if I get that job from Mr. Scrooge, I'll probably spend a lot of time in our new study. By the way, dinner is almost ready."

"Ok."

The man stepped into Roxas's open door as he passed, watching the boy pace around the room, eyeing the many empty shelves.

"I… didn't know you liked to collect things so much."

The boy stopped. "I guess I didn't either. But I want to save every memory."

Hmm…

"Well, dinner's almost ready."

"Be right there."

Isa stepped back into the kitchen.

The workers today made it so the kitchen wasn't a fire hazard to use. The first home cooked meal in this mansion in who know how long.

"I didn't know you could cook?"

"I haven't cooked since I was a kid." Isa smirked as he opened the oven, pulling out a dish. "I used to help my mom and dad every day with cooking. I tried to remember one of their recipes. It's nothing special, just some baked chicken and rice."

"Smells good at least."

"How did your room turn out?"

Axel grabbed four of the cups people brought them today. "Looks good. Honestly, I'm just happy to have a bed again. I didn't see Roxas and Xion's rooms yet."

"They look amazing."

"Smells amazing." Xion and Roxas walked into the room as Isa set the pan down on their new table. "Did you make it?"

"I did."

Xion looked down at the pan. "I never really cooked before. The castle always had simple foods stocked."

"I can't cook either." Axel laughed as he poured some apple juice into the four cups. "Isa, think you can teach us?"

Isa sat down. "You? No way. You're hopeless."

"Hey!"

"But I could probably teach these two, if they wanted to learn. I'll have to get some more cookbooks though. I only remember so many of my parent's recipes."

"That might be fun."

They began to eat. After a few bites, Axel sighed. "By the way, we need to talk about something."

"What?"

"Apparently, the people in charge here want some paperwork, and we've got to go get it since we… we don't have it at all. Thankfully, Ansem said he could hook us up with the papers."

"Paperwork?"

Isa nodded. "Such as birth certificates for you two."

"Birth certificates?"

Taking another bite, Isa explained. "It's basically a piece of paper saying when and where you were born. For official record keeping. Now, since you two weren't born like other humans, your papers won't technically be truthful, but it would be too complicated to explain how you're both two years old."

"You two get to pick a birthday too. A day to celebrate you getting a year older. Now… when your actual birthdays are… we could find out with some research, or you could both pick a day for your birthday."

Xion cocked her head to the side. "But what if we don't pick the right day?"

"You're just picking what day we celebrate on. You'll age even if we don't know the actual date. If you want to pick, we can look at a calendar after dinner."

"I like the idea of picking. What about you, Xion?"

"Yeah. Me too."

"And then there's the other thing." Axel finished off his glass before leaning back in his chair. "We need paperwork saying we're your guardians, or at least one of us is. You can't just be two kids living with two random guys. At least one of us needs to be your legal guardian."

Roxas looked at his nearly empty plate. "Would that make us officially family if you were our guardian?"

"Kind of. That's more on the lines of adoption, which is where you completely adopt someone into your family. There's a slight difference."

"Why can't we do that one?" Roxas softly asked. "I've never had a family before."

Axel blinked. "Well, since I know you two best, I guess I could either take guardianship or adopt if you both wanted. And even if I just did guardianship, I'd say you were totally part of my family. If you wanted, you could take my family name."

"Family name?"

"Mills. A family name tells what family you belong to. Kinda like Hayner is Hayner Dincht. It's his family name."

Xion smiled. "So you'd be Axel Mills?"

"Or Lea Mills on paper." He sighed. "You'd probably have to come up with a surname anyway. So, taking mine is probably easier."

Xion stared at her cup.

How… how could she say this?

She didn't want to sound ungrateful or mean.

But…

"Is something wrong?" Isa leaned over, softly looking at her.

Isa was really good at catching feelings.

Xion kinda liked that about him.

It made him so much more soft than his Nobody ever was.

"I just… I don't know if I want to share…"

"Share what?"

Sinking in her chair, she gripped her dress. "I don't want to sound ungrateful… Just forget it."

"No," Axel leaned forward, "tell us what's bothering you. We won't be upset."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The girl fiddled with one of the ruffles on her dress. "It's just- Roxas and I were seen for so long as interchangeable. Not as individuals, but as just two copies that turned out a little different. I was literally made to copy him. So- So is it selfish that I want to have a name separate from him?" Her lip quivered as she quickly added. "It's not that I don't like you Roxas! You're one of my best friends. I just- I want to-"

"Not be seen as just another me." He reached over, taking her hand in his. "I get it. You're not me, and you never have been. If you don't want to have the same family name, that's fine with me."

Isa looked at the girl, an idea coming into his mind.

Bad idea.

Bad.

She'd never go for that.

She still hated him.

This would just make things worse.

His gaze caught Axel staring at him.

He had the same idea.

Shoot.

"I could be your guardian then." He spoke barely louder than a whisper.

This was a bad idea.

"You?"

"Yeah." He averted his gaze. "It wouldn't be like we were really family if you didn't want it to be. It would just be on paper. You wouldn't have to treat me any differently. And I know you still hate me for what I did to you, and I don't want to cause you anymore pain. This is probably a bad idea…"

"It would just be on paper?"

"Yes, totally on paper. I'd have legal responsibility for you, but that doesn't mean I have to tell you what to do or anything. It's just a paper."

His eyes finally looked at her. She didn't look back, but kept her gaze fixed on his shoes. "I guess… if it's just on paper, I'd be ok with that. What's your family name?"

"My full name is Isa Leingod. But if you wanted, you could use my mother's last name, Traydor. That way you don't share a name with me if you don't want to."

"I'll think about it."

"Alright."

Dinner ended quickly after and Isa went off to get a calendar.

"You know," Axel sighed, "a family isn't just a legal term or people you share blood with. It's a bit more than that. It's a group of people who are not only friends, but they are even closer than that. They take care of each other, and sometimes they fight, but they… they never let the fighting drive them apart. No matter what, to me, you're both family. Isa is too; he was kinda like a brother to me since we were kids."

The two kids smiled.

"You're a sap." Isa placed a calendar on the table.

"Shut up."

Roxas looked down at it. "I don't even know where to start."

Axel tapped his chin. "Well… maybe if we find a time of year that you like, you can pick a day then. Do you like it when it's cold or hot?"

"I like the cold."

He sometimes could remember through his bond with Sora the warmth of the islands, but he remembered more the searing heat of Agrabah or the cold days in the castle. Of those two extremes, he liked cold better.

Isa nodded. "Maybe winter then. There's the months of December, January, and February." He pointed to December. "Christmas happens during this month."

"What's Christmas?"

Oh boy…

Christmas this year was going to be fun.

The two men met gazes and they knew… they'd have to make this the best Christmas ever for these two.

"It's a holiday where you share time with family and give presents to people. There's a lot more to it, but that's a simple explanation."

"Presents? I like the sound of that. Can my birthday be close to that day?"

"Maybe not too close, that way you get two sets of presents. One on your birthday and one on Christmas." Axel pointed. "December 25th is Christmas."

Roxas pointed to another day. "Then I want my birthday to be on the 22nd!"

"December 22nd(1) it is then." Isa wrote down on the calendar, on the 22nd, 'Roxas's Birthday'. As he flipped through the calendar, he looked at Xion. "What about you?"

Xion watched as Isa paused, writing 'Isa's Birthday' on the day of October 2nd(2). "I don't know either… and I don't really like it too hot or too cold."

"So maybe your birthday could be during spring or fall. During fall, all the leaves change colors and fall to the ground as things start to get ready for winter. In spring, new growth happens right before summer."

Summer?

"You talked about summer before, Axel. It sounded nice."

"Yep. It is. It can get a little hot, but it's fun."

She looked down at the list of months. "When does spring end and summer start?"

Isa pointed. "Spring happens during the months of March, April, and May. Summer is during June, July and August."

"I want to have my birthday in May then." As Isa turned to the month of May, she looked at the days. "This one."

"May 30th(3) Right at the end of spring and beginning of summer."

"Yep."

Isa wrote down 'Xion's Birthday' on that day. "Well, that solves that problem." He turned to the month of March and wrote on the 29th(4), 'Lea's Birthday'.

"That's everyone then." Standing up, Axel stretched. "Now, I suggest we all hit the sack. It's been a crazy day, and we've got to go to Radiant Garden tomorrow and get this whole mess sorted."

"We can leave the construction in the capable hands of our friends here."

"Agreed."

Axel made his way out first, followed by Roxas.

As Isa began to leave, Xion grabbed his sleeve. "Um, thank you. I know you were trying to help me without making things feel too weird. You're really nice."

"Uh, you're welcome."

She passed him and went down to her own bedroom.

Isa watched her go, a soft smile finding its way onto his face.


"You're leaving?"

"We'll be back soon. Hopefully by tonight. We have to get some stuff taken care of really quick."

Folia nodded. "We can take care of things here."

"We trust you."

Xion yawned, rubbing her eyes. Olette looked over. "You ok?"

"I'm fine… just didn't sleep well. I guess I'm not used to the new bed yet."

"Guess not."

Roxas grinned. "I think that's him."

Up the path, speaking to Mr. Scrooge, came an old man with a long white beard. "Ah, there they are. Isa, Lea, good to see you rascals again."

"Nice to see you too."

Scrooge tipped his hat. "Isa, I was told you had an emergency. I'll reschedule your trial run until tomorrow if that works for you?"

"That works, sir."

Merlin tapped his wand. "And you two must be Roxas and Xion. Pleasure to meet you, I'm the great wizard, Merlin."

"Nice to meet you too, sir."

He smiled. "Well, then, shall we be off."

"Sure."

"Be back soon."

Merlin, with a twirl of his wand, muttered something under his breath.

A cloud of smoke erupted around them.

Everything vanished as they all felt a shiver go through them. Only Axel really knew this was coming, since he'd traveled with Merlin before.

The smoke vanished a moment later.

"And here we are."

The kids blinked, glancing around at the laboratory they saw before.

"Hey!" Demyx bounded up. "You made it! Wow! You guys all look so cool. I really need to get some new duds, but I really don't feel like going shopping."

"Still lazy as ever."

"Uh, of course."

Ienzo walked into the room. "Nice to see all of you! Master Ansem will be here shortly. If you want, we can go ahead and get started on the birth certificates for these two. Now, we'll have to pick some surnames and birthdays for them both."

"Already done." Roxas smirked.

"Oh, really?" Ienzo stepped up to the large computer, pulling up a digital form, waiting for them to say more.

"We did it last night." Axel nodded. "Roxas is taking my last name. And his birthday will be December 22nd."

Ienzo muttered under his breath as he typed. "Roxas Mills. December 22nd. Alright… and going off Sora's age, we can estimate that you're 15 years old." Click. The form vanished and another one pulled up. "Alright, and Xion?"

"Um," the girl wrung her hands, "Xion Leingod."

Ienzo paused, glancing at Isa who looked equally surprised.

She'd chosen to take his last name after all!

"And… the birthday?"

"May 30th."

"May 30th-" Click. "And done. I'll go ahead and print those now. Ah," he looked past them, "I've already filled out the birth certificates."

They all turned to see Ansem holding some papers in his hands. "Very good. Nice to see all of you."

"Good to see you too."

Roxas didn't say anything, but he nodded a little.

"I brought the papers you would need to sign, Lea to take guardianship for them."

"I hope you brought two copies. I'm only taking guardianship of Roxas. Isa's doing it for Xion."

Ansem turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

By his gaze, he'd been told a little about how his Nobody treated her.

Xion nodded. "It was my choice."

He smiled.

Her choice.

Honestly, that's all they wanted for these two.

For them to make their own decisions and not have them made for them.

And she made her choice, as did Roxas.

"I'll go get another copy." Ienzo left.

Ansem began to write on the paper. "Lea Mills will be taking guardianship over Roxas…"

"Mills."

The old man smiled as he wrote that down, as well as a few other things. At the bottom of one page, he signed his name before pushing the paper to Lea. "You need to sign first, and then we need Roxas to sign as well."

"Gotcha." Taking up a pen, the man wrote down his name.

His stomach churned slightly.

Why?

This was nothing more than a piece of paper… right? He'd been caring for these two for a while. But now, it just… it felt more real.

He wasn't just Roxas's friend anymore.

Now he had a legal responsibility to take care of him.

As his guardian.

Handing off the pen to Roxas, the boy wrote his first name, and glanced up at Lea's writing before writing his new last name.

Ansem smiled, taking the paper back. He grabbed a stamp, pushing it into an ink pad before slamming it on the paper, leaving behind a circular mark with a mote of light in the middle.

"It's done. Lea, you are now his legal guardian."

Roxas smiled, taking the paper.

It felt good.

He felt like other kids a little more.

They had people who were supposed to care for them. Now he did too!

"Here's another copy." Ienzo dropped it on the desk before returning to the computer.

Ansem began to write again before looking at Xion with a gentle smile. "And your new full name is?"

"Xion Leingod."

Ansem's eyes darted to a sheepish and still slightly stunned Isa.

It was just on paper.

Just on paper.

Turning the paper towards them, the man handed Isa the pen. "Sign here."

Just on paper.

Isa wrote his name and handed the pen to Xion. She gently wrote her own name down.

Ansem took back the paper and stamped it.

"There we go. Isa, you are now Xion's legal guardian."

On paper.

But he smiled none the less. Maybe this would help him continue to atone for his mistakes. Actually, he felt more motivated than ever to do so.

"And these are done as well." Ienzo came back with two pieces of paper and handed them to Ansem. The ruler read over them before signing and stamping them. "There we go. Everything is in order."

Roxas smiled. "Didn't take long at all."

"Not at all." Ansem gestured for them all to sit. "Please, tell me how things are going? Are you settling in well?"

"A bunch of people came and helped us fix up the mansion." Xion giggled. "They're still there working on it some more."

"That's wonderful!"

Axel nodded. "We can send some pictures when we get home. Actually, we should post them so everyone can see."

"Speaking of everyone," Ienzo chimed in, "I think Riku was going to call you later, but I'll tell you for him. He wants everyone to come to the islands to celebrate Xehanort's defeat. He wanted to wait until Sora and Kairi returned, but he said they'd just be annoyed if everyone held off celebrating on their account."

Probably true.

"We can celebrate again when they're back."

"Exactly." Ienzo smiled. "We declined, as there is lots to do here, but he was going to not only invite you, but Hayner, Pence, and Olette too. Apparently, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy insisted they be invited since they helped so much."

"And I agreed." Ansem smiled.

Xion smiled at the other three. "That sounds like fun."

"We will finally get our beach trip I promised you." Axel ruffled Roxas's hair. "And we will have a plus one too!"

"Yeah!"

"We should go tell Hayner and the others!"

"Now?"

"Now!"

Ienzo chuckled. "I don't know what day they're planning for, but there's even a slight chance Naminé will be joining as well. We're very close to finishing up."

"Awesome!"

Standing up, Ansem smiled warmly. "Actually we probably need to get to work if we want that to happen."

"And we should get home!"

Merlin, who sat nearby sighed. "I figured this wouldn't take long. I'll be back, Ansem."

"Thank you so much, Merlin. I'll make sure you're compensated for this."

"Think nothing of it. I think this is a good use of magic." The wizard tapped his wand. "Gather 'round you four."

Roxas looked up at Axel as they approached the wizard. "We should celebrate."

"I agree. And I know just how."

"The icing on the cake!"


"I missed this." Roxas and Axel sat down first. They both almost ran up the stairs of the clock tower.

"Me too."

"You're so impatient." Xion sat down beside Roxas with a giggle. "You could've waited."

"Sorry."

"Yeah… we'll wait next time."

Their eyes turned toward the familiar sunset.

A silence passing between them.

Comforting.

Familiar.

"The icing on the cake, I believe."

The teens both jumped slightly as a pair of sea salt ice cream bars found their way between them. Glancing up, they saw Isa, smiling at them.

"Thanks!"

"Yeah. Thank you."

Isa handed another one to Axel and sat down on the other side of his old friend. "This is beautiful. Is this where you three would come after work?"

"Yeah. It's why we always got back so late."

"I can see why you liked it here."

"Wow! We didn't even know this place was here!"

"It's like a secret hideout!"

"I love it!"

They all turned as Hayner, Pence, and Olette appeared around the corner, ice cream in hand.

"Welcome to our secret spot!"

"Take a seat."

Carefully, all the teens sat down.

"Guess what!" Roxas grinned. "You're all invited to a party with us. We're celebrating Xehanort's defeat on Sora's homeworld."

"Wait! We're invited? That means…"

"We get to go to another world!?"

"Yep!"

"Whoa! That's awesome!"

The four laughed as their new friends chattered on excitedly about this news. But their gazes all found their way out toward the sunset once more.

And not a one noticed the two extra people sitting a little higher above them, eating ice cream as well.

Hand in hand.


I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Next chapter is the beach party… and EMOTIONAL DAMAGE! Thanks Nomura!


Footnotes:

(1) December 22nd is the day Kingdom Hearts 2 came out, so it's technically Roxas's actual birthday.

(2) October 2nd is the release date of Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMIX.

(3) May 30th is the release date of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

(4) March 29th is the release date of Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories.