Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and the Walt Disney Studios. This is a creative work that I do not profit off of in any way.

What can I say? I was hungry when I thought of this vignette. Enjoy!

Mmm…autumn always smelled delicious, regardless of the world. And Twilight Town was no exception. Axel could smell apple cobblers and apple crisps and apple pies and fresh apple cider. Roasted turkeys and homemade dressings. Buttternut squash and pumpkins…mmmm…

Axel walked as slowly as he could without obstructing the flow of foot traffic. Back in the Organization he had spent so much time neglecting his own feelings that his senses had dulled too. And the joy that came with something so simple as a leisurely walk down the market had become so alien, he'd nearly forgotten entirely. And even after he had made friends with Roxas and Xion, the only sweets they had ever eaten were bars and bars and bars of sea salt ice cream.

"Man…" Axel said, more to himself than anyone in particular. "This brings back memories…"

"Hi Axel!"

That wasn't the voice of one of his own kiddos. It was one of the locals. Axel smiled. That didn't mean they weren't welcome company.

"Hi, Olette."

Olette, wearing a thick scarf and orange sweater, ran up to him. She smiled warmly and for a moment, she looked strikingly like Kairi. Which was peculiar, since they didn't look much alike at all, and did not have similar mannerisms. But Axel would wonder about that another time.

"Don't you just love this time of year?" Olette asked. "So many wonderful treats…what are Roxas and Xion's favorites?"

"They…uh…wouldn't know," Axel admitted. "This is their first proper autumn."

"Oh…oh, yeah," Olette said quietly. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Don't apologize," Axel said. "Really, do you know what it means that you like them so much that you forgot the icky stuff?"

"Um…" Olette said. "Well, they're my friends. And I don't really care what happened in the past. They're my friends…"

"Whatever," Axel said. "So, I was thinking, what would you recommend? I was thinking I'd try and bake something with the half-pints."

"Oh!" Olette said. "I was thinking the same thing actually, that's why I asked you what they liked best in the first place…well…my favorite is pumpkin."

"Pumpkin pie?" Axel asked. "It's good, but it's a tad early in the season for that, isn't it?"

"No," Olette shook her head. "Pumpkin-chocoloate chip cookies!"

xxxx

Picking up the flour and the sugar and the pumpkin puree and the chocolate chips had been easy enough. Teaching Roxas and Xion how to bake had been…more difficult.

It wasn't that they were unwilling. Oh, heavens no, they were very enthusiastic. But in that enthusiasm…there were ingredients in virtually every corner of the kitchen. And on a fair chunk of Axel.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Xion said, standing on her toes to try and wipe a smear of chocolate off of Axel's chin. "I didn't mean to!"

"I know you didn't, kiddo," Axel grinned evilly and ruffled her hair. "Better chocolate on the chin than flour in the hair."

"Hey!" Xion squealed. "Not my hair!"

"Alright," Roxas said, spooning the last of the batter onto the cookie tray. "So…the recipe says they'll bake in ten minutes."

"And that we have enough for…sixty-four cookies," Xion added, trying to get the last bits of flour out of her hair. "So that's twenty-one for each of us, and one left over…you can have it, Axel. You're the biggest."

"Sounds good to me," Axel said. "And in the meantime, we can get this cleaned up."

"Right…" Roxas said. "I guess I overdid the stirring a bit."

"There's pumpkin on the ceiling," Axel said. "I think that qualifies as over-doing it, just a tad."

Axel grinned widely, to reassure Roxas he wasn't angry. It was hardly his fault the mixer had been so volatile. Xion had her back to them, scrubbing one of the counters. Axel reached over and grabbed her around the middle.

"What!" Xion shrieked. "Axel, that tickles!"

"Hold still," Axel said. He knew very well how ticklish Xion was, so he'd have to be careful. Slowly, he lifted her higher, "I can't reach the ceiling."

Axel dodged one of Xion's kicking legs and pushed her further upward, so she could wash the bits of pureed pumpkin of the ceiling. How the half-pints were still so tiny, after all this time, he didn't care to think about. But he did prefer holding Xion up to clean the ceiling rather than have one of them balance precariously on a step-ladder. He liked holding onto his half-pints. It was just one of those things.

Clean-up turned out not to be as big a problem as he thought, and the next thing Axel knew, he was on the couch, sandwiched the two half-pints, with three plates of cookies in front of them.

"Mmmm…" Roxas said. "It's sweeter than sea-salt ice cream."

"The pumpkin's chewy but the chocolate's crunchy," Xion said. "Is that how it is with all the best foods, Axel? They're two different things?"

"Eh, sort of," Axel said. Roxas leaned against his shoulder. Xion pressed against his side. And his belly was full of cookies. It didn't get much better than this.

Like I said, I was hungry when I thought this up!

Thank you for reading my dear, dear readers. Leave a comment if you're so inclined! I appreciate each and every one of you!