Okay, let's get this done and over with.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters.
But I sure love screwing with the characters in AU fics. I'm not supposed to be mean to characters, though... my friend says I need to play nice with characters.
"I could have sworn you and your friend were someone else for a moment." an older blonde said, chuckling a little.
"Huh?" Sora asked.
"Er… this is my dad, Cloud. Dad, this is Sora, my friend from school." Roxas said. Friend? Sora definitely heard Roxas say that. Were they friends now? He definitely wasn't complaining. "Who did we remind you of?"
"Oh… um..." Cloud looked flustered.
"Hmm… Ventus and Vanitas?" Roxas asked.
"How did… I mean..." Cloud wasn't sure at this point.
Roxas fished out the photo he got printed off and kept in a binder for their project and showed it. "This." Roxas said. "They were friends of Sora's parents. We were both unsure why we looked like them."
"Hmm..." Cloud sighed as he took the photo and sat down. "They were my younger half-brothers… I wasn't as close with them, Mom didn't like the idea that she was just an affair to my dad and didn't even want me interacting with his other children..."
"So they're… my uncles?" Roxas asked. "Well… now it makes sense why we look alike… though why Sora does…"
"Eh, we'll figure it out another time." Sora said.
"I wasn't close with them and they went missing… so I didn't bother bringing them up… sorry, kiddo." Cloud stated, looking worried.
"Nah, it's understandable." Ah good, Roxas was accepting this well.
"Mom didn't want me going to the funeral… they held it a few months after their disappearance." Cloud admitted. "But I didn't care; I went anyway. I found out they disappeared in that old mansion… I wanted to feel sorry for the family, give them my condolences, but I felt more sorry for the Heart boy who was their friend."
"Heart boy?" Roxas asked, not noticing that Sora practically held his breath.
"Mm-hmm." Cloud pointed out Xemnas in the photo. "Xemnas Heart; his family owned the mansion. He felt so guilty for the twins' disappearance. He didn't do anything wrong other than show them his family home..." He then stood up. "Sorry, gotta go. I need to return Leon's book before getting back to work. Roxas, you'll be fine on your own tonight, right? Neither of us will probably be home until two or three in the morning."
"Yeah, I should be." Roxas nodded.
"If not, he can come back home with me; he came over yesterday for supper." Sora suggested.
"Make sure you have your parents' permission first; you have mine." Cloud said. "It was nice meeting you, Sora; see you around, boys." He then left.
"Thanks, Sora." Roxas smiled. "About your other dad… I didn't know he was the one whose family owned the mansion."
"Yeah… Daddy doesn't like that being so well known… so he took Papa's name when they married so he could put that behind him as much as possible." Sora said. "Daddy didn't like the place… or his Grandpa… Xehanort too much."
"I see." Roxas nodded. "If you want, I can keep that between us."
"Thanks." Sora nodded. "So… want me to message Papa and see if he is okay with you coming over again?"
"Will you? I really don't want to fix frozen pizza again." Roxas chuckled a bit. "And we can go over our research more."
"Can't guarantee it won't be pizza tonight, but Papa makes an amazing homemade crust." Sora chuckled a bit. "And his bread sticks are to live for." He chuckled more. "Sorry, ghost humour."
"I like ghost humour." Roxas snickered some.
"I see, so Ven and Van were your uncles." Saïx said. "Well, that explains you looking like one. Now to figure out why Sora looks like the other." He nodded. "Okay, now, spread it out in the pan some. To about here to make the ideal personal pizza."
"Okay." Roxas said, doing as instructed.
"Hmm… I wonder if Sora is somehow related, too." Saïx said.
"When do we get the results from our ancestry testing back?" Sora inquired.
"Testing?" Roxas asked.
"Two to four more weeks." Saïx responded to Sora. "Xemnas and I decided to have fun with our curiosity and did DNA testing for Sora and me." he then informed Roxas. "We also thought we could learn more about Sora through it, but Xemnas also wanted to see if there was a particular thing about our DNA that makes us both be able to see ghosts like we do. Xemnas didn't want to learn about his own family." He observed them. "Ah, you know about Xemnas' family then."
"Yeah… kinda learned on accident, but so no problems arise, I'll keep it from the others." Roxas said. He then looked to Sora. "Wouldn't it be cool if we found out we were cousins?"
"It would make sense of people constantly confusing us for the other up until the seventh grade." Sora responded with a laugh. He then perked up when he heard the door open. "Daddy's early!"
"Mm-hmm!" Saïx said. "Wait… wait..." He waited until his husband entered the kitchen. "Look honey, I cloned Sora!"
"Wait… what?" Home not even a minute and Xemnas had the most confused look on his face, making the two teens laugh hysterically. "Oh… wait… no, that's one of his… friends?"
"Friends." the teens responded in unison.
"I'll be damned, you two look alike… and just like… Ven and Van..." Xemnas looked to be in disbelief before chuckling. "Wow." He then went over and kissed his husband. "So, another one in the house. Staying for supper I take it?"
"Well, before they came home, I called one of Roxas' parents and got permission for him to stay over the night." Saïx explained. "While I'm sure he can handle being home alone all night, he's done it before, I think it's good for him to be in a safe home." He then looked to the two teens. "And this doesn't mean you can stay up until ungodly hours. You two still have school in the morning."
"Yes, Papa."
"Yes, sir."
"Good." Saïx nodded.
"So, how's research for the film project going?" Xemnas asked, leaning in to steal some cheese but pulling back when his husband smacked his hand.
"A little depressing, but we're really finding a lot." Roxas stated.
"Heart Manor has always been a depressing place." Xemnas pointed out. "It's beautiful on the outside, but as we all know, outer beauty is not always what's on the inside."
"Mm-hmm." Roxas nodded. "But you know, with Zexion guiding us in what we need, this is going so well."
"I agree. We should be able to work on parts for the first part of the video this weekend and next week with ease." Sora said.
"First part?" Xemnas asked. "Ah, I guess you're planning on doing the manor today clips and photos for the second part." He sighed. "As much as I'm against you children even considering going in…" He let out another sigh. He then saw Sora's expression. "Sora? What's wrong?"
"It's… the manor." the brunette said. "I saw a ghost from there but she was in the library." This got both parents' attention. "And then… then I had a vision… part of it seems to be post-cognition… another part… I think Ven was reaching out to me." He waited to see if his parents had any reaction or comments; when nothing came, he continued. "Those who went missing… they're trapped. And they need help… and I really want to help them."
"Hmm..." Xemnas seemed to be in thought. "When was it you guys wanted to go in?"
"Next weekend; that's when my sister and her friends come down to help with our project." Roxas said. "Naminé and Kairi have abilities, too; from how we described it, Sora says one, Naminé, is an automatic writer while Kairi, the other one, has psychometry on her side."
"Impressive skills." Saïx said. "They'll be taxing in the manor, but… honey? Do you have ideas?"
"Hmm… I'm still against Sora going in, but if he really wants to… I'll allow it. I'll even help out in my own way." Xemnas said. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to do my own research. Saïx, extra cheese on my pizza?"
"Of course, dear." Saïx said.
"Until next weekend, be cautious of the manor, Sora." Xemnas said, hugging his son. "And if you get any visions and a feeling you shouldn't go, listen." He kissed his son's cheek.
"I'll pay attention to things." Sora assured. He then watched his dad leave, clearly going to his home office. "What's Daddy planning?"
"Hell if I knew." Saïx chuckled a bit as he went to work with the pizzas more. He then looked when Roxas' phone sounded off. "Nothing bad, I hope?" he inquired.
"No, my sister wondering if I can video chat her; she's with Nam and Kai." Roxas said.
"You two go up to Sora's room; I'll finish up here. First write what you want on your pizza, Roxas." Saïx said, handing over a pad of paper and a pen. Roxas did as instructed. "Go on up, I'll call you down when it's all ready."
"Thanks, Papa." Sora said. "C'mon, Rox, I'll show you to my room."
"Yeah!" Roxas nodded and followed after the other teen.
"I swear, those two could even be brothers." Saïx chuckled a bit as he continued cooking.
Heyo, lovelies!
Yeah, about my comment with the disclaimer... I'm not a nice writer at times. This is actually one of my more mellow fics where I'm not a completely sadistic writer. My friend even pointed out a few times to me that I'm mean to characters, whether they be my own or from a fandom. But what can I say? You can't make a good plot without breaking a few characters.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this next chapter. Hell, I hope you're enjoying the fic in general. And I'm freaking glad I actually finished writing it all in three days so I could let you all read it... but it did make my hand cramp... a lot.
So, until next time, my dears!
~chibi