Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Author's Notes: Some past non-canon AxelxRoxas – and also kinda sorta hints of Roxas x Sora, but considering its the same body, it's not something to worry about and is more friendship than anything else. Just thought there should be warnings. Also, I am awful at describing clothes and making up outfits, so the Kairi and Riku's Halloween Town outfits FAIL. Anyway. Onto the story!
Chapter 2 - Halloween Town
Sora was more worried about the Gummi ship than what his friends would get up to by themselves, but he did remember to cast the magic to change their outfits - though he did it vaguelly, giving it direction, but not many details. It still left him a bit stunned as they were changed with him into proper Halloween Town attire. They stared at him in equal fascination. But while he knew his outfit was great - very scary if he admitted it, they both had suitably creepy clothes now as well.
Kairi's changes were more obvious at first, her outfit having changed to dark red - pink in Halloween town just wasn't done - and two wings protruding from the back of her outfit. They were feathered, and larger than his, though not large enough to fly, just large enough to make an impression. At first glance they seemed to be angelic wings, contrasting eerily with the costume, but then he noticed that the edges of her wings were charred - blackened, as if they had gone through fire, and her healthy skin tone was now sallow and her cheeks looking almost sunken. Her eyes, though themselves would usually seemed bright and lively, had been deadened by makeup around them. Sora didn't think it was quite as scary as his, and it was still quite girlish - but at least she wouldn't be totally out of place, though the wings seemed a bit odd.
Riku didn't have as many changes - his clothing had darkened to black and gray, and was a bit tighter, but it was his skin, always a bit more pale than his but now so pale it was almost irridescent that unnerved Sora a bit. That and the flash of fangs in his mouth. His eyes didn't seem so lovely now - they seemed almost demonic and glowing. His hair, like all of theirs, hadn't been touched, but it only added to the effect. If Kairi looked like a fallen angel, Riku looked like the word "heaven" would make him burst into flames. Sora let out a slow breath, unconsciously echoed by his friends. "Well."
"Is this really necessary?" Kair asked nervously after Sora broke the silence. She was glancing around the gummi ship and peering out the window. They had actually landed, since Sora needed to make repairs, instead of just transporting to a designated safe point, and upon peering out the windows, Kairi wished they hadn't been so excited to visit all of the same worlds as Sora.
"Don't worry. The people here like scary things, but they're not mean spirited. Just find Jack and tell him you're friends of mine - and if you run into three little kids, don't trust them, no matter what," Sora warned, tearing his eyes from them and moving to the back of the gummi ship, pausing when he felt their stares on him. "I'll be along once I've finished repairs."
There was still no movement, and Sora grinned over his shoulder. "What, can't go anywhere without little old me?"
That did it - Riku was pulling Kairi out of there almost before he had finished. The silver haired boy only paused once to comment, "Maybe some people find you scary in that Sora, but I think it looks hot."
Before Sora could comment, they were gone, heading into town, and Sora shook his head. He hesitated, looking at his reflection in the glass of the cockpit window. A familiar voice echoed in the vaults of his mind, 'I think I agree with him. It's not you but it does add... something.'
"This from two people who spent a year in darkness," Sora reminded gently. While it would have made Riku start brooding, the presence in his mind shrugged it off with the gentle feeling of amusement.
'That doesn't change our taste. Just admit it - you look good. Them too, but I can always see Riku as a bit darker sometimes and Kairi's outfit very dark at all - it's more startling on you.' For a moment, Sora caught a flash of a smile and a blond head ducked down in almost shy sheepishness. Without Kairi's presence - Naminé's, in Roxas's mind - when Sora's Nobody spoke, sometimes bits and pieces of Axel's Roxas were apparent - a bit darker, a bit moodier, but mostly Roxas was as he said - how Naminé remembered him, an overall nice boy, if quieter than Sora and less charismatic and prone to sadness because of what DiZ had done. Sora wanted to ask Kairi if it was the same with the blond girl - but he didn't know if she was spoke to like he was.
"I do look good - and I can admit that now, you know. Don't make Riku's mistake in thinking I'm still naive. I know I'm good looking, Roxas, but there's no reason to be conceited about it. It's just looks." Sora moved out of the ship and toward the engines. He had spare parts - they always had spare parts - it just took more time without the chipmunks.
'I know. At least you have them.' Sora paused in midstride and felt Roxas wince. 'I didn't mean that. I know I still have looks, I just - '
"I know," Sora said gently. "It's fine Roxas. Besides, I remember you - you were cute. You probably would have been handsome if you had been a bit older - do Nobodiesget older? Well, you were good looking, whatever age you were."
He grinned, feeling the blush almost as if it were his own. Then Roxas said, 'Thank you,' and it was tinted with such emotion and feeling that Sora nearly winced. That might have been wrong to say to Roxas, who was hadn't had physical contact with anyone and was especially interested in Sora, for reasons neither understood - they were the same person now, despite the feeling of two different minds and emotions.
"Do you want to do gummi repairs?" He offered suddenly. He didn't regret it either, when he felt the shock followed by such gratitude that Sora felt wretched he hadn't offered more time to the boy in the past.
'If you don't mind - the others could come back.'
"We'll risk it," Sora said decisively, and leaned against the gummi ship. It took a minute or two to fully change - which he had decided to do, not just let Roxas look out from his eyes. It was even a bit painful, and Sora wasn't sure how it could happen - but then, how Roxas had come to be had been a bit odd in the first place, and he and Naminé the only two Nobodies able to reunite with themselves fully.
When Roxas opened his eyes, he was still in the same clothes Sora had worn, but the wings on his back were gray now, and the mask on his head paler, and his skin resembling Riku's level of pale irridescence. That was fortunate - in their own clothes, those had changed as well from Sora's black to his white. But he wasn't here to stare at Sora's clothes, or his own. He should repair the gummi ship - it would be great, to be the one in control of a body. Sora didn't have to allow him this - he couldn't force it. The brunet had just offered one day, out of the blue.
He did that often, and Roxas was grateful. He walked around the gummi ship, waiting for Sora to stop him. He did, near the engines, and Roxas' eyes widened at the damage. "I didn't think it was this bad - I don't like to dip into your thoughts too much. I knew it was bad, but... didn't we have more engines than this?"
'Yes,' Sora answered with a sigh. He knew why Roxas kept to his own thoughts, odd as it was to have two presences in their mind - he was afraid he and Sora would truly be just one mind if he did that to often. 'We had four.'
"You shouldn't have let Riku have the controls, not his first run, not here," Roxas said critically. He didn't understand the things Sora did sometimes when it came to Riku - not the nice things, because he knew the boys loved each other, but the way Sora threw out all of the hints to Riku - and then pulled away.
'He made it a challenge. You know how we are - I might turn around and go to Mulan's world and Beast's Castle after this. And if he made it through this run, he can drive the whole way there.' Sora was skirting around an issue and Roxas smirked as he caught the edge of it.
"You just don't want to go to the Pride Lands and have Riku laugh at you," Roxas teased gently, working on replacing the engines and ducking underneath. It really was easier with the chipmunks and their fancier machinery, but he had Sora at hand, and his Other had become adept at field repairs.
'I'd deny it, but it's a bit hard to lie to someone who's in my head,' Sora replied, and Roxas could feel him grinning - he wasn't sure how he knew it was a grin, but he could almost see the brunet next to him, eyes lit up and the large grin stretched across his face, hands at the back of his head. For a moment he closed his eyes, savoring the image that he could never actually see.
"You need to look in a mirror more often," he blurted out, and then quickly threw himself into repairing the gummy ship at Sora's delighted ringing laugh.
'So you can look at me? Weeeell... I suppose it's not too bad of a reason, is it? I wish Riku would look at me and realize I've grown up.' Roxas blinked at the apparent change of topic but kept his focus even as he replied.
"He does - I see how he looks at you," Roxas pointed out quietly.
'Not really - He knows I've grown up physically, but the looks he gives me haven't changed much since I was fourteen - he just knows what he's doing more now. The thing is, so do I - probably better than he does.' Sora sounded oddly smug at that point and Roxas skirted around the images that particular emotion brought up.
"Is that what it's about? I was wondering," Roxas said simply and felt Sora's affirmative response. Both were quiet - or Roxas was. Sora was humming in the back of his head, a Christmas song of some kind.
Then Sora suddenly laughed, 'I can't wait to see Riku's face when I introduce him to Santa. The liar.'
Roxas smiled and decided not to point out that it wasn't as if Riku had know Santa Claus was real. Sora knew that. It would be fun to watch Sora dragging Riku over to Christmas Town. For all that Sora said he had matured, when it came to Santa Claus, he was a little kid again.
"Sora?" A familiar voice called. Roxas froze.
"Sora?" Riku called again, and Sora and Roxas cursed in unison. He was closer. Roxas closed his eyes trying to switch as quickly as possible. It wasn't that Sora exactly wanted to keep things like this from Riku. It was just this wasn't the best way to reveal that Roxas wasn't totally gone or banned from the physical world. Or even absorbed. At all.
"So-" Riku was standing there now, having just turned the corner of the gummi ship, and Roxas was jerked out of his concentration when he was spun around. His eyes snapped open and he met the harsh glare with one of his own, tensing up.
'Roxas... Just stay calm. Riku won't do anything,' Sora soothed. He was much calmer than Roxas would have credited him for, but it trickled down to Roxas and the blond's glare softened slightly. This had the added bonus of confusing Riku long enough that Roxas could wrench his shoulder away and calmly turn back to repairing the gummi ship.
"Was there something you wanted?" Roxas asked, keeping his voice level. His feelings were very mixed on Riku, after all. He had been stolen by him, but that in turn had led to reunification with Sora, which was good - but Riku had caused his Other a lot of anguish when he refused to be found.
"Roxas," Riku growled. Probably unconsciously, Way to the Dawn was now clenched in his fist. Roxas resisted the urge to call both Oathkeeper and Oblivion in a childish need to show off.
"Riku," Roxas mocked, and felt Sora's mental sigh. Roxas flinched and sighed himself. He murmured, "You weren't supposed to find out about this. Not like this. Sora would have rather explained it later."
He felt Sora's rush of gratitude and was more than paid back for actually being something other than hostile to the silver-haired Keyblade warrior. Riku didn't seem to be happy with this development, however, and had his arms crossed over his chest. "What are you talking about? What have you done with Sora, Roxas?"
"Nothing," Roxas answered instantly. "He's here - we just switched for a few minutes."
Riku stared at him. Roxas continued the repairs. Sora silently comforted Roxas as his nerves jumped at every shift in Riku's weight. Finally, Riku asked, "How long has this been going on?"
Roxas paused and hesitated. He didn't actually remember. Sora prompted, 'Just say a few months. Best be vague.'
Obviously Sora did remember the date but for some reason wasn't going to elaborate. Roxas shrugged. "A few months. We don't do it often."
Riku's eyes darkened and it was obvious he was struggling not to drop into sulking mode. "Why wasn't I told? Why do you two do this?"
"It's not really necessary for you to know," Roxas snapped, irritated at his tone, "And as for why we do this..."
Roxas trailed off, and then shrugged. "Sora just offers sometimes when I'm feeling particularly... He just does."
'The word is lonely Roxas - Riku will understand,' Sora told him confidently. Roxas had his doubts about that. Roxas wasn't sure what Riku thought of him - he knew now that Riku had been the man in black in the fake Twilight Town, but it was impossible to truly tell what Riku had felt at that time. The only thing ever clear with Riku was how he felt about his friends. He loved them - in very different ways, but it was there.
Riku was staring at him with a peculiar expression. "When you're what, Roxas?"
The blond frowned at the gentle, almost coaxing, tone. He turned his head, pretending to get a better look at the engines while really simply hiding his eyes. They gave away too much.
"Is it really lonely with Sora in there?" Riku asked, leaning against the gummi ship. Roxas flinched.
"Not... exactly. It's just... difficult. I can't touch Sora. I don't control anything - everything is second hand." Roxas snapped his jaw shut before he could say more. Riku didn't need to know this. No one needed to know this.
"Do Kairi and Naminé do this?"
"Not as far as we know," Roxas answered shortly, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't totally surprised when Riku pulled him away from the gummi ship and spun him around.
"Stop avoiding my eyes. I'm not going to steal your soul," Riku said sharply. Roxas felt faintly amused.
"I have a gummi ship to repair," Roxas replied levelly. Riku narrowed his eyes.
"You're so difficult," Riku hissed, becoming angry. It wasn't often Riku was angry anymore and Roxas stepped away.
'I didn't think he could be any sexier, but there he is, angry, and looking like some kind of vampire. It's a good thing you're in control. I might have jumped him,' Sora interjected quite cheerfully.
Roxas couldn't help the faint blush that rose to his cheeks as he choked and growled out a mortified, "Sora!"
'What? Look at him. come on, just look up. If you think I'm good looking how can you think otherwise about Riku?' Sora didn't quite take control, but his presence was a heavy pressure on his mind and Roxas looked up to reluctantly meet Riku's curiousity filled eyes and quickly take in the older boy before averting his eyes, swearing at his counterpart mentally. Sora's chuckles were a bit wicked.
"What's he saying?" Riku asked finally, taking a step closer.
Roxas considered making up a lie, or side stepping the issue - but he felt the need to get back at Sora and answered, "How hot you are and how much he wants to jump you."
Roxas smirked at Riku's stunned expression and the sudden silence in his mind. Finally, blessed, all encompassing, silence. Still with a faint smirk, Roxas returned to his repairs, waiting for one or the other to recover. Riku was still hovering much too close, but by the way Riku was still frozen he was still going over the implications in his mind.
'That was cruel,' Sora finally spoke up, though he didn't sound entirely serious. 'What if someone had said that to Axel about your thoughts?'
"Then I would have gotten more than one kiss out of the deal before he died," Roxas snapped, nettled. He did regret sometimes that he hadn't paid more attention to Axel before being beaten and kidnapped. Sometimes he could barely remember what the kiss had felt like. It had been before meeting Riku, and hadn't been for long. They had never even spoken of it later.
"Axel?" Riku hazarded a guess at what he was responding about.
"Yes," Roxas said shortly. He wanted to take pity on the confused boy, but he was a bit angry now.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Roxas shot Riku an amused look. The words had sounded forced, and Riku was looking as if he wanted nothing more than to strangle himself for speaking them. It was nice of him to try, but Roxas just shook his head.
"It's important you're stable," Riku persisted.
"Because I can unbalance Sora? Whatever. Sora would be fine even if I was having a mental breakdown. He's too strong." Roxas was quite sure in this belief, though Sora's cheerful presence did dim as Roxas and Riku spoke.
'I wouldn't be fine. I would be worried, and do everything I could to help. You're... me, Roxas, but you have your own mind and I can't even stand people in pain, how could I let someone suffer when I could feel it?' Sora's thoughts had an emotional overtone of sadness that made Roxas feel extremly guilty.
"He wouldn't be fine. He cares too much," Riku said in an unconscious echo of Sora's thoughts. Actually, Roxas found that both mildly disturbing and quite charming when they did that, usually. Right now he was too busy trying to puzzle out Riku's thoughtful gaze to respond to the words.
"You and Axel," Riku prodded, apparently unwilling to give it up.
"We were best friends," Roxas bit off.
Riku gave him an amused look and said, "Sora's my best friend - that doesn't mean he's not something more as well."
Roxas flushed and snapped, "We didn't do anything!"
"Except kiss," Riku pointed out. "And I bet you wish it was more."
There wasn't much Roxas could say to that, and Sora's presence was like a warm comforting blanket in the back of his mind, relaxing him and calming his temper. "It doesn't matter now."
"If you say so." He was smirking at him. Roxas bristled. He had no idea how Sora could deal with him every day. He was so annoying.
"You know, I'm glad you and Sora aren't getting anywhere," He snapped. "You deserve it."
'Roxas!' Sora sounded both upset and disappointed. It almost made Roxas flinch, but he kept his gaze on Riku, who had jerked back like someone had hit him.
"What would you know about?" Riku growled.
Roxas arched an eyebrow. "Everything, obviously."
"I don't care," Riku growled. "I'm glad he lets me touch him at all. It's not like I'm just in this to take his virginity."
"Already taken, so no worries there," Roxas retorted, his eyes flashing almost maliciously at Riku's frozen look.
'Roxas! That's enough!' Sora's thoughts snapped across his, and he flinched - more at the regret Sora felt watching Riku's face grow hurt than at the anger directed toward him.
"I think I'll go now," He muttered, unwilling to apologize or to continue facing Riku. Considering Sora was just beneath the surface and practically pushing him back down, the transformation was strangely short – though more than a bit painful at the suddeness.
Sora stumbled and placed a hand against the engines, fighting off a wave of dizziness as Roxas faded from his awareness. He had no idea how the Nobody did that - he could never do it. But Roxas seemed almost as if he could just disappear into Sora - and yet still retain his identity when he wanted to talk. It was confusing.
'Sorry.' He heard before he opened his eyes. The brunet sighed and tried to not be angry - but that wasn't something he had wanted Roxas to tell. He had wanted to do it himself, or have Riku ask, or realize it on his own.
Riku's was retreating - not physically, but emotionally and mentally. Sora could see it in his eyes. He ignored the repairs and where they were and everything else as he lunged a couple of steps forward to grab the taller boy's chin and make him look down, to meet his own blue eyes as he tried to convey love and caring and comfort as he growled, "It doesn't matter, Riku. It wasn't important."
Aqua eyes widened and then the boy was snarling at him, turning the tables and pressing him against the gummy ship while his eyes flashed in anger. "It doesn't matter? Then why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask," Sora replied immediately. He knew that wasn't exactly the right thing to say, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Riku had him in a bruising grip and he wasn't afraid of Riku, but he was afraid of what Riku would think, what he was thinking, and tentatively reached out to lay a hand on his cheek. Riku batted it away and Sora sighed.
"Okay, okay, I'll bite," Sora breathed, "Why is it important? Does it change anything about me? I'm still Sora."
Riku blinked, then stared, as if that wasn't what he had expected. He cocked his head, his eyes narrowed. "If it's not important you would have told us about it."
"No, if it was important I would have told you. I tell you two everything that's really important. This wasn't. It was a one-time thing because we were both lonely and he agreed that we would act as if it hadn't happened. So it didn't." It wasn't that simple. Nothing ever was, but Sora wasn't going to complicate it with details of how awkward it had been. But Riku seemed surprised at something else he had said, successfully derailing his anger.
"He?" Riku questioned, tilting his head, and Sora stared a moment. He had thought that would have been obvious – not because he wasn't as attracted to girls as he was to boys, he was. But the way Riku had been talking and how Roxas had snapped back – then again, as observant as Riku was, he often made the wrong conclusion with his observations.
"He. A guy." Sora made sure to keep it vague – he had absolutely no reason to tell Riku who it was and cause more problems for all of them. Riku didn't need to know.
"When? Before or after you went to sleep?" Riku demanded, seeming upset again. Sora almost choked at the question.
"After! It was a bit after my sixteenth birthday. C'mon Riku, I was fourteen when we left the island and I blushed at simple touches outside of battle half the time!" In fact, he knew he was blushing now and was relieved that it didn't show as much on his altered skin tone.
"Are you sure you still don't?" Riku teased, apparently willing to drop the subject for now in favor of a more pleasant past time. He put a hand on Sora's arm meaningfully and Sora could have sworn the apparently dormant Roxas was laughing at him when he did in fact go against everything he had been trying to prove and blushed brighter. He almost wanted to pout. He hadn't had this much trouble in Atlantica.
"Come on," Sora said, deciding they needed a distraction soon. "I have something to show you since I'm obviously not going to get any more repairs done."
With that said, he grabbed Riku's wrist and proceeded to pull him along, ignoring the fact that the taller boy stumbled a bit at the sudden movement. Served him right. Sora did let him go when they came near the graveyard and they hopped the fence. Sora head to the left, grinning as the strange trees came into view.
"Where did you leave Kairi, anyway?" Sora asked as he headed directly toward the tree with a tree shaped door cut into it.
"We found Jack. I wanted to see if you needed help with the repairs since I caused all the damage," Riku replied, looking around and attempting to be casual about it. Sora grinned and leaned against the entrance to Christmas Town.
"We'll backtrack and do some of the easier routes. There aren't many Heartless around right now so it doesn't matter what order we go in, right?" Sora had been a bit surprised that there were so few Heartless. They had encountered a few small groups, but no Nobodies and everything was easily defeated. It made him suspicious and he tried not to be paranoid but everytime he stared at the stars he could almost see the darkness nibbling at them. No matter how much he tried to say it was in his head, it didn't help.
Riku shrugged in response to his question, his long strides closing the space between them quickly as he peered at the door and answered absently, "Does't matter to me. You probably should have done Land of the Dragons before this one, at least. I don't know about the Gummi route but I know the Heartless types there were usually weaker than the ones at Hollow Bastion."
"Radiant Garden," Sora corrected automatically as he straightened and pushed away from the door, opening it and gesturing Riku in. "Shall we?"
Riku frowned at him, his eyes moving from him to the open space suspiciously as he leaned in. "What's in here?"
"Find out!" Sora shifted forward before he was done speaking, knowing it took a lot to surprise Riku. He was right – despite his surprise, Riku still managed to turn as he lost his balance and pull a laughing Sora after him.
Riku's grip tightened on him when no ground became apparent and Sora hesitated before getting a good grip on Riku's shoulders and slowing their fall. Gliding was harder with more than twice the weight, but at least it was more controlled now.
"Don't do that, Sora!" Riku said sharply once he realized they weren't going to fall to their death.
"Trust me. I wouldn't have pushed you into anything dangerous. Look, once we're through this – " He gestured to the swirls of white and blue around them. " – We'll be there."
"Where?" Riku demanded, pulling him closer to glare into his eyes. Sora was immune to that type of intimidation by now and raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Somewhere I've been wanting to show you – and Kairi – since Jack first showed it to me," Sora explained, his voice soft and warm. RIku's glare melted into a confused look and it was obvious that Riku didn't quite know what to do now.
"See, look, we're about there," Sora pointed out suddenly – and let them drop. Before Riku could do more than tighten his grip they were tumbling out into the snow. Immediately Riku swore in surprise as the ice hit his bare arms.
"Huh. Not the best clothes to be wearing here. I probably should have thought to bring coats." Sora frowned slightly at his oversight as he rolled to his feet. Riku glared at him a moment before doing the same, flecks of ice flying from his silver hair.
"Now can I know where we are?" If Sora hadn't know better, he would have thought Riku was whining. It was an easy enough decision after that.
"We're in Christmas Town," Sora chirped, and waited as the realization sunk in.
"Sora, are you saying…?" Riku stared down at the town below, unable to actually think that what Sora was hinting at and blatantly showing him was true.
"You lied to me, you know. You told me there was no Santa Claus. You really shouldn't lie like that," Sora said, faking a scolding tone. Riku stared at him blankly as if unable to comprehend his words. Grinning, Sora grabbed his wrist and dragged him down to the town.
Riku was a dead weight most of the way there. Sora was half wondering if he had managed to break his friend when they walked into the square outside of the workshop and saw a rotund man in a red suit and a long white beard talking quite firmly to a red nosed reindeer who was looking quite abashed.
"Fuck," Riku muttered a bit too loudly. That seemed to get the man's attention and Santa Claus turned toward them, his expression disapproving – though he seemed to be willing to forget it when he saw Sora practically bouncing in glee next to the blank-faced young man.
"Sora, it's quite good to see you again! And this, of course, would be Riku. I see you found him. Showing him around, are you?" Santa Claus seemed rather amused by Riku's blatant staring now, but turned back to the reindeer to continue his lecture.
Sora beamed at Riku. Riku slowly turned and stared back. "Santa Claus."
"Yup!" Sora let go of Riku's wrist and place his hands behind his head casually. "I helped him out last year. Maleficient caused some trouble, and then a creation gone wrong."
Sora's smile flickered just briefly as he remembered why it had gone berserk. It had been like the Nobodies in that way, yearning for something out of its reach and trying to take it by force.
"So it wasn't just our parents?" Riku wondered out loud.
"Well, it was after you made me believe he didn't exist," Sora grumbled. Then he brightened again. "Except last year, I got a present that I didn't know where it came from and it was from him!"
His father had been on a business trip. His mother… Well, when she had remembered Sora again, she hadn't taken the fact that she had forgotten her own son very well. Not even Kairi knew where she had gone. So Sora had a few presents his Dad had sent and his friends had given him – and a present from Santa Claus. It hadn't been anything big, just a new chain for his crown necklace. But his other one had managed to break just days before. Sora suspected that the new chain would never break.
"Oh," Riku responded. Sora glanced at him and chuckled. It was always fun to totally surprise Riku. He had rarely seen him this surprised.
"Sora!" The boy blinked as another familiar voice called him and he and Riku turned to watch Kairi running up, Jack and Sally trailing behind her. "Why didn't you tell me, you jerk?"
"Jerk!" Sora protested automatically. "I just wanted it to be a surprise!"
Kairi huffed, but then her attention was caught by Santa Claus, who had turned toward them, smiling as he watched. "Oh! I'm sorry!"
"It's quite alright. Would all of you like to come inside?" He was answered with five joyful affirmatives. Sora hung back slightly as the other four crowded into Santa's house and the Factory. He watched Riku and Kairi and felt Roxas stir to watch from his eyes. They looked happy. And that was all that mattered.
End Chapter Two.
Please Review.