Merry Christmas! (and if you don't celebrate Christmas... too bad XD you get it anyway)

i won't blame any of you if you have to go back and read a few chapters prior this one --; and i'd say i'm sorry and give you my lame excuses and all that, but i don't think you wanna hear that. i think you wanna read the story, right? right! onward!

"No, try again," Zexion ordered. Demyx sighed in frustration; they had been working on his proper breathing for over an hour now! According to the elder, he was supposed to breathe with his stomach, not his lungs. He was able to do it when Zexion told him to, but when he started singing it completely slipped his mind. Thus, he continued to breathe with his chest.

"I don't suppose we could at least try to work on something else?" Demyx asked hopefully.

"No," Zexion dead panned. "Now try again, start at 'do.'"

The musician obeyed, singing the famous "do re mi" scale. For the first few notes he managed to breathe correctly, but then he'd lapse back into his normal routine. Old habits died hard. Real hard.

"Wrong, again," Zexion demanded.

My throat is going to be so sore when this is all over. Demyx thought regretfully. However, he continued to try his best, and Zexion continued to correct him.

Sora, hearing them from his room for lack of anything better to do, began counting how many times Zexion told Demyx to start over. He nearly made fifty-nine when sleep gratefully overtook him.

-

Riku stood up.

"I should probably get going, my mom's gonna freak if I don't get home soon," he said. Roxas nodded. The pizza was practically gone anyway, and the movie they were watching (Dodgeball) was at the credits.

"Alright, but wanna watch after the credits first?" Roxas asked, remembering Selphie had said something about a hilarious little clip at the end.

Riku, remembering as well, grinned and nodded. "Sure." Sitting back down, they fast forwarded to the one guy singing.

"My milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard, and they're like, mine's better than your's. I could teach you, but I'd have to charge!"

Both boys laughed and covered their eyes at the scarring sight. Seriously, an obese-appearing guy singing that song while playing with their man-boobs was just asking for trouble–the lawsuit kind in particular.

"Ok, now I guess I'll go," Riku said, still chuckling.

"Alright," Roxas agreed.

Ding dong.

Both boys glanced at each other.

"Is that your mom?"

"I didn't think she'd worry enough to come get me, but . . ." Riku gulped.

"Just a minute! He's getting his shoes on!" Roxas yelled at the door.

Nervously, Riku stepped across the room and rested his hand on the doorknob. Turning it and swinging the door open, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw just who was on the other side.

Axel gave a little wave. "Hey, Roxas there?"

"Axel?!" Roxas cried from the living room, stumbling over to the door to see for himself.

The redhead grinned. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

Riku took a step back, letting the vampire into the room. Axel wore the standard black cloak and boots, but his hood was down, allowing his crimson mane to fly in the general backwards direction.

"Oh! That reminds me, Riku, Sora asked me to give this to you," Axel said, digging the letter out of his pocket and handing it to the silver-haired teen. Said teen's eyes widened a little in surprise.

"Sora?"

"Yeah," Axel confirmed.

"Well, Riku, at least it wasn't your mom," Roxas commented.

"No kidding," Riku agreed. "But I better get going if I don't want her to come down here after all. See you later."

Roxas nodded, "See you."

With that, Riku left the room, shutting the door behind him. All the while as he walked down the hallway and out the door into the brisk night, anticipation to get home built. He'd have to wait to get to the safety of his room before he allowed himself to even take as much as a peek at the letter. The streetlights were on, so he could've admittedly just read under the yellow light. However, by doing that he would've been a sitting duck to . . . bad people. And bad people did bad things to other people; hence the name "bad people."

Hurrying along the sidewalk, Riku headed home.

-

"Say, why did you knock on the door this time? Last time you came you were peeking through the window like a peeping tom or something," Roxas mentioned. He and Axel were still standing near the door, for they hadn't bothered to sit down quite yet (if they ever did at all).

"Did you really want me to?"

"Well . . . I guess not, but couldn't you have just teleported in here, too?"

"I could've, but it's considered rude. You're not supposed to enter someone else's home unless you have permission to do so. One of those old, ancient rules that, surprisingly, actually do apply to us today. Besides, what if I'd walked in on you in the shower or something? Not that I'm complaining, but I can't really imagine you jumping for joy at the prospect."

Roxas shook his head firmly. "No."

Axel chuckled. "Thought so. Anyways, you wanna go see the fireworks?" he asked, grinning.

The blond's eyes lit up like bright blue sapphires exposed to sunlight. "Yeah! Where're you showing me them? I assume you know it's illegal to set them off in Twilight Town . . . right?" he checked, eyeing Axel suspiciously.

Putting up his hands in a defensive or surrendering gesture, Axel replied, "Calm down, it's out of town, and I will get you home before two in the morning."

Thank God it's summer, Roxas thought gratefully. If it was a school night there was no way he'd be able to get away with this.

"So? You ready to go?" Axel asked, holding out his right hand.

"Yeah," Roxas replied, shyly taking the offered hand in his own.

Axel grinned, subconsciously realizing just how small Roxas's hands were. Lifting his left arm, a penumbra eclipsed his palm as black fingers pawed at the air–increasing the size of the shadow until a life-sized gateway had been created. Although noticing Roxas's hesitation at entering such an opaque portal, Axel led him through the darkness to the other end of the cold tunnel.

-

Zexion glanced at his watch and sighed disappointedly. Noticing this, Demyx looked at him curiously, wondering what was up.

"Our shift is over, the other guards should be coming by any minute now," the older one explained.

"Oh . . . so no more singing lessons for today?" Demyx asked hoarsely. His salivary glands were desperately searching for some juice to dampen his parched mouth.

Zexion nodded. "No more lessons for today, but that's probably a good thing considering your voice right now. Your breathing did get little better today, but that's definitely something we're going to have to work on. It needs to become almost automatic for you to breathe using your diaphragm and not notice the difference. If you want, you can practice some more before tomorrow, but I wouldn't suggest it. Get some rest," he dismissed him, heading down the hallway himself–boots clacking against the floor.

The other guards were reluctantly walking leisurely up the hallway; actually, they seemed a little nervous though Demyx couldn't think of a single reason why. He and Zexion certainly hadn't had any problems guarding. In fact, it had to be one of the easiest jobs he'd had since becoming a vampire. Sure, a few emotional things arose when they fed Sora–watching anybody drink that stuff from the reserves was just disgusting!–, but they were somewhat friends so that was only to be expected. Yet why were they nervous?

Setting the question aside for later, Demyx put his arms behind his head and strolled down the hallway to find his room. He thought he'd take Zexion up on that suggestion to get some rest.

-

"I'm home!" Riku called as he stepped through the front door. While taking off his shoes, he vaguely heard his parents' answering voices that said something along the lines of "welcome back" and "alright, did you have a good time?"

Riku replied with an incoherent grunt, hoping they'd leave it at that. He really wanted to get to his room. The letter Sora had given him via Axel Mail Delivery Service was practically shaking in his slightly sweaty palm.

Wait . . . he thought slowly. Why am I getting so worked up over this? It's just a letter–a letter from a guy I barely know. A guy that is a vampire and potentially dangerous.

But he let you go . . . a voice in the back of his head reminded him. He had the chance to suck you dry, but he let you go. And he's bisexual–you have a chance!

Riku shook his head. No! No! That's not what's going on between us!

Are you sure? The voice responded. He's been pretty friendly for someone you barely know.

For this, Riku had no reply.

Damn voice . . . Riku sighed. Great, now I'm talking to myself. Turning those thoughts away, he stepped down the stairs into his room. After shutting the door behind him, he lowered himself onto the neatly-made bed.

Without further ado, he slipped his thumb through the lip of the envelope and ripped it cleanly open. (Well, as cleanly as one could rip open an envelope.) Tinted peacock eyes then proceeded to read the crooked handwriting.

Riku,

Hey, knowing you, you probably worried some when I left you even though I told you not to, right? Isn't that reverse psychology or something? Oh well, anyway, I thought you should know what happened to me when I abruptly left the church function the other night.

First, Axel (that redheaded friend of mine) had been sent to look for me since I'd stayed past curfew. So he came looking for me, and by following my smell he found me with you guys. Once he found me, I had to leave–no 'it's, 'and's, or 'but's about it. ('Cause trust me, if I got to choose, I definitely would've rather stayed with you.) Back at 'home,' our queen and I got into a bit of a fight, so I've been restricted to my room for the rest of the month with blood from the reserves to drink. (And let me tell you, that stuff is nasty!)

So... unfortunately, I won't be able to see you for a while. If anything life-threatening (ha ha... "life-threatening"... get it?...nevermind...) happens, I'll make sure to get information to you somehow.

Unless, that is, you don't want to get involved in vampire conflicts and would much rather stay out of my 'life' (which I wouldn't blame you for). Well, if you could maybe give Roxas a letter to give to Axel explaining your preference, I'd appreciate it. ) 'Cause I think Axel might have a bit of a 'thing' for your friend Roxas, so you can probably expect him to show up again soon.

Annnnnnnd... this ended up a lot longer than I intended it to be, but oh well, I know you're not illiterate, so it's not like it's hard for you to read or anything like that. But Demyx and Zexion (two of my guards–they're the more entertaining pair) are coming in to give me some of that foul liquid, so I have to wrap this up.

Take care!

Sora

Smiling, Riku set down the letter and started writing a reply.

-

Roxas instantly shivered as he turned up on the other side of the portal. Chattering his teeth, he checked out his new surroundings. Endless square fields stretched across the landscape, separated only by gravelly country roads and fences while blanketed by rows of short apple trees. Pinpricks of light poked through the fluffy midnight blue expanse that covered the atmosphere serenely. The moon was at its waxing gibbous and reflected white light onto the world with a bright brilliance.

But there was something about the scene that Roxas couldn't think of. It was true that the land before him made him smile peacefully, but there was something different that made all the difference in the world.

"Th-there's n-no li-ght p-pol-lu-sh-tion . . ." Roxas realized, stuttering some from his chattering teeth. "Th-the s-stars, th-the moo-n, th-ey s-stand-d ou-t s-so w-we-ll w-with-thou-t th-the c-cit-y l-ight-ts rui-ning-ng th-the v-iew."

"Yeah," Axel agreed, glancing at the blond. "Hey, are you cold?" he asked, noticing the boy's chattering teeth. It wasn't too chilly out since it was summer, but some people were more sensitive to the temperature than others.

Roxas shook his head. "Af-fter-sh-sho-ck f-rom th-that p-port-tal. I c-c-an g-o ou-tsid-de in w-win-ter and-d n-not b-e c-col-d at a-ll, b-ut as s-soon as I s-step-p in-sid-de a w-war-m p-pla-ce m-y t-teeth wi-ll s-star-t ch-chat-tering-ng l-li-ke c-craz-y s-sin-nce m-y bod-dy s-still th-thinks-s it's t-twen-nty-some de-gree-s," he explained.

"Oh, ok. Well, if you're sure . . ."

"I-I am," Roxas confirmed.

The redhead shrugged. "Alright then. C'mon, this way. The fireworks are over here," he urged, motioning towards a fence post. Looking closer, Roxas realized there were a good-sized box at its base. Following the vampire, he made out shapes of rockets sticking out at odd angles. As they came closer, he began to recognize them as fountains, Roman candles, firecrackers, sparklers, and many others. By the time he arrived beside Axel, his teeth had finally ceased their chattering.

"Which one do you want to light first?" Axel asked, gesturing for him to pick one from the box.

"Um . . . Maybe something small? You know, to save the big ones for last . . ." Roxas said hesitantly.

"Sure, like they say, save the best for last," Axel agreed, carelessly placing his arms behind his head while leaning against a fence post.

"Hmm . . ." the blond thought, glancing from one firework to another. There were dozens of them; with bright, vibrant colors on the paper wrapping them, each called to him "Pick me! Pick me!". Finally, the human managed to decide on something.

"We said we'd start with something small, so . . . here," Roxas said, handing Axel a package of sparklers.

"Alright," the vampire said, grinning. Taking out two sparklers, he handed one to Roxas. After digging out a small lighter from his pocket, Axel lit the one in Roxas's hand; Axel's own sparkler soon suffering the same burning and crackling feeling as the human's.

As soon as Roxas's began singeing and popping, the boy's eyes brightened considerably and a smile grew upon his face. Something swelled inside him like a brightly-colored sponge in water. Energy rushed through his veins, tinging his cheeks a rosy pink as laughter bubbled up from his throat. Feeling giddy and maybe a bit tipsy (even though he hadn't consumed any alcohol of any sort), he laughed and spun wildly in wide circles–sparks flying around him like magical dust.

Axel stared. It sure was something to see this boy just . . . so . . . happy . . .

He chuckled, "What's up with you?"

"I don't know," Roxas replied, still giggling a little. "All of a sudden, I just feel really . . . giddy and giggly and happy and–and it's just . . . I don't know . . ."

But then the spinning became too much as the boy dizzily fell to the grass. With his body spread in the position of a star, Roxas continued to choke out giggles.

Axel shook his head. "Crazy kid . . ."

Closing his eyes and inhaling the fresh air deeply, Roxas breathed, "Thank you, Axel, I don't know what you did, but . . . thank you."

The vampire scratched the back of his head. "I don't know what I did either, but you're welcome."

When Roxas's sparkler ran dry of its sparks, the blond lit another one. Frolicking like he had earlier, this time Axel joined him. And maybe it was the fireworks releasing heat into the air or maybe it was just a warm summer night, but whatever it was, it warmed Axel's heart for the first time in a long, long time.

-

"So that's why Sora's so special to your clan?" Cloud asked as they lay in the grass.

"Yeah . . . I guess I overreacted a little, but . . ."

Cloud turned to Leon. "You didn't overreact. I mean, I can't imagine what I'd do if that happened to Roxas. Speaking of which, I really want to tell him to stay away from Axel simply because . . . well, you know . . . but I think it'd be a little hypocritical of me."

Leon let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, it would. But that's ok, you have no idea how much I want to tell Sora to stay away from humans . . ."

"What's so dangerous about Sora getting close to humans?" Cloud asked.

The brunet gave him a look. "That he might find someone like you."

Cloud, still confused, inquired, "What's so bad about that?"

Leon sighed. "It's hard to kill humans when you're in love with one of them."

"Oh . . . Does that mean . . . Do you regret . . . ?"

"Do I regret falling in love with you?" Leon snorted. "Hell no, it's just easier to go through living like this without feeling emotion."

"But if it's easier . . ."

"Cloud, easier doesn't mean better."

"It could," the blond whispered.

Leon sighed. "What are you so worked up about?"

"Well, um . . . if Sora somehow manages to resist, I'm just worried that . . . that they might use you as blackmail or something to get to him . . ."

"They wouldn't do that," the vampire stated firmly.

"Why do you say that? I mean, you never know and—"

"If they were to do anything with me to get to Sora, they wouldn't use me as blackmail. If they were to do anything, they'd mess with my head and probably try to turn me against him. I can't say I want that to happen at all, but when people continue to poke and prod and question things . . . it gets to you. Especially when you don't want it to."

Cloud blinked at him questioningly. "How—why would they be able to turn you against him at all?"

"Because if it wasn't for Sora, I wouldn't have to keep to the shadows or have to live off human blood or anything like that . . . If it wasn't for Sora, I wouldn't be a vampire at all."

Cloud made a small "O" with his mouth.

A few moments of silence reigned as neither of them could think of anything to say. Absentmindedly, Cloud examined their surroundings. They lay on stretchy grass at the edge of an orchard—but it was too dark to tell what fruit it bore. Navy blue swept across the sky as glittering ornaments hung effortlessly upon it.

Than, as surprising as it was, the blond caught a stray flower of fire blooming brightly in the distance. Smiling softly, he glanced at Leon who appeared to have noticed the same thing.

"Someone's brave, setting off those fireworks," he commented.

"Yeah," Cloud sighed as another one lit the sky, "but it's kinda nice. I haven't seen fireworks like that for a long while."

"Wanna watch them for a while?" Leon asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, just for a while . . ." Cloud said, laying back to lean against his boyfriend as they watched the lights booming in the summer night sky.

so! completely off-topic, but i got Howl's Moving Castle for Christmas from my dad... SO GOOD. seriously, SEE IT. NOW. it is now my favorite movie by Miyazaki (before it was Princess Mononoke) so um... yeah, my holiday was good :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ...share the love, give reviews ;)