Summary: How long can you deny that you're in love? Joy is going to find out at Twilight High Boarding School.
Genre: Romance/Humor/Drama
Pairings: RoxasOC RikuOC NamineOC SoraKairi HaynerOlette TidusSelphie MarluxiaOC AxelLarxene DemyxOC(Other pairings may be decided later)
WARNING: Characters may be a bit OOC rushing everywhere xP but you be the judge of that; I assure you though, there's rushing ! xP
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of its characters
Claimer: I own Joy, Amy, Cookie, Stacie, Kristina, Jun, Fernando, Mrs. Kane(Lillian), Cris, and Taffy.
Thank you for the reviews everyone! ;DChapter
Twenty
Closing
Stages
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
The wooden grandfather clock continuously ticked away as dawn sat upon her throne, starting the day. Today was a special day; it was a holiday to be exact. This holiday was the cheeriest of the year, filled with love, happiness, and a whole lot of presents. In one of the many bedrooms in the large cabin, contained a young brown-haired girl bouncing on her bed, her holiday outfit sparkling in the upcoming sunlight. A redhead standing next to her in her own holiday clothes stared at the silver watch wrapped around her wrist, restlessly waiting as the hand continued to move in circles.
The brunette started to bounce in anticipation on the bed, "Is it time yet?"
"No, not yet," the redhead replied, tearing her eyes away to look at her friend. "Stop bouncing, Selphie, or you're going to wake the others."
Selphie ceased her bouncing to respond quietly, "I can't help it!" Bouncing once again on the bed, she asked eagerly, "How many more seconds, Kairi?"
Quickly looking back to her watch, Kairi counted quietly, "In 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5--"
"4 - 3 - 2 - 1--"
DING.
DING.
DING.
The sound of the grandfather clock echoed throughout the cabin as Selphie flew out the door and started banging on everyone's dorms, screaming at the top of her lungs, "IT'S CHRISTMAS! WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUTTS!"
Kairi shook her head, muttering to herself, "What a wake-up call," before walking out of the bedroom with a smile.
Once Selphie had stopped to beat down Amy and Joy's bedroom door, she shouted out, "COME ON, GET UP! YOU BETTER COME OUT HERE, TOO, JOY!" And she left the door without hearing a response.
Once the girls' hallway was woken up, Selphie went to the guys' hallway and continued to beat down doors, but with twice the effort. "GET UP YOU LAZY BUMS! I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE AWAKE! IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY!" Of course, Demyx ran out his door first, being the hyper one he was especially on a holiday; Zexion came out next since he had already been awake; and third of the early-birds was Pence, the cameraman, the one always ready with a camera.
"Mm… what happened? Where's the fire?" Sora stepping out lazily from his room, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.
"That's the spirit, Sora!" Selphie exclaimed, ignoring the fact that he was still sleepy on a cheery holiday, continuing to skip merrily down the boys' hallway and knock loudly on doors.
Kairi rounded the corner of the hallway to make sure Selphie hadn't broken down any doors and passed by Sora who was still rubbing at his eyes, "Nice shirt, Sora." She grinned to herself as she counted down mentally to herself, '3...2...1...'
"Huh?" Sora looks down at his shirt of Mickey Mouse before realizing that he had it on inside-out. Blushing deeply, he ran in the room he shared with Riku to find that his roommate was already snickering at him. "Shut up, Riku."
"I would if you were properly wearing your shirt," Riku retorted, walking out of the room already fully clothed casually, leaving Sora in his embarrassment.
Laughter, excitement, happiness, and the occasional disappointment filled the living room as everyone pranced around with their unwrapped gifts. Wrapping paper was littered everywhere and boxes were tore open and scattered carelessly along with abandoned ribbons sticking to the floor.
Demyx was rocking out on his new guitar. His old one had gotten destroyed; hopefully, he will take better care of this new one.
Zexion sat in an armchair, enjoying a book he had been given for the festivities.
Stacie and Kristina playfully argued with one another, trying to prove that their stuffed animal was better than the other; Stacie's hippo VS Kristina's plushie. Marluxia was next to his girlfriend, shaking his head at her in disapproval, then leaving them alone to their bickering.
Fernando hugged his girlfriend in glee as he stared at the DVD he wanted all month, Namine next to him, admiring the art set that she had received from the boy.
Larxene was chasing Axel around the room with her new attachable cat claws, Axel's discarded - for the time being - gift on the couch next to Cris who was eating his chocolate from his chocolate bag, enjoying the show in front of him.
Taffy and Selphie were currently exchanging presents, laughing as they found out who one of their Secret Santas were. Sora and Riku were battling one another with their new key-like swords (keyblades) as Pence took pictures of everyone on his new camera.
After Olette had opened one of her presents to see a beautifully jeweled necklace, she discreetly pecked Hayner on the cheek before slipping on the jewelry, her secret boyfriend grinning from ear to ear. Hayner noticed someone sitting on one of the couches, alone, and whispered in Olette's ears. She nodded her head at him before walking off to Selphie. Hayner headed to the couch and plopped in a seat next to the blonde headed Roxas.
"Did you even open any of your gifts?" Hayner asked his best friend.
Roxas answered with a shake of his head. "Why open presents when you don't deserve them?"
"Aw, don't be like that man, I bet Joy's forgot about the whole thing like everyone else. Just open a gift, cheer yourself up man," Hayner said comfortingly as much as he can sound. He twisted in his seat and reached for a random gift in the sea of wrapped presents under the tree next to the couch, surprising himself when he chose a gift that was for Roxas; a large box it was. "Here, this should give you a little holiday spirit," Hayner announced, placing the gift on his friend's lap.
Roxas stared at the gift, curiosity taking over him as he slowly peeled the wrapping paper off. Staring at the box he had unwrapped, he half expected to find a humungous clock within its contents as he took off the lid of the package. What he found instead in the box nearly made his eyes pop out of its sockets.
Amy and Kairi were next to the Christmas tree, passing out the gifts to their giddy friends. "Sora, you have another gift!" Amy shouted, holding another box in her hands out for Sora.
Quitting his duel, Sora ran over to Amy and seized the present, eagerly ripping it to shreds. Riku laughed and walked over to Amy, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the forehead, "Having fun?"
"As much as I can," Amy replied, sadness hidden underneath her smile.
Riku brought his girlfriend in an one-arm embrace, comforting the girl, "Are you going to tell everyone or am I?"
Before Amy could answer him, Kristina was tapping on her shoulder, "Amy, Amy! Where's Joy?"
Kairi's ears perked up at her friend's name and she looked up from her seat on the floor to ask the same question. "Where is Joy?"
Selphie popped out of nowhere from next to Stacie, Taffy at her side, "Don't tell me she's still in her room!"
"She's not going to lock herself in her room again, is she?" Stacie exasperated from her seat on the couch.
Amy couldn't answer any of these questions that were thrown at her when they all heard, "Dude! That's kickass!!"
All heads turned toward Hayner as he sat there in awe at Roxas. Everyone looked at him in bewilderment when they finally noticed the object in Roxas' lap. The blonde himself was staring in shock at his gift.
Sitting on his lap was a beautifully custom designed skateboard.
"Hey Cookie, did I tell you that Axel broke Roxas' skateboard?"
To the spectacular wheels to its crafter board, across it was his name. It was like the skateboard was made for him!
Axel whistled at Roxas in amazement, coming up behind him, "Geez Roxas, who got you this?"
Larxene's green eyes studied Roxas' gift and pointed at the corner of the board, "Who else would leave their song on it?" Where Larxene was pointing at, in small print letters and in a beautifully artistic way, it read 'Joy to the World.'
Roxas gazed at the skateboard, running a hand across it in admiration. "Joy made those designs." Roxas looked up, Amy standing in front of him with arms folded across her chest. The blonde boy placed the skateboard in his seat and stood up, heading to the girls' hallway.
"Where you going, Roxas?" Hayner asked his friend.
Amy didn't need to be psychic to know that Roxas was going to get Joy, "You won't find her there."
Roxas stopped in his tracks. 'She won't be there?'
He spun around quickly, facing Amy with a questioning look, "What do you mean she won't be in her room?"
"She's not here."
"What? But, all these presents are for her," Kairi said, speaking up for once. She was right.
There were still a large amount of presents under the Christmas tree, most of them addressed to Joy. "Whoa! Did like everyone get her present?" Selphie exclaimed in wonder, staring at all the presents with sparkly eyes.
"I guess she won't be getting them at this moment," Amy stated, leaning onto Riku for support.
Time stopped for Roxas. It was as if his brain just shut down. Time was up and he was too late.
Too late to apologize.
Too late to prove his love for the spontaneous girl.
Too late to embrace the joy tightly against him.
Too late to kiss the living daylights out of her.
Too late to give her present that he wanted to give to show that she was a special person to him.
"What? She went back home?!" Stacie shouted out in shock.
Amy nodded numbly, Kristina mumbling, "No way, she left us…"
"She should've just waited for us!" Stacie exclaimed, "We were going to go back to our school the week we came back to Twilight High."
"Did she bring Cookie with her?" Fernando asked, a bit randomly.
Amy gave the boy in an incredulous look, "Yes, Fernando, that's why Cookie isn't here and eating at Cris' chocolates." Amy saw the 'Cookie-can-eat-chocolate' face on Cris and she responded to it, "She's not allowed to eat chocolate, but she will try to get some."
Swallowing the lump that had started to form in Roxas' throat, he asked, "She - she's not planning to stay there, is she?"
Amy shrugged, "I don't know, she doesn't even know."
Roxas stared at the ground, deep in thought. His bright blue eyes filled with confusion, anger, regret; he felt the rush of emotions overcome him as his mind went into overdrive. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what he should do.
What was he suppose to do?
It was as if Amy was reading his mind, "Roxas, it's never too late."
Tearing his gaze away from the floor, he found Amy staring at him with unreadable eyes. Riku, behind her, holding her against him as he, too, looked at Roxas with unreadable eyes. It was as if the two were testing him, seeing what he would do. "You love her, don't you, Roxas?" Riku said this in more of a statement than a question, possibly stating the obvious.
"Roxas," Amy gave him one final test and she smiled to herself remembering Joy's words, "What is your heart telling you to do?"
Roxas was hit by those words at full speed.
What was his heart telling him to do?
Closing his eyes, Roxas shut himself off from the outer world.
Everyone watched him intently, waiting, anticipating. Roxas never did this. He never listened to his inner self. Yet, Roxas realized something.
He wanted to follow his heart; something he had never done before.
Everyone held their breath.
"Where's Joy's hometown?"
Old Redshine, California - Christmas Day, 8:35PM.
In the small town of Old Redshine, a busy restaurant was heard from outside, anyone passing by clearly hearing the music and feel the warmth radiating off. Couples, families, people alone walking near felt like they were being pulled into the restaurant as they entered.
As another couple entered the restaurant, they were greeted by an elderly looking woman, "Welcome to Kane Buffet, please take this flag, choose any table you like and our servers will get to you."
Taking the small flag from the woman's hands, the two looked around the restaurant, half an ear listening to the singer on the stage continuing to sing in that melodic voice of hers.
Where the Christmas gifts do say I love you
There some that say it's just a dream
But close your eyes and you can almost see it
All you have to do is just believe it
Maybe there's a stocking full of Christmas Joy
The elder woman faced the entrance once again, her job being greeter of the restaurant since she was the owner of the restaurant, she saw many people bustling through the doors, all trying to escape the shivering cold winds of the outside.
The owner gave her welcoming smile and greeted kindly to the teenagers, "Welcome to Kane Buffet, please choose any table you like that does not have a flag upon it, place your own flag on it and our servers will come to you." Noticing the large number of the guests, she pointed to a different area of the restaurant, "Our larger tables are over there."
One of the teenagers and walked up to the woman with a smile, three teens following behind her, "Mrs. Kane! It's us!"
The owner, Mrs. Kane, stared at the kids in front of her before her face lit up in happiness and she hugged the four students lovingly, "Oh my! What a surprise!"
"Yes, we're surprised, too, Mrs. Kane," Stacie said, giving a hug to the lady.
Mrs. Kane chuckled lightly and looked behind the four, "So, are these your new friends?"
"Yes, all our friends from Twilight High," Fernando answered.
"Wow, you made quite a bit of friends," Mrs. Kane quickly turned around and called over an employee to take her place as she led the group of teens to a secluded area of the restaurant, "I wasn't expecting you kids to come on such short notice; I only knew Joy was coming."
"Well," Amy started, "Joy doesn't know we came…"
"Oh she doesn't now?"
"Yes well, she didn't tell any of us she was going to come back here," Kristina added.
"Really? Hm… she didn't tell me that."
Why couldn't it be Christmas everyday
Riding around with Santa on his Sleigh
"Oh, she's already singing?" Stacie asked, turning her attention to the stage as she continued to follow Joy's mother through the restaurant.
"Of course she is, all our customers have been requesting for her lately," Mrs. Kane informed the teenagers as they all sat around in different booths in the secluded area.
Roxas stood in the middle of the area as he had his eyes on the person on the stage.
Why
couldn't it be Christmas Christmas Christmas everyday
Just believe in Christmas Christmas Christmas all the way
Her melodic voice drifted through his ears as he continued to listen to the young girl's voice. It wasn't the best voice in the world, but to him, her voice was like the angels were singing, except better. Her short blue green sea foam hair were in small pigtails, a Santa hat upon her head as she wore red and white clothes to fit the occasion; her violet eyes sparkled under the spotlight as she danced and sang, entertaining the people eating.
"Come on, get your seat, don't want to get in the way of the servers now," Mrs. Kane hurried Roxas to a random seat next to Hayner in a booth.
Laughing at his best friend's expression, Hayner put a hand on his shoulder, "Now that you're here, do you know what you're going to say to her?"
Roxas widened his eyes.
He was on an eleven hour flight - plus an extra hour just to try and get to the restaurant - and he had no idea what he was going to say.
This time, Hayner slapped his forehead, "Roxas!"
And I hope that it doesn't come late
Roxas stood up, his gaze fixed on Joy, who was still singing merrily on the stage.
He didn't know what he was going to do.
He didn't know what he should do.
But, he wasn't going to sit around and think about it when she was just right there.
He saw Joy bow as the audience around him applauded. Joy grinned at the people clapping around her, "Do I have any requests? Come on people! I know every song out there!" Many hands rose up in the air.
Joy looked through the vast crowd of the restaurant when she saw a certain hand in the air. A lump immediately formed in her throat as she nearly dropped the microphone in her hands. Roxas felt the pang of hurt inside him when he saw the look of pain appear upon Joy's features as she stared at him. Everyone around the room continued to make noises to be called on while Joy and Roxas locked eyes, Joy's eyes looking between hurt and anger.
Quickly averting her gaze, Joy pointed randomly at a girl, "Yes you, what do you want me to sing?"
"Actually, I have a question," it was a young girl, maybe around the age of ten, "does it have to be a Christmas song?"
Laughter filled the restaurant. "No, it doesn't have to be," Joy answered, awaiting the song the little girl wants her to sing.
"Can you sing 'Before I Let You Go?'" The young girl asked, "I want to dedicate it for my older sister to someone special to her."
Joy's breath hitched as she heard the song title. Swallowing hard, she forced a smile and said, "Well then, I shall use my," deepening her voice to a male's pitch, "MANLY VOICE!"
She was met by silence.
Joy put on an annoyed expression and muttered into the microphone, "Tough crowd." The restaurant once again filled with laughter, she asked, "So, everyone okay with that song?" A chorus of 'Yes' was heard and Joy smiled once more, "Okay then! 'Before I Let You Go' by Richard Gutierrez and Angel Locsin; hit it!"
The sound of a piano filled the room as Joy slowly swayed with the song. Sneaking the smallest of glances toward Roxas who had started walking closer to the stage, she looked into the crowd and drew the microphone toward her, her voice drifting through everyone's ears.
I can still remember yesterday
We were so in love in a special way
And knowing that you love me
Made me feel, oh, so right
Yesterday…
Roxas felt as if the song was portraying what Joy felt at that moment. As if she was telling him something through this song.
Joy sang through this song with a strong voice, yet inside of her, she was falling apart. Memories of what had happened only a day before flooded through her mind and she could almost feel the tears prickling through her moist eyes. She was trying to hold it in, at least until after this song. She could feel Roxas' stare on her.
Before I let you go
I want to say I love you
"I love you, too," Roxas heard himself whisper out.
Back to the secluded area, Amy quickly left the area and headed toward the back of the stage, grabbing Roxas by the shirt and making him follow after her.
"Joy is a really great singer," Selphie complimented as she continued to listen to her friend sing.
I hope that you're listenin'
'Cause it's true, baby
You'll be forever in my heart
And I know that no one else will do
"How ironic that someone would have her sing this song," Kairi said and the others at her table nodded in agreement.
"Hey, where's Roxas?" Sora asked, looking around the area.
Before I let you go
I want to say…
I love you
Joy bowed once more to the applauding crowd and said into her mic, "Okay everyone, ten minute break for me," and with that, Joy left the stage and entered back stage. She looked to the speakers and said to the DJ next to it, "Go get something to eat, Jimmy, before you starve." The DJ nodded at the girl and left without a word.
Taking a quick swig of water from her bottle, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Ceasing her gulping, she turned around. What her eyes met made her drop the water bottle.
"R-Roxas?" Joy stammered as she took a step back.
"The one and only…"
"Didn't I say that I'm never going to speak to you ever again?"
"You're talking to me right now."
"Not the point." Joy saw Roxas fidget a bit before lessening her attitude. "What are you doing here?" She asked with a gentle tone.
"I wanted to say… I'm sorry." Roxas said, finally looking back up at her, locking eyes with her.
Being alert toward the eye contact, Joy quickly looked down and picked up the dropped water bottle, avoiding contact as she walked to a nearby trashcan, "Sorry for what?"
"For hurting you," Roxas took his hands out of his pockets, "I knew I should've pushed her away. But I didn't know what was going on; one second, I'm carrying a box and the next, I'm being forced into something I did not want to happen." Joy walked back toward Roxas, finally gaining the confidence to face him, but when she looked back at him, she felt her knees go weak again. "I'm really stupid, and I'll admit to that. But know this: I never wanted to break your heart. I meant what I said yesterday, that I love you. I love you and only you, Joy."
"That sounds familiar," Joy said, barely above a whisper. Joy didn't want to hear it; she started to walk away from the blonde boy. She would've exited the back stage if she wasn't grabbed by the wrist.
Roxas was not going to let her walk away this time.
Joy was jerked around and before she could yell at the boy, she felt something smack against her lips, stopping any words from coming out of her mouth. Roxas' other arm wrapped around her waist as his other hand continued to hold on to her wrist.
It was that kiss again.
The kiss that sent Joy to cloud nine all over again.
Roxas poured everything into that kiss. His feelings, emotions, his whole being and more. He wanted nothing else. It felt as if they were the only people in the world that mattered. Nothing mattered to them except the person they were kissing.
Everything faded out of Joy's head until one event flashed in her mind.
Joy put her free hand against Roxas chest and roughly pushed him away from her.
The blonde boy staggered a bit from the force and stared at Joy in shock. "You really think I'm going to stand here and let you kiss me when I know you kissed Jun not too long ago?!"
"I --"
"No, I'm not!" Joy shouted at him with anger in her voice, "You can tell me you love me all you want, but I'm not going to believe you."
Roxas stood there.
He had poured everything into that kiss…
And it wasn't enough to show that he loved her?!
"W-what… What am I suppose to do?" Roxas took in another breath to stop himself from raising his voice at the girl, "What do I need to do in order to show that I'm not lying to you?"
Silence.
Joy bit her lower lip and asked in a voice barely above a whisper, "Roxas, what is your heart telling you to do?"
Roxas, like before, closed his eyes and took inhaled a long breath. "Joy Kane. I love you more than you can imagine. When I bumped into you that day, I never knew I would meet someone like you, especially not have you as a roommate. I'll be honest; for me, it felt like love at first sight. The thought of you when you weren't next to me just made me blush as red as Axel's hair.
"You have no idea how jealous I was when Ricky came to our school and flaunted around you like nothing. I was so jealous to the point I wanted to sock Ricky in the face. I never knew I could be so jealous like that. And when I heard you got kidnapped, I panicked. I thought I was going to lose you, I really did."
Roxas shook his head from the past memories and advanced toward the girl, "Joy, you have to know that I never wanted to hurt you. I've always loved you from the day that I met you and I still do." Roxas reached out for Joy, surprised she did nothing to resist, and brought her in an embrace, "You need to know that when I hold you, I'm afraid of letting go…"
"…Why? Why are you afraid?"
"Because I don't want to lose you."
Joy looked up from the embrace, at the boy who was holding her. She didn't know what to say. Should she believe him?
"Roxas, I don't know if I should believe you or think you're lying…" Joy admitted, leaning against the boy's chest.
Roxas held the girl in his arms even tighter, "Believe me and I will show you how much I'm not lying."
Take the risk…
Joy looked up at him with uncertain violet eyes, but when her eyes locked with his, her worries went away.
Because sometimes…
Roxas looked down at her with his bright blue eyes and brought his hand to her face, a smile forming on his lips.
Taking risks…
He caressed her cheek tenderly and brought his head down to meet her awaiting lips.
Can be worth it all.
Fin
O.M.G. That's the end! I can't believe it! No, I'm just kiddng; there's still an epilogue.
Although, I hope you enjoyed it even though the ending was a bit rushed ? So, leave me a review please! Also, please check out my account page for the upcoming stories I'm think of making. PM me or whatever and tell me what you think and VOTE ! ;D Love you all, thank you for reading and supporting me!
Support me by telling your friends about me and this story :)
Preview of my next Prince of Tennis story
Tennis Rhythm
It was an intense match; Prodigy against Princess.
Even though Ryoma had witnessed some heart-crushing events for the girl earlier, it seemed to have affected her a bit considering she was making unforced errors in her play. He had heard many rumors about this girl, but it didn't seem to be true.
She had another double fault.
Ryoma did not like the where this match was going and the girl could tell.
Echizen Ryoma anticipated for his opponent's serve as he stood at the base line. He watched as the girl stared back at him, a tennis ball in her left and her racket in her right. The second time for that day, hazel connected with cerulean. For a split-second, Ryoma saw something in her eyes; her sky blue eyes reflected and it almost looked as if she were pleading to him.
At last, she threw the ball up into the air and brought her racket up.
Ryoma readied his own racket, intensely watching the lime green ball.
With extreme force, the girl smacked the ball.
Nanoseconds later, Ryoma stood up straight as he saw the tennis ball hit against the net.
"I concede the game."
And that's the preview for my next story I'm working on. ;D Please check out my account page and vote for who you want the girl to fall for. I hope this preview will help you to imagine the next story will be. PLEASE VOTE! ONCE I KNOW WHO YOU WANT HER TO FALL FOR, I WILL POST UP THE FIRST CHAPTERS SOON!
If you do not like Prince of Tennis in particular, please tell any friends that would be interested in it. Please and thank you! ;D