Follow Me Home

Chapter Eighteen

o.o.o

"All that I'm after is a life full of laughter, as long as I'm laughin' with you
I think that all that still matters is love ever after
After the life we've been through
'Cause I know there's no life after you..."

o.o.o

Roxas was making a mess in the kitchen with all of the fruits that he bought the night before; he figured that a fruit bouquet was perfect for her birthday, but he thought it would be a little easier to put it all together. He sliced the oranges thinly and set them aside. He tried his best to cut the cantaloupe into squares, but they weren't perfect. He stuck some strawberries on a stick and put them in the new vase he bought specifically for this masterpiece. Once he had everything cut and shaped the way he wanted, he arranged them into the pot and tried to make it look nice and organized so that it made an intricate design. He was satisfied with it—for the most part, but felt like it could be better. Kairi would appreciate it, anyhow. She loved fruit.

He set it in the fridge. It was almost one in the afternoon. Roxas really didn't expect for Kairi to be asleep this long, but since it was her birthday he was letting her. His main plans weren't until the evening anyway. He sat at the kitchen table. He wasn't going to mess today up.

"Hey, Roxas!" Axel came out of the bathroom. Roxas had completely forgotten that he was staying there. It was understandable on his part—Axel wasn't around much. The agreement was as along as he paid his portion of the rent, he had the right to the second bedroom.

"Oh, hey."

"She's not up yet?" Axel asked. He saw that Roxas was dressed particularly nice today. "What's the occasion?"

"It's her birthday."

"Oh, snap! Really? Damn, I didn't get her anything."

"You don't have to." Roxas said. "I've got it."

"Ohh..." Axel winked at him. "Gonna take her out?"

Roxas nodded, but shushed him. "It will be a surprise."

"Guess I should get outta here, then." Axel smirked. "Let me know when it's safe to come back, if you know what I mean."

"Hey, you never did that for me when you were with Larxene. It was like you two had no shame!" Roxas laughed. "Whatever happened to her, anyway?"

Axel stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned. "Well, she's with someone else now."

"Oh," Roxas' expression changed. "Sorry."

"It's whatever!" Axel smiled again and then went into his room. A few minutes after, Kairi finally came out to the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas.

No matter what Kairi wore, in Roxas' opinion, she was beautiful. He stood up and greeted her. "Good morning, sunshine." He said, stretching his arms out to show her that he wanted to hug her. She slightly leaned forward, meaning that she was letting him. He wrapped his arms around her. "Happy Birthday."

"Is that what today is?" She asked in a low tone. Her hands were down by her sides.

"You forgot?" Roxas chuckled. She was so cute to him.

"That means... I'm twenty seven..." Kairi looked up at him. "I'm... old..."

"Hey, I'm twenty seven too. Remember? My birthday was in April."

"Was I a jerk that day?" Kairi asked.

Roxas shook his head. "You're never a jerk to me."

"Whatever." Kairi separated from him and went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Roxas watched her from the living room. So far, everything was going well.

Roxas was exactly three months older than Kairi, to the day. Sora was three months and four days older than him. 3, 3, 3. He was either in the middle or a third wheel.

o.o.o

Flashback: 15 years ago, summer before 8th grade.

Kairi and Roxas sat on the pier together. Her birthday was a few days away and she was really excited for it.

"I love the summer. Do you know why?" She asked him.

"That's obvious." Roxas laughed.

Kairi smiled and watched the sunset. Roxas loved being around her. He couldn't believe that he had been friends with her for nearly four years now. She was always so bright and innocent. At the time, he didn't really have the best life, but Kairi always lifted his mood. She was like an escape to him. She was his best friend.

But this particular summer changed everything.

"You know that guy, Sora?" Kairi asked shyly.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"I... think he's... kinda cute." Kairi blushed.

Roxas knew Sora way before Kairi did because their parents were good friends. His parents decided to move here to Destiny Islands when Roxas was in second grade to be closer to them. Now that his father's auto shop was doing well, he had a feeling that his father would want to move his business back home to Twilight Town. His parents kept talking about moving.

"I... see." He responded.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Kairi nudged his shoulder playfully.

"It's... nothing. We're friends, aren't we? You can tell me anything."

Kairi always told him everything, even about boys that she liked. But by now, Roxas' feelings for her had gone beyond friendship. He really didn't understand it then. He thought that it was just a crush. But when he learned that Kairi liked Sora and that he was returning her feelings, everything went downhill. His family life got worse. Kairi didn't talk to him as much. He constantly missed her and wished that she could just be around him to make him feel better, but she was spending the majority of her time with Sora. He was losing his light—his best friend. He was losing the one person that he trusted in this world.

The next summer, his family moved back to Twilight Town and the only time he ever heard about Kairi was through Sora, who started dating her the first year of high school.

End of Flashback

o.o.o

But now, the tables have turned.

He finally had a chance to keep Kairi in his life for good.

In a way, he felt like their roles had changed ever since they thought that Sora died.

He was her light now.

Kairi walked past him and sat down on the couch, still holding the glass of water in her hand.

"I have a few things planned for today, but... I can't tell you." Roxas said to her. "We can go whenever you're ready."

"Huh?" Kairi gave him a confused look.

"It's a special day." Roxas sat down next to her.

"Oh... yeah..."

o.o.o

Sora made his way back to Namine and Riku's house. The sun was setting and he hoped that they wouldn't be mad at him for falling asleep on the beach. They would probably understand his reasoning if he told them, but he really didn't want to talk about it.

He came to the front door. He could hear Ken crying and Namine and Riku fighting to calm him down; Riku sounded grumpy and Namine was just upset that he wasn't helping her. Sora sighed and opened the door.

"I have to be at work in an hour! Why is he crying?" Riku complained.

"I don't know, but if you'd at least try to figure it out, maybe he wouldn't anymore!"

Namine and Riku were so caught up in their fight that they didn't even notice Sora walk in. He wondered how often this went on. Ken was crying on the floor. Sora went over to him and knelt down.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

Ken sniffled and hugged Sora. "Mommy and daddy won't stop fighting!"

Namine and Riku finally realized that things were a little quieter and turned around. Namine suddenly felt embarrassed. Riku retreated back to his room and proceeded to get ready for work.

"I'm sorry that you had to hear that. Both of you." Namine said.

"It's fine."

Ken had stopped crying and now was distracted by a remote controlled race car. Sora and Namine stood in the kitchen; she was still trying to recover from the fight earlier.

"Every couple fights... it's just... normal." Namine said.

"I know. But really, it's okay."

"No... Ken should not have... seen that..."

Although he agreed with her, he didn't say anything. Riku walked out of his room, dressed and ready to go to work.

"Sorry, Namine." He said right before he left.

A few moments after, Sora also apologized for being out so long without telling them.

"I know why you left. It's okay."

Sora nodded and was about to walk out of the kitchen when Namine said his name once again.

"Sora... how do you feel about her now?"

"I don't know."

o.o.o

Roxas led Kairi down to the shore. He laid out a picnic blanket and set down the basket and put the fruit vase in the middle, making sure that it wouldn't fall. Kairi seemed impressed by the effort and they sat down.

Kairi looked at the fruit bouquet. "Can I...?"

"Of course, silly." Roxas laughed and handed her a strawberry stick. She reached for it, but he didn't let her take it. He pointed it at her mouth in a playful manner.

"Roxas..." She shyly looked away.

"Alright, here." Roxas gave it to her and scooted a little closer. Kairi slowly nibbled on it.

"I... like it."

"That's good."

He observed her as she continued to eat. A picnic at night on the beach was sort of simple, but Roxas knew that Kairi wouldn't go for anything big. He hoped that this at least was enough.

He was having trouble restraining himself from kissing her, though.

As the moon rose in the sky, Kairi and Roxas sat there in a comfortable silence. He didn't have anything in particular to talk about and neither did she; they were just enjoying the moment together.

At half past nine, Roxas decided it was time for Kairi to have her birthday cake. She was probably full from the fruit, but he at least wanted to make her birthday complete by letting her blow out a candle. Roxas set the small cake down in front of her. 'Happy Birthday Kairi' was written in pink icing across it. Roxas put the candle in the middle and lit it.

"Don't forget to make a wish." He told her.

"Roxas... this is... so nice of you... you really didn't have to do all of this..."

"Hurry, or the wind will put it out."

Kairi shut her eyes. She knew what she wished for, but for it to come true she would have to live in an alternate universe. She blew out the candle. Roxas clapped his hands and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, Roxas."

Like Roxas suspected, she wasn't hungry anymore. He gathered their stuff and carried it back to the car. Right before Kairi was about to get inside, Roxas stopped her.

"Wait, I have one more surprise."

They went over to an empty spot in the parking lot. Roxas pulled two sparklers out of his bag and handed one to Kairi. She held it with a confused look on her face. Roxas took out his match and lit it for her and then lit his own. Kairi jumped at the sudden sparks; it was like she had never seen such a thing before. Roxas found this hard to believe, but maybe it was because she just hasn't felt excitement in a long time. As he held out his sparkler, he watched her doing the same. She was actually smiling.

The sparkler went out, but Roxas wasn't done. He still had a bunch of fireworks left, but he decided to only use the sparkler fountain. They both took a few steps back and the firework erupted before them, shooting up pretty yellow, red and purple sparks about six feet in the air. Kairi gasped with joy and watched in awe. Roxas put his arm around her. She really seemed to be enjoying it. He had not seen her like this in a long time.

"It's so... pretty!"

For a moment, Kairi had almost forgotten about her pain. She had almost forgotten about everything she had gone through. To her, this moment was the best one she had in a while. She hugged Roxas tightly and watched until the firework went out.

'He cares so much about me...'

"I don't know how to thank you, Roxas... for everything..."

Roxas smiled and kissed her forehead. "Just stay with me. That's all that I ask for."

Kairi didn't respond, but she kept holding onto him. She felt a ton of different emotions; some she wasn't even sure if she was supposed to be feeling.

She really had a great time.

o.o.o

A/N: I wanted to get this chapter out today. I really don't know when I will be updating after this. I get to go to the hospital. (YAY... not). Haha, but no worries.

I have many more plans for this story. Don't give up on any of the characters just yet!

Well, except for Vanitas. I can understand your frustration, but I needed him in this story.

Please review and until next time!