Sorry It Took So Long, Been Super Busy. Enjoy 3
A/N: Another exciting chapter in the Christmas land of Kingdom Hearts! I knew that I had to incorporate this important decoration into a chapter somehow, as it is one of the most recognized in the Christmas tradition. Thank you to all my readers!
I don't own the rights to any of the Kingdom Hearts characters
Chapter 6: Sparkling Spruce
Lexaeus & Larxene
Though it was only a little after 7 a.m., Larxene found herself wide awake as she lay in her bed and stared at the soft rays of light dancing across her ceiling. It seemed unusual that she would be awake at such an early hour after climbing into her bed in the middle of the night. She'd spent a good portion of the night cuddled on the couch next to her adoring boyfriend watching the beautiful array of colors play in the fireplace.
But today was going to be something special, she could just sense it and couldn't sleep any longer. She smiled to herself as she stretched her arms up over her head. She was just about to turn her body so that she could slide her feet into her slippers sitting near the edge of her bed, when suddenly her bedroom door pushed open slowly.
She looked up to see who it was when her eyes fell upon a very romantic sight. Lexaeus was holding a tray in one hand that held a variety of fresh fruits, bacon and a stack of pancakes.
"Good morning" He said as he pushed the door open further and stepped into her room.
"You're awake early" She grinned into the darkness.
"Couldn't sleep any longer" She saw his large shoulders shrug once.
Larxene smiled as she watched him move slowly through the room. She reached one hand over and quickly tapped the side of her lamp the was next to her bed sending a dim light throughout the space.
"Breakfast in bed" Lexaeus placed the tray near the end of the bed and slowly bent forward towards Larxene.
"You spoil me" She said with a smile right before she felt his lips press light against hers.
As he stood back up, he reached out a hand and ran it slowly through her blonde hair. "It's not hard to do when you have someone amazing to share your life with"
Larxene smiled once more as she watched him bend forward for another kiss. "I agree" she whispered as he stood back up.
Lexaeus reached a hand back and grabbed for something on the tray. He cleared his throat softly. "For you my sweet" He brought his hand forward and was delighted in the gasp from Larxene at the sight.
"Oh, Lex!" Her eyes fell upon the small ornament resting in the palm of his hand. It was two dark colored hearts that intertwined around small bolts of lightning. Their names and the year were printed in an almost scribble type of writing that was clearly done by a guy.
She reached her hand forward and wrapped it around the decoration, it seemed much bigger in size now that it rested within her smaller hand. Her fingers skimmed over the rough clay surface as she turned it slowly in her hand to examine it closer.
"I know it's not much, but I just thought that…"
Before Lexaeus could finish his sentence, Larxene had leaned forward and pressed her lips onto his cheek. She sat back and continued to smile at him.
"It's prefect" She glanced at the ornament in her hand and then back to her boyfriend. "Plus you made it, so it's even more special"
She leaned over and carefully placed the decoration onto her nightstand before turning to look at Lexeaus. "Thank you"
"You are most welcome. Now let's eat before it get cold"
~xoxoxoxoxoxoxox~
After a very delightful breakfast in bed, Larxene found herself in an even happier mood then when she had first woke up. Which on most days for her, was an almost impossible task. As she and Lexaeus moved around the living space, being sure to put on many warm layers of winter gear, she reveled in the silence that floated around the castle. The crackling fire that had danced so warmly the night before now seemed to be asleep with a few small embers still glowing orange from within.
"Ready?" She turned her head to see Lexaeus wrapping a black and silver scarf around his neck and tucking it into his cloak.
Larxene nodded a few times "Just about"
"You two are up awful early"
They turned there heads to towards the staircase at the front of the Castle to see whom exactly was addressing them.
"Good morning Xigbar" Lexaeus raised a hand and waved a few times as he watched the other make take a few more steps downwards.
"Mornin'" Xigbar replied through a slight yawn. "Where are you guys off to this early?"
"We're going to cut down a tree for Christmas" Larxene said as she pulled her fuzzy white earmuffs closer to her head.
"Well, make sure it's a big one" Xigbar said as he moved past them and headed towards the kitchen, clearly in need of some coffee.
"We will!" Larxene called back before turning to face her boyfriend. "Okay, now I'm ready"
Lexaeus held out one of his hands as the other pulled hard on the large front door.
As they stepped into the cold morning air, a soft breeze blew soft onto Larxene's face and made her soft blonde hair dance behind her back. She tucked a few loose strands behind one of her ears as she let Lexaeus lead her down the large stone steps. She felt a slight shiver run up her spine, but smiled into the rising sun as her body began to adjust to the change in temperature.
"Are you cold?" Lexaeus looked down at her as he asked and watch her shake her head with a smile.
"No, just excited" She watched the questioning look in his eyes for a moment before tugging on his hand. "C'mon"
Lexeaus walked so that he could keep in-step with his girlfriend as they walked through the snow and towards the thick green wooded area that surrounded the south side of the Castle. He watched as Larxene lifted her boots up and over the snow with much larger steps then he had to and found himself chuckling at the cute way her body would twist trying not to fall.
Larxene turned her head towards the soft laughter and continued to walk forwards. "What?" she asked.
"Oh nothing really" Lexaeus shook his head with a smile. "It's just they way you're walking"
"I walk funny?" Larxene stopped and put one of her hands on her hip. "Is that what you're laughing at?"
Lexaeus stopped laughing and placed his hand gently under her chin as he spoke. "No my sweet, I love the way you walk" He bent towards her for a kiss and watched as she grinned.
Larxene huffed a little "It's 'cause of all this snow" She pointed out at the fresh white powder that was surrounding them. "We've got a lot of it this year"
"I thought you liked snow" Lexaeus said as he held tight to her hand and they continued to walk.
"Oh, I do" Larxene said as she stepped carefully into a large snow drift at the edge of the woods. "But it's a little difficult to walk through all of this"
Lexaeus grinned and in a single move bent over to scoop Larxene up into his arms. She let out a small squeak which he thought was adorable as he looked at the shocked look on her face. "I can carry you through the woods"
Larxene watched as he smiled and moved his face close to hers and rubbed his nose against the tip of hers. "I can walk ya know" She said with a playful laugh.
"Yeah, but this is more fun and much faster" He said as his feet plowed easily through the deeper sections of snow.
"Fine." Larxene said with a sigh, "But I get to pick out the tree"
"Deal" Lexaeus nodded and walked deeper into the heart of the frozen forest.
~xoxoxoxoxoxoxox~
After they had walked for several minutes without talking, Lexaeus glanced down at the women in his arms and watched as her eyes dated around the woods. The look on her face was not one of terror or concern, but peaceful.
"Penny for your thoughts" He said playfully as he carried her through the winding space of tall pines and sleeping white birch trees.
"It's so beautiful" She half whispered as her eyes stared up at all the snow and ice that clung tight to the surrounding trees and bushes.
Lexaeus didn't take his eyes from her face, but smiled as he replied "I agree completely"
He watched as Larxene smiled at him before she nuzzled her head into one of his shoulders. His eyes watched as the ends of his scarf blew soft onto her face and she wiggled her nose at the touch.
They were content in the silence as Lexaeus' boots crunched through the frozen wonderland, when suddenly Larxene gasped loudly.
"What is it?" Lexaeus asked as he stopped with a halt.
Larxene began to wiggle and push her way from his arms. "That one!" She used a single finger and pointed a short distance ahead of where they had stopped. Her feet landed with a soft crunch into the snow and she trudged forward.
Lexaeus looked up to see the large spruce tree that she was heading for. The dark green color in it's needles was a defiant standout compared to the dullness in the other pines around it. He watched as Larxene reached a hand forward and wrapped her fingers around one of the tips of the branches, then she bent forward to smell the sweetness of the pinesap held in the needles.
"This one is perfect" She turned with a smile towards Lexaeus who had stopped in front of her. "Look at it, the sun is shining right on this tree like it's a sign"
Lexaeus scratched the back of his neck as he stared at the large pine tree in front of them. "It certainly is a big one" He said more to himself then to her.
Realizing the doubting look on his face, Larxene said in a mock tone "What? Too big for you to carry home?"
He looked back at her a little gob smacked. "Not at all" He said with a small huff as he pulled back a flap near the base of his cloak exposing an axe he had tucked into his belt.
"You sure it's this one?" Lexaeus asked pulling the axe out.
Larxene looked up at the tree and then back to her boyfriend. "Absolutely" she said with a nod.
As he walked towards the tree Lexaeus shook his head a few times. "Okay then, stand back"
Doing as she was told, Larxene let go of the branch she had been holding and took a few steps back from the tree. She tucked both her hands into her pockets and watched as he raised the large axe outwards from his body.
When the metal axe made contact with the hard base of the tree, the sound radiated in a hollow sounding echo through the silence of the forest. Larxene glanced up towards the top of the large tree and watched as the soft bits of snow that had been sitting atop the branches began to fall from the top and towards the ground with each thud from the axe. She watched as Lexaeus took a step to the side so that he could hit the tree from a new angle.
He was halfway through cutting completely through the base, when they heard a voice that seemed to be calling in the distance.
Larxene watched as Lexaeus stopped what he was doing and held the axe still.
"Did you hear something?" he asked her briefly and watched as she nodded her head a few times.
They both began to look around for the sound of the voice, but with all the snow and density of the trees, it was hard to make out much of anything.
"Hello!" There was a new voice from the one they had heard before.
Larxene raised one of her hands to her eyes and turned her head to shield out the sun, her eyes scanning for any movement.
"Hello?" She called towards where they had heard the voices.
"Over here!" It was a female voice, that was clear.
As she scanned through the brightness of the morning sunlight glaring off the snow, her eyes finally spotted two figures waving at them as they walked closer to the tree. She squinted her eyes and try to focus on the faces of the couple approaching them.
She saw that one had shoulder length dark hair and her dark blue coat was trimmed in white fur. She was waving a mitten covered hand that was also white, and matched her fuzzy white earmuffs. The other, a male, was wearing a brown leather jacket also trimmed in fur and a pair of black leather gloves.
She gasped upon reconization of the two. "Rinoa!" she squealed as she pulled her hand from her face and began to take large running steps towards them.
The other female let go of the males hand that she had previously been holding as she sprinted towards Larxene. The two collided into a giggling hug.
"What're you doing out here so early?" Larxene asked with a smile as she pulled back from the hug to look Rinoa in the face.
"Just going for a walk through the forest before the winds blow the snow around to much" the male voice sounded as he approached.
"Hi Leon" she stepped forward and gave him a hug.
"We were trying to figure out where all the noise was coming from, but I guess we found it" Rinoa said as she pointed towards Lexaeus and waved.
Larxene pulled away from Leon and turned towards Lexaeus. "Yeah, just getting a tree for the Castle" she pointed to the spruce that was starting to lean.
"Need some help with that?" Leon asked walking towards Lexaeus.
"Not yet" he replied raising the axe once again. "But I might need some help getting it back to the Castle, now that I think about it" he swung again and the sound thundered around them.
Larxene looked up at the large tree and then back to her boyfriend. "Yeahhh" she drew out the word. "I didn't think about that"
"Well then," she felt as Rinoa stepped next to her and looped one of her arms threw hers. "It's a good thing we were here to help" she chuckled as she pointed between herself and Leon.
Both the girls started to laugh then heard a different sound in the trunk of the tree as Lexaeus drew the axe back once more.
"Timber!" he yelled as the tree creaked loudly. Rinoa and Larxene stepped back quickly from where it was falling.
When the tree hit the forest floor, more of the large pines around them dropped some of the large piles of snow they held on their branches from the quake of the large spruce falling.
"Awe," Rinoa looked up and let some of the smaller flakes land on her face. "It's almost like the other trees are crying because they lost a friend"
Larxene reached one of her hands out and touched the trunk of the closet tree to them. "Well, they needn't be sad." she smiled at the bark "This tree will have a very good new home and look beautiful"
"Yeah" Lexaeus nodded as he pulled his cloak back and tucked the axe back into it's protective sheath. "Let's get this big guy back to the Castle" he gestured towards Leon for help and watched as he moved to grab the other side of the rope that Lexaeus was pulling from inside his pocket.
"How do you know it's a guy tree?" Larxene asked as she watched them begin to tie tight knots into the rope and around the trunk of the fallen tree.
Lexaeus shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I just assumed, because it's such a large tree"
"That does make sense" Leon commented as he secured another knot.
"Well, whatever the tree may be, it's still beautiful" Rinoa said as Larxene opened her mouth, but then shut it.
After giving the rope a few good tugs to make sure the bonds were secure, Lexaeus and Leon positioned themselves so that were able to move side-by-side as they drug the tree through the woods.
"Lead the way ladies" Leon said with a smile.
Rinoa turned with her arm still hooked into Larxene's and they both started walking through the snow.
"Just follow our path to get back" Larxene pointed to the large tracks in front of them.
"I only see one set of footsteps" Rinoa said glancing down at the ground.
"Yeah," Larxene said as she looked over her shoulder quickly "That's because my rugged man carried me through here."
"Awe, how romantic!" Rinoa squealed as she hugged tight to Larxene's arm.
She looked over her shoulder to just see both the guys roll their eyes as the girls continued to walk and giggle. They were deep in conversations of things like holiday shopping, favorite TV shows and upcoming events, that they had hardly noticed the Castle grounds were already coming into view.
"That seemed like a short walk" Larxene sighed.
"Speak for yourself" she heard Leon huff out from behind them.
The girls stepped over the large snow pile that was collected at the side of the grounds before they stopped and turned to watch the guys drag the tree forward and out of the woods.
"Thanks so much for helping, Leon" Larxene said with a smile as the guys continued to walk forward.
"No problem" he nodded once and saw that Rinoa was winking at him.
As the girls turned to continue walking, they noticed that there was movement near the front of the stone steps. Everyone looked around and saw that there was what looked like two small walls made of snow that had recently been built. They were a few feet from each other.
"What's that?" Rinoa pointed to the snow walls.
"No idea" Larxene shook her head a few times. "They weren't there when we left a little while ago"
Without warning, a snowball came zooming between the girls, hitting Leon in the shoulder.
"Hey!" he yelled looking at the spot of his jacket where the snow still sat. "What gives?"
Suddenly there was a very familiar face poking up over the top of one of the snow walls.
"Sorry about that" Xigbar said with an apologetic smile. "I thought one of you were Xaldin"
He rubbed a gloved hand over his face as he stood slowly from behind his protective wall.
"What are you doing out here?" Larxene asked as the group approached the front steps of the Castle.
"Well isn't it obvious?" Xigbar said pointing between the two snow walls and to a large pile of round snowballs already made and setting next to him. "Xaldin and I are having a snowball fight…or trying to anyways."
"At 10:30 in the morning?" Lexaeus asked as both the girls moved to lift the top of the tree and start walking up the steps.
Xigbar placed one of his hands on his hips and asked with a shrug. "What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing," Rinoa said as she carefully moved up the stone steps "I guess. Is it just the two of you?"
Xigbar nodded a few times. "Yeah. I asked Demyx, but he wasn't in the mood. Said he was gonna make some hot chocolate, then spend the day playing video games with Zexion, Roxas and Axel."
"It's too pretty to be indoors" Larxene smiled into the sunshine as they got closer to the front door.
"Yeah, but it's pretty cold" Lexaeus said hoisting the heavier end of the tree up the last of the steps.
Larxene and Rinoa both shrugged their shoulders as they each reached a hand forward and pulled on the large door.
"Have fun!" they called over their shoulders in unison and walked into the Castle.
Xigbar watched as Leon and Lexaeus each raised one of their hands to wave quickly before disappearing with the tree into the warm confides of the Castle. The door shut and he sighed once loudly. He was about to just give up and go back into the Castle, when he was hit in the side of the face with a large snowball.
A/A/N: I am so sorry for the delay in this story. I got stuck in a bit of a rut and have been working on some other stuff. But, I think since I've been seeing more sunshine these days it's put me in a cheery mood again. Thank you all for you patience and I'm so happy to have followers! *doing a happy dance*