Three more chapters.

Thank you NJoy for helping me through my writer's block on this chapter!

Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy © to Disney and Square Enix!

Final Fantasy © to Square Enix!

All OCs © to their respective creators!

Chapter 37: Gifts

"We're not setting up yet, Lea!"

Lea poked his head up over the pile of every single pillow in the house. "When's Mom coming back?"

"She'll be back soon." Reno smiled at his son as he pulled some condiments out of the refrigerator.

Lea flopped onto the pillow pile, bouncing excitedly as he counted every pillow to pass the time before the door opened. "Mom!"

Cissnei came inside, holding a grocery bag. "I'm home! Now, are we ready to get started, birthday boy?"

"Of course!"

"Do we have everything?"

Roxas looked down at the backpacks laying by the door. "We should. I packed everything on the list and double-checked it all."

"And Isa should be back with the rest of the groceries." Xion put some items into a small ice chest and closed the lid. "We'll be able to leave when Axel gets off work."

"I can't believe he had to work on his birthday."

"He didn't seem to mind. We're celebrating after he gets home anyway."

"Yeah."

The door opened and Isa came inside. "Looks like you two have everything ready."

"Yep." Xion patted the ice chest. "I left some room for whatever you got."

"Sounds good."

As Isa unloaded his groceries, the door opened again as Axel came inside.

"Happy birthday!"

Reno tied off the bedsheets, forming them into a makeshift tent as Lea laid out all the pillows under the tents.

Three of them, set up around a small fireplace in their home.

Lea loved stories about camping, but Radiant Garden didn't have a good place for it.

So they camped here.

"Are you sure you don't want a cake this year."

"I'm sure."

"Alright."

Stepping around, Reno began setting up the fireplace. Placing kindling and wood before lighting it with magic.

Part of the fun of camping was setting up, so they always did it together.

Lea pulled blankets over the pillow piles, one for each of them.

He never had a big party. His friends would give him presents at school later. His favorite way to spend his birthday was with his parents. They were always so busy working for the guard that sometimes he only saw them at night.

But today, they would spend all this time with him.

His favorite day of the year.

"So you've never actually camped in the woods?"

Axel shook his head. "The big wooded areas in Radiant Garden were all in private gardens, and the only other place was the rocky area around it, which wasn't fun for camping. We just always camped out in our house."

"Then this is the first real camping trip." Roxas picked up his backpack. "And we get to do it together."

"Exactly." Axel ruffled the boy's hair. "I'm excited."

Glancing around, Isa whistled. "Kosho! Where is he? I know he was here earlier."

"I'll go look." Taking off the backpack, Xion took off through the house.

"We're going to the place where you and Caden train right?"

"Yep. It's a big clearing, so there won't be any problems with branches on the ground or big rocks. Caden and I have cleared that area a lot."

"That's great."

"Lea," Isa sighed, "are you sure you don't want presents?"

"I'm sure. My family didn't do presents as much anyway. Birthdays were more about spending time with each other. And, as corny as it sounds, that really was the gift since my parents were always really busy. Birthdays were special days where we spent it all together."

"I like that."

Xion came back. "Isa… he's under the bed."

"Oh no…"

"Really!?"

"Of all days…"

BOOM!

A crack of thunder shook the house.

"I thought it wasn't supposed to rain!"

Peeking outside, Axel looked up at the clouds. "Looks like they're moving in from the ocean side. Must be one of those sudden storms that come in during the spring."

"But that's not fair!" Xion stomped her foot. "We were going to give you the best camping trip for your birthday."

"Now we can't…"

Turning around, Axel smiled widely. "And why not? I never had a camping trip outside before. We'll just do it the way I always did it."

Just like old times.

Holding the small hot dogs over the fireplace flames, Lea watched his mom pulling out the makes for s'mores.

S'mores were better than cake anyway.

Reno reached over, pulling back his hot dog. "Perfect."

A knock at the door.

"Seriously?" He stood up, putting the hot dog on a plate as he went to the door. Lea listened, not hearing much due to the whispered voices.

Must be another guard.

They always spoke quietly.

And it was TOTALLY not because Lea was a known to be nosy and an eavesdropper.

A minute later, the door closed, and Reno came back with a large envelope and a smile on his face. "Looks like you got a present after all."

"What is it?"

Reno handed the envelope down to his son, the boy tearing open the top to reveal a letter.

"What's it say, dear?" Cissnei asked.

Lea read through it first, smiling. Then, he read aloud:

"Dear Lea Mills,

It is my honor to offer you the position of Apprentice within the castle laboratory. You will be allowed to skip school as we will take over all of your education from this point onwards.

We are excited to have you join our team. And we look forward to seeing how you will grow and expand our research.

Lord of Radiant Garden,

Ansem the Wise"

Lea did not read the tiny hand-written note aloud at the bottom, but he made him snicker.

"P.S.

This means that you and your friend, Mr. Leingod, can stop trying to sneak into my castle to get into the lab."

And he pulled out a small badge on a lanyard with his name on it.

"That's amazing, dear." Cissnei hugged her boy, kissing his forehead. "We're so proud of you."

"Yeah, we are! Our boy, the scientist!"

The boy looked down at the badge with a smile on his face. "Let's have s'mores now to celebrate!"

"Agreed!"

This was the best birthday present ever!

Lea tied off the bedsheets into makeshift tents as Roxas laid out pillows under the four tents that surrounded the fireplace in the dining hall.

Isa, listening to the thudding of rain on the rooftop, put the hot dogs on metal sticks to cook over the fire.

Xion began setting out the materials to make s'mores.

Axel felt his smile fall as he remembered the last time he'd had a birthday. The letter from Ansem the Wise.

The start of his apprenticeship.

The day after that, he began the steps that would lead to him becoming a Nobody.

He was kind of hoping the camping in the woods would help him forget that day.

"Axel," Roxas looked up, "you ok? You've been standing there for a minute."

"I'm ok… It's just, the last time I had a birthday was the day that I got my letter to apprentice to Ansem. I started the next day, and met Xehanort the next day. It was kinda the beginning of the end for me."

Xion looked up. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought I would be ok, but I do keep thinking about it."

Isa stood up, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, I have been thinking about it too. But it's over. We're here now."

Lea sighed before smiling softly. "Yeah… We're together."

He smiled down at the two kids who looked up at him.

The two kids he practically raised during their time of the Organization, one of which was his legal charge now.

This was his gift… the best gift he could have.

A family.

A family who cared and loved him, just like his parents did.

He only wished they could be here to see them.

"So, s'mores?"

"Show us how to make them." Roxas grinned. "We don't know."

Plopping down, Axel laughed. "Well then, let me educate you two."

Hope you all enjoyed!