Chapter Text
Xion wasn’t sure why she was startled awake, but at her first conscious thought, she was already was sitting up in bed before cracking her eyes open. The sun was already up but the room was familiar, or it was starting to be familiar at least. Her backpack hung on a hook by the door and her school things were on the floor where she’d left them.
Her sloth plushie her oldest brothers had gotten for her had fallen off her bed in the middle of the night and she reached to grab it. She laid it on her pillows and rubbed at her eyes.
Her welcome home blanky that Aunt Aerith made was across the foot of her bed. It was nice. Really nice, she loved her blanky, but it was strange.
Xion was used to things she could ‘use’ and things she could ‘borrow’ and things that were to be ‘shared’. These things though, were hers. She had things that belonged just to her and she could keep them safe in the room just for her. Having a room that was just hers was brand new and exciting at first. Now though, she’d been in the Strifehart home for nearly three months and she couldn’t help but wonder how long ‘forever’ was.
She had asked Ventus and Vanitas how long they had been here, but it had only been months. They’d moved in the previous summer when they’d been adopted. Reiku had only come a few weeks after her so this forever home was still new for him too.
The others had been different. When she’d asked Riku how long he’d been here, his answer had been ‘since i was a baby’. That was a long, long time.
Sora and Roxas were the same. They’d both almost looked confused by the question but it was Roxas who smiled at her. “We’ve always been here.”
Sora clarified that with - “Well we grew up in the other house but daddy and papa moved us to this house. They’ve always been our daddies.”
A forever family. That’s what they meant. The house changed but the family didn’t.
Xion crawled out of bed and put her slippers on. Those had been a Christmas gift too. When she found the bathroom was free she figured she’d been sleeping for longer than she’d thought. The house had three bathrooms, one down the hall, one attached to their daddies room and a little one in the basement. Even that wasn’t always enough.
It wasn’t terrible, not by any means, but they all had a schedule for who’s turn it was to take a bath. Seven kids trying to bathe a day was a lot.
After a stop at the bathroom Xion crept down the hallway, keeping her footsteps light as she looked around. She didn’t hear anyone talking but the TV was on a low volume. When she finally peeked in, Squall was there. He was on the couch with his legs folded up underneath him and his laptop on his lap. He was working on something again. Probably school stuff.
“Hey, sleepy head.” He greeted. “You hungry?”
“Uh, yeah.” She smiled a little. Sometimes she still wondered if there were right or wrong answers. Some families were more sticklers for answers than others. This was a nice house, they talked a lot which was funny when both daddies didn’t talk much.
Daddy turned to her with a smile and set his computer aside. “Well, let’s see what we got.”
She smiled and waited for him to get up and head into the kitchen before following him. “You can cook? Sora and Roxas said you can’t.”
He laughed quietly. “You know, when i met papa, that was true. I could make sandwiches and eat out of a can. Everything else was beyond me.”
“Really?”
“Yep. In the last couple of years though, i’ve gotten much better. I can definitely make breakfast. Pancake?”
“Yeah!” She said instantly, “Can i help?”
“Of course you can. You know, when i first started dating your papa, he cooked for me all the time.”
“Is that why you fell in love with him?” She asked, staring up at him. She didn’t know love stories happened out of Disney movies.
Daddy laughed again, louder this time as he pulled out a bowl from the fridge. She realized it was batter after he unwrapped it. “You know, it was one of the reasons. No one had ever cooked for me like that before. It was special every time he did it. I still like it when he cooks just for me.”
“That sounds real nice.” Xion said, pushing the stool towards the stove. It wasn’t the first time she’d gotten to help make pancakes but it was her first time with Squall. “How did he fall in love with you back?”
“You’ll have to ask him.” Daddy said, turning the stove top on to heat up. “It’s a mystery to me too. You should like who you marry though. Not just love them but like them.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not always.” Daddy said, pouring the batter in the pan and handing Xion a spatula. She’d had a little practice now at flipping and was sure she could do it by herself. “It’ll be important for you later though.”
“When i get married?”
He just hummed, leaning against the counter beside her while her cookie was supervised. “You’re a little young to be worried about getting married.”
“But i will someday.” She beamed. “And maybe i’ll be like you and papa. You like each other.”
“Yeah, that helps.” He mused. Xion liked it when his face was relaxed with a happy mood. When he was working it was almost like he was wearing a mask, he was so serious. “Are you planning to get married sometime soon?”
Xion just snorted and poked at the pancake with the corner of her spatula. “No, but i will.”
“I believe you. I never thought i would but i met papa and it just happened.”
“Were you surprised?”
“Very.”
She flipped her pancake with a hum, it was only a little lopsided. “Where is papa? Where is everyone else?”
“It’s Saturday, baby girl. Papa’s at work and he took almost everyone with him. Ventus and Reiku are downstairs playing games. You’re welcome to play with them after you eat.”
“What are you doing?”
“Grading some papers but you can stay up here too if you want.”
Xion liked the way Squall always explained things without her having to ask so many questions. He didn’t mind questions either. He’d been answering them for a long time.
She continued to make her pancakes and Squall pulled out a second bowl so he could scramble her an egg to go with it. He could cook even though the others said he couldn’t. She thought that was funny. Like it was a secret they should know but somehow didn’t.
Xion also liked the one on one time with him. She wasn’t sure why she’d gotten to sleep in but maybe that was just something she could do. She went to classes with the others sometimes but on those days she was already awake and happy to go with everyone else.
If she got to soak up Squall’s attention alone like this than maybe she’d stay behind with Ventus and Rei more often.
“When did you know you loved papa?” She asked, shoving a square of pancake into her mouth. Squall sat at the table across from her while she ate and she was delighted that he did instead of going back to his teacher work. She liked having a daddy and a papa.
“When did i know?” He repeated and actually looked like he was thinking about it. How many answers could this have?
“I guess i realized i loved papa when i realized i missed him.”
“Missed him?” She asked, not understanding.
“Yeah.” He was smiling again but it was the same look he had when he looked at papa. “You know i had friends and people i knew and people i went to school with and it was… a lot. I was happy to see them when i ran into them. They’d invite me out sometimes and we’d hang out. Some of us had classes together. They were my friends but it was…a bit effortless on my part.”
“Effort…less?”
“Yeah.” Daddy leaned his arms on the table. “I saw them all the time and i never gave it much thought. Plans just sort of happened for when we’d see each other and it was routine. Then i moved away and they would call sometimes. That was fine with me. We were friends but we were far apart and that was fine. I knew it wasn’t forever, i’d see them again. I didn’t think about it much.”
Xion wasn’t sure she’d like not seeing her friends for a long time.
“Papa was different,” he said. “He would go on deliveries and i’d wait for him to come back. I’d wait for him to call me to let me know where he was. We would go out to dinner and then we’d both head home and i’d miss him. I wanted to be around him all the time.”
“More than your other friends.”
“Way more. At that time i hadn’t seen my old friends for a few months but going a few days without Cloud was awful. I wanted him to be there whenever i had free time. I missed him when he was away and i never got tired of being with him. I guess that’s when i realized i loved him.”
“Was it the same for him?” Xion asked.
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“Do people fall in love at the same time?”
He looked amused. “Sometimes they do, but not always. Sometimes love can be real slow. With papa, it happened so fast i didn’t even notice.”
Xion ate another bite. “That sounds nice. I wanna fall in love fast.”
“Not too fast, you don’t want to miss it.” He said. “And not too soon, you’re way too little to be thinking about love.”
“Nu uh!”
“Yeah huh.” He laughed.
“Was papa your first love?” She asked, almost refusing to get off the subject she was interested in.
“First, huh?” he closed his eyes for a moment. “When i was younger, i didn’t think so. I had a crush on one of my friends growing up. I had a big crush on a girl when i was thirteen too. There were a few people here and there that caught my attention and i thought i knew about crushes and love.”
“You did?”
“I thought so, but when i met papa it was different. Even at the time i didn’t know why it was so different.” Daddy explained. “The feelings i had for him then were so much bigger than all the other things i’d ever felt. Combined.”
“Combined?”
“Combined.” He confirmed with a grin. “So i thought i’d had my first love when i was younger, but that was puppy infatuation, not love. I guess Cloud was my first love.”
“Does he know?”
“That he was first? I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask him some time.”
Xion smiled and licked the syrup from her fork. “You should.” She glanced at the door when her brothers shuffled in.
“Second breakfast?” Reiku asked, eyes sparkling. “Can we make more pancakes?”
“Yeah, you can both make one.” Daddy said. “It’s still a while till lunch. You two having fun?”
“Uh huh. We came to see if Xion was up yet and wanted to play too.” Ventus said, following Reiku towards the stove. He was allowed to turn it on and cook as long as Cloud or Squall were in the room.
“I do!” Xion said. “What’s second breakfast?”
Reiku looked so excited and that told her it was something from a book right before he answered. “Just what it sounds like. Second breakfast. It’s from Lord of the Rings.”
“A good book.” Daddy mused. “And if you want a snack later for elevenses you two better get a move on.”
“What’s the book about?” Ventus asked Reiku before snatching the bowl of batter from where Squall had left it. Daddy must have known they’d come out for more food since they hadn't cleaned up yet.
“Try not to grow up and fall in love too fast.” Daddy said while Reiku explained the plot of his book to Ven.
“I’ll try, but you make it look fun.” Xion said, her plate finally cleared. “Are you going to be with papa forever?”
“Forever.” Daddy agreed. “Just like how i’ll be your dad forever. We’re a family now.”
“Forever is a long time.”
He nodded faintly and reached out to fix a wild strand of her hair. “Someday when you’re bigger, forever won’t seem like it was long enough.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she hoped she got it someday. Forever seemed so big to her right now. A forever family was a challenge but it was one she hoped to keep. Xion didn’t want a new house and a new family. She was perfectly happy with this one.
“What was your wedding like?”
Daddy just smiled, not at all put off by all her questions. She was glad about that too. She had a lot to get through.