Chapter Text
Roxas stretched his shoulders. He’d give Yen Sid this over the Organization, at least when he sent them to eliminate random Heartless it actually felt like they were accomplishing something, instead of the task being meaningless busywork he expected was just supposed to fill his days.
This time, Naminé had joined him and Axel. It was technically speaking her first mission, but she already gelled well with Axel in combat. Roxas was equal parts amused and slightly jealous, but he knew it’d pass. His friends were allowed to have other friends.
Slightly more concerning was Axel’s attitude, not about Naminé, but in general. He’d always been able to tell when Axel wasn’t telling them something. And right now, he was keeping something secret.
“Axel,” he said, “You’ve been acting funny all day. What’s up?”
“Huh?” Axel said. “What do you mean, Rox?”
“He’s right,” Naminé added. “Is something bothering you, Lea?”
“What? Nah, just stress of the job, you know,” Axel said, with a wide smile that Roxas could tell was a diversionary tactic.
“He’s lying,” he confided in Naminé, and was rewarded with a knowing nod from her and a glare from Axel. “Spill. What’s wrong?”
“Seriously, Rox, nothing’s wrong,” Axel said, and to Roxas’s surprise, he seemed to be telling the truth. The conversation had carried them through the doors of the Mysterious Tower, and they were now climbing the stairs, heading towards the common room. Unconvinced, Roxas pulled off his gloves (he’d picked up another pair for missions in Twilight Town, as Xion would not appreciate it if he got his original pair dirty in the field).
“Then, why are you acting like this?” Naminé asked, a note of concern in her voice.
“Uh, no reason,” Axel said, eyeing the door of the common room. “Hey, I need to report to Yen Sid, so, you two go and make yourselves comfortable–”
“This again?” Roxas said, shaking his head. “I thought you knew better than this, Axel. We’re your friends. Talk to us.”
“He’s right,” Naminé added. She grabbed one of his arms, and Roxas grabbed the other. “Yen Sid can wait. Sit down with us and tell us what’s–”
The second they opened the door to the common room, they were met with a loud sound, as everyone living in the Tower (save Yen Sid and Vanitas, present but silent), stood up and shouted, “SURPRISE!”
Roxas blinked. “Surprise… what?”
Sora stepped towards them as they let go of Axel’s arms. “Roxas, Naminé, don’t you know what day it is?”
“…Friday?” Roxas asked, confused.
“Well, yes, but no! Guys… It’s your birthday!” Sora said, beaming with a smile bright enough to light the Tower by itself.
“It’s… what?” Roxas said. Naminé, next to him, had been struck speechless, her mouth hanging open.
“It’s you guys’s birthday! You’re sixteen today! Or, three,” Sora said, shrugging but still smiling.
“…What?” Roxas said, weakly.
“It’s… wait, are you messing with me, or…?” Sora asked.
“…What?”
Naminé blinked in surprise as Roxas continued mouthing the word “what”. Lea stretched his arms and chuckled. “Like I said, guys, nothing was wrong. I was just keeping you busy while they set this up.”
“You say that like you didn’t help plan it!” Kairi teased, walking over. “Happy birthday, guys! Come on, we’ve got cake and presents and everything!” She grabbed both their arms. “Make way for the birthday twins!” she called, and the group parted, revealing a table with two cakes sitting on it. One had sixteen candles on it, the other had three.
“Birthday twins?” Naminé asked with some amusement.
Kairi shrugged. “Born on the same day, makes you birthday twins.”
Roxas still looked lost. “You doing okay, Roxas?” Kairi asked.
He took a deep breath. “Kairi, I know you guys put a lot of effort into this, but can I talk to you, Sora, and Riku in private for a moment?”
Kairi frowned, confused. “Yeah, why?”
“Just… I’ll explain later. Please?”
Kairi and Naminé looked at each other, confused. “Yeah, come on. Sora, Riku, Roxas wants to talk to us,” Kairi said, grabbing her boyfriends’ arms.
Xion walked up to Naminé and Roxas. “Everything okay?” she asked, concerned.
Roxas forced a smile, and shook his head. “Yeah, I just… I need to ask them something. We’ll be back to the party in a bit, okay?”
Xion frowned. “Okay. Talk to me about it later?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.” She leaned over and kissed Roxas on the lips. “Early present, don’t worry, I got you something else, too.”
Finally, he smiled. “Thank you. I love you, Xion.”
“I love you, too, Roxas,” she said. Kairi waved from the door, having gathered Riku and Sora, and the four stepped out.
Roxas led them down the corridor to one of the smaller rooms on the floor. He ushered them through the door, and closed it behind him.
“What’s up, Roxas?” Sora asked.
Roxas took a deep breath. “Why are you celebrating the day Sora almost died?”
There was silence.
“What do you mean?” Sora asked, with more seriousness than usual.
“…I only exist because you almost died, Sora. I’m your Nobody. If you hadn’t become a Heartless, I wouldn’t be here at all. And…” he turned to Riku. “Look, I… I know I give you a lot of crap, but I don’t want to hurt you by pointing this out. But… it’s also the same day that the two of you fought, for real. It’s probably the lowest point in your collective relationship. Why are you commemorating that?”
“…That’s true,” Riku conceded. “But, it’s also the day Kairi saved him from turning into a Heartless. Or, brought him back from being one.”
“And more than that. It’s the day you and Naminé came into being,” Kairi said. “Yes, it was probably the most strain our friendship had ever been under. But, we didn’t break. I won’t pretend these idiots fighting over who got to save me was a turning point in how we felt about each other or anything, but we’re past that now.” She smiled, gently. “We have a choice in how to remember days in our history. And we’re choosing to remember that day as the day you and Naminé entered the worlds. Because that’s a good thing that happened that day. Does that make sense?” she asked him.
Roxas considered this. “I… guess that makes sense,” he said. “But, because Naminé and I existed, Sora–”
“Nope! None of that, mister! Because you and Naminé exist I have a kickass little sister and an adorable future brother-in-law!” Kairi said, mock-seriously, ruffling his hair.
Roxas found he was blushing too hard to argue. “All right, fine!” he gasped, pulling out from under her touch.
“So, it’s okay if you don’t want to go back to the party,” Riku started, but Roxas shook his head.
“No, it’s… I just… wanted to know you three were all right,” he muttered, not meeting their eyes.
Kairi and Sora broke into identical expressions of awe. “Aw, Roxas, that’s so kind of you!” Kairi said. “Such a softy!”
“Go… take care of… yourself,” Roxas ground out.
Kairi smirked. “‘Take care of myself’? That’s what I have them for,” she said, winking as she indicated Sora and Riku. Roxas and Sora’s faces both turned bright red.
Riku sighed. “I’m going back to the party before Lea sets the room on fire trying to light the candles.”
“That’s a good point, let’s do that,” Roxas said quickly. They left the room, Kairi’s snickering following them from behind all the way back.
“All good?” Xion asked as they stepped back into the room.
“All good,” Roxas said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her. She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Okay, enough with the cute, come over here and blow out the candles,” Lea called. Roxas and Xion looked at each other, then both smirked, and sidestepped towards the tables with the cakes, bending down so that Roxas could reach the candles.
“I can’t take you two anywhere,” Lea grumbled, but smiled. “Naminé?”
“I just… blow out the flame?” she asked.
Ven, standing beside her, nodded. “And make a wish!”
“They say that it won’t come true if you tell anyone what it was, though,” Aqua said, smiling.
“Really?” Naminé asked.
“Well, it’s not necessarily real,” Aqua explained. “Just something people tell kids.”
Vanitas, in the corner, snorted. “Really? We can shoot fire out of our hands but this is where we draw the line?”
Aqua glared at him, but held her tongue. Naminé, considering this, decided not to tell anyone what she had in mind. She closed her eyes, and blew.
“Wow. Sixteen in one go,” Kairi commented. “Good job!”
“So Roxas gets the easy one, huh?” Donald said, drily. Roxas glared at him. With effort, he and Xion configured themselves so he had a clear shot at the candles. In a single breath, he managed to blow out the last three.
“Congratulations!” Goofy said. “You know, Aqua, you forgot that if ya don’t blow them out all at once, the wish doesn’t come true.”
Aqua blinked. “It doesn’t?”
Goofy shrugged. “That was the rule I used with Maxie, at least. He always tried his hardest ta get them all.”
Roxas and Xion had straightened back up. “Wow, I’m dating an older boy. What’s my mom going to say?” Xion teased.
Roxas blushed a tiny bit. “Only by like, a month.”
“Stop smooching, eat cake,” Lea ordered, shoving a plate between them. “And eat it fast, I picked this up from Twilight Town and it’s probably gonna melt soon.”
“Melt?” Roxas asked, and then he focused on the cake in front of him. “Wait, is this…?”
“Ice cream cake. Sea-salt flavoured,” Lea said, grinning. “Happy birthday, Rox.” He stifled a laugh as Roxas’s eyes started to bug out of his head.
“Cake first, then presents,” Kairi ordered. “And the other one isn’t ice cream, Sora,” she said at the trepidatious look on Sora’s face.
Ventus approached Vanitas with a plate of cake. “Here,” he said, offering it. “It’s chocolate.”
Vanitas’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he took the plate anyway.
Yen Sid, who had been nearly forgotten on the couch, stood up. “I’m afraid I have no desire to bring down the mood, as it were,” he said. “Roxas, Naminé, I wish you many happy returns of the day, but I must take my leave.”
“I’m afraid we have to go as well, my dears,” Flora said, Fauna and Merryweather nodding behind her. “Have a very happy birthday!”
“Thanks for coming!” Naminé said brightly. She’d already had a better-than-usual mood that day, and it was still going up. She realized there’d likely be a crash at some point, but she knew Kairi would be there for her when it happened, so there was no point in dreading it.
The presentation of presents went well, Naminé ending up with several new brush sets, a set of watercolours, and more additions to her ever-growing mountain of coloured pencils. But the highlight of it all, for her, was Lea’s gift. He’d gotten her a portable CD player.
“Wait…” she asked, looking at the CD Aqua had given her to go with it. “Is this..?” “That’s the one you always listen to when we go to the record store, yeah,” Lea said.
“Lea picked it out,” Aqua said apologetically. “I’m sorry, all the bands I used to listen to don’t seem to really be your kind of music, so–” She was interrupted by Naminé throwing her arms around both of them.
“Thank you both so much!” she said, crying a little bit out of sheer happiness.
Across the room, Roxas had been presented with Xion’s modified wayfinder, and was clutching it like he’d just been handed a newborn baby, other presents appreciated, but forgotten.
“You like it?” Xion asked.
“I love it! Xion, I…!” Roxas found he couldn’t words. Xion beamed, and kissed his cheek.
“Aw, it looks like they’re having fun,” Sora said, from his position next to Kairi. She nodded, saying, “Shame we can’t have Xion’s be a surprise, but it’s coming up really quick.”
“That means you have like a month to get her a present, Roxas!” Riku called, teasing. Roxas turned to him, but instead of sniping back, merely gave him an entirely serious thumbs up.
Vanitas walked over to Roxas. “I… didn’t know what to…” he muttered gruffly.
Roxas nodded. “That’s okay, Van. I’ll consider your presence my presents,” he said, smirking. “Glad you came.”
Vanitas blushed. “I live here,” he blurted, and walked away.
Roxas smirked. “I’m proud of him.”
Xion frowned. “Does he seem… surlier than usual, to you?”
Ven sat down next to them. “Are you seeing it, too, Xion? I think I’m going to go talk to him. Do you mind?”
Roxas shrugged. “It’s a free Tower. And I mean, Kairi’s the party curator. Or party boss. Or whatever you call the person in charge.”
“Thanks. Hopefully we’ll both be right back,” Ven said, and stood back up, following Vanitas out of the door.
“Why are you following me, weakling?” Vanitas grumbled as Ventus followed him up the stairs.
“Cause you look like you’ve got something on your mind, loser,” Ven answered, calmly. Vanitas huffed.
Ven followed him out to the same balcony he’d been sitting on after reconciling with Aqua. Vanitas sat down without saying anything, staring out at the horizon.
Ven sat down beside him, waiting for Vanitas to talk.
“The old man wants to send me on a mission,” he said finally.
Ven hid his surprise. “On your own?” he asked.
“No. With fucking Sora,” Vanitas spat.
Ven considered this. “Is your problem with the fact that it’s Sora, or the fact that you’re being sent out?”
Vanitas glared at him and didn’t answer. Ven sighed, summoned his Keyblade, and sealed the door to the balcony behind them. “It’s just me here. What’s bothering you?” he asked.
“…I’m not ready,” Vanitas said, finally.
“Why not? Riku makes it sound like you’re doing okay,” Ven said.
“Because I’m just not, all right?” Vanitas snapped. “I’m just fucking not.”
“…you don’t trust yourself, do you?” Ven asked. “You don’t trust yourself to be sent out.”
“…there’s a way I’m used to doing things,” Vanitas said. “I doubt it’d be acceptable to you light-blind do-gooders.”
Ven sat back, considering. “Do you trust Sora?”
“Fuck no,” Vanitas shot back.
“Let me rephrase,” Ven said. “Is Sora predictable to you?”
“…yes,” Vanitas said, begrudgingly.
“So, in your estimation, do you think he’d stop you before you go too far?”
Vanitas was silent.
“I didn’t ask if you thought he could,” Ven said mildly. “Do you think he would?”
“…yes,” Vanitas muttered.
“So, you can rely on him to be a check for you. But, honestly, Vanitas, I don’t think you’re going to default to the way you used to be,” Ven said. “You’ve changed a lot. For the better.”
“Not enough,” Vanitas muttered.
“I don’t think there has to be an ‘enough’,” Ven said. “You’re better than you used to be. That’s what counts. And you’re making an effort. I know you are. And I know it’s hard for you. But, you’re sticking to it. I’m proud of you.”
For a second Ven thought Vanitas was going to fall off the balcony. As it was, his face turned the brightest red Ven had ever seen, and he didn’t breathe for so long Ven thought he was in danger of asphyxiating.
“…I don’t need your approval,” Vanitas said, eventually.
“No, you don’t,” Ven agreed.
“I don’t need your praise.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I don’t need your consideration.”
“No, you don’t.”
There was silence. Ven smiled. “But… it’s nice to know you earned them, right?”
It was quiet. It was so quiet Ven almost couldn’t be sure he heard it. It was so quiet Vanitas would be well within his rights to swear it hadn’t happened, which, Ven reflected, he probably would.
It was quiet, but in the stillness, Vanitas whispered, “Yes.”
Hours after the party, Naminé stood in front of her easel. She’d never tried watercolours before, but was enjoying the new medium immensely. Adding to her enjoyment was the CD player hanging from her hip, and the headphones clasped around her ears.
She danced and swayed to the beat as she painted, the music adding life to the simple landscape she was creating. It was freeing in a way she’d never thought possible, having never really experienced music until Lea’d brought her to the store. Even there, she’d been a bit self-conscious about dancing to the music, but Lea had simply smiled, laughed, and told her he’d scare away anyone who tried to make her stop.
She suddenly realized there was one thing she’d never been able to do in the store, which she could now that she had a personal music player here in her own room. With a somewhat needlessly guilty glance at the door to make sure it was shut, she took a deep breath. As the next song on the album started playing, she opened her mouth.
“A sudden kiss in the morning,” she whispered, “a tender gaze in the evening,”
As she continued, and no one burst in to tell her to stop, she gradually got louder.
Beyond my range of comprehension, until you brought to attention,
Greetings always followed by sweet goodbyes, yes, all must meet its end
Baby, can’t you just relax? Don’t look back, don’t hurry!
As she sang, she swayed to the beat, the brushstrokes on her canvas taking on a new, vibrant life
Still reminiscing the day when, you left me all on my own, then
I walked away from any daylight, instead of dawn it was twilight
Underneath the disco ball, breaks the spell that holds you in my mind
Though I used to dance with you, now we’re through, I’m sorry!
Her voice gradually got louder as the world outside her music, her brush, and her easel faded away, a broad smile rising on her face as she headed into the chorus.
Don’t you dare even try to convince me, don’t you lie ‘bout the way that we could be
“Love’s a game”, they all say it, they mean it – might as well have fun, play every single one!
I filled the holes and the cracks in my heart with
Fancy high heels and plenty of dresses
They’re my sole companions on this journey!
“Oh, so you got my singing voice, too, huh?”
Naminé whirled around to see Kairi sticking her head in the door, and adoring smile on her face. “Kairi! I was just! I mean! I wasn’t! I was–!”
Kairi laughed, and shook her head. “Nam, I’m just playing games. These walls are pretty thick, I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been standing outside the door to begin with. But, you do have a lovely singing voice. You should try to duet with Roxas some time!”
Naminé blushed. “That’s… uh… thank you. W-what did you need me for?”
“Oh, I just wanted to ask how you were doing. We did kind of surprise you,” Kairi said.
Naminé smiled. “Yes, but it was a very good surprise. Thank you so much, Kairi.”
Kairi beamed. “No problem. Can I hug you?”
“Always!” Naminé set down the brush and took off her smock, not wanting to cover Kairi in stray paint, and the two hugged, tightly.
“Happy birthday, little sis,” Kairi whispered in her ear.
Naminé laughed, and hugged her tighter.