Chapter Text
A knock on the door of the study she had co-opted startled Aqua out of her reverie. Since their arrival at the Mysterious Tower two weeks previously, she had been pouring through Yen Sid’s extensive library, hoping to find something, anything, about freeing a person’s heart from darkness. Without destroying it, ideally. There were piles of books as tall as she was heaped on the floor on either side of the desk she was sitting at, as well as several stacked on the desk itself; all sorted by how helpful she thought they’d be on her left, and in helpful/not helpful stacks to her right. The “not helpful” stack was discouragingly large, but she knew she’d barely scratched the surface of what Yen Sid had.
“Come in,” she called, and Kairi gingerly pushed open the door.
It had been a week since Kairi and Naminé had returned from their detour. In that time, Ventus had regained the use of his Keyblade, although Roxas and Xion had still had no luck. Aqua had spent most of that time exactly where she was now.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. What did Kairi want at 11 PM?
“So…” Kairi said, slightly awkwardly. “It’s been… not quite a month since Naminé and the rest came back.”
“Yes..?” Aqua asked. It had actually been two weeks, but she figured she knew where this was going. “Do we have an emergency?”
“Not yet,” Kairi said. She walked over to one of the chairs in the room, moved the stack of books piled on top of it, and sat down. “Aqua, when does your period start?”
Oh, they were going to be blunt, then. “Any day now, actually, assuming nothing’s changed since the Realm of Darkness. And Castle Oblivion, come to think of it. Why?”
Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. “Because… I’m about a week late. So I’m guessing our cycles are syncing to yours. Which means the next couple of days are going to be funnnn.” She did not sound enthused.
Aqua blinked, and rubbed her eyes. “Okay. Kairi, we’ve established I’m not your mother. But as the adult here, I feel like it would be irresponsible of me not to ask. You’ve been sharing a room with Sora and Riku. Are you absolutely sure that there’s no other reason why you might not be having your…” she trailed off. Kairi was shaking her head.
“No, I’m not pregnant. I’m absolutely sure.”
Aqua bit her lip. She hated having to do this, but like she said, she was the adult. “Kairi, no birth control is 100% effect–”
“Not having sex is pretty effective,” Kairi interrupted, flatly.
“…Oh.” Aqua flushed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”
“No, I get why you did,” Kairi said. “If you must know, Sora isn’t comfortable with it yet. He didn’t…” she sighed. “He’s technically down a year of brain development thanks to his time in the memory repair pod. So he’s still not mentally ready for that sort of thing. And Riku and I don’t want to start experimenting with that kind of thing without him. So, no, I can say for a fact, I’m not pregnant.”
Aqua’s cheeks were still burning. “Kairi, I’m really, really sorry,” she started, but Kairi chuckled.
“Hey, it’s okay, Aqua. You did have to check. And if I was, I probably would have gone to you rather than Mickey or Yen Sid.”
“Or Lea?”
Kairi shuddered. “I keep forgetting he’s an adult. You’d never guess it.”
Aqua laughed. “Agreed.” Her smile faded. “So we need to keep an eye on Naminé and Xion, don’t we.”
“Yyyyyep,” Kairi said. “Still got that bag?”
“It’s in the supply closet in the kitchen,” Aqua said. Upon their arrival, Yen Sid had done extensive remodelling to the interior of the tower. He’d added a full kitchen, a dormitory floor, training gymnasiums, among other things. He’d also made the staircase seem much shorter.
“Why not the bathroom?” Kairi asked.
Aqua opened and closed her mouth. “…Good point,” she said eventually.
Kairi grinned. “I’m gonna go move it. You should get some sleep,” she added.
Aqua smiled as she left. She didn’t need to sleep yet. A couple more hours couldn’t hurt.
The door of the study burst open at 3 AM. Aqua jerked up in her chair as Roxas kicked open the door, holding Xion in his arms. She seemed to be in intense pain.
Well, that hadn’t taken long.
“Aqua, she’s in pain and she can’t stand and I don’t know what to–” he babbled, but Aqua interrupted.
“Roxas, she’s probably okay, you don’t need to panic. Xion, are you feeling a cramping, around your midsection?” she asked.
Xion nodded, face screwed up in agony. Aqua patted her shoulder, comfortingly.
“Well, you’re not hurt, this is normal for us girls.”
“What do you mean, ‘normal’?” Roxas asked, indignant.
Aqua’s door swung open again to reveal Kairi, with Naminé slung over her shoulder. “So am I good at predicting this shit or what?” Kairi asked.
“Language,” Naminé hissed through gritted teeth. Kairi smirked.
Sora, Riku, and Ventus leaned in behind them, all looking confused and slightly worried. “What’s happening to them, Aqua?” Ven asked.
Aqua sighed. “Kairi, can you get these two to the bathroom and get them set up? I’ll… try to explain this to the boys.”
Kairi grinned. “Gotcha. Good luck, Aqua.” Naminé unsteadily balanced on her feet, and Kairi took Xion from Roxas. She led the way out of the room and down the stairs to the bathroom, explaining what was happening on the way, and got them set up. Fortunately, Sora’s mother had thought to include painkillers in the bag of supplies.
With Xion back on her feet, more or less, Kairi led the way down further to the kitchen, intending to search for chocolate or ice cream or something containing too much sugar. To her surprise, Lea was already there, stirring a mug of hot chocolate.
“I filled some hot water bottles, they’re in the oven to keep the heat in,” he said, waving over to it. “How are you two feeling?”
“Horrible,” Xion ground out. “Every month, Kairi?”
“Every month, give or take,” Kairi confirmed.
“Fuuuuuuuuck this.” Xion sat down at the table and pressed herself against it, jamming the edge into her gut. She slumped over the table, stretching out flat against it. Lea put a mug of hot chocolate next to her head, and she smiled, gratefully.
“Kairi,” Naminé said, taking one of the other chairs. “I give up. Absorb me again. This cruel world is too painful to live in.”
“Sorry, Nam. No can do,” Kairi said. “Don’t worry, it gets worse!”
She groaned, and accepted another mug from Lea. “You want one, too, Kairi?” he asked.
“Please and thank you.” He poured another one for her and handed it over, then a final one for himself. He leaned back against the sink, sipping at it. “How did you know to do this?”
Lea stiffened, almost imperceptibly. “It was… what my father would do for my mother. Back when… yeah.” Kairi decided to drop the subject.
“So why aren’t you doubled over in pain?” Naminé asked, addressing Kairi.
“Years of practice managing it. Don’t worry, I’m feeling it, too, I’m just better at hiding it,” Kairi explained.
Lea suddenly started chuckling. “Oh, now I get it.”
“Get what?” Kairi asked.
“Even. ‘Perfectly functional’ my ass. This is what he meant. I’m not even mad.” Lea considered his words for a second. “Well, maybe I’m slightly mad. Not enough to threaten his life again, though.”
Kairi grinned. “So Roxas is gonna have to learn to shave, huh?”
Lea shrugged. “I guess. Can’t picture him with a beard.”
“Well, I suppose I should thank him,” Xion said.
“Thank..?”
“Even,” she clarified. “If nothing else, this means that Roxas and I can have children if we decide we want to, right?”
Lea inhaled his drink, and whirled around to sputter into the sink. “I mean years from now,” she hastily explained. “Not… not in the near future. But eventually.”
“Years from now,” Kairi agreed. “I won’t, uh, pry into your guys’ private affairs, but yeah, that’s definitely a ‘later’ thing.”
Xion laughed, then winced. “Ow, ow, laughing hurts right now.”
“Are you drowning, Lea?” Naminé asked.
Lea pulled his head out of the sink. “No, not yet. Jeez, don’t just spring that on a guy,” he chided Xion. “I’m not old enough to be an uncle.”
“You’re, what, twenty-seven?” Kairi asked. “You technically are, depending on how old your sibling is.”
Lea glared at her. “Not when they’re two, I’m not.”
“Fifteen,” Xion corrected.
“Too young either way,” Lea countered. “Please don’t make me give you two the Talk. None of us would survive it.”
“What’s the–”
“Nope, ending this discussion now,” Lea said, hurriedly. “Tell you when you’re older.”
Kairi laughed. Naminé’s mouth turned up, though she still looked exhausted and pained.
Aqua limped into the kitchen. Evidently she was starting to cramp, as well. “I sent the boys to bed,” she said. “I think they got the picture.”
“Nice,” Lea said, fishing another mug out of a nearby cabinet and filling it for her.
“Speaking of going to bed,” Kairi said. “Aqua, did you actually sleep when I told you to?”
“…maybe…no,” Aqua admitted.
Kairi rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to find anything in those books if you’re sleep-deprived. Go to bed. Or I’ll tell Ven you’re staying up later than you should.” It was a dire threat. Kairi hadn’t thought that anyone could rival Sora in terms of puppy-dog eyes. Apparently he was but a pale imitation of the true master.
Aqua sighed. “Fine.” She crossed over to the supply closet and pulled out a mega-potion.
To the shock of everyone in the room, she pulled the cork out with her teeth, spat it out into the trash, tilted her head back and drained the bottle without pausing for breath. She put the empty bottle away and waggled the mug of hot chocolate. “I’ll take this with me. Goodnight, everyone.” She turned around and walked back up the stairs, looking less pained.
Naminé blinked. “Okay, not to be weird, but… was that oddly hot to anyone else?”
“Yeah,” Xion agreed, wide-eyed.
“Yeah,” said Kairi, off-handedly. Naminé shifted to stare at her. “What?” she asked, defensively. “Speaking entirely objectively, that was kind of hot. Right, Lea?”
Lea, personally, hadn’t thought anything of it. “Sure, Kairi. Whatever you say.”