[KH] The Light In Their Eyes: Valentine's Day

The Light In Their Eyes: Valentine's Day
(rough draft)
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl

Summary: Roxas and his siblings celebrate Valentine's Day with their families. Roxas/Xion/Ven/Axel/Saïx/Aqua/Terra family fluff, all platonic except for TerQua.

A/N: There's one scene that is so very freaking stupid, I nearly censored it out, but, just...urgh. X( This fic is not one of my best.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sai-Sai!!!"

Saïx whirled and leveled his fiercest glare. "I get tired enough telling your daughter not to call me that, I will not tolerate hearing it from you, too."

Axel dumped a very pink and red, balloon-adorned basket full of flowers, candy, and a few small teddy bears on his partner's desk.

"What on God's green earth is this?"

"I just told you! Happy Valentine's Day~!"

"You cannot be serious."

"Hmph, it's not like I have anyone else to give stuff to."

"I can immediately think of two people who would, unlike me, appreciate this revolting waste of space." Saïx edged the basket away with a pen, as if he was loath to even touch it.

"I already gave the kids stuff. Besides, you don't have anyone to celebrate Singles Awareness Day with, either, so why not with me?"

"Because I have no interest in either interpretation of February 14th, and would much prefer to get this project finished up rather than waste time with...pink...frivolities."

"You won't mind if I snag one of your Kisses then, hm?" Axel said, scooping a chocolate out of the basket.

"'Snag' the whole thing, please; I don't want it on my desk a second longer. Then go fetch the reports you were supposed to have finished two days ago."

"Ugh, slave driver."

VALENTINE'S DAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY, she had Valentines for EVERYONE IN HER CLASS, and special special special ones for Roxas and Ven and Daddy and Mom and Mr. Saïx and Mr. Terra, and she was GONNA GET SO MUCH CHOCOLATE AND VALENTINES TO PUT IN HER VALENTINE BOX AND IT WAS AWESOME, it was finally finally finally Valentine's Daaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!

"Roxas!" she screamed when she saw him on the playground, "I got so many I stuffed my whole box full and they all wouldn't fit!!! I had to give some to Adam because he didn't have as many!"

"Yeah, well, me and Ven got so much our box exploded," Roxas said loftily.

"Ours wouldn't fit either," Ven said. "I think because we put them all in the same box."

"That's cheating!" Xion shrieked.

"It is?!"

"No it's not," Roxas reasoned, "because we're twins so everything Ven gets, I get too."

"No fair!!!" so Xion tackled him. They wrestled, and then Ven started piling white pebbles on them, and Xion giggled and got up to help him until they had made a big pebble mountain on top of Roxas.

They played together until it was time to go inside, and then Xion remembered.

"I forgot! I have to give you your Valentines!!!" The ordinary ones, she meant; not the special special special ones. She dug them out of her pocket and uncrumpled them and gave the Mulan one to Roxas and the Snow White one to Ven.

"Ew!" Roxas shrieked, dropping his.

"What does it say?" Ven asked.

"Daddy says it says Happy Valentine's Day to the fairest princess of them all, but I made him cross out the 'cess' part because you're a boy," Xion said.

"Oh. Thank you, Xion," Ven said, and kissed her cheek, because he knew she would like it.

"See, I told you Ven's nicer than you," Xion said to Roxas.

"He is not!" Roxas stormed.

"She wants you to say you like the Valentine," Ven explained.

"No! It's princesses!"

"Mulan isn't a princess!" Xion yelled. "She's strong and she beat the bad guys!"

"Oh yeah." Roxas thought a minute. Then he picked up his Valentine, stuck it in his pocket, and said, "I'm nice."

"XION!" Xion's teacher yelled again.

"SO SAD!" the twins' teacher yelled, too.

Ven gulped. "She's gonna move our clips."

"Race you there!" Roxas yelled, and the three of them ran to line up.

Try as she might, Aqua could not stop feeling guilty for dumping Ven on Axel tonight, so she was in a slightly contrite mood as she came to pick up the children from school. She had promised to watch them until Axel got off work.

"MOMMMMYYYYY!"

She laughed as she was glomped by all three children. "Hello, loves."

They all clamored for her attention at once.

"Mommy! Mommy! Look how many Valentines we got!"

"Mom, they cheated, they're counting both of theirs and I only have one!"

"Mommy I AM nicer than Ven, right? Right???"

"I have a flower for you." Ven pushed the paper rose in her face, anxious to be smothered with affection in exchange. "We made it in class."

She laughed again and tried to hug and kiss them all. "You all look like you had a wonderful Valentine's Day at school." 'And I'm sure you'll run poor Axel ragged tonight, with all that sugar you've surely got running through your blood....' "Come on, let's go see what I have for you at home." Which was making her feel triply guilty now.

"Oooh, a surprise?!"

"What is it, what is it?!"

"She's not gonna tell us because it's a surprise, noooo!"

It was an ice cream cake. Which they fell upon like starved wolves. Though only after the nutritious snack she forced them to eat first, which was quite an accomplishment in Roxas's case.

"So yummy!" Xion told her.

"Come here, little girl, your face is a mess," Aqua said, dragging her over to the sink and beginning to wipe Xion's face clean as the girl made exaggerated winces. "A lady should have tidier eating habits."

"You really are a lady, aren't you, just like in stories."

"Well, I try to keep a certain level of dignity."

"Did Mr. Terra give you those flowers?"

Aqua glanced over at the roses in the vase on the counter, smiling. "Yes, he did."

"They're soooo pretty."

"Would you like one, my love?"

"Oooh, yes!"

Aqua took one and trimmed the stem. "Where would you like it? Here in your hair, or the front of your uniform, or...?"

"In my hair, like Belle in the pictures."

"Mommy," Roxas said, "me and Ven are gonna go play video games now."

"You most certainly are not, you are going to help me finish cooking for tonight."

"Cooking?!" The boys eagerly ran to wash their hands, knowing from experience that cooking with Aqua was fun.

They could have simply met everyone at Grandma's that evening, but Axel's children insisted on 'picking him up from work.'

"He and Mr. Saïx both have their own cars, it won't do any good if we meet them at work."

"But we get to surprise theeeeem!"

"I wanna see Dad."

Aqua sighed. "Very well...."

It was so fun, sneaking down the hall and bursting into his office and yelling, "Haaaahhhh!"

"FOUND you!"

"You're under arrest, Mister!"

Axel gasped hugely and dropped the phone. "Oh noooo! What'd I do?!"

"You've been a bad man and you're going to jail!" Xion yelled as they dragged him out of his chair.

"No, puh-leeaaase, if you send me to jail, who's gonna take care of my kiddos!"

"We're your kiddos, silly!" and then they were hugging and kissing him as he laughed and hugged him back.

"Heeey, best dismissal ever," he said warmly. "Did Aqua drive you?"

"Yup! She's out there, Daddy!"

Then they all trooped across the hall to Saïx's office, where he sat waiting for them with his chin propped on his hand and his eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, Sai," Axel said merrily. "I got arrested, so looks like we can't stay late to finish up after all."

"Remarkable inconvenience, children," Saïx said flatly. "Though I suspect you see it as the exact opposite."

"Mr. Saïx, Mr. Saïx!" Xion clamored, climbing into his lap as he leaned away in distaste, "Didja get me a Valentine?"

"Certainly not."

"Whaaaat?" the twins chorused in dismay.

"It's Valentine's Day, Mr. Saïx! You're supposed to give us Valentines!"

"I truly wonder where you got such an idea."

"Valentine's Day is when you give things to people you love!"

"It is an excuse for gluttony and rampant commercialism, not to mention the cause of untold emotional--"

"You don't love us?" Ven said forlornly.

Well, he certainly could not say 'Of course not' in front of their parents, could he. "I'm sure you've received plenty of gifts already."

"But not from you," Roxas pointed out, restlessly hoisting himself up on the arm of Saïx's chair.

"Leave that alone, you'll damage it."

"Mr. Saiiiix," Xion pleaded, "I did a really really good job on your Valentine, you have to love me back."

"Don't cry," he said warily.

"I'm not crying!" she cried, obviously upset.

"Hm." This was a problem.

Then Roxas pointed triumphantly. "You did get us Valentines."

"What?"

"I see them!" Ven said in excitement.

Saïx looked around, and his eyes widened upon seeing the holiday-themed basket Axel had forced at him that morning. "Ah...."

Xion gasped in delight. "Yay, you love us!"

"I do n--"

"Maybe it's for his giiiiirlfriend," Axel suggested in sing-song.

Xion gasped. "Oooooh! Are you gonna get married, Mr. Saïx?"

Saïx reached back, dragged the Valentine basket forward, and said, "The three of you, please consume this entirely."

"Yaaaaay! Daddy, what's kazoo this enterty?"

As the children were eagerly digging through the goodies, Saïx gave Axel a long, expressive look, and received a wink in return.

Aqua frowned and leaned to whisper in Axel's ear, "Did you give him that just so he'd have something to offer the children when they asked?"

"Maaaaybe...."

She shook her head, now smiling a little. "You know him so well...."

Axel's cell phone rang, and he sighed with great exaggeration as he pulled it out. "Now, who could be calling at this--?" He saw the number and abruptly went silent.

"Daddy?"

He stared at his phone a few seconds longer. Then, without a word, he marched back to his office and shut the door.

There was a pause. "I take it that's probably bad news?" Aqua finally ventured.

"...Children, let me show you this game on my computer," Saïx said.

"Oooh, a game!"

Despite watching the screen and talking to the kids, Saïx still seemed to be 'listening' elsewhere. Then, as soon as Roxas, Xion, and Ven were absorbed in flipping the virtual pinball away from the drain, Saïx got up and went out into the hall, watching Axel's office door intently. Aqua followed him, trying to keep one eye on the children and one on whatever Saïx was paying so much attention to.

At first, there was nothing. Then a sudden shout from behind the door, Axel's voice raised angrily. Saïx gave a short sigh and strode over there, though he did not move to enter the office yet.

"What's going on?" Aqua hissed, coming after him.

"I don't know for sure," he said in a monotone.

"But you have a good guess."

"Make sure the children don't notice."

She glared at him, but he had a point, so she reluctantly went back to shut his own office door and make sure the kids were wholly occupied.

Saïx listened, trying to make out the words, but they were muffled. Then he was startled to see a certain woman coming slowly down the hall toward him. She was dressed like she belonged in a nightclub rather than an office building, and was arguing with someone over the phone.

"You need to leave," he ordered.

She flipped him off without pausing her heated conversation. "I'm right outside the door!" she yelled.

There was a pause. Then Axel's door suddenly flew open again. He stood there, staring, his phone poised near his ear.

She gave him a helpless, bitter little smile. "Hi."

"What are you...doing here?"

Another pause. "I will escort her out," Saïx meant to say, but then she was dropping her phone and practically falling into a passionate kiss with Axel, as if it was a movie.

On her end. After a startled moment, his eyes narrowed and he shoved her away. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Her face flushed. "You should be happier to see me, Axel--"

"You?"

Her voice and expression had both turned ugly again. "Unless you're not still single anymore?"

"If you were the last woman on the planet, I wouldn't want anything to do with you!"

"Dad, can I hit her if I run away really fast after?"

They all looked down to find a small boy glaring at her.

"Who's that, your ex-boyfriend's kid?" she said snidely.

Axel started to surge forward, but Saïx shoved him back before he could touch her. She backed away a couple of steps, her eyes wide.

"Xion's more my daughter than she ever was yours!" Axel shouted. "After what you did to her, I--!"

"Axel Hayes," Saïx repeated, this time in a thundering whisper that finally got through to him, "you do not need violence of any sort on your record, do you understand me?"

Axel, though still tense, went quiet.

"You need to leave," a second woman's voice said briskly. "I'll escort you out if I have to."

Aqua stood behind her, as Ven hovered with his fists clenched, and Xion hid behind Saïx's office door.

She surveyed Aqua up and down. "I bet you have to pay her before she'll let you touch her," she finally grumbled at Axel.

He suddenly lifted his chin. "She's worth ten of you." He marched over to Aqua and tried to slip an arm around her waist. "Yeah, my girl here--"

"Axel," Aqua said in a low voice as she removed his arm, "I sympathize, but I will not do this."

"Get out," Saïx said, stepping in front of his friends as if to shield them.

The woman eyed him with great distaste. Then her gaze moved past his shoulder. Her mouth softened, though her eyes remained hard. "Hello, sweetie."

"Hi, Mommy," Xion said in a small voice. It suddenly occurred to Aqua why, unlike the boys, Xion always called her 'Mom.'

Xion's mother smiled and crouched down. "Come on over here."

"She doesn't want you," Roxas snapped, but Xion shuffled obediently over and let herself be hugged.

"Xion," Ven said in distress.

"Axel," Saïx murmured, "you don't have to allow this--"

"I trust my daughter," Axel said shortly.

"Oooh, what an ugly dress you're wearing on such a special day," she cooed. "Doesn't your daddy know how to dress you for Valentine's Day?"

Xion didn't say anything.

"If we push her over," Ven suggested to his brother, "then we can jump on her." Aqua was rather shocked to hear her sweet-natured son make such a suggestion in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Xion'll cry," Roxas grumbled.

"I'm glad to see you, Mommy," Xion said dolefully.

"Ohhh, my sweet baby," her mother said, kissing and cuddling her. Aqua looked questioningly at the others - Saïx was looking to Axel, who watched with his hands clenched into fists. "Mommy's so lonely, and I know you're so lonely too, with all these icky boys - you wanna come stay with me for Valentine's Day, hm?"

"I'm...not supposed to go with you," Xion whispered.

"Aw, just for one day, and I'll pretty you up like a model and--"

"Xion, she smells like a dinosaur farted on her," Roxas said loudly.

Her mother whirled, eyes flashing. "You keep your mouth shut you little brat--"

Without a word, Xion pulled away and walked over to her father, who scooped her up and held her tightly. Saïx and Aqua wasted no time in seizing the woman's arms and hauling her to her feet to drag her off.

"Let go of me! Let go! I'll sue you, I'll...!"

"Aqua," Saïx said conversationally, "did you happen to pick up her cell phone?"

"Of course. We wouldn't want to give her an excuse to come back, now, would we."

When they finally returned, Axel and Saïx's co-workers had apparently settled down and resumed work. Axel was sitting in Saïx's office, listlessly playing pinball on the right side of the keyboard, as Ven manned the left flipper and Roxas tried to shove chocolate in his mouth and Xion huddled in his lap looking like a disgraced puppy.

"We had better leave," Aqua said, not sure how to discuss it when they weren't in private. "You and the children are coming in my car, Axel."

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning for work," Saïx said, "and you can drive your own car home afterwards. Do not make me late."

"Whatever," Axel muttered.

"That was Xion's first mom," Roxas told Aqua solemnly. "She's horrible just like mine. You're the only good mom."

Ven took his mother's hand, proud and anxious and not sure how to say it nicely.

"Children," Saïx said, "come help me clock out. Apparently I require your assistance today."

"Ooh! I get to punch the buttons!" Roxas crowed.

"Buttons?"

"Come on, Ven, I'll show you how to do it."

Xion hesitated. Then, seeing her father's expression, her brother's impatient beckoning, and the looks Aqua and Saïx were giving her, she reluctantly slid out of Axel's lap and went to take Saïx's hand instead.

"I can give you no more than ten minutes," Saïx told his friend grimly, then marched off with the three little ones.

Aqua looked at Axel, who laid his head down on his crossed arms. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Then he sighed. "She's my ex-girlfriend. Xion's mom."

"So I assumed."

"...." He winced. "My kids...both of them are adopted, you know." Then, as Aqua was wondering if this meant what she thought it did, he expelled an even longer sigh, turned his face away, and mumbled in as close to a monotone as she'd ever heard from him, "By the time I found out she was lying to me, it was too late...I already thought of Xion as mine, and...I couldn't change that, you know?"

"I know," Aqua said softly.

"I tried to, but I couldn't...."

She laid a hand on his head.

"Then I found out how they were treating that baby who was really mine...." A long pause. "It was enough for them to lose custody." Then a dry chuckle. "Sai helped a lot with that."

"...He's a good friend," Aqua finally murmured, still thinking about Xion. It was an effort to remain calm. 'She's fine now, she's perfectly all right now, there is no chance that any of us would let her come to harm....'

"You're...a good mom," Axel murmured back, hesitantly.

Her fingers tightened in his hair a moment, then she relaxed her hand and smoothed his hair a little apologetically. "Well, in comparison, almost anyone would be."

"Aqua." He raised his head again so that he could meet her eyes. "I've never really thanked you, but...thanks. It, um...it means a lot to them. The kids. I can't give them everything, and you...you just...it's like you really are their mom."

"Well, of course," she said awkwardly. Roxas was her son's brother, Xion was Roxas's sister, it was difficult to not think of them as family. "Ahem. I believe that Saïx is waiting for us, we should rescue him soon...."

Axel laughed. "Yeah." Then, a little admiringly, "Ten whole minutes alone with the kids, he's the best friend ever...."

At Grandma's house, Xion ran to get her special special special Valentines, the ones she'd made with lots of pink and red and white paper layered over each other, and sparkles and stickers and poems she'd made up herself and made Grandma write for her with glitter pens, because Grandma could write small and make the whole poem fit on one heart.

"I love you, Daddy," Axel read out loud, "your hair is red. I love you more than a dog named Ted. Awww, thank you, sweetie."

"You're welcome, Daddy!"

"Mr. Saïx isn't mean," Terra started to read over Saïx's shoulder, but wasn't able to finish before Saïx swiftly whipped his Valentine over and smacked it facedown on the table. "Aw, come on, Saïx."

"Do you like my Valentine, Mr. Saïx?" Xion asked eagerly.

"...I can see that you worked quite hard on it."

"Yup! I put lots and lots of glitter."

"Yes. You did," Saïx agreed, grimacing.

"I did good Valentines, too," Roxas asserted.

"Thank you very much, my dear," Aqua said warmly, and Grandma hugged him.

He thought guiltily that maybe they were just being nice, because he'd only put stuff like To Dad From Roxas Happy Valentine's Day with crayon, and Xion's Valentines were bigger and more sparkly than his. "Xion, yours are better," he finally admitted.

"Yup! Here's yours, Roxas."

Roxas studied the big heart with his name on it for a while, then smiled. "What does the poem say?"

"Uh...I forgot. Grandma, what does the poem say?"

"Well, let's see: it says, Roxas, my brother, I wish I could brush your hair. But you won't let me unless it's a dare."

"You can brush Ven's hair," Roxas said generously. Ven put his arms over his own head in dismay.

"No! Yours! I want yours."

He thought about this. "Give me your chocolate first."

"Okay!"

"I don't think we're supposed to do that," Ven said dolefully.

Everyone ate and talked and laughed until Terra and Aqua finally said it was time for them to go away for their special Valentine's date. They hugged and kissed everyone and then left, looking as if the best part of the evening was yet to come, and Saïx departed at the same time, leaving Axel and his grandmother with the three children for the night.

"Okay, then! I'm thinking it's about time to start brushing teeth and getting ready for bed--"

"Noooo!"

"Axel, dear, those children still have a ways to go before they crash, and they're going to be jumping around the place like kangaroos until then."

"*sigh*"

On February 15th, Saïx had a client in his office who took a moment to admire a certain aspect of his workspace. "Ohhh, you have such a beautiful family, Mr. Tsukino!"

"Yes," Saïx said shortly, not bothering to clarify that not a single member of his 'family' was related to him by either blood or marriage.

"I bet it was that sweet little girl who made that lovely Valentine for you."

Saïx glanced back at the space he had allotted for photographs, and where he had pinned Xion's Valentine so that she wouldn't pester him about what he'd done with it. "That is correct. Now, back to the matter at hand, we'll just need your signature here, here, and here, and then we can move on to the next step...."
Author's Notes: ......I really need to stop writing about stuff I know nothing about. -.- I was so close to censoring out that scene with Xion's mom, because too many people read my fics now and I'm more self-conscious than ever, but.... *siiiiigh* SOMETIMES I FAIL AT WRITING GOOD STORIES, OKAY.

Lol, I didn't plan this at all, it's one of the stories that started writing itself in my head. XD (The Scene of Stupid was, like, playing through my head like a movie, but in a disjointed way, just a bunch of loosely-connected bits of dialogue and images...I somehow managed to string nearly all of them together, but...like, I probably would have been better off to cut most of it out, but I can't bear to 'lose' things, so...urgh, failfic. *headdesk* Sometimes I can use the OCD to my advantage, but most of the time, it is not my friend.) The original The Light In Their Eyes was meant to be a standalone; I...kind of hope it doesn't end up like Stepsiblings.... *sweatdrop*

*siiiigh* I had to take out some AkuSai dialogue...I really do only like them platonic, it makes me sick seeing yaoi for them even though they're my OTP. But there are some things about which I get misunderstood too easily. *sadly adds excised dialogue to the file where I collect stuff like that*