Title: Attendance is Mandatory
Author: Akane Arihyoshi
Disclaimer: No. Just no.
Alrighty guys! This is it! The last chapter. I'm really gonna miss this story...I don't know, maybe I should do a sequel? It might be fun...AND I STILL NEED ONESHOT IDEAS. KEEP 'EM COMING. I've already got a couple really vague ones...please, be more specific...
There was a knock on the door.
Zexion sighed and got up off his bed. He walked over to the door and opened it. Without even waiting for a greeting, Saïx pushed his way through.
"I want you to tell me EVERYTHING." he gushed, pulling Zexion over to the bed, pushing him back down on it, and sitting next to him. "Who was she? The girl you spent the ball with. We didn't see you…but there must have been some girl! You wouldn't have just skipped out, no matter how angry you were."
A…girl? If he hadn't been so miserable, Zexion would have laughed. Girl indeed.
"He would be offended if he heard you." Zexion replied sadly.
Saïx began to ramble once more, then stopped. He blinked a little bit, then shook his head experimentally. "I sure thought I was awake when I walked in here…" he said, blinking a bit more. "I could have sworn you said--"
"I did."
"But--"
"If you're upset about it being a guy, I'll call you a hypocrite until the day you die, Queen Saïx."
"N-not upset, just--"
"But you don't have to worry about it."
Saïx looked reasonably confused. That is, until he regrouped and pounced. "WHAT'S HIS NAME?!" he demanded, grabbing Zexion by the shoulders and shaking him.
"There, now see, that's where we hit a bit of a snag…"
"You've got to be kidding me," Saix moaned. "How do you do it? One moment you can be the most intelligent boy I know, the next, you fall in love and forget to ask your true love's name!"
"Yeah…" Zexion said, looking away.
-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-
Zexion entered the small room from the kitchens. He couldn't count how many times he'd been here in the last couple of days. Each time was the same. The Prince would sit at the piano bench, and play. Over and over, the same exact song.
He could never make it as pretty as the other boy could. His hands graced the keys, while Zexion struggled to play the right notes. His song required no effort, while Zexion maintained a steady concentration. His song was full of his very soul, while Zexion's was just…a song.
Because it wasn't his song. It couldn't ever be his song.
But for a while, he could pretend it was.
And so he picked out the tune, and practiced it, over and over. The mistakes became fewer, and soon it was almost perfect. It began to get almost repetitive, but still it played, because the Prince could never remember a happier time than that night.
The tune wound on and on, for hours at least. Zexion quickly became entranced by the music, unable to concentrate on anything else.
He didn't even hear the door open.
-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-
The castle guard were asleep. Demyx would have laughed if he weren't afraid to wake them. What idiots. For all they knew, he was here to axe-murder the King, and they just slept right through his entrance.
Not that it was a very dramatic entrance. Demyx almost didn't blame them for sleeping through it. No vegetables tonight. No, Demyx had walked. And arrived rather out of breath. Not exactly the taking-your-breath-away type of dramatic scene he had posed the other night, at the ball.
But sheesh, it was close enough.
Instead of going through the front doors and risking the sleeping guards becoming less unconscious, he crept around to the side courtyard. Picking the tiny lock that had been placed at the gate with ease, he slipped through it and ran across the grass to a wall covered in ivy. Unlocking the door there, Demyx stepped through and found himself in the kitchens. Good. He wasn't lost then.
No one was in the large room, and Demyx hadn't expected anyone to be. It was well after the last meal had passed. Almost midnight, in fact. Everyone would have gone to bed. Including…? Demyx doubted the effectiveness of his plan once more. What if he was already gone?
But that was just one of the risks.
Silently, Demyx walked over to a secluded corner of the room. A door stood there, almost completely hidden by the surrounding furniture. He placed his hand on the doorknob, but stopped himself. Now that he had reached his destination, suddenly he wanted to turn back. He didn't want to have to take these risks. Suddenly the risks seemed far greater than they had upon entering the kitchen.
But Demyx was strong. And he could handle them. Or, if he couldn't, he definitely knew he could run faster than the Prince.
He turned the doorknob, and stepped inside the room.
-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-
It took his breath away.
He had found the Prince, alright. Sitting at the piano, and playing the song that Demyx had played, only a few nights ago. It wasn't perfect. The song still held many flaws. But it was their song. And Zexion remembered.
Then it stopped. Zexion turned his head to stare. "You're back," he said simply, and then they both relaxed. Each was here for the same reason.
Demyx smiled. "I didn't leave a shoe."
And Zexion laughed, like he hadn't been able to in days.
This was love.
And finally, a happily ever after.
A/N: Last chapter comes to a close. This was really fun to write, even if it is a bit more serious that everything else. But really, putting in humor would have ruined it. So...yeah. I'm sorry it's a bit shorter than the other chapters, but it was the right place to end, you know?
Depending on the amount of positive feedback I get on this idea, I might write a short oneshot sequel to this. What do you guys think? Demyx's new life in a castle. Ha. Could be fun.
Otherwise, I want to thank all of you people who stuck with this story until the end. You guys can't imagine how happy it makes me to see all these people who really appreciate my story. I also want to give a big thanks to all the reviewers. I can't believe this got the response it did. Thanks so much.
I also want to tell future readers that it's never too late to leave a review. Sometimes I read stories that were last updated a year ago, and I don't know whether or not to review, but you guys should know that no matter how late you read this, I'll always appreciate feedback.
Thank you. I owe all of you guys so much.
Akane Arihyoshi