A/N: Hey everybody! ChottoMatte here, with another Somnium Dulcis update! Sorry it's been a while, but the wait should be worth it! This is the FINAL chapter, so it took a while to tie it all together. Somnium has been such an awesome experience - the first chapter story I've actually FINISHED. I'm so proud. I hope you like it and I thank you for sticking with me thusfar. So, for the final time... R&R?

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Demyx grunted as he lifted the box into the back of the van, his shirt riding up to expose inches of soft, sweet skin to the unforgiving summer sun. Levering the cumbersome load into its appropriate position, he paused to catch his breath, hands on his knees and bent to face the ground. He blew sticky blonde hair out of his field of vision nonchalantly, puffing air like a steam engine.

Ice-cold fingers traced his exposed flesh gently, and he jumped at the contact. Turning around, he whined, "Zexion!" for it was his blue haired lover who had so cunningly sneaked behind him, "How is it you're wearing long sleeves and not even sweating?"

Zexion merely shrugged, wrapping his cool, soft arms around his lover's waist and resting his head on the blonde's back. "But Dem, I love it when you get all hot and sweaty." he smiled, coy but innocent.

Demyx snorted indignantly, though the blush powdering his cheeks had nothing to do with the heat. "That doesn't get you off the hook, babe. Just how many boxes of books do you plan on bringing with you? Dorm rooms are only so big, and we need all the room we can ge-" Zexion spun him around abruptly and stood on his tip toes to kiss the taller boy.

"I just figured…" he managed between kisses, gasping for air as he pushed his boyfriend up against the side of the van behind him, "Since we'll only need one bed…" His hand roamed lower, tracing down the blonde's chest and coming to rest at his waist, " we would have…" he slipped on, two, three fingers into Demyx's waistband and pulled them even closer, "a little extra room?" He glanced up shyly through a curtain of his dark hair and batted his eyelashes. "Right, Demyx?" the hand not creeping into his pants climbed up his shirt slowly, until he was gently teasing the blonde's hair and purring in his ear, "For me?"

Demyx gulped and was trying to open his mouth when they both heard the distinct slam of Zexion's front door. They were apart in seconds, Zexion breathing normally and cool as a cucumber, Demyx panting and flushed beet red.

Yuffie was dragging a large box down the sidewalk, evidently brimming with even more books. "Is there room for some more books, do you think?" she grinned at the tetris-like arrangement inside the van.

Zexion stalked over to his boyfriend coquettishly, wrapping his arms around his neck, gazing up at him and biting his lip. "I dunno. Is there, Demmy?"

Demyx swallowed thickly, blinking a few times as his face got, if possible, even redder. "I-I suppose"

The bluenette smirked and placed a kiss on his lover's lips before strutting inside. "I'm off for a few more boxes, alright love?" Demyx nodded, knowing Zexion hadn't seen him but also wouldn't bother to wait for his confirmation.

Yuffie watched her son's retreating back, smiling gently, happy but weary. "You've done wonders for him, dear." Demyx looked up from the boxes he'd gone back to packing in the van, surprised at what she'd said. "I was so worried, before you two met. He was so trapped and sad, I couldn't help him at all, I couldn't do anything to stop it-"

"Yuffie." Demyx cut her off as her voice got more and more frantic. "You did a wonderful job. If you hadn't, would we be where we are right now?" She sighed and shook her head. "There. Now, help me lift this."

"Alright, alright." She helped him heave a few of the weightier ones in, until there was just enough room for whatever Zexion managed to dredge up inside. "Speaking of my boy," she huffed as they plopped themselves down in the shade of a tree, on the cool cement of the sidewalk, "how exactly did you two meet?"

Demyx stared into space for a few seconds before murmuring, "It was in the bathroom… we were both lost and… lonely, and he helped me out… for me, it was love at first sight."

Yuffie smiled softly, crooning a song as Demyx leaned back to rest his head in the grass. He blew a few strands of hair and blades of grass off his forehead and closed his eyes, instantly asleep. A teen boy exhausted on hot summer day. Yuffie chuckled and stood up quietly, wincing as her aging body creaked and groaned, bones snapping into place as she stretched stiffly.

She slipped through her open front door into the cool, dark cave of her house to seek out her son. She found him in the bathroom, rifling through the shelves and drawers and dumping products in a bag. He didn't notice her standing there, so she stood and watched him for a few seconds. He'd gotten taller over the past year, his body finally growing to match his gangly-big hands and feet. She blushed when he fished a pack of condoms out from under the sink, observed the expiration date, and stuffed them in his back pocket with a jaunty air and a little smile.

He was closing the cupboard and cleaning up when she knocked on the door quietly. He looked back at her and smiled. "Hey, mom." He finished his clean-up and straightened, pushing his hair out of his eyes and humming a little song as he washed his hands. "Need something?" He looked around and then back to her. "Where's Demyx?"

"Asleep in the grass." Zexion moved to the window and looked out at the lawn, his expression softening even more when he saw the blonde snoozing in the shade. Yuffie continued, "You never did tell me how you two met, anyway."

Zexion stared into space for a few seconds, summing up his thoughts. "It was in the bathroom, one day… it was like a fairy tale. He saved me…" he looked down and smiled, remembering something happy.

"Funny." She whispered. "That's the same thing he said." Zexion looked up and cocked his head, an unspoken 'huh?' She just smiled and nodded. "I'm proud of you, Zexion." She sidled over and draped an arm around his shoulder. "But make sure you use those condoms. Unprotected sex is hazardou-"

"WHOA, HEY! Not a conversation I want to have with my mother." He jumped away from her. She just nodded and smiled understandingly, sitting down on the edge of the tub to rest her weary feet. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to wake Demyx up so we can get on the road as soon as possible." He practically sprinted out in his haste to get away from her, and she chuckled a bit as she heard the front door slam shut.

She turned to the window to watch the two, and heard her husband come through the door behind her. "What are you - " he paused when he saw what she was staring at, riveted by.

Zexion had tiptoed across the grass until he was kneeling by his lover's side. He bent and pressed their foreheads together upside-down, and Demyx jumped at the touch. His eyes opened, wide enough at first and then wider at what they saw. The couple inside could hear his light laughter even through the glass and watched as the tackled their son to the ground, pinning him on the bottom and pressing their foreheads together again. They saw words exchanged, lips so close as to almost be touching. Demyx laughed again and rubbed their noses together, just as Zexion reached up to pull their lips together. They kissed quietly in the shade of a bright summer day, oblivious to the world around them.

Back inside, Yuffie and Vincent held hands as they quietly meandered down the hall and out the door, onto the front porch. "Hey! Lovebirds!" Yuffie yelled across the grass, ginning widely when both of their heads shot up. "Are we gonna stay here all day, or are we gonna get going?" She held up the rental van's key with her not-Vincent-holding-hand.

Demyx laughed. "Coming right away, just have to subdue your son, ma-am!"

Yuffie put her hand on her hip and retorted, "Ma'am? I thought I told you to call me Mom!"

(Some time later)

"Happy Anniversary, Zexy!" Demyx squealed as the bluenette, startled, removed his key from the lock and closed their front door.

"Anniversary?" Zexion looked shocked. "I didn't know we have an anniversary."

Demyx just nodded. "I know. I couldn't figure out when exactly is should be, so I just set it for the first day we ever had super-yummy-delicious SEX!" he did a little dance.

Zexion blushed faintly and looked down at his feet. "I get it. A whole year, huh?" he smiled gently. "I wish you'd told me earlier, I would have gotten you something while I was out."

"Don't worry! After dinner, I'll get what I want after dinner." He winked and walked back into the kitchen, swaying his hips to ensure his boyfriend was watching. "Now sit down while I finish this."

Zexion took his seat obligingly and dinner continued without a hitch. Demyx had only managed to burn one of the three courses, and they spent several hours just chatting over ice cream and wine before dinner culminated in a frenzy of kisses on the couch and other… less palatable activities.

X

For the next few days, Zexion was aloof, distancing himself from his lover in preference of the solitude of classes and the library. Demyx could empathize a bit – Zexion was writing the end of his memoir for his English class, and dredging up memories of his past was making him touchy, to say the least. The 'pre-Demyx' days, as the blonde had taken to calling them mentally, were a dark mystery that brought only pain and disappointment. He had an orchestral performance soon as well and practiced his violin whenever he had a free moment.

But nothing deserved this level of ignorance. He wasn't just distant during the day, they barely even spoke at night. He always seemed to be drained when he got home, and couldn't even bring himself to kiss his lover. Demyx found himself slamming down pots and pans with increasing frequency when he cooked dinner for one again, exasperated to the point of tears. He put water on the stove to boil, although no longer hungry, and went to sit on the couch in the living room. He sat in silence for a few seconds, willing himself not to cry, before a muffled buzzing interrupted his thoughts.

Zexion's light jacket, forsaken on this steamy day, was sitting in a corner, emanating a strange noise. The blonde stood warily and grabbed it, fishing through the pockets until his fingers closed around something hard and cool, still buzzing. He pulled the vibrating cell phone out, running his fingers over it gently. The black flip-phone was happily buzzing away, annoying the hell out of the blonde who held it. He levered it open with his thumb and it stopped, but a tiny icon proclaiming 'new text message: Axel' popped up on the screen.

His fingers hovered over the 'okay' button for a second, knowing reading his lover's texts would probably be construed as an invasion of privacy, before he pressed the button and started reading.

'Zex, u should rly tell him.'

Demyx just stared at the little screen for a moment, before diving into the 'old message' logs and reading the conversation from which the snippet came.

'He'd want to know, Zex.'

'I can't tell him yet, he'll freak out!'

'He'll understand, and you know it.'

'I don't know…'

The messages preceding the listed had all been deleted already, leaving the blonde wondering, distraught. Was there another woman? What was Zexion hiding? Why couldn't he tell the person he trusted most? He felt hurt and bewildered, crying just a bit as he curled up on his side on the couch. He'd wait until his lover got home to be worried. But deep inside, the seed of doubt was planted.

X

Zexion came home to an empty house and cold food on the table, steadily growing more congealed. Demyx was no where to be found, and the entire place was eerily silent. He threw his bag on the couch and went to investigate the food status in the kitchen, but paused at the fridge where a small note was pinned to it with a cheery magnet.

"Zexion.

I went to Axel's to talk to him about something- dinner's

on the table. I love you.

Demyx"

He smiled at the quick scribble and grabbed a can of coke out of the fridge. Balancing that, a tub of ice cream and some pretzels, he managed to maneuver to the couch. He flipped on the T.V. and watched mindlessly for a while, before getting depressingly bored and deciding to call his lover. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone- and his grasping fingers found nothing but air.

He reached in the other pocket, still bewildered. Nothing, a bit of pocket fuzz and some crumbs, no phone. Spying his jacket across the room he realized he must have left it in that pocket, which would explain it not going off all day. It wasn't like Axel not to call.

He unfolded his legs from their awkward couch position and snagged the arm of his jacket, dragging it towards him determinedly. He would call Demyx and see if he would come home early and spend some alone time with him, as they hadn't in a while. Zexion smiled, as he reached into the pocket- nothing. He groped at the other one fervently, but no metal lump resided in either of them. He flung the jacket away and lay back on the arm of the couch. If it wasn't with him, and it wasn't in his jacket… he knew he'd left it in there earlier that morning and no one but Demyx had-

Demyx. If Axel had called the little phone would have buzzed like crazy. Naturally, his inquisitive lover would have investigated. And maybe seen the text (or message left in his voicemail) which would prompt him to go talk to Axel about-

Axel. Shit, he'd need to hurry to shut Axel up before he said anything stupid.

X

Zexion sprinted up the innumerable flights of stairs, cursing all the way. He scrambled up the last few stairs and yanked the door to Axel's hall open. Pushing people left and right, he hurtled through the thin passage, ignoring the protests of those he disturbed. Pulling his keychain out of his pocket, he sifted through the metal until he found the single bright red key- Axel's emergency backup.

He calmed himself hurriedly, smoothing his hair and slowing his breath to a reasonable rate. Slipping the key into the lock, he deftly twisted the knob twice to the right and once to the left, the only was to pry the rickety old door open. What he saw inside did not please him.

Demyx was sitting on the edge of Axel's bed, shirtless, hugging his knees to his chest and sobbing like a baby. Axel was in a chair on the other side of the room, looking lost and trying to comfort the blonde without touching him. Zexion paused with the key in the lock and debated about backing out for a moment, but fortified himself and strode in.

Axel looked up at him quickly, a savior come to relieve him of his burden. But he just as quickly looked back down, seeing the stormy look on Zexion's face. "What did you do?"

Axel started mumbling, "I swear I didn't do anything. He came in all of a sudden, yelling about cell phones. He tried to get me to kiss him and he just ripped his shirt off and then he started crying and I pushed him away and I SWEAR this isn't my fault."

Zexion just nodded, knowing Axel wouldn't dare to lie to him at a time like this. He just shuffled through the heaps of trash on the floor until he was close enough to the bed, then sat and wrapped his arms around the crying blonde. He ran his fingers through the light hair as they rocked back and forth, Demyx's sobs slowly quieting to bare sniffles.

"What's wrong, Demyx?"

The blonde boy just shook his head, burying his face into Zexion's shoulder. "Tell me, love."

"Do y-you love me?" He sputtered, looking up at the bluenette. He wiped a tear from his cheek with a shaky finger and pushed some hair out of his eyes. "Because y-your cell phone h-had some w-weird message on it and-"

Zexion cut him off with a chuckle. "I'm sorry, Can I explain?" Demyx nodded weakly. "I love you. More than anything in the world, more than anyone else ever." He smiled and ruffled the blonde's hair again. "I'm sorry that I've been so distant lately. I have that concert coming up and those papers for Mr. Hersch- but no matter. I… wanted some alone time, to think about you and me."

Demyx looked startled. "W-what?"

"Ssh, shhh. I wanted to think about… about where we are as a couple." He pulled his arms from around the blonde boy and snagged a shirt off the floor to settle on his bare shoulders. "I wanted to do this more romantically, but considering the circumstances…" he trailed off, shaking his head as he slipped off the bed again, down onto one knee.

Axel looked on, enraptured as Demyx blinked unbelievingly.

"Demyx Minami. I love you. I had a little speech memorized for this bit I'm not going to bother with it now." He pulled a small, velvet-covered box out of his pocket and flipped it open with his thumb. "Demyx, will you marry me?"

Demyx was silent, completely enthralled but the ring in his boyfriend's hands. A white gold band with a pattern of waves, a diamond the size of his pinky nail nestled between two gorgeous deep aqua sapphires. He just sat there, for nearly a solid minute not breathing or blinking, as Zexion broke out in a sweat. When Demyx still hadn't answered, he moved to close the little box, thinking he'd been rejected. Before he could snap the spring-loaded lid down, a hand darted out and snagged the little black shape.

Demyx pulled the ring out of its protective pillow gently, as if afraid to snap it if he moved too quickly. He turned it over in his hands, marveling at the smooth stones and cool metal. He slipped it on his left ring finger and cradled his hand against his chest, bending his head and beginning to shake.

"Demyx? Demy-" Zexion called, questioning. The blonde flung his head back now, his laughter pealing in the small room and all down the lengthy hall. He was rolling on his back, laughing so hard he had to hold his ribs and wipe tears off his cheeks. "Demyx?"

"Of course I'll marry you! Oh god I thought you didn't love me and you were seeing some other lady and I-" Demyx blathered on, until he was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe again. Zexion and Axel exchanged a furtive glance before bursting into laughter themselves. Zexion managed to pull himself back up onto the bed and wrapped his arms around the hysterical blonde, waiting until they could both breathe before kissing him senseless.

Even with his fiancée kissing him, Demyx couldn't stop grinning. Axel slowly calmed down as the pair got more passionate, Zexion whining a little as he was pushed onto his back and straddled by the excited blonde. Axel waited patiently, averting his eyes and not listening intently until he heard the whirr of a zipper being drawn.

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, boys! This is my room!" He covered his eyes with his hand and made 'shoo' movements with the other. "You can celebrate later. I wanna see that ring."

Demyx pulled his hand grudgingly out of his uke's pants, zipping them up again and sighing. "I suppose we can wait. Here." He slipped the ring off his finger and handed it gently to the redhead as Zexion, flushed and a bit excited, sat back up and straightened his shirt self-consciously.

Axel turned the little bauble over carefully, admiring the size and clarity of the stones. He traced his pinky over the little etched waves and peered inside the band. "Hey. What does this say?" He moved it under the lamp on his desk, into the bright light. "Forever yours - " He sighed as he heard the blonde tackle his fiancée again. Turning, he directed, "Hey! No sex on my bed! At least… well, you know-" but they weren't kissing.

Demyx had wrapped his arms around the shocked bluenette's neck and was currently crying on his shoulder. Zexion looked bewildered and concerned, reaching up to rub the blonde's back in small circles. Axel passed the ring to him quietly, eyes on the crying boy. Zexion unhooked Demyx's left hand from his hair and slipped the ring onto the appropriate finger.

"Are you alright, love? Demyx nodded weakly, still crying. "Is something wrong?" He shook his head, a negative. "Then what's-"

Demyx sniffled and dried his eyes with the edge of the shirt he'd worn over to Axel's. "They're happy tears, deal." He swiped one last drop off his cheek. "They're sweet, not salty." Zexion's tongue caught the little drop as it fell.

"Yeah…" he wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist again, warming his cool fingers. He let his eyes slip shut and sighed, then turned to Axel. "It looks better on his finger than it did on that magazine, right? And those waves turned out perfect." Demyx cocked an eyebrow and looked back and forth between them inquisitively. Zexion just laughed. "Axel was the one who helped me pick out the stones and the setting, amateur jeweler he (surprisingly) is. Do you like it, sweet? If not we can always go back and get something different."

"I love it. Almost as much as I love you." He fingered it absentmindedly. "But not quite." He smiled and tipped his head back to kiss his fiancée's cheek.

Axel coughed politely and piped up, "Excuse me, but… can I go to bed now?" The couple on the bed laughed. Axel chuckled a bit, but paused, confused, a second later. "Hey, Dem? Why did you try to kiss me?" Demyx flushed and twiddled his thumbs.

"W-well I thought Zexion…" he batted his eyelashes at the bluenette coyly, he gulped, "didn't love me, and that you were… y'know… 'seeing' each other, and I wanted to get back at him…" he trailed off.

"So you kissed me?"

"It wasn't a very thought out plan, okay? I was distraught. And with those texts on Zexion's phone-" he glanced guiltily at the man, "what was I supposed to think?"

"Touché. They were a bit misleading." Axel conceded, smirking as he nodded sagely. "So when's the wedding?" The lover's eyes widened and Demyx started to stutter out-

"I mean, w-we just got- he just- we didn't think-"

"Kidding, kidding, Dem. Take a chill pill. And get out of my room!" The couple nodded, laughing, and made their way out the door, narrowly avoiding Axel's pillow-projectiles.

They clattered down the stairs and ambled home in amiable silence, holding hands and smiling softly. As they turned the corner onto their street, Demyx whispered, "Zexion?"

"Yes, love?"

"Are you gonna be the bride or am I?"

(fin, Somnium Dulcis)

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A/N- I'm actually crying a bit as I re-beta this, in preparation for putting it up on . I'd like to thank you all again, for sticking with me. You mean the world to me.