Author's Comments: Here it is, guys: the last chapter. Thanks so much for sticking with this story from start to finish. I didn't really know what I was doing at first, but your support gave me all the motivation to push through and see it through. Hope you enjoy reading the last installment of this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Reno. I own Imani and Aden.

Warmth everywhere. As I slip back into consciousness, all I can recognize is comfortable warmth. It's wrapped all around me, embracing me tightly and breathing softly.

…Breathing?

Slowly my senses begin to register little details. The air smells faintly of spicy cologne. Whatever's hugging me is soft and rather solid. The sheets don't feel as thick as my bed covers.

Then, I remember. My lips curl into a small smile.

"Are you up?" his voice murmurs in my ear.

I hum my "yes," burying my face further into his torso. "The question is how long have you been up?" I ask. "Were you watching me sleep?"

His chest rumbles. "Guilty."

"What's so interesting about me being asleep?"

"You snore."

My head jerks away as I blink sleepily to glare at him. "I do not."

Axel smirks down at me, his tattoos scrunching up just a little. "Of course you don't."

"Are you being sarcastic?" I arch an eyebrow beneath my messy bangs.

"Who?" He tilts his head playfully. "Me?"

"I don't snore," I tell him…while secretly reassuring myself.

With a chuckle, he pulls me back to his torso. "I know you don't. I was kidding."

The smart retort I had planned melts away with his warmth. I sigh, snuggling into him. "What time is it?"

"Who cares?" he drawls, his words turning into a yawn. "It's the weekend."

Rolling my eyes, I gently push away from him against his embrace to get out of bed. "Well, some people have to work."

He blinks. "On Valentine's Eve?"

I snort. "Valentine's Eve? What the heck is that?"

"The day before Valentine's Day," he states matter-of-factly, keeping a firm grip on my wrist. "Duh."

The covers slide down as I sit up and reluctantly I realize that leaving the bed means leaving the really comfortable warmth. Suppressing my shiver at the cool air, I start to pry off his fingers. "Well it's not like today or tomorrow is a really huge holiday that allows workers the chance to stay home and sleep in or whatever."

"You're saying Valentine's Day isn't a huge holiday?" His lips frown. "You're so unromantic."

"And you're going to make me late if you don't let me go."

"Aw, c'mon, Imani. Do you really have to go?"

"I have to pay off my tuition somehow." I scowl. His stupid fingers won't come off! "I don't have a prestigious internship that pays well and offers spectacular career growth like you do."

"Can't you miss just one day?" he whines, sitting up to nuzzle his face into the crook of my neck and shoulder. "We barely did anything last night."

"We did plenty last night!" I sigh, flicking my eyes to a corner of the room to help even my breathing and divert my attention from how nice it feels to have him so close and openly intimate. "After you got us both kicked out from the nurse's office for…y-you know…"

"For what?" he asks innocently. "For doing this, you mean?"

My heart leaps as his lips start moving against my skin sensually, his little moans making me blush hard. "S-Stop, Axel."

He purrs, "You don't really mean that. Just keep going. I'm listening."

Axel snickers against my throat as I swallow nervously and my face flames up. "You dragged me to the store to buy ingredients for quiche," I stammer, all the while reminding myself to breathe between thoughts, "dragged me here and made me teach you how to make quiche, and then dragged me to the living room to watch a movie while the quiche baked and set."

"I'm not sure I like how you worded your summary of last night."

"You kept trying to distract me! I almost put in too much nutmeg and I only caught bits and pieces of the movie!"

"Well you kept letting yourself get distracted."

"See? We did plenty last night. I was so tired I couldn't argue against you when you made me stay the night."

"But all we did was just hugging and kissing." Without removing his lips he sets his free hand down on my other side, trapping me between him and the headboard of his bed. "I wanna do more."

"Igottago!" I cry, pushing him off me and dashing for the door before he snatches my wrist and keeps me in bed any longer.

"God, Imani!" he calls after me. "You're always ruining the moment!"

I slump into a squeaky plastic chair, plopping my plate of today's special (Olette's famous beef and broccoli) onto the wooden table. After a two-hour run of customers coming in nonstop, Tifa finally let me take a break.

I did not like the knowing look in her eyes. Or Olette's. Or Selphie's or Kairi's or Namine's.

News travels way too fast around here. I scowl, stabbing a piece of meat with my fork and sticking it in my mouth.

Throughout the entire two-hour run, my lap kept vibrating with incoming text messages to my phone. As I savor Olette's special, I reach into my apron and pull out my phone, flipping it open.

Twenty-five new text messages.

"You're kidding me," I mutter under my breath, my scowl deepening. Very reluctantly, I start reading them off from the earliest one sent.

FINALLY.

I shake my head, snorting quietly and deleting the message. Leave it to Demyx to get the first word in.

I'm SO over being the friend EVERYONE comes to for a listening ear.

…And the second.

You owe me ALL the details when you get back from work. And you have to admit that Esmeralda's predictions are NOT psychological. 3

Delete. I roll my eyes.

I'm so happy for you two!

Though Namine's text lacks any comments with attitude, I can just picture her smiling like a fox that's tricked the hunter.

Dem told me. I hate to say I told you so but…

"You told me so," I sigh with a laugh. "And you finally figured out how to text."

Congrats on finally hooking up with Axel. Took you long enough.

"No one asked you, Riku." Delete.

Congrats! ;)

Finally. -.-

About time one of you fessed up. XP

Delete times thirteen. How did all these people even know about any of this?

"If Cloud and Leon have been keeping up with this, then I must have been seriously screwed up," I mutter to myself, eyebrows raised. "Same goes for Luxord's coworkers."

Heard you and Ax are an item, yo. Just remember I don't wanna be an uncle anytime soon. ;D

Congrats, Imani! Now Reno's free!

Delete, delete. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to suggest Selphie to Reno…

Please tell I'm not the only one who got the texts.

A smile grows on my face as I set down my fork and push the plate to the side. So Axel's phone got bombarded, too.

I miss you. Tell your boss to let you out early.

"I wish," I laugh.

Hurry up and take a break so you can call or text me! I'm so BORED.

Jeez. He's so impatient.

Don't make me start that stalking crap again.

"Oh heck no," I mutter under my breath, opening a new message and typing as quickly as I can with the small buttons, Can't you wait another four hours? I'm not even halfway done with my shift.

Not thirty seconds after I sent the message does my phone start to vibrate noisily against the table. FOUR HOURS? What the hell am I supposed to do for four hours?

I don't know. Homework? Work for your internship?

The whole point of a day off is to TAKE A BREAK from work.

Ex-CUSE me. They were just suggestions—

"Imani," Tifa calls quietly from the door. "If you're done, we need your help in the front."

"Okay," I answer without glancing away from my phone or halting my fingers. "Be right there."

"We know you love him but stop flirting with your boyfriend!"

In mock-anger, I shout back as I stand, "I'm still mad at you, Selphie!"

Two seconds after I knock on Axel's door, I find myself being dragged inside by my wrist and straight into his chest, smashing my nose. The door slams shut behind me and his arms magnetically latch around my back.

"You missed me that much, huh?" I ask nasally, rubbing my nose and peering up at him.

"Those were the longest six hours of my entire life," he grumbles into my hair. "I don't wanna even think about surviving my shifts at the hospital."

Chuckling, I lean against him comfortably. "You'll live."

"You don't sound like you missed me as much as I missed you." Suspicion laces his sultry—I can finally admit it without feeling too embarrassed!—voice.

"I did miss you." A bit of heat rushes to my face as I confess.

"…Really?"

"Really!"

He smirks against my shoulder. "Prove it."

My brow furrows. "Prove it how?"

"Be creative." His smirk widens.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I scoff.

"It means…" he starts rubbing circles into the small of my back, "be creative."

Fire bursts on my face and my heart skips several beats in the midst of its erratic pace. "Axel…" I moan in despair, burying my face into his chest further. "I can't do that. It's embarrassing."

"What?" he laughs. "It's just me."

I bite my lip. "That's why it's so embarrassing."

"Then we'll have to work your way out of being embarrassed," he coos. "We have all night."

"You sound like a horny pervert when you say that."

"You know I'm right. And you know you like it."

I didn't think it'd be possible to blush harder, but apparently I was wrong.

"Think of it as an early start to Valentine's day." With that he captures my lips.

"You're going to meet someone really special tonight!"

I smile into the kiss, remembering Kairi's words from two months ago. Yeah. He is someone special. If I weren't so emotionally stupid, I would've realized it sooner.

His arms pull me in closer. He's so warm.

Author's Afterthought: Thank you to my readers who left reviews (Dance of Flame, SHADOWoftheFOX, Twilight-Angel-XIII, Zemyx-AkuRoku, Less-Then-3, Piper-Knight, Sleepihead, musicalpickle, WickedlyMe, oddsoul, kmkm89, and Bstar94) and gave me such helpful support and suggestions. Thank you to you readers who didn't leave a review yet continued to read the story. I truly appreciate everything!

If you haven't yet, please take some time to read The Kismet Scribe, Imani's original story. I know it's long and that it starts painfully slow, but I promise that it picks up as it goes along. (There are no blatant romantic relationships, but the story turned out surprisingly...uh...insightful?)

Be on the look-out for any new stories I might spring up on you! I'm already working on one, but I'm a little hesitant to post it right now. Some of the content is a little dubious since certain parts of Imani's memory hasn't quite been available to me yet. (Did that make sense? I don't want to give too much away while explaining...)

Once again, thank you! I had so much fun writing this! Please leave a review to let me know what your thoughts are!