"Roxas..."

Said blonde heard his name break through the haze in his dreams.

"Roxas..."

It was louder this time, he was being pulled from the lull of sleep and he was waking up.

"Roxas...Get up!"

Roxas' large blue eyes snapped open to a burst of bright light, with eyes narrowed at his Twin who sat on his bed with a large smile plastered on his face.

"What do you want Sora?" Roxas seethed "The house better be on fire for you to come bursting in here and waking me up!"

Sora shook his head, the smile never leaving his face "Do you know what day it is today?" he simply asked.

Roxas groaned and slumped back into the warmth of his blankets "Get lost Sora, No I do not know the day today, go back to bed."

"I wont go Roxas" Sora laughed "Its a special day today, I cant believe you didn't remember, come on, its time to get up!"

Sora pulled the blankets away from his brother, the blonde was not amused when he rose again. His eyes slid over to the illuminated numbers which read 6:25 AM.

Shock quickly enveloped him which melted away to anger.

"SORA!" Roxas shouted, leaning over, wrenching his blankets away from Sora and falling back down onto his bed, covering his head with the blanket. "You're an IDIOT" he shouted into the blankets.

As the pulled the blankets up, it revealed his feet peeking out the end. He wiggled his toes at the sudden lack of warmth and Sora could only chuckle; "You never answered my question Roxas, what day is it?"

"Go away" came the grumbled response "I really don't care."

Sora reached down and began to tickle to brothers feet, "Come on Roxy, If you don't get up now..." Before the brunette twin could finish his sentence, the Blonde had jerked his feet back towards him to escape the tickling.

"Get LOST" he shouted in the desperate tone when you get tickled.

"If you don't go, I WILL tell Mum and Dad!"

"Its our Birthday today Roxas! We're twelve today, don't say you forgot?"

Roxas' eyes looked calculating before he said slowly "Its our birthday today?"

"Uh huh!" Sora smiled

"So we can give each other presents?"

"Yep!"

"Then...Sora?"

"What?"

"Give me mine …AND GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM AND LET ME GO BACK TO SLEEP!"

Roxas curled back up into a ball and disappeared under the blankets once more. Sora shook his head "This is more difficult that what I had thought, I'm going to have to get Dad."

He got a muffled response in return.

"Fine" Sora stated matter-of-factly "Suit yourself Bro."

The Brother got off the bed and wandered back out into the hall. He walked down the opposite end and into the kitchen and stated "I tried and tried, but he got angry and told me to get lost."

Father of the Twins: Zack Fair, First SOLDIER Elite in the Reserves.

With a smile, he pushed back in his chair with a large grin stretched across his face, "Told you to get lost did he?" he asked his son.

Sora nodded, "Yep, I even tickled him, but that just got him angry."

He went to his designated seat and plonked down in it, "So what are we going to do if Roxas won't get up?"

Zack heaved himself up to his feet, "What do we do? Come on Sora, we will get him up! That's what we'll do." He walked to the door before there was a protest from the other side of the Kitchen.

"Zack, please be reasonable. You know exactly what Roxas is like, think of the implications."

Mother of Twins: Aerith, Local Florist in Midgar with Reputable Status.

"Mum, stop defending the little twerp, he's such a Mama's boy, its not even funny anymore."

Cloud Strife... Eldest Son... Jerk

"Get him up Dad, why did I have to be up early and he still gets to lay around in bed? If I'm up, Roxas is up as well."

Zack grinned, "I think that is my queue right there, don't worry, he'll be up in a heartbeat. It's his birthday, he won't stay grumpy for long."

"Want to bet?" Aerith challenged, instead only receiving a toothy grin as her husband disappeared. "Somehow, that's not reassuring" she muttered, leaning her face on her palm as she watched the door close.

"You worry too much" Cloud said, gulping down a glass of orange juice before reaching for the bottle to re-fill it "You know Dad, besides..." he filled his glass again "Roxas knows exactly what Dad could do, I'm surprised he didn't get up when Sora went in there."

…

Roxas was no longer aware of his surroundings. He had dozed off after Sora had left. He reached up and tugged the pillow off his back and settled his head on it, eager to go back into his slumber.

He wasn't aware of heavy feet coming down the hall.

The door swung open, allowing the light from the hall to stream in. Roxas barely had time to blink his eyes until the sloshing sound of water.

Then, the cascade of freezing cold water that rained down on him, instantly drenching the blankets, himself and his whole bed.

With his eyes popping wide, Roxas heaved up crying out in shock and disdain. He looked up to see Zack standing there with a large blue bucket, laughing at his Son's misfortune.

Roxas groaned before crying out "Dad!"

He grabbed the fabric of his shirt between his thumb and index finger, peeling it away from his skin and looking at his bed helplessly.

Roxas was-not-amused.

"Good Morning Son" Zack finally said after his spell of laughter "It's a new day, now that you're awake, you can give us the pleasure of gracing everybody around you with your presence in the kitchen!"

With those departing words, Zack disappeared back down the hall, whistling a jolly tune.

'Why?'

This was the only question that ran through Roxas' head, 'Why does he do this? I bet nobody else's dad would do this to their children.'

Roxas pulled himself out of his bed, soaking. He pulled the blanket off his bed and it landed in a heap on the floor. He stared at it for a couple of seconds before picking it back up and dragging it next door to the laundry.

He dumped it on the white tiles before striding back into his bedroom and stripping off his wet clothes, getting ready for his grouch when he walks into the kitchen. Boy, weren't his parents and brothers going to cop it.

To add emphasis on his cranky mood, Roxas slammed the door to his bedroom shut before walking to his dresser to find some clean clothes. He yanked out some boxers, a pair of shorts and a shirt, he stripped off and got dressed before flinging his door back open, letting the doorknob crack against the wall.

He strode down the hall and pushed open the door where he was greeted by the usual sight of his family. He didn't smile at them as he made his way to his seat beside Sora, looking around cautiously just in case his father had booby trapped something.

"Good Morning sweetheart" Aerith said, walking over and landing a kiss on her Son's wet hair, Roxas grumbled out an audible 'Good Morning' before folding his arms across his chest and pouting.

"What would we like for breakfast?" Aerith said, hoping to ease the tension in the atmosphere. She was hoping that Roxas would be the first to say something but he wasn't.

Instead, he looked up to see his father staring at him, a grin etched on his face and a wicked gleam in his eye.

"What are you looking at?" Roxas snapped to him "It's you that I'm cranky at..." He cast a dark glance to his Twin "Then it's you."

Zack chuckled and Roxas was just about to snap something else before he felt a sharp slap to the back of his head.

Yelping out in surprise, Roxas' hands flew to the sore spot, he turned around before crying out to Cloud indignantly "You jerk! Keep your dirty hands to yourself!"

"Roxas and Cloud" Aerith warned "Cloud, don't hit your younger brothers, you're supposed to look out for them. Not to pick on them."

"It's all he ever does" Roxas grumbled, lowering his hands "What a great big brother, he picks on his brothers all the time, especially when Mum and Dad aren't watching!"

Cloud made a cut-throat gesture to the Blonde Twin, "Watch it Shrimpy" he threatened.

"Enough" Zack said looking at the feuding brothers "Cloud, being the eldest, you are responsible. Roxas and Sora look up to you. It is your Duty as an Older Brother to watch for the safety of your brothers. Do you copy?"

"Yes Sir" Cloud saluted. He lowered his hands, "Whatever" he sighed "What are we having for breakfast?"

"Mum"? Sora looked to Aerith blinking his light blue eyes, "I want pancakes"

Roxas snapped his gaze up to Aerith as well, "whipped cream"

"Maple Syrup"

"Strawberries"

"Sugar!"

"You don't need sugar" Roxas said, sending a disapproving glance to his brother, "You're already running on one brain cell, don't halve it."

The Brunette Twin was prone to hyperactivity, the cause from sugar, he was also prone to severe stupidity.

"Oh lighten up Son" Zack chuckled "It's your birthday, you can do anything you want, if Sora wants sugar on his pancakes, let Sora have sugar!"

"After breakfast, I'll allow you to open your presents" Aerith smiled from the kitchen "How does that sound?"

For the first time that morning, Roxas finally smiled at the mention of presents.

That... was something to look forward to.

Roxas could only smirk when Cloud was given the job of cleaning the dishes.

A job that was usually for the Twins had been handed over to the Eldest Strife Brother, he could watch from over the counter as Zack and Aerith bought out the presents they had gotten for their Twin Boys.

They got the necessities, like most children got for their birthdays, Cards from the Grandparents... In their case, their only living Grandparent was Angeal.

They got Cards from Aerith's Sister, Lucrecia who lived in a Condo on Destiny Islands, the one envelope containing two twenty dollar notes; one for each Brother.

The other envelope was from their Uncle Vincent, Aunt Tifa and Cousin Yuffie.

Vincent was no pushover and money wasn't an issue when it came to him, especially when there was a hundred dollars for each boy to buy their own presents.

The family saw Lucrecia every few months, when she made the effort to come and see them. They saw Vincent and his family every few years. The family being very busy and unable to come to many family functions...Even though their family was very small.

Like most Twins, Roxas and Sora received presents that they would share. Books and Games being the main ones that they would have too.

But their eyes glistened when they pulled off the wrappers to reveal brand new Ipod's.

"I've wanted one of these!" Roxas crowed in delight "Thanks Mum, Thanks Dad!"

Even though they weren't the top of the Range Ipod's, only being Nano's, the Boys loved them nonetheless and showed no disappointment.

Roxas' Ipod being Silver and Sora's being Blue, they would have no trouble differentiating who's belonged to who.

But the real Gifts were yet to come.

Zack disappeared outside and Aerith stood the Twins up and covered their eyes with her hands. Carefully, she led them out onto the back verandah. She got the 'Okay' signal from Zack and she withdrew her hands.

The Boys were greeted by the sight of two new Mountain Bikes.

Paper hung off the handlebars, one that read 'Sora' and the other 'Roxas.'

The boys raced towards the bikes, excitement shining on their faces, Sora whooped in delight and Roxas scrambled upon his and twisted the pedals around.

"Can we go for a ride?" the chorused to Aerith "Please Mum, please!"

There went the Twin telepathy that they were so famous for.

Aerith smiled happily, "What do you say Zack? Let them have a ride?"

From beside the boys, Zack smiled readily "Of course you can Boys, we got the bikes for you. They're all yours."

From the back door, Cloud watched the scene and rolled his eyes. "Whatever" he sighed "I don't need to watch this crap." He disappeared back into the shadows of the house and left the rest of his family up to their own devices.

…

Aerith pulled out a video camera. "Zack?" she called "Is this on? What does the blinking light mean?"

"It means its recording Aerith, quick turn it around, we don't want a recording of what happens up your nose."

"Look Mum, I'm riding the Bike!"

Sora wobbled precariously on the bike as he gained his balance, it didn't take long for Roxas to soar past and retort, "Sora you baby! I'm half surprised you didn't ask for you training wheels to be put on!"

Aerith pointed the camera to Roxas as he rode around the Cul-De-Sac, he rode past again, he lifted his hand and waved to his Mother.

"Hi Mum!"

"Hi Roxas" Aerith's voice rung out over the recording.

She turned the Camera on herself "This is Sora and Roxas' Twelfth Birthday, both Boys receiving Bikes that had been a Gift from their Father!"

She smiled into the Camera, "We just want to let you know that your Father and I are very proud of you Boys" she laughed "You'll probably watch this later and laugh at me for doing this, but I couldn't help myself... But Boys?"

Her green eyes sparkled "I just want to say, that you are my world. I love you two very, very much and no matter what, I will always be there for you two. And your Father of course, Happy Birthday my beautiful babies."

She pointed the camera back to Zack who was standing in the gutter cheering on his Boys as they rode their bikes.

Suddenly there was a gasp on Aerith's side and the camera began to shake and wobble violently, it facing the bitumen road as Aerith raced to the mangled form of Sora as he fell off his bike.

"Come on" Zack laughed as they straightened "Walk it off Buddy, you'll be alright. You just get back on that Bike and keep going."

"I just wish you would be more careful" Aerith said with a shaky laugh, as she recorded Sora getting back on his bike, "Roxas is a better rider than you sweetheart, don't try and copy him just yet. It'll come to you with more practice, just keep riding."

And that's exactly what Sora did, he didn't let it faze him.

…

Later on in that afternoon, Aerith had yet again filmed her family as they jumped into the family pool.

If the house had burned down, Aerith would save that Video Camera. It was her whole life, she had filmed every special occasion with her family. It would be the end of her is she had lost it.

She sat back and laughed as the water splashed everywhere from the antics of her husband and delighted children.

Despite Cloud not being there, Aerith knew he wouldn't be interested in hanging out with his family. It just wasn't 'Cool.'

She shook her head, her Eldest Son would be there for the cake tonight regardless. She had it specially made for her Boys, all she had to do was pick it up from the Bakers later on that night and everything would be perfect.

The Cherry on top for a perfect day.