A/N: Happy early Valentine's day, guys! Thought about saving this chapter for then, but then I was like, "Wait another five days for this? IT'S BEEN FOUR FREAKING YEARS, I'M DONE." So yep. Final chapter go!

Axel's POV.

Now thisis more like it. Sheesh, we should've gone with the arcade in the first place – no falling on my butt, no kids falling out of the sky, just a safer idea all around.

Plus, I can show off my awesome skee ball skills.

"Thirty tickets?!" Xion counts the red roll when the machine's done spitting them out.

"Yep." I brush off my hands against each other. "All in a quarter's work."

"The most I've ever gotten is, like, six." I bask in the glow of her admiration, even if it's only over an arcade game. "I bet your long arms make it easier. Somehow."

"What?" I pretend to be offended. "This is clearly pure skill."

She laughs while accordion-folding the tickets into a thick stack and handing them to me. "You're a dork. But you're my favorite dork." She gently places her hand in mine, and it's all I can do not to pull her into a bear hug and kiss her right there. But she's got rules. And hard as they might be, it's worth it as long as she's happy to be with me.

"Heh, don't go saying that around Rox. He might get jealous." I freeze with the tickets and my hand in my pocket when it hits me that that's a pretty likely possibility. "How are we going to explain all this to Roxas?"

"It shouldn't be hard, right?" Xion bites her lip. "He doesn't like me like that, does he?"

"Well…" I rub the back of my head. My poor hair has suffered so much abuse tonight, there are hardly any spikes left to ruffle. "He hasn't dropped any hints to me. But I can't promise he doesn't, either." I've been a little paranoid of that ever since I started liking her, but I never outright asked him. It wasn't that I was scared, it was just… well, yeah, I was scared. They're closer than siblings; they did everything together while I wasted my time on other girls.

"Well… then I guess we just tell him and find out," she says uncertainly. "I mean, Father won't let you be my boyfriend yet anyway, but I know Roxas. Even if he does like me, he'd feel worse if we didn't tell him."

Both of those statements punch me in the gut. One, the possibility of telling Roxas I stole his crush. I can just picture the crushed, heartbroken, betrayed expression he'll have if he does like her… eyes wide, jaw slack, like I just admitted to kicking puppies… the thought makes me actually cringe.

And two, Xion can't technically be my girlfriend. I mean, I knew that going in, but I didn't expect things would go so fast and work out this… well. Huh. Saï didn't screw up too bad after all.

"…Yeah, guess you're right," I agree. Besides, if Roxas liked her, he would've said something by now, right? He's not exactly the secret-keeping type. "He'll be fine. We're best friends; it's not like we're going to kick him to the curb just because we like each other."

Xion's face tinges pink. "Of course not. I just hope he knows that too."

I know what she means. Roxas's jealous tendencies can be almost as bad as Saïx's when he feels left out. Example A: the time Xion and I tried to throw him a surprise birthday party, only for him to crash it early because he thought we were just avoiding him. I could go into examples B-Z, but most of them involve awful dates I now regret, so I don't feel like dwelling on it.

"Don't worry about it," I assure her – and myself – while flicking another coin into the skee ball machine. "Like I said, he'll be fine. Now, want some skee ball lessons from the master himself?"

She giggles when I wiggle my eyebrows. Yep, she's totally fallen for me. Or thinks I'm ridiculous, but I choose to believe the first.

"Why not. You're cute when you brag."

Under normal circumstances, I might object to being called "cute." But there's no doubt I've fallen head-over-heels for her, too.

The balls roll down, and I grab one out of the machine and toss it to her. "Well, let's see you give it a shot before I swoop in with any tips."

She shrugs. Swinging her arm back like she's preparing to bowl, she slings the ball up the ramp, where it shoots up and smacks the top of the machine before clunking into the bottom hole. That was… well, it was something.

"Told you I was no good at this." She rubs her arm sheepishly.

"Hey, no problem. You got me to prance around in knife-shoes; teaching you to roll a ball will be cake compared to that." Yeah, she's pretty bad, but it's nothing I can't fix.

I plop a new ball in her palm. "It's all in the roll." Covering the back the back of her hand with mine, I swing her arm back and forth, slowly and smoothly. "You don't have to throw hard. Just make sure it's smooth."

She nods. "I think I got it."

Reluctantly, I release her hand. "Great. Let's see it."

Just like I said, she smoothly rolls the ball… right into the empty backboard to the right of the 40 hole.

"…I forgot to go over aim, didn't I." I grin out of the corner of my mouth. This might be a bit harder than I thought.

"Yeah, just a bit," she teases, gently nudging me with her arm.

"Hey, no abusing the master," I tease back, faking injury. "Come on, I'll make a skee ball pro of you yet."

By the time Kairi and Sora rush over from across the arcade, Xion's finally amassed a solid twenty-one tickets… over the course of three quarters, but hey, it's progress.

"Fourth time's the charm, right?" She laughs.

"Axel!" Kairi calls, right after Sora nearly plows me over.

"Whoa, whoa! What's the rush?" I thought Sora only moved that fast when he and Riku did their 'macho' show-off races.

"Come on, Xi, you have to see this!" Kairi grabs my date's arm and drags her away.

"Hey, what's going—?"

Sora practically shoves me from behind. "Terra's getting his butt kicked!"

"Wait, what?" Terra's a black belt in… whatever martial art Eraqus teaches; how is he getting his butt kicked? And why is Sora laughing about it? I shoot Xion a questioning glance, but being dragged by Kairi, all she can do is reflect my confusion.

When I actually see what Terra's doing, it makes a little more sense. He and Aqua found the two-player 'Race Mode' on the new Hero's Duty game; that much I can tell even with the small crowd of arcade-gamers clustered around them. And, judging from the crowd's chants of "A-qua! A-qua! A-qua!", he really is getting his butt kicked.

"Aqua?!" Xion exclaims, surprised. "How did you get so good at that?!"

"Practice," she replies without mission a shot. "And a few tips from Calhoun."

"Not fair!" Terra complains, struggling to keep up as the Cy-Bugs pile up around him. Meanwhile, Aqua's already entered the tower. "I thought the only video game you played was Rumble Racing!"

"I thought so too." Xion's brow furrows. "Father doesn't like us playing violent video games."

Which is weird, considering Aqua teaches kids how to beat each other up. "It's not really violent, Xi. You're killing monster-bugs, not people."

She still looks uncertain. "I guess so…"

I don't know how they can handle it, trying to keep track of so many rules. If I tried, I bet I'd have a meltdown and binge on video games, junk food, and other brain-rotting stuff before a day was up.

"Terra bet Aqua he can beat her," Sora tells me as Aqua zaps Cy-Bug after Cy-Bug, clearing floor after floor. I whistle in appreciation.

"What's Terra gonna have to pay up?" As I say it, he finally makes it to the tower door.

Sora grins. "If Terra wins, Aqua's gotta do his English project."

"Yeah, but we both know that's not gonna happen. So what's Terra gotta do?"

"That's the best part. Terra's gotta babysit Vanitas for a whole day during the break."

I laugh. "Heh, stinks to be him."

A Cy-Bug's laser shoots directly towards Terra's screen, and he doesn't dodge fast enough. GAME OVER flashes over a bright red background, while Aqua's avatar receives the Medal of Heroes.

"Ugh…" Terra slumps.

"Hope you don't have any plans for December twenty-third." Aqua smiles teasingly.

"You know, I think I'll be sick that day…"

"How do they make bets like that and not drive each other crazy?" I ask Kairi, since she's the resident romance-psychologist. She shrugs.

"That's how they flirt. One-upping each other is their thing, like how your and Xion's thing is eating unhealthy amounts of ice cream."

"Hey! I object to that," I pout. "We don't just eat lots of ice cream."

"He's right," Xion adds with a smile. "We also try to teach each other things. Usually ones we have no hope of learning."

I was just going to say we also complain about our siblings and watch cartoon ponies, but her statement is also true, and sounds more thoughtful.

"Hey, I wasn't completely hopeless at ice skating – nah, you're right," I give up on my denial. "It was pretty bad. But for the record, you're a good teacher."

She pushes a strand of hair out of her face. Her little side-braid from earlier is trying to fall out, but at least it still keeps most of her hair out her way. Much as I like her normal hairstyle, I do like being able to see her eyes better. "Thanks. And thanks for trying to learn anyway."

I crack a smile. "What can I say, I have to try the impossible."

Terra and Aqua finally hand over their blasters to two boys that were waiting their turn in the small crowd. They look kind of young to be at the arcade this late… wait, that's Phineas and Ferb. They look too young for lots of things.

"Have you all had enough fun tonight?" Aqua asks.

"What, you ready to leave already?" Terra crosses his arms. "I can't go home on that note."

"Yeah, his 'manly pride' will never recover." I smirk, not ready to leave either. We'll have to eventually, but the longer I get to spend with Xion, the better.

"Alright then," Aqua says, checking her watch. "It's nine-thirty. The rink closes at ten."

"You're on a date too," Xion reminds her. "Don't forget to have fun because you're worried about keeping us on schedule. You're not our mom."

Coming from anyone else it would be a sarcastic jab, but from Xion, it's just an honest reminder. From the way Aqua responds, I wonder if she actually did forget for a minute. That girl's got a lot of pressure on her.

"Right." She takes Terra's hand, turning to him. "So, what do you want to do before the night's over?"

He grins. "I've got a couple ideas…"

I raise my eyebrows and take Xion's hand. "You wanna give them some privacy?"

"They could use it." She nods, then her face lights up with an idea. I swear there's nothing more beautiful than that moment. "How does a game of air hockey sound?"

She knows me so well. "You're on."

XXX

Okay, I admit it. I underestimated her. Still, I haven't had the chance to play against her in forever; how was I supposed to know she became an air hockey wizard?

I try to follow the neon green puck, but it's ricocheting all over the place. It slips past my guard, and I don't notice until I hear it clatter out the return hole.

Xion smiles proudly; Kairi cheers for her third point.

"C'mon, Kai, don't cheer for the competition! You're supposed to be on my side." I glance at the glowing red score. Three-zip.

"Xion's my friend. I don't have to root for you just because you're my brother."

Really? Then what are sisters for?

"It's okay, Axel!" Sora exclaims. "I'll root for you! Go, Axel! Woo!"

I laugh, slapping the puck back onto the table. "How can I lose with a cheering section like that?"

"Pretty easily," Xion teases.

"Oh, we'll see about that." I wiggle my eyebrows, making her laugh. It's a good enough distraction; I hit the puck straight through into her goal.

"So you're cheating now?" She shakes her head in disappointment. "I really thought you were better than that."

"Hey, you should've been paying attention." I shrug innocently, briefly wondering if she's serious. In my own moment of distraction, she tries to sneak in a score, but I don't fall for it.

"Nice try." I deflect the puck, and we're thrown into another back-and-forth duel. I'm not so bad at air hockey myself; I just got too cocky in the beginning. Now that I'm paying more attention, I can parry her quick shots. Like fencing. Only without a sword or the stupid outfits… so nothing like fencing, actually. Y'know what, forget the lame metaphor.

"Nice one, Axel!" Sora cheers when I barely keep her shot from sliding into my goal.

"He's got an advantage," Kairi says, watching me stretch out and hit the puck when it somehow slows to a stop in the middle of the table. "His arms are a lot longer."

"Hey, what's with everyone hating on long arms today?" Xion's doing just fine with her shorter arms anyway.

"I don't hate your long arms," she replies, a little shyly. Not that that stops her from aggressively defending her goal. "Your arms are the best at hugging."

Kairi "d'aww"s; I ignore her, focusing on the neon puck, but my thoughts still wander... How many times have I actually hugged Xion? Definitely not enough. But unfortunately now's not the time to fix that.

"I dunno," I finally reply. "My hugs are pretty good, but you haven't had your own hugs."

I score on her while she's blushing. Not a bad side effect.

"Did you say that just to distract me?" She challenges.

"Nope. That one was just a compliment."

"…Oh." I don't think she knows how to take it, especially with Sora and Kairi watching. Don't they have something better to do? Sometimes it's kind of annoying that they're too good to go make out in a corner somewhere…

The score's three to two now; I could catch up with a little luck. Still, much as I like winning, I picture the look she'd have on her face if she beat me. Excitement, victory, that glow she gets when she's happy… that's a better prize than bragging rights. I let the puck ricochet around my guard; Kairi and Xion hi-five.

"C'mon, Axel! You can do better than that!" Sora tries to motivate me.

He's right. I'm not gonna let her win without breaking a sweat. Where's the fun in that?

I rub the puck over the table, testing which side is smoother. "You ready?" I ask Xion.

"Sure. Thanks for asking this time."

"I want to stay in your good graces, don't I?" I raise my eyebrows. "Figured my manners could use a little exercise."

I give the puck a solid whack, catching a few good angles off the sides, but she returns it so fast it almost slips past me. Forget letting her win; I have to put in some elbow grease just to hold my own.

"Sheesh, Xi, when did you get so good at air hockey?" I ask after she scores on me again. Five-two. I really gotta step it up, or I'll end up like Terra. At least I won't have to babysit Vanitas if I lose.

She shrugs. "I play against Saïx when we're here. Sometimes Roxas, too."

I try not to be jealous. Or at least not show it. Of course there's plenty of things they've done without me; Roxas and I do enough stuff without her. Anyway, Roxas and Saïx are worthy opponents, so I guess Xion working to match them shouldn't be a surprise.

With a few angled shots, I score the next point, but Xion gets one soon after while Sora's killing my ears with his cheering.

"Six-three," I announce, shaking my head.

"Yep." Xion grins. "You're not giving up yet, are you?"

I raise an eyebrow. "What do you take me for?"

I send the puck her way. The tables finally turn – I score two points in a row. Six-five.

"Don't trip at the finish line," I tease.

"I'm not trying to. You're good at this."

"Heh, looks like we finally found something we're both good at." I smile while she hits the puck my way. I may not need to win, but the closer the better. Kairi and Sora are getting a kick out of it; I catch their eyes ping-ponging between Xion and me, trying to keep up with the neon-green blur. A few times it hits a bad angle and I have to rescue it from the middle, and I spare a moment to catch Xion's eye. Her face is flushed, from effort or excitement. Her big blue eyes make it hard to look away, but when I finally do, I score the tying point.

"Six-six!" Sora announces before I can.

"Good, maybe we'll finally get a turn, if this place doesn't close first," Kairi says, leaning against the table.

"You can't rush awesomeness." I grin at her.

"I'm not rushing awesomeness. I'm rushing you."

I pause for a second to glare at her; she just flutters her eyelashes innocently, trying to look cute. Nice try, Kai. I may be a sucker for cute things, but you're my sister. You don't count.

"Just for that, I'll draw this out as long as possible." Fake-yawning, I slowly ready my guard. Xion actually takes the time to wait on me, which is rather polite considering she could've easily scored on me and won.

"Ready?" She asks.

"If some people are done being insulting," I throw the sarcasm at Kairi, who rolls her eyes. Xion laughs and shoots the puck my way. I block and return it – I may be rooting for her, but I can't be too obvious about it.

Ironically, for all my failure earlier, she actually misses it. The puck slides right past her guard, clattering down into the goal, and the table doesn't spit it back out again. Instead it powers down, air vents whirring into sad silence.

"Nice job, Axel," Xion congratulates me, looking pretty happy for having just lost, and Sora cheers while Kairi rolls her eyes again.

"Wha-what?" I blink. Why's she look so proud of herself? Wait a minute… "Did you let me win?!"

"Huh? Why would I do that?" She blinks innocently, but her blush never lies.

"I was supposed to let you win, not the other way around!" I exclaim without thinking.

"What?!" Xion looks a little insulted. Whoops. "Why would you do that?"

Kairi laughs. "Looks like both of your egos are too big, if you ask me."

Well, I didn't ask my over-critical little sister. I answer Xion's question.

"Because I thought it would make you happy. And I love the look on your face when you're happy."

I wish Kairi and Sora were the kind of people I could scare off with mushiness. Unfortunately, they're the exact opposite.

"Aww," Sora coos.

"Shut up," I mutter to him. I can take it from my sister – it's part of the big-brother package – but I don't have to take it from her boyfriend.

Xion flushes pink. "Then you know why I let you win, too. …Only it didn't really work."

I take her hand, leading her away from where Kairi and Sora are inserting quarters into the air hockey table. We've only got so much time left; I'd like to spend a little more of it just with her, and not inside a girls' bathroom.

I smile at her. "Hey, I'm happy just to be here with you. You don't have to try too hard."

She smiles back shyly, eyes shining. "Me too. Being with you, like this, I mean… I just can't believe this is actually happening…"

"I know what you mean." I squeeze her hand. It's still hard to believe she was as nervous as I was; she didn't even have to learn how to skate around on knife-shoes for the first time. "You still need a list for me to convince you?"

She laughs back, leading me over to the Pac-Man game, out of the way of the few other people still loitering around. "I believe you. I just…feel kind of like Cinderella right now, and I hope it doesn't end at midnight."

"Don't worry about that." I pull her into a tight hug, then remember she's tiny and I shouldn't squeeze her too hard. "You're more beautiful than Cinderella, and I sure hope I've got more personality than that prince."

I never thought I'd get to hold her like this, feel her laughing in my arms, watch her glow with happiness because of me. It took me too long to realize I wanted to. All this time, I was missing out on this best feeling – well, I guess I couldn't have been with her anyway, because of her dad's rules… I shouldn't want to change anything. It took all my fails to realize this is what I want, and now I'm here. That's good enough.

"How are you always so funny?" She asks.

"It's just my natural charisma," I reply with a mock-dramatic hair flip, which works a little better than usual since my hair spikes are sad and limp. I don't admit that I try to be witty to make her laugh; I'm not ready to spill all my guts yet.

She laughs again, squeezing me back. Maybe I should let go, but I don't think anything else will feel as good as hugging her. Nothing I'm allowed to do yet, anyway, no matter how tempting it is to lean down and kiss her smiling lips—

Shut up, Axel. Be happy with what you've got.

So I just smile with her resting her head on my chest and run my fingers through her silky hair.

"That tickles," she says, giggling a little.

"I'll stop if you want." I pause.

"Please don't."

I smile and go back to playing with her hair. Seriously, how is it so silky? Does girl shampoo have some sort of magic in it that guy shampoo doesn't? I could try borrowing Kairi's, but I'm afraid I'd end up looking like Riku. Plus Kairi would kill me. And I don't want to smell like a girl… yeah, so all around a bad idea. Whatever it is, though, it's working for Xion.

"I wonder how Saïx and Jasmine are doing," she muses unexpectedly, and I frown.

"I'm sure he has her home by now. But that was definitely weird." I'm still not convinced he doesn't like her. Paranoid as he is, I don't think he went through all that effort just to spy on us.

"Yeah." She shakes her head. "I don't understand him. If he really wanted to spy on us, he could've just joined in and made it a quadruple date. I mean, it would've still been weird to see him with a girl, but no one would've been mad."

I shrug. "Saïx doesn't work that way. He likes making things more complicated than they need to be." Plus I'm sure he didn't want me teasing him, but I don't mention that. "But hey, it all worked out, right?"

She relaxes. "Of course it did. This is perfect, Axel."

I can tell from her voice something is still wrong. Does she just want to make things more complicated, too? "But…?"

She sighs. "I just wish I understood him better. We used to be pretty close… then one day he just didn't want me to hang out with you guys anymore. I never figured out what happened."

I think I remember that, a little. I don't know what happened, either. It was just like he suddenly got too cool for his little sis. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't get annoyed with Kairi – but with Saïx and Xion, it was like someone flipped switch. And she's been my friend almost as long as him. I never thought about it much before, but now that I do…

"Hey, when did you say you started liking me?"

She pulls back a little, looking up in confusion. "Since I was around eleven. Why?"

When she was eleven, I was twelve… no, that couldn't be right. Saïx started acting weird when we were in the eighth grade. We would've been fourteen. It couldn't have been because Xion started liking me…

Unless he didn't find out until then. Still, that's kind of a stretch. I shake my head.

"What is it?" She asks when I don't respond.

"Nevermind. I was just thinking, not making sense." I shake it off and grin. "But hey, don't worry about Saï. I'm starting to feel neglected."

She laughs. "Fine. I've got every other day to worry about him. How much time do we have? We could see what prizes we can get for these tickets."

"Hold on, I'll check…" Which pocket was that? Not the left one; those are the tickets…

She slips her phone out of her pocket before I find mine. "What? Only ten minutes left?!"

Sure enough, mere seconds later, the intercom breaks the same depressing news.

"I could hide you behind one of the game cabinets," I joke when her shoulders slump. "I bet they wouldn't look for you there."

"Maybe not, but I think they'd see your bright red hair sticking out," she jokes back, poking one of my drooping spikes.

"Heh. Can't help my hair being awesome." I nudge her playfully. "C'mon, we better go find the others."

She "aww…"s under her breath, but I smile. How lucky am I to have a date who doesn't want to leave? Honestly, it's kind of a first…

We find Aqua and Terra absorbed in a two-player Sugar Rush race, their feet squashing the pedals flat against the floor.

"You're going down this time, Minty Zaki!" Terra gloats.

"We'll see about that, Fluggerbutter," Aqua replies coolly, her little cart inching up on his. It's pretty ridiculous watching them get into it, especially Terra – man, if I got his face on video, I bet it'd go viral in twenty minutes. But I'm not that heartless… well, at least not with Xion watching.

"You guys planning on getting kicked out or what?" I ask, leaning against the back of Terra's chair. He waves me off.

"Give us a minute, it's the last lap!"

"Whatever." I shrug. "You guys make any bets on this one?"

Aqua actually smirks; it's a weird expression for her face. "No. Terra learned his lesson, for once."

"Hey! How was I supposed to know you played violent video games? I could sue you for hustling."

"That's not hustling. You just made assumptions with no evidence."

Xion shakes her head. "You guys are so weird." I don't think she realizes how often Roxas and I make similar stupid bets. Luckily neither of us is brothers with Vanitas.

"We can go find Kairi and Sora," I suggest, since I don't feel like watching a bunch of candy-coated girls duke it out on karts.

"Sure," Xion agrees. Taking her hand, we wander to the other side of the arcade, where Sora's trying to teach Kairi the ancient and honorable game of Whac-a-Mole.

"Good luck, Sora," I say sarcastically as Kairi misses a mole by three holes. "She's got the hitting arm of a dead jellyfish."

She sighs after missing again. "Normally I'd be offended, but it's kind of true."

I harness my powers of self-control and don't ask, "Kind of?"

"Don't feel bad, Kai." Sora takes her hands after she throws the squishy hammer at the machine, which had started playing laughing noises at her. I have to snicker myself, but I try to hide it in my scarf. "I used to have jellyfish arms, but now look!" He pushes up his sleeve and flexes, showing off a wimpy bump of a muscle.

Kairi just shakes her head and laughs. He's lucky she's got a soft spot for completely pathetic things.

"It just takes some practice," Sora adds. "Oh, and working out with Riku helps too."

I clear my throat. "Hate to rain on everyone's parade, but they'll be kicking us out in five minutes." I wish I didn't have to be the responsible one, but Saïx isn't here to do it for me.

"Awww," Sora groans loudly. "Really?"

"Yeah. C'mon, you can make puppy eyes at my sister later."

They both blush, and Xion laughs a little. "You're not the only one who can tease," she tells Kairi.

"Ha ha, very funny, Xi."

From the embarrassing victory dance going on over at the Sugar Rush cabinets, I guess Terra won.

"Come on, Terra." Aqua shakes her head, staring up at the ceiling, like some alien spaceship might come down and abduct him before he can embarrass her any more. "Or do you really want Calhoun to see you dancing like that when she throws you out?"

Terra finally stops doing some painful mix of the sprinkler and the running man, but he doesn't look happy about it. "You just wanna suck the fun out of everything, don't you?"

Aqua rolls her eyes. "Yes, Terra, that's it. I exist only to make you miserable."

Grinning, Terra sneaks a quick kiss on her lips. "Well you'll have to try harder."

I'm about to get their attention, but an order-barking voice does it for me.

"Knight! You know what time this place closes!"

Aqua suddenly stands board-straight. "Yes, ma'am!"

A tall woman with a short, choppy haircut strides out from around the Hero's Duty game. "Then get these kids out of here so I can lock this place up tighter than Cyrus's jeans!"

"Yes, m-ma'am," Aqua repeats, choking back a laugh. I look to Xion with my eyebrows raised.

"Calhoun's kind of famous for her… uh, interesting comparisons," she explains. "She's Aqua's boss here."

"Okay…" 'Interesting' seemed like a polite way to put it.

"What are you waiting for, a hand-written request? Need to call your mamas? Do it outside!" She waves us out, actually whacking Sora on the back of the head as she does.

"Okay, okay!" He holds his arms up to protect himself as we're herded out into the cold. "We get it, we're leaving!"

"And take your kitten-whispers and tickle-fights with you; we don't need to mop up your mush." She slams the doors behind us. I joked about getting kicked out, but I didn't expect it to be so literal.

Aqua brushes herself off. "Well, that's Calhoun for you."

"Is that her first name?" Kairi asks, and she shakes her head.

"We always call her Ma'am – well, and some of the less polite employees just call her the Sergeant. I honestly can't remember her first name."

I tune them out, listening to Xion's shivery breaths.

"You cold now?" I ask with a smile, and she half-smiles back.

"Maybe a little."

I slip an arm around her waist, pulling her close as we walk through the parking lot, leaving shallow footprints in the still-collecting snow. The fresh powder reminds me of last winter, after Larxene and I broke up, when Xion had me lie down and make a snow angel…

"That's what your soul is. An angel." That's what she said. That and some stuff about Larxene, but that part isn't important now. I get the urge to flop down and make a snow angel right now, and if it were just me and Xi, I would. But like it or not, it's time to go home.

I laugh when Xion sticks out her tongue to catch a snowflake. "Taste good?"

"It tastes like cold," she replies sheepishly. Snow clings to her black hair like a fluffy halo; I brush some away before it can melt into cold, clear drops.

I stick out my tongue too, catching a few flakes. "Yep. Tastes like cold."

She giggles; I wish I could just hold her and catch snowflakes together out here in the cold, but even if we had more time, I couldn't keep her out here in good conscience. I can feel her shivering even with me sharing my body heat.

The Rainsmell isn't any better – actually, I think it's even colder in the beat-up minivan than outside.

"Man, I wish this car had seatwarmers," Terra says, shivering and rubbing his hands together.

"If it did, I bet they'd catch on fire." I click the working seatbelt, which I got to without squishing Xion this time.

"Oh, it's not that bad, Axel," Xion says, taking my hand. I wrap my warm fingers between her ice-cube ones. Her hands are so small, they're so tiny and perfect. Cold from the winter air, but perfect.

"If we did break down though," I say quietly, hoping to slip under Kairi's eavesdropping ears, "at least I'd get to spend more time with you."

Her face is already pink from the cold, but I assume if it wasn't, she'd be blushing anyway. "I thought I was the only one who thought sappy stuff like that."

"Heh. See what you do to me?" Good thing I don't care (much) if I embarrass myself in front of these people. Not in the admitting-I-have-a-heart way, anyway.

She laughs, and we slip into silence for a little while, watching snow flurries fly by outside our windows. Only that's not as interesting as watching the girl beside me, so I search for a new conversation topic.

"You think Vanitas will tease you about tonight?"

She shrugs. "If he's not too busy messing with Aqua and Saïx. He'll be a brat for weeks."

"The usual, right?"

She laughs. "No kidding…"

We keep up the conversation until we reach Sora's house – Aqua's nice enough to drop him off so I won't have to on my way home. I can't resist spying on him and Kairi as she walks him to the door.

"Has she told you if he's kissed her yet?"

"Axel!" Xion smacks me lightly. "Even if she did, I couldn't tell you. She'd swear me to secrecy."

"…So she hasn't kissed him?" I guess.

"Axel, I'm not telling!" Maybe it's annoying sometimes, but at least I know she's trustworthy with secrets, including mine. Even about what almost happened with Larxene. Still, I prod her a little more.

"Come on, Xi, she's my sister. Big brothers need to know these things."

She gives me a disapproving look under scrunched eyebrows. "So you'd want me to tell Saïx if you kissed me?"

…Okay, she has a point.

"Fine, miss Steel Vault," I mumble. When I look back to the window, Kairi's already walking back to the car. "Man, missed my chance…"

"Serves you right," Xion smirks teasingly. I can't help but feel like she's mimicking me.

Much as I want to tease Kairi about Sora when she gets back in the minivan, I know I'll get the same backlash about Xion. I'll save it for the drive home.

The rest of the way back to Xion's house feels longer than my Chemistry class. It's slow going with Aqua trying to navigate the slick, snowy roads, but it's still not long enough. At one point I almost regret thinking that, when we hit an icy patch and nearly careen off the edge of the road into the woods below, but Aqua pumps the breaks and gets us back on track. The whole time Xion clings to my hand, nearly cutting off my circulation. But I don't have the heart to tell her to let go. When we're past the worst roads, she relaxes a little, and I distract her by talking until somehow she ends up telling me and Kairi a story about the time Sora and Riku tried out one of Eraqus's martial arts classes.

"And I thought you said it was rude to gossip about your friends?" I tease.

"It's different!" She insists. "They'd tell you the story themselves if they were here. Well, Sora would anyway…"

Kairi laughs. "Did he really think Bob was real?"

"He almost jumped out of his shoes," Xion says. I can see it; Sora does have some big shoes. "Vanitas still messes with him about it when he comes over, always turns Bob to look like he's watching him."

That training dummy wouldbe creepy if it looked like it was watching you; I can't blame Sora for that one. At the same time, I wish I could see the look on the kid's face.

But right now, my main wish is that I didn't feel the car stopping. But I do. We're here, in the Knight's driveway.

"When's Vanitas going to grow up?" Kairi asks, yanking open the door and climbing out.

Xion shakes her head. "I wish I knew."

We get out of the van-shaped death trap, and I slam the door behind us. I'm always afraid I'm gonna break the thing – well, break it worse than it already is.

Aqua and Terra migrate over to the side of Terra's truck. I look away when they wrap their arms around each other – maybe I'd spy on my sister, but that's in the job description. I don't need to invade anyone else's privacy.

"…It's a long drive back. I'm going to use the bathroom before we go," Kairi says, glancing between me and Xion and Terra and Aqua.

"…Did she just not take an opportunity to spy on me?" I ask when she disappears through the front door.

Xion grins, nudging me with her elbow. "She's making you look bad."

"Or she's spying through a window—"

She hugs me, effectively derailing my train of thought off a cliff, like the Rainsmell almost was. "Oh, come on, Axel. If anyone's spying in there it's Vanitas. I don't care."

"Heh. Guess as long as I don't do anything too stupid it doesn't really matter."

I just enjoy hugging her, my arms protecting her from the cold, keeping the snowflakes at bay. The ones that make it through my warm barrier cling to her hair like before, like an abstract halo.

"You're the real snow angel." It slips out; my filter's a little lax right now, staring into those bright blue eyes…

She hides her face back against my chest. "You're the best, Axel," I barely hear her mumble into my shirt.

"What was that?" I grin.

"She looks up, so I can see her eyes again. "You're the best."

"Heh. I know."

"Axel…!"

"Just messing with you." I pull her back, just a little tighter. She's the perfect size to hug but I still need to be careful; I'm afraid I'll break her. "You're the best, you know."

She giggles, snuggling into me. "I wish I never had to let you go."

I'm thinking the same thing, but I don't say it. "Hey, it's not like I'll never see you again," I reassure her, cupping her face, so she doesn't hide in my shirt again.

"I know." She smiles, but her eyes are a little sad. "But I can't hug you like this all the time."

I wish she wouldn't remind me.

"Then until next time," I whisper, rubbing my hand gently over her back, "get this one memorized."

She relaxes in my arms, and I hold her there, with the snow flurries wrapping us in a blanket of cold. Or at least it tries to; I couldn't have felt warmer if the sun fell on top of us, and then exploded into a million flamethrowers, wielded by firebreathing dragons. My smile stretches until I think it might detach from my face and float off.

While my heart's already beating out of my chest, while I feel on top of the world, while I'm too happy to think, I lean down, leaving a fingertip width between our lips at the last second. So she can choose to close the gap, if she's ready—

I feel her lips press against mine. It's a quick, soft kiss; I don't hold there long, not because I don't want to, but because if I do she might never get me off. The image of both Saïx and Eraqus glaring daggers at me is pretty good motivation to kick my self-control into gear.

When I open my eyes, Xion's face shines with happiness, like a tiny sun. I feel on fire myself, in a good way. How do I describe it? Better than any longer make-out session I've had for sure, because this feels… real. Like I won't wake up tomorrow morning regretting it. Like I'm… like I'm finally worthy, like I'm finally… free.

It's the best feeling.

"Gah, gross! Xi has cooties!"

Xion practically jumps away from me; I spin around to see Vanitas hanging out of the doorway, sticking his tongue out.

"Vani—!"

I sigh, shaking my head, but I can't stop smiling. The brat laughs and ducks back inside, nearly knocking Kairi over as she walks out.

"Ugh, little brothers…"

"Hey." I kiss her cheek before my sister gets too close. "I thought you didn't care if he was watching?"

She pushes her hair out of her face, adjusting a bobby pin. "Mainly I didn't want that to stop you from kissing me. That doesn't make him any less annoying, though."

My heart beats a little faster. Which is saying something, because it's already beating like I just ran a marathon. If It's beating that fast, does it count as exercise? Can I get in shape by being around Xion? Probably not, but guy can dream. "But you're still happy, right?" I ask.

"Of course," she answers quickly, and I smile.

"Then don't let him take that from you."

She exhales slowly, but I can't tell if it's a laugh or a sigh. Probably both. "You're right, but you don't have to live with him."

"Wrap it up, Axel," Kairi calls to me. "You're taking twice as long as I had with Sora."

I whisper to Xion, "Yeah, and you don't have to live with her."

She laughs. "You want to trade?"

"Heh. Not even if you paid me." I'd do a lot for her, but adopting Vanitas would be suicide.

Kairi's tapping her foot now, waiting on me. I guess I should go… there's nothing else I feel like I can say with my sister watching, anyway.

Still, I give Xion one last hug, cradling her back and head, taking one last whiff of that flowery smell that must come from girly shampoo.

"Hurry up, loverboy."

I roll my eyes at my sister. "See you later, Xi."

I try to take a mental photograph of her smile. Because even if I get to see her tomorrow, that's at least eight hours too long.

"Bye, Axel."

"No, not 'bye,'" I correct her. "See you later."

She giggles a little at that. "See you, Axel. Drive safe."

I still drag my feet getting into my car, watching snow fill in her footprints as she disappears inside.

"It's getting cold, you know," Kairi tells me, buckling her seatbelt. "Your girlfriend's inside. We can go now."

"She's not my girlfriend," I huff, more because of that fact itself than my sister's teasing.

"But she will be." She shrugs. "It's just nice to have something to tease you back."

"Hey, I haven't said a word about you and Sora." Except saying he was giving her puppy eyes, but I don't remind her of that. I turn the key, and my car roars to life. "You guys are dorks, by the way."

"Oh, like you're so smooth."

"I am! I cleaned up Saïx's mess and still had a great date. And I know Xion likes me now. I'm the smoothest," I finish proudly, but she just laughs at me.

"You're lucky I don't tell her all the dumb stuff you do. Like when you try to sing 'Simple and Clean'in the shower."

Now it's my turn to laugh, pulling out of the circle driveway. "Nice try, Kai. You'd be surprised how much of my stupidity she knows already, and she likes me anyway."

She shrugs. "I can't see how, but you lucked out. Don't screw it up."

"I know. Believe me, I know."

In between avoiding icy patches in the road, Xion's all I think about. I've got the whole night memorized; I replay my favorite parts. Her teaching me to skate, her smile, her beating me at air hockey, that brief moment with her lips on mine. Kairi's right. I'm a lucky guy.

So maybe this whole "group ice skating date" idea was crazy, but all the chaos, the arguments, the falling kids – it was all worth it. We broke the ice, and underneath is nothing but warmth.

A/N: *throws confetti*

And that, my friends, concludes probably the last AkuShi fanfic I'll ever write. *sweatdrop* I'm actually in a relationship now (*LEGASP*), so that's kind of ironic that I don't actually want to write much romance at all. Probably because fanfiction was where I shoved mushy feelings when I didn't have any people to shove them at lol. X''D

BUT, I may still write some chapter of Icebreaking: Between the Cracks, because this universe is still pretty fun. Mainly for now I'll be focusing on Will Prank For Food though. If I can finish that before I graduate, I'll consider my high school career a success. XD/*sweatdrop* I also need to wrap up Drop-Me-Not, I kind of keep forgetting that was a thing…

But enough of my rambling! It's the reviewer-thanking time!

Thanks to Raberba girl, first of all, for reading and leaving giant reviews even though you strongly dislike the main pairing. ^^; Also thank you for inspiring the SaiJaz in this at all, that ended up being unexpectedly fun to write.

Thanks to Embrace of Destiny, Lt. Basil, and Timber Wolf of Purity for the multiple reviews. I think I've said it before, but Timber Wolf, your AkuShi is the sweetest thing, it's what reminds me why I started liking this pairing in the first place. C:

Also thanks to anyone and everyone else who reviewed and prodded me to work on this; I know it's been a long time and a lot of you probably gave up on waiting for updates and aren't even reading this, but oh well. Like every multichapter I finish, I feel like it's been a learning experience. Right now I feel like I learned that I don't particularly want to write more romance right now. But it's still been fun. Again, thanks guys. C: