All I Really Want For Christmas

As always, better quality version is on fanfiction dot net.

Sheesh. It's quite a process; putting down Riku's fears and solidifying his and Sora's relationship. I'm glad that it's almost over. That's right folks, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel from here. We are almost there. Then, I get to really buckle down with my next two or three projects. I have a teaser chapter for my Persian/Egyptian-setting SoraxRiku fic all ready to go but I'm not sure that I'll be posting it. I may very well want to change some stuff later on and I don't want to confuse and/or disappoint anyone. Maybe once I get things really straightened out and a chapter or two written I will. But for now, everyone's just going to have to be happy with the fact that AIRWFC is almost done.

Well, love ya'll! Can't wait to hear what you think.

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Riku's P.O.V.

The trip into the mall is uneventful except for the chatty blond woman driving a baby blue Bug who sat in the lane next to us on her cellphone through probably the longest red light in existence. I swear, if I can never hear a woman talking to her girlfriends about her 'hot date' the night before ever again, I promise to repent of all my sinning ways and become a monk in some obscure temple in the mountains.

I mean, freaking hell lady! The two guys in the car next to you don't want to hear how big a cock he had on him, nor are they interested in the fact that you've never had it so good. Ugh.

At first, it was amusing, I'll admit it. It was amusing in the way that hearing a full grown man in the bathroom giving his bits a pep talk is amusing. You're absolutely mortified by it, but you can't help but laugh either. That's what this was like, only ten times worse because of the exaggerated, though thankfully silent, raspberries she kept throwing our way when she hit a particularly mortifying part of her story. Though I kept my face hidden as much as my hair would allow without blatantly turning my head in the other direction—why oh why did I choose to put it up today?!—I could just barely see an out of focus image of her out of the corner of my eye. So she knew we could hear her loud and clear and yet she had kept on with it! What the hell is wrong with people today?!?

“Uh, Ri?”

Sora's amused tone surprises me and I glance at him with curious eyes, filing my previous grumblings into the 'Really Annoying; Attempt to Forget' part of my brain. Sora scratches the back of his head, a goofy nervous gesture that he's had since childhood, and grins at me.

“Sorry. You were growling for a second there,” he says lightly, “You want to hunt her down and make her pay for putting us through that? She pulled in just a couple of rows back.”

That catches my attention.

“Wait a second, you mean she's here?” I ask with a groan as I unbuckle and open my car door to get out.

“Yeah,” Sora says with a laugh as he does the same, “I waved her into the parking lot. You must have been looking out the window at the time.”

“What?!? Why would you do that??” I exclaim while walking around to the other side of the car to where he has just closed his door and is in the process of locking it and setting the alarm.

Sora looks at me weird, like I just said something odd and he wasn't quite sure how to respond.

“Yeah,” he says after a moment, his face still screwed up, “why wouldn't I? Don't you recognize her?”

Recognize? You mean I'm supposed to know that harpy from somewhere?

“No. Who is she?” I ask, perplexed.

Sora's mouth drops and he stares at me in wide-eyed disbelief.

“Riku!” he exclaims in a shocked repremand, “it's your sister for Pete's sake! What do you mean you don't recognize her?! She hasn't been gone that long!”

“...”

Oh god, please no.

“Ah! My baby Ri-Ri!”

Oh shit!

“Sora, how could you??” I whine pathetically as he just laughs and I brace myself against the sudden impact that nearly bowls me over anyway. Long arms covered in a bubblegum pink sweater wrap around my shoulders and squeeze me as my attacker places a heavy kiss on my jawline. Ugh. I'm gonna have lipstick marks all over my face once she's done!

“Oh, Ri-Ri, I've missed you so much!” she yells happily in my ear as she twirls me around and hugs me again.

I hug her back loosely and mutter an unenthusiastic greeting of my own.

“I missed you too, Leblanc,” I say and she plants another kiss on my other cheek while loosening her grip to pull back some to get a good look at my face.

“Aw! I hoped you would,” she beams, “Has Sora been treating you right while I was gone? Well, have you, Sora?”

I am released as she directs her attention to Sora and I pull away with relief and start rubbing at the corner of my jaw where, sure enough, a streak of bright red lipstick comes away on my hand. What the hell did I do to deserve this?

Sora ignores my plight and cheerfully starts chatting away with my sister, leaning against the car casually.

“Hey Leblanc. Long time no see. And as for how he's been treated, well, let's just say that I would have to be stupid not too. If he didn't kill me, I know you would. So, I try my best,” he replies with an easy laugh.

He turns to me suddenly, his playful manner changing suddenly to a more mischievous one as he gives me an exaggerated once over.

“Though, of course, we all know that he's a difficult creature to handle,” he finishes with a smirk.

I swear I'll murder him.

Leblanc laughs again and throws her arms around Sora to hug him as well.

“Isn't it true! So what are you boys doing out so early and dressed up so nice? Are you on a date?” she asks playfully with a wide, toothsome grin.

Sora rubs the back of his head and grins back.

“Yeah, something like that. Actually I'm trying to get back in Riku-babe's good graces after I made a bit of a mess of our last 'date',” he says and glances at me with a soft, almost apologetic smile. So that is what this is all about.

“Sora,” I start, dismayed, “you know you don't have to 'try and get back in my good graces'. It's not like I was really all that upset or anything. I'm the one who started it, after all.”

“Yeah but—”

My sister watches the exchange keenly, eyes narrowing in thought as she puts the pieces together in her sharp mind and when she opens her mouth next, I'm reminded of why exactly she's able to keep up with and often times put to shame some of the most quick witted and ruthless creatures out there: lawyers.

“What, did you finally get some ass for a change?” she asks bluntly, “You realize that you don't have to apologize for being the dominate. Frankly, I never really understood how you two had gotten your roles so mixed in up in the first place. Riku's a born bottom, how did he end up on top for so freaking long?”

“Leblanc!” we both shout, me scandalized and Sora just trying not to bust a gut laughing. Otherwise we're both too shell shocked to form any other response.

Oh god I hate her. And I hate law school too. Law school taught her how to use her lightning fast intelligence and barbed tongue in new and more painful ways. Before law school she would occasionally pick up on things like this and be able to figure them out pretty fast, now though, she does it all the fricking time. Damn you Harvard!

“Ah, so I'm right, huh?”

We both sputter some more and she laughs loudly at us before coming up to me and slinging an arm around my waist and tugging me with her, but not towards the mall.

“Wait!” I struggle and manage to break free of her hold a little but she just grabs my wrist instead and pulls me along at a swift walk until we're in front of her little blue Bug.

“Hey, wait a second! Where are you going??” Sora calls from behind, running to catch up.

“Don't worry about it, loves! I just need to talk to my brother for a bit. I'll drop him back off at your place once we're finished, promise,” she tells him and fishes her keys out of her purse with her free hand. A click of a button and she unlocks the doors and then proceeds to shove me bodily into the passenger seat once she wrenches open the door. Before I can do more than open my mouth to yell angrily, she slams the door, pats the gaping Sora on the cheek and darts around to slid into the driver seat.

“But—!” he starts to protest but the rest of his words are cut off as Leblanc closes her door as well and blows him a raspberry. Pausing a moment to reach over to smack my hands as I attempt to wrench the door open, Leblanc starts the ignition and waves with a cheery “Bye, bye!” to my lover who is still just standing in the parking lot looking like he can't quite register what is happening.

Well newsflash to Sora: Your boyfriend is getting kidnapped by his psychopath sister! Come save him!

“Leblanc, I can't just leave him there like that!” I shout angrily at her.

“Why not?” she asks with a shrug, “He's got the keys to his car and apartment. He can head on home and just chill while we talk.”

“Because!” I yell, “We were on a date damn it!”

“Oh yes,” she drawls, “You were on a date so he could apologize and make up for finally taking the reigns in your relationship just like you've actually always wanted him to. Very romantic, Riku.”

“No, that's not it!” I scream, “We were both needing to make up to each other because we both took things too far last night! I was acting like a pissy bitch and he got angry at me for it and then I got angry at him for getting angry.”

I grind my teeth painfully together and look out the window, trying to hold back the water that has suddenly gathered in the corner of my eyes without me being aware of it. My sister is blessedly quiet finally but I'm in no shape to really appreciate it now as my breath hitches and one salty tear streaks down my face.

“Are you boys fighting then?” she asks hesitantly.

“No,” I answer back truthfully as I scrub angrily at my eyes. We aren't fighting. You have to be talking to be fighting.

“Then what do you mean by 'taking things too far'? If you're not fightin—”

She suddenly gasps and reaches out to turn my face towards her and the blatant dread on her pretty features is startling.

“Please, please tell me you guys haven't started hitting each other, right?”

Her desperate tone and the realization of just how uncanny it is that she would ask about whether or not we had physically hitting one another the morning after the first time that Sora's ever raised a hand against me in any way flusters me and I stumble on my words.

“H—How??”

Her face drops and she closes her eyes and moans.

“Oh Riku.” she moans and brings her hand up to hold her head as she pulls over.

“Wait! It's not like that! He didn't hurt me! He wasn't trying to, I swear!” I say profusely, desperate to assure her that our relationship hasn't become so debased that we actually try to hurt one another. We may be screwed up but we're not that bad!

“We both got really,” I struggle for the word for a moment before finding an appropriate one, “rowdy, I guess you could say. I ended up elbowing him in the crotch for being a dick and locking him out of the bathroom. Once I came out we wrestled for a bit before he cuffed me to the bed and ended up—uh...” I trail off, leery to admit what we did next and leery to admit to the fact that I actually enjoyed it.

“He what?” she asks firmly and I can tell by her tone of voice that she won't let me stop until she's heard the whole of it.

“He— Oh god, I can't believe I'm telling my sister this!” I exclaim loudly and drop my head into my hands with a groan.

“Riku, please,” is all she says and I take a deep breath.

“He spanked me, okay? Cuffed me to the bed post and spanked me. And I, sick freak that I am, liked it! Okay? That's all that happened! It didn't hurt or anything; he wasn't trying to make it hurt. It was...” My mouth works inarticulately for a few seconds, trying to come up with a word that adequately describes what it was and I come up short.

“Kinky?” Leblanc supplies with a bemused look, as if she's not sure if she should be smiling or frowning.

“Considering he did it with my hair brush, yes, I'd say 'kinky' covers it pretty well,” I grumble mortified in my seat while trying not to make eye contact with my sister. A strangled noise comes from my left and I know that she's trying to contain her laughter, amusement and respect for my shredded dignity warring.

“Your hairbrush, Riku?” she asks, amusement suddenly winning out in the battle, “Didn't the bristles rather hurt?”

My eyes roll upwards and I let my head fall so that it thunks rather painfully on the dash. This is too much. Why am I even allowing this to go on?

“It was a paddle brush,” I admit with a weak whimper.

“...HAHAHA!! Oh god! I didn't know he had it in him!” she whoops while doubling over her steering wheel. I just stare at her while biting my tongue, not quite sure if I want to rail into her or not just yet. Before I can make up my mind she sits back up and turns back to me while trying to control her laughter in the midst of talking.

“So let me get this straight,” she say while making a production of smoothing out her sweater.

“You two have sex, afterwards, you tick him off and he beats you with your own hair brush—a paddle brush at that—and you love every minute of it. Everything correct so far?”

I glare balefully at her, imagining her exploding in my mind.

“I truly hate you,” I say simply and she falls back on her steeling wheel with another shriek of laughter. I begin tapping my foot impatiently and glare out the window, entertaining the thought of simply getting out and walking home.

“Oh man. Ri-Ri, I'm sorry. I love you, you know I do. Just give me a minute and I'll stop laughing and get to my point,” Leblanc says in gasping breaths, trying to get her breathing back under control. She takes a deep breath that she lets out loudly and finally she looks me straight in the eye without collapsing in giggles again.

“Okay, let's be serious now,” she says and I roll my eyes, though she ignores it and trucks on.

“I noticed that you seem to be considerably more upset about the fact that you enjoyed Sora being a little rough with you than you did just about him doing it period. Why is that?”

Damn her. How is it that she can go from acting like a complete idiot giggling all over the place, to calm and collected in the blink of an eye? She's always doing that. It drives me insane!

“Because it's sick!” I snap.

“'Sick'? In what way?” she asks, bewildered.

“I enjoy my lover treating me like some naughty child and disciplining me! In what way is that not sick?!” I snarl at her, resolutely looking anywhere but at her face. She is quiet for a time and then she sighs heavily.

“Ah, so we get to the heart of the matter,” she says somberly and places a gentle hand on my arm. I lash out immediately and smack it away from myself.

“Can we just not talk about this anymore?” I beg harshly, turning pleading eyes on her. She is already shaking her head firmly, looking a little angry herself.

“No, Riku. I know this is really uncomfortable for you but you need to be straightened out on this,” she says and I sneer at her hatefully.

“I'm not a child anymore, Leblanc!” I shout, turning away from her to unlock the door and jump out before she can stop me.

“I don't need to be 'straightened out'!” I finish screaming and slam the door. Her door opens as well and I take off at a run before she can come and grab me, the crisp air of winter freezing my lungs and making the tear tracks on my cheeks burn with its sudden onslaught.

“Riku!” she calls and the sound of her shoes eating up the space between us swiftly makes me curse under my breath. She's much taller than me and thus has longer legs. There's no way in hell I'd be able to out run her even on the best of days. I slow my run until I've come to a complete stop in the middle of the sidewalk and she is there within seconds. She is rough now, grabbing my shoulders and spinning me around until I'm facing her angered face and holding me there with a grip that defies her seemingly delicate physique.

“Look, Riku, that's where you're wrong,” she tells me, shaking me when I try to look away.

“You may think that you're all grown up but you're not. You are still just a child and you still have a lot to learn about life. I don't know what made you so callous or what forced you to try to grow up so fast because you and Sora and Kairi are so loathed to tell anybody what happened when you three disappeared for two years,” a bit of hurt has crept into her voice and her eyes have begun to glitter. My chest throbs painfully at the sight, cursing myself for having caused her pain over such a thing.

“—but,” she continues, unaware of my sudden guilt, “what ever it was, it didn't teach you anything but to try to lock up all your hurts inside yourself until you're ready to explode. That's not what it means to be grown up, Riku! You've barely made any progress from when you were 15! Being intimate with the person you love doesn't make you sick or twisted now does it? Well having an innocent little sexual kink doesn't make you a disgusting person either! So what? You like having Sora take control of you—who cares, Riku?!? Do you understand, baby brother? It doesn't matter!”

She's screaming by the time she's finished and I flinch when she jerks me roughly, half expecting her to pull back and slap me, but she doesn't. Instead she slides one of her arms around my back to hug me tightly while her other hand tangles in my hair to hold my face to her shoulder. Her body quivers and only when a drop of wetness lands on my exposed neck do I realize that she's crying too. That more than anything makes my chest throb with guilt all the more. The only other time that I remember her crying was at our parent's funeral after they'd both been presumed dead after a huge monsoon hit Destiny Islands seven years ago while they were on a cruise far out in the ocean. Leblanc was already 25 then and I was just eleven but I still remember how horrible it was. To think that this is heartbreaking enough for her to drive her to tears for the first time in seven years is...sobering.

“Leblanc?” I whisper hesitantly. She doesn't answer except by holding more tightly when I try to tug free to see her face.

I feel like a complete ass for bringing my tough and strong older sister to tears like this and so I do the only thing that I think will help her now; I hug her back.

“Thank you...big sister,” I whisper the term that I haven't used since I was small. When she was forced to take me in after mom and dad died, she stopped being 'big sister' and I only ever called her Leblanc from that day forward. I can tell that she realizes the change when I feel and hear her breath hitch.

“Your welcome, baby brother,” she says just as quietly a moment later and we hold each other like that for what feels like hours but is probably just a matter of a minutes. Finally, she lets go of me, brushing my hair back into a semblance of order with one hand while she dabs at her teary eyes lightly so as not to smear her makeup.

“Well,” she smiles abashedly, “that was certainly embarrassing. I'm sorry for exploding at you. As you can probably tell now, it bothers me that I didn't know where you were or if you were even okay during all that time. It feels like I failed you in keeping you safe, especially after you came back so haunted.”

I avert my eyes guiltily at that.

“I'm sorry. I promise that someday I will tell you. But right now I'm just not ready,” I apologize.

Leblanc nods understandingly and then smiles.

“How about we head on back to the car. It's cold out here, if you haven't noticed.” She says it teasingly, with a flash of a toothy smile and I smile and nod back at her, relieved that she's willing to let it drop.

We begin to walk back to her little car side by side and when we're both seated comfortably inside, Leblanc turns on the heater and pulls back onto the road. A warm silence falls and I let my forehead rest on the glass of the window as I close my eyes tiredly. I wince after a second and realize that I have a rather splitting headache.

“Where are we headed?” I ask as I put a finger on either side of the bridge of my nose and squeeze. It doesn't help.

“Well, I originally planned to have that conversation at my house and considering that we still have some stuff to discuss, I figured that we could just stick to that plan. Why?”

“I really need some aspirin. My head's killing me,” I explain shortly.

“Alright. Well I'm sure that I have plenty of it. Nooj gets some pretty bad migraines himself. We might even have some of the stronger, over the counter stuff.”

My mind picks up on the name quickly and spurs a whole new chain of thought.

“Speaking of Nooj, what were you talking about earlier on your cellphone? It didn't exactly sound like something that a married woman should have been talking about,” I say cautiously. I really, really hope that what we heard wasn't my sister having an affair. That would just suck royally.

“Oh it doesn't does it?” she asks with a mysterious smile.

“Not really,” I answer slowly. She snorts with a laugh.

“And who is it that says that married couples can't have hot dates? I'll have you know that my Noogiewoogie is still as much of a stud as he was the day I married him. Just because you like the less than manly ones doesn't mean that I do as well.”

“'Less than manly'?!” I protest good naturedly.

“Your boyfriend's barely got any muscles at all—I've got more muscles than him!” she argues.

“Neither do I!”

“Exactly my point!” she cries dramatically, “I would have liked to see you with someone a little more manly like that Leon bloke that your Sora hangs out with.”

She grins naughtily.

“All those muscles and that sexy scar—Raowr! Now he's a real beef cake.”

I shake my head and can't help but laugh out loud at her drama play.

“And you a married woman!” is all I can say before we both burst out laughing.

“Seriously though,” I say once I've gotten myself back under control, “Leon?”

I scrunch my face up in a little disgust.

“Don't get me wrong, Leon is pretty good looking, but he's way too serious. We'd probably only ever stare blankly at each other and grunt instead of talking,” I reply, only partially exaggerating.

“Oh!” she pouts in disappointment, “Noogie said the same thing when I asked him about it.”

“...You've been talking to your husband about this?”

“Yeah, sure. Even if he's only connected to you because I married him, he does like you. He thinks you're a sweet kid. Which you are—when you're not being a bitch. Which, unfortunately, you are very often.”

“...I hate you.”

She shrugs.

“Okay, so no serious guys then,” she says, ignoring my scowl, “How about...oh! I know. How about the blond boy that was with Leon when all of you guys' friends were here for Sora's last birthday?”

“You mean Seifer?” I ask with a blanch.

“Yeah! That was his name. He wasn't all serious like and he seemed pretty manly.”

“Ugh,” I groan disgustedly, “Other than the fact that Seifer is a complete ass, he's also very determinedly after Leon.”

“Ah. Bummer.”

“Not really,” I mutter, “So, as you can see, Sora is the prefect match for me and I'm quite happy with him,” I say with a strong note of finality. Leblanc raises one finely shaped eyebrow and then nods her head with a smile.

“Okay. I guess if you're happy then I'm happy,” she says simply.

The rest of the drive is quiet save for when Leblanc flips on the radio, though she turns it down so low that only the barest hint of a tune can be heard. We both like background noise; it is comforting to be able to hear something other than the sound of your own breathing sometimes. I'll usually always turn on a fan before I go to bed just for that purpose, even in the dead of winter, though of course I turn it in some other direction. Sora thinks I'm nuts.

Sora. He must be annoyed by now. I know that he had plans for today and my sister showing up and stealing me away all but ruined them, whatever they were.

Actually, now that I think about it, it was really odd, almost way too coincidental that Leblanc shows up just when me and Sora are getting a little rocky and sweeps me up for a 'talk'. Way too much of a coincidence.

“Hey Leblanc—” I start to say with a frown before I'm cut off.

“We're here!”

What?

I turn my eyes forward and sure enough, there's my sister and her husband Nooj's spacious house and we're parked in the drive way leading up to it. Alright. I'll ask her once we get inside then.

I follow her up to the front door and wait patiently while she riffles through her keys to find the appropriate one, glancing around us in the meantime.

The only Christmas decorations they've chosen are the simple and tasteful clear ice lights that line the edge of the roof and a few coils of strung lights, also clear, spiraling around the two cylindric beams that frame the steps leading to the door. Considering that it's my sister, I was expecting them to be pink—she loves the horrid color with an unnatural passion—but I suppose that Nooj probably wouldn't allow it. Though, I'm amused to note, there is a light pink 'Welcome' plate that hangs from a hook on the door.

“Ah! There it is!” she says suddenly and after a moment of rustling keys, she pushes open the door with a loud,

“Noogiewoogie, I'm back!”

I will never understand how a man so serious and masculine—okay so the hair longer than he is tall does kinda subtract from his manliness but still—can handle being called, of all things, 'Noogiewoogie' and be able to keep a straight face. Her 'Ri-Ri' for me always makes me want to groan and that's not nearly as bad as half of her names for him.

The man in question shows up suddenly, walking out of the kitchen wearing a frilly apron.

...Okay. I'd forgotten about the frilly apron.

“Welcome back, Lablanc,” he says in a sedately cheerful voice as she kisses him on the cheek and ducks into the kitchen he just vacated. Then he notices me and his eye brows lift in surprise.

“And Riku as well. You look rather dressed up.”

I grin at him lightly and nod.

“Yeah, I was actually out with Sora before she found me and kidnapped me.”

“Ah,” is all he says as he turns slightly to watch his bubbly wife roam about in the kitchen that I can't see.

My sister shows up a moment later and motions for me to come with her, turning for just a second to speak quietly with her husband before grabbing my arm and pulling me along behind her like before. She passes up the both the formal and informal living rooms and heads instead straight for the stairs at the back of the house. I know what is up there, having lived there myself ever since she and Nooj became my legal guardians years ago and I moved in with them. I've been living with Sora for little over a year now though so she may very well have changed it considerably but even her fashion sense couldn't mar the comfortable and cozy atmosphere that the upstairs loft has always had and the significance of her choice of placement doesn't escape me.

She's getting ready for another lecture.

Oh boy.

“I set some hot chocolate to boil and Noogie will bring it and some aspirin up once it's done, kay?”

Aspirin to take the edge off my temper and hot chocolate to give my hands something to do other than fret nervously.

Ah crap. Not only is this going to be a lecture, it's gonna be a particularly dreadful one.

“Riku, stop looking like a sheep being led to the slaughter,” she chides me teasingly with a smile, “I'm not going to lecture you, I just want to talk and maybe give you some advice. I can't very well box your ears in about not knowing any of life's lessons and then leave you dangling in the wind now can I?”

I blink up at her in bemusement and offer a noncommittal shrug. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

“Boys,” she mutters and shoulders open the door to the loft.

The sight inside surprises me.

The walls are painted a neutral grey-blue and a few multicolored beanbags are stacked up in one of the corners while the only other piece of furniture is a wide pewter coffee table in the center of the room. A single large blue and black ragamuffin rug takes up most of the floor space around the table and the rest of the floor is just sand-colored clay tiles. In other words, everything is exactly the way I left it when I moved out.

“...What?” I turn back to Leblanc for some sort of explanation and see her smiling softly.

“Me and Nooj agreed that, until something serious happens between you boys, we weren't going to change this room. You are always welcome back here, my precious little brother,” she says warmly and gives me a peck on the cheek before nudging me the rest of the way into the room.

She goes for the beanbags in the corner while I stand stunned in the middle of the room. After I've been such a pain to both of them while growing up, they're still happily inviting me to come back home whenever I need. After all the fiascoes with truancy officers, the temper tantrums that led to broken door frames, and the numerous foiled midnight escapes through the windows—and not to mention my disappearing for two years—and they are making sure that I always have a home to come back to. Why?? If I were them I'd be glad to be rid of me! It doesn't make sense at all!

“Leblanc...I don't understand,” I say shaking my head in bewildered wonderment.

She laughs as she tosses a blue and a red pair of bags on either side of the table and ruffles my hair once her hands are free.

“What's not to understand? You're my brother and I love you—even if you are a pain sometimes.”

And that's that as far as she's concerned.

It's surreal almost. I've never realized just how much my sister cares about me. She's always driven me insane because she was always poking her nose into my business and generally making a nuisance of herself. She's always been the one that makes me want to scream my lungs out from frustration after getting lectured. When I was just entering puberty, she would invite me to go different places with her and Nooj; ice skating or the movies or the beach, and I would just tell her to go to hell and leave me alone because I was embarrassed about my voice cracking and various other embarrassing signs of puberty. I remember once telling her that I just wished that she would die so she couldn't bother me anymore. I was such a little jerk to her all the time. How is it that she can still love me after all of that?

As if reading my mind, Leblanc sighs and puts an arm around my shoulder.

“Look, Riku, don't worry about it,” she says with a comforting little smile and a squeeze.

“But—” I start to protest, only to have it cut off as she bumps her hips against me to force me to sit. I fall bonelessly into the red and she kicks the blue to be close enough that she can immediately put her arm around me once again. She shushes me with a finger to my lips and continues.

“No, I'm serious, Ri. I suppose this is one of those little lessons that I was talking about. Eventually you learn to take people for the good and the bad. If you don't, you're going to be lonely your entire life because there's no such thing as this wonderful person that doesn't have any quirks or flaws. You think that my Noogie doesn't drive me crazy sometimes? Cause trust me he does! And I piss him off too sometimes! It's just part of sharing your life with somebody.”

She shrugs, as if it were the most simple thing in the world. And maybe for her it is, but making allowances for other peoples “quirks or flaws” has never been my strong point. Maybe I'm just a bad person who doesn't have the capability to “share my life with someone”.

I must look troubled because in the next second she pulls away from me to lean against the table, lips pursed in thought.

“Okay,” she says after a moment of thought, “let's look at it this way: what is one thing that Sora does on a regular basis that used to make you just want to tear your hair out? Something really annoying.” She crooks her hands as if she's about to claw at her eyes. I giggle as she rolls her eyes into the back of her head and does run her 'claws' down her face.

“I don't know,” I say laughing as she continues her dramatics.

“Oh come on!” she boos, “You've known the kid since you were infants! Surely you've got some dirt on him!”

I shake my head and look skyward, trying to come up with something and failing. He doesn't have any really significant flaws. Or at least, none that aren't outshone a hundred times over by my own.

“I really don't know,” I say throwing my hands up in defeat.

She quirks an eyebrow at me and frowns.

“Alright. Issue number 2: You aren't the only one with flaws and most of them are things that only you are bothered by. You'll find that most people have already long forgiven you of your sins before you even realize that you've committed them. Now think. You can't be shy to recognize other peoples' flaws as well. Remember, the good with the bad.”

“...Do you think that's what it is?” I ask after a moment, frowning deeply. Do I really think like that? I suppose I do, though I never really consciously realized it.

“I'm certain,” she says firmly.

“Oh,” I whisper and bite my lip. How is it that I've never seen any of this before??

“Sometimes, you just need somebody to bring it to your attention,” my sister says quietly and I realize that I said that last bit aloud. Oops.

Leblanc leaves me be for a moment while I stare off into space before continuing her nettling.

“Hmph. Since it's apparent that you're going to take forever at this, how about I come up with one, huh? Let's say...ah, I know, 'Riku-babe',” she emphasizes that horrible nickname slyly and I can't help but twitch.

“Ah. So that's still a sore one for you. And yet, he called you it earlier and you didn't even notice.”

...Hey, that's right. He's been calling me that stupid nickname since we started dating and used to it really pissed me off. It was like he was treating me like some delicate little girl he was dating. I haven't so much as noticed it though for...months.

“But all the same, don't you think that's a rather minor—”

“And then how about him always cuddling you? As I remember it, you used to hate that when you were kids but in the past few years I've seen you go up and make him cuddle you. And I seem to remember a certain day at the park not a month ago when you fell asleep on his shoulder while cuddling.”

“It was cold!”

“The making out in public! Which you swore you would never do because it was “disgusting”.”

I choke and sputter out a denial that she shoots down immediately.

“Me and Nooj both saw you guys on your balcony when we came to give you our Christmas presents before we went on vacation.”

“That doesn't count!” I squeak in mortification. She ignores me.

“And then there's his habit of leaving a trail of recently shed clothing in the summer all the way to either the closet or the bathroom. You told me yourself that you had come to find it kind of endearing—and don't even deny it!” she says just a little louder when I look ready to, “It was when I dragged your depressed little butt out of your apartment for lunch while Sora was spending a few days on the mainland with work. And that's nothing compared to—”

“Alright, alright!” I interject loudly to cut off her tirade, “I get it. Sora's got some quirks and bad habits too.”

“All of which you have gotten used to and some even come to like,” she adds quickly.

I nod my head and hold up my hands in defeat.

“And I agree,” I say to placate her before continuing myself, “But, who's to say that he doesn't mind all of my little quirks?” I ask, just for the sake of popping her bubble a little.

She gives me a look that clearly states that she's not impressed.

“Besides the fact that this is Sora we're talking about and he never holds any sort of grudge, he's the one that has said that he doesn't mind them. And not just with words, but with his actions too.”

“Now let's just be frank,” she says after rearranging herself on her beanbag, “you can be one difficult little bitch when you want to be.”

Uh oh. I've released the floodgates.

“And so a lot of people wonder how such a seemingly nice and polite young man could handle you. I have overheard his answer to a few and you know what it is?”

I catch my breath and lean forward despite myself.

“He says that time's just taught him to look past all of your bravo and rough edges that you present to the world to keep from being hurt,” she says with a much more sedate tone.

That's right, he has said something to that degree before. I think it was when Tidus asked him why he always tagged along with me even when I was so mean to him. In answer he told him that usually when I was being “mean”, I wasn't doing it with the intention of actually being mean. It was just part of natural way of expressing myself. Sort of like how Wakka always tacked on a 'Ya know?' at the end of every sentence even when there was no 'ya know' about it. My version was just adding in as much sarcasm as I possibly could.

Heh.

“And he's not the only one, Ri,” she goes on as she cups my chin in her palm to make me look her straight in the eye, “You have a lot of people who love you despite all of your imagined faults. And there's nothing that you could ever do that could mar or destroy that love.”

She reaches out to ruffle my hair again but I grab her arm and pull her away from the table so I can put my arm around her.

“Thanks,” I say with heartfelt emotion, “It really does mean a lot to me.”

I try to let go afterwards, hoping to save some of my mutilated dignity, but she has already gotten over the shock that made her sit frozen in my embrace at first and she is quick to squeeze me back now.

“Well you're welcome and I'm glad that you finally understand now.”

She pulls back just enough so that I can see her wink mischievously.

“Though of course I did like you better when you were little,” she says playfully.

“Meh?”

“I mean you were such a cute baby!” she squeals suddenly, catching me off guard.

“Wha—What???”

“Yeah,” she says with a dreamy sigh, “With this cute little curly hair and little pudgy fists that you were always chewing on. Oh you were cute! Mom used to say that it was unfortunate that you were born a boy because you were such a pretty baby. I remember on your first Easter day, mom brought you with us to church for the first time and she was mobbed by women wanting to know why she hadn't dressed her adorable baby girl in a pretty little Easter dress.”

“Leblanc!” I groan and let my head fall to thunk on the table.

“Hm. As I recall, women were still being outraged by the fact that such a “pretty little girl” was running around in camouflage overalls by the time he was nine,” says a deep voice from behind.

I pick my head back up and look over my shoulder to where Nooj has just opened the door and is entering with a tray.

“Not you too,” I plead.

Nooj just smiles a little and sets down his burden gently. A heavy-looking iron kettle sloshing full, two big mugs and a little white pill are placed within easy reach of us and then he picks up the empty tray and walks away, but not before patting my shoulder on his way out. The door closes quietly behind him and Leblanc and myself are left alone once again.

“Uh, I can't believe you. You're a dirty bitch,” I grumble in humiliation.

“There that's better!” she exclaims with a dramatic sigh of relief, “You were kinda scaring me with how sweet you were being. Now come on, drink up. I have to deliver you back to Sora pretty soon or I think he'll call the police and report you as kidnapped!”

And, seeing my sister in a new and much more warm light, I do.

“Riku?” my sister says suddenly just as I'm bringing the cup to my lips. I put it down and look at her curiously.

“Was it just me or did I see a flash of a red thong when you were running from me earlier? You really are an odd little creature. I have some cute dresses you could try on if you want,” she giggles and pokes my cheek lightly with one finger.

“...”

Good feeling's gone. She's definitely still a dirty bitch and I still truly detest her.

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Footnotes:

Yep, it's Leblanc and her Noogiewoogie from FFX-2. I had a lot of fun writing her and sort of elaborating on her character. We never saw her interact with anyone she felt deeply for other than Nooj but after seeing her devotion and unconditional love for him, I think that she's the sort of person that would be a wonderful mom or big sister. And so, Riku gets a big sister who is older and wiser than he that looks out for him. I'm having her age at 32ish and Nooj's more around 38. Riku is 18 and Sora's 17.

Note on Leblanc knowing about Leon and Seifer: Sora and Riku go and visit the others, so who says that the others can't come visit them. So no, she doesn't know about them being from other worlds entirely.

...You know you've been watching too much Ouran Host Club when your mind starts playing the slow little prelude to the ending song right as you become aware that you only have a minute or two of typing to go. (I would highly suggest watching Ouran to anyone who never has. Several people have uploaded it on Veoh dot com—HA! Eat that, stupid ff dot net's annoying fielding program!)

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After that absolutely sickening display of sibling affection and love, is anybody else finding it harder and harder to believe that this started off as a smutty one-shot revolving around crossdressing?

And here, we have my personal pet peeve of the month. You don't have to read it if you don't want, it has no relevance past kinda explaining why Riku and Leblanc are the way they are around one another. There is a very annoying flu-bug like cliché going around in the amateur writing world right now that seriously makes me want to make a villain of myself and crush several young writers' spirits by flaming them like crazy. You see, I hate the way that most fanfic writers portray families. Because most of them are, unfortunately, in the age range of 13 to 16 years old, their idea of family is just a bunch of jerks that want to rule their lives and they wish that they would all just go rot in hell. So, they either leave their characters' family life completely out of their stories, or they write them as a bunch of controlling assholes who drive their character to various horrible things like self-mutilation and/or suicide. Parents hate them and 'look out for their best interests' in cruel and hurtful ways, siblings couldn't care less if they just dropped off the face of the planet and anyone else like uncles, aunts or cousins have no personality past, you guessed it, making the main character's life hell.

I wanted to show a different side of your average teenager's family, or at least, part of it. It's sad that most teenagers consider the entire world to be against them, starting with the people who love them the most. But, as they get older, they usually see that the way they saw their family was wrong. That's what I was going for with Riku and Leblanc's sibling relationship and the way that he realizes that he'll always be precious to her, no matter what he does to hurt or anger her. I'm a sucker for character development. If a character hasn't learned something or improved themselves somehow by the end of the story, I usually label it as flat. Now I'm not talking about one-shots or even just the small five or six chapter short stories that are so prevalent. I'm talking about 15 or 20+ thousand worders that aren't meant to be light-hearted humor pieces and nothing more. There are a few exceptions to this prerequisite of mine, but for the most part, I'm pretty harsh.

Alright kiddies, please review now that you read. That's my price for the next chapter.