“She’s walks too fast,” complained Marluxia as the two males walked toward the plane. Since they were students of Thalassa High there was no fee to pay, the ride was completely free. “Will you stop whining like a baby?” Axel told him while giving him a glare. “Really, if you don’t like people insulting you then maybe you should act more... not you.” Marly averted his gaze away from the Pyro and the two of them eventually made it to the stairs leading up to inside of the plane. “Hey Axel.” said one of the female flight attendants who seemed to know him. “Is that your new girlfriend?” She was pointing directly at Marluxia. Axel about died, and I think Marly was already six feet under. “Um, he’s a guy.” Axel told her and she just looked even more shocked. “Woah, Axel... I didn’t know you were like that.” she said and he was six feet under now too. “I’m not like that, he’s just some person tagging along with me and Larxene.” he explained and she nodded. “Ah okay, sorry about that. So, Larxene must be your girlfriend then, huh?” she questioned. The pyro smirked, “I wish.” he responded and began walking up the stairs. Marluxia still stood there, probably embarrassed to the point where he was about to sever his own head with his scythe. The female flight attendant frowned, “Heh, sorry... I didn’t mean to y’know, call you a woman or anything. It’s just that... you look so feminine.” she apologized and watched him as he gave a slight wave. “It’s okay, you’re not the first person to think that.” he said back and followed Axel up the stairs.

They were walking down the slim aisle, looking for Larxene since she was probably mad that they had taken so long. Axel’s emerald gaze skimmed over the many heads of people until he noticed Larxy’s antennae sticking up. He grinned and elbowed Marly to follow him and he did. The pyro was about to sit down next to her when Marly spoke up, “Hey, I want to sit next to her!” Axel glared, “No way, I’m sitting next to her.” he insisted. “She doesn’t like you!” Marly protested, “I’m sitting next to her.” “No you aren’t, I am.” Axel said, his short temper causing him to get exceedingly mad. Marluxia tried to push past him only to have Axel push him back. “Get out of my way.” Flower-boy said through gritted teeth. Axel smirked and gasped, “Holy crap, what is that?! A Venus Fly Trap?!” he exclaimed and Marly immediately looked the other way giving Axel time to claim his spot next to Larxene. “Gullible much?” he said to Marluxia who turned around saying that there was no Venus Fly Trap. “What the... that wasn’t fair!” he mumbled and Axel shrugged. “Life isn’t fair, deal with it.” he muttered and patted the seat that was next to him. “Losers never win, after all.” Marluxia grumbled and sat down in the seat next to Axel and looked out the window that was across the aisle.

Axel turned back to Larxene and grinned at her as he always did. “Aren’t you glad I spared you from having to sit next to someone who smells like a rose bush for fifteen whole minutes?” he said and smirked even more. “I heard the smell clings to your clothes and never goes away, pity. Lucky for me I just smell too good to be stained by an icky smell like that.” It was true though, Axel really did smell good- maybe it’s because he constantly showered to keep his precious hair looking great. Once again he put his arm around her and flicked one her antennae. He heard Marluxia mutter ‘pervert’ under his breath and laughed. “If you were a real man, you’d know that it’s masculine nature to flirt with beautiful women.” he told him in a matter-of-factly tone. Marly just rolled his eyes and stared around the plane, trying to find some interesting. Axel was in his egotistical and Alpha-Male type glory as he sat there, poor Marly.

Axel had heard her low growl, it sounded like one an animal would make which didn’t really surprise him. He sighed, but cooperated with her threat since he didn’t want to be beaten senseless, especially on a plane where fellow students were. He had a reputation after all, it meant a lot to him. “Fine,” he said in defeat and moved his arm so that it was propping his chin up while his elbow rested on his leg. Marluxia grinned upon hearing them, but didn’t say anything because it would only result in Axel either saying something back or killing him. He glanced over at the pyro who didn’t look very happy now; this only made the gardener grin more. Axel felt the pair of ocean-blue eyes on him and looked up to see Marly grinned. He sneered and bitterly said, “Stop looking at me, gay-face,” causing Marluxia to look away instantly while muttering, “I am not gay.” Axel just shook his head, thinking otherwise, and stared around the plane in boredom seeing as flirting was out of the question and he didn’t feel like conversing with Flower-boy. He drifted off in thought, wondering what kind of presents he would get for his friends.

For Demyx he’d probably get some sitar picks and other accessories that the musician could use. Since he did consider Marluxia a friend, though he would never admit it, he’d probably get him some gardening stuff like seeds and those shovel things. Maybe some Miracle-Grow, he swore that Marly used it like shampoo. Then there was Roxas, his sophomore friend. Axel decided he would get him a new skateboard since the boy was rather find of that sport. Who else was there? Zexion, that Emo kid… Axel knew him and considered him a friend, but what would he like for Christmas? ‘Maybe I’ll get him some books or something… he does like to read…’ he thought and nodded to himself. Namine, she was the artist that Roxas really liked. He knew her, too, she was a really nice girl and he just knew she liked the bed-head back. Since she liked to draw he figured he’d get her some new color pencils and a new sketchpad since she was probably running low on paper with the one she had now. Was that everyone? Since he was ‘popular’ he knew a lot of people, but only a select few of them were his friends, the others were just acquaintances. He tallied the people in his mind and noted that there was one person left.

Larxene, she was the most special person to him. Axel liked her, a lot, which was why Marluxia and him fought so much. The gardener liked her too, but Axel liked her more. Whenever they fought it was mostly likely over her. The pyro wondered what Larxene thought of them fighting, did she know that it was because of her? She probably thought they were stupid and idiotic and he couldn’t help but agree. Axel blamed his pride for fighting; he just couldn’t stand the thought of losing her even though she probably didn’t like him back. A frown crossed his features and his vibrant eyes became dull. Realization hit him; she really didn’t like him back. He could tell by the way she acted whenever he tried flirting with her, she’d get angry and tell him to leave her alone. For all he knew, she most likely hated him by now. He’d hate someone, too, if they kept bothering him constantly. His eyes wandered over to her for a moment, feeling his heart skip a beat. That had never happened before; it was new to him and made him feel weird. As he looked away it happened again and he just blinked, beginning to ponder what he would get as a present for her.

What would someone like her want as a gift? He didn’t really know. Some people were just hard to get things for. Well, she was a girl so maybe she’d like clothes? That would be kind of awkward though, giving her something like clothes. Sure, he knew her size and everything, but still… it would be awkward. Crossing clothes off the list he started to think of other things that he could get for her. Girls wore make-up; maybe he could get that as a gift. However, he didn’t know what kind she wore and girls were picky when it came to that kind of thing. They always had to use a certain brand and it had to be a certain number and it had to be a certain type. Axel instantly disregarded that idea and continued to think. He could always give her a gift-card or some money, but that would be like saying ‘Oh I don’t know you well enough to get you something you’d like so just get something for yourself.’ Axel concluded that would be a horrible idea, wasn’t there anything else that she’d like? An idea came to him and he inwardly grinned. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. Jewelry was always the answer whenever you’re in doubt about a gift. What girl didn’t like a nice necklace or a sparkly ring? All the girls he knew would love to get something like that, he wasn’t sure about Larxene though. It was worth a try, plus it’s not like he was poor or anything. He wasn’t extremely rich, but he had a good amount of munny. Axel nodded again; he’d get her a nice ring, something beautiful just like her. It would be the perfect gift.

When the sound of clapping boots came to him he knew it was none other than the aquamaniac. Yes, Demyx was famous for showing up at random times. He raised an eyebrow when the sitar-player asked if he could join them. How did he know that they were doing something in the first place? “Demyx, are you stalking us?” he asked and blinked. When Larxene muttered her sarcastic remark he smirked and managed a laugh, “Yeah, I guess you’ll just have to come.” Of course he was only joking, Demyx was pretty cool in his opinion so he didn’t mind him coming along. Marluxia let out an irritated groan and sent a glare toward Demyx, “Great, another tag along to ruin my usually pleasant time with Larxene,” he complained earning him an elbow in the side from Axel. “You complain too much, just deal with it. The more the merrier right?” he said in both Demyx and his defense. He gave a wicked grin and leaned back, waiting for them to arrive at the airport.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Axel gulped when he saw the two hyper girls walk toward them, he was starting to wish he hadn’t come. “Oh… joy,” he said, faking a smile as they finally stood before them. He rolled his eyes when they didn’t even spare him a glance and looked directly at Demyx. The pyro didn’t really care though; it was just Yuffie and Vixey. He didn’t know either of them all that well, all he knew was Yuffie claimed to be the greatest ninja ever and that Vixey was Demyx’s girlfriend. Axel stifled a yawn and looked over at Larxene as she was looking through clothes. He nearly choked from laughing when she held up a pink blouse and said that it fit Marluxia perfectly. To his surprise and amusement, Marluxia beamed and snatched the shirt from her. “It’s perfect! I love it!” he exclaimed happily and smiled at her. “You know me so well, Larxene.” Axel snickered, he wished he had a video camera to tape all of this; it’d be great blackmail. “That was priceless,” he commented and smirked, “Absolutely priceless.” He ran a hand through his red spikes and looked around the Mall, wondering where the jewelry store was. Axel figured he’d find it soon, and then he could buy the perfect gift. For now he continued to hold back hysterics as he stood there watching as Marluxia continued to swoon over the shirt.