AN: Oh gawd, I've had this story unfinished and just collecting dust in my docs for YEARS.

I wish I was kidding… /Cry.

I'm utter trash when it comes to contributing to the Vanitas/Xion tag more frequently…

Anyways, enough of my ramblings. I hope y'all enjoy~ :D

Summary: Let's face it, Xion sucks at baking but it won't stop her from achieving her goal with a lot of elbow grease and someone to help! Now the only thing she has to worry about is if her very special Valentine will even like it. Happy Valentine's Day!

Cake Pops

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Lying down on Vanitas' bed, Xion arches her back as she runs her fingers through Vanitas' jet-black hair, moaning as her lithe fingers tangle themselves at the tiny hairs at the base of his neck.

"V-Vani…!" she cries in pleasure, back arching slightly off the mattress as Vanitas grips the material covering his Xion tighter, trying to contain his cool for a bit longer.

Vanitas growled hungrily, lust filling him up as he decided that enough was enough. Roughly he took Xion's shirt off, with his own coming off next in the process in one swift motion.

Xion begins to grind against Vanitas' clothed lower half, a loud groan escaping Vanitas' lips, as he slowly began to unzip her khaki shorts revealing the black lacy panties she was wearing.

Capturing her lips, tongues clashed together fighting for dominance as Xion's moans stirred his hot blood and drove him wild. Catching their breath, a trail of saliva linked them together as Vanitas prepared to take things to the next level.

Rummaging through his night table he pulled out a black condom packet. Before he could even do anything with it, a loud slamming of a door caught their attention.

"Vani! Is Grandpa Xehanort home?" a pre-teen voice broke the silence of rapidly beating hearts of two lust filled young adults in what was supposed to be a locked bedroom. In their haste, he couldn't remember if he even did lock it but was somewhat – if not pissed – grateful that his little brother had the decency to not barge in.

Vanitas rolled his eyes and sunk down, his head resting in the nook of Xion's neck as she interlaced her hand with his and squeezed it letting him know that she was just as disappointed. He took a moment to whimper at the loss of the intensity as he trailed kisses up from her neck to her jaw and cheek before separating.

"Urgh… stupid Sora…" Vanitas groaned in an unpleasant way as he got off of Xion and picked up his shirt from wherever it fell on the floor. Unlocking his door, he went downstairs meanwhile letting her get dressed again.

Inside the kitchen sitting at the island counter, Sora happily picked up a red apple and started munching on it as Vanitas leaned against the archway, arms crossed with narrowed golden-amber eyes seething. He wore a black tank and dark navy-blue jeans, not caring to hide any of the hickeys evident on his body.

Sora tilted his head and saw the reddened bruised bites on Vanitas' neck and the darker tint on his older brother's kiss-swollen lips, "hey, is that a hickey?" he asked as he took a big bite out of the apple and thoughtfully chewed.

"Don't you have homework to do?" Vanitas changed the subject as Sora nodded. Taking a binder and pencil pouch out of his grey backpack he placed them on the counter and tugged on the blue tie of his school's uniform taking it off.

"Yeah, that's why I need Grandpa Xehanort's help. I'm doing a report on the war and as many times as he's told us about it, I don't remember any of it" Sora sighed, "I wish I could be in college already. I bet you guys don't get this type of homework. In fact, I've never even see you do homework, Vani!"

Vanitas chuckled and walked fully into the kitchen, uncrossing his arms to ruffle Sora's spiky brown hair. "That's because I stay up late, Squirt. Mom took the Old Geezer on a retreat with the rest of the town's old people and don't ask me when he'll be back because even I don't know. If we're lucky maybe he'll break his hip and we can go at least a nice long week without having to cater to his every need"

"But if he breaks his hip then we'll be forced to cater to his every need even more!" Sora's eyes widened at the horror of that thought.

Vanitas shivered and cringed at the mental image of having to deal with sagging body parts. He hated having to give his Grandpa a sponge bath let alone massage and rub his brittle joints with ointment.

"See, this is why you need middle school. You're a lot smarter than me" Vanitas smirked as he opened the fridge and got two water bottles out. "Now if you need me, don't. And don't you dare come upstairs or knock on my door" Vanitas warned as he left Sora in the kitchen.

Sora waved his hand dismissively already guessing that his big brother had his girlfriend over. Getting started on his homework he plugged in his headphones into his phone already knowing that he needed to block out all the noise surrounding him as he took out a #2 mechanical pencil and started humming.

Upstairs, Vanitas made his way back to his room located at the end of the hallway. Opening the door, he found Xion flipping through the tv channels as she laid in bed. "Don't get too comfortable, we are so going to continue from where we left off" he told her.

"Vani, your little brother is home. We can't! What if he comes up and sees us?" she shot up from the bed and panicked a little at just picturing the scenario in her head.

"So? He's in eighth grade, he's going to learn about sex ed eventually" he chuckled, a mischievous glint shining in his eyes which did absolutely nothing to calm her down.

Xion blushed as she watched Vanitas place the two water bottles on his night stand. Not knowing how to respond she became hypnotized as he took off his shirt and started to unbuckle and unzip his jeans.

She unconsciously bit her bottom lip at those chiseled abs and the perfect 'v' of his pelvis. "Xion, I'm not the only one having sex here, I need you to take off your clothes and contribute to the cause too, Babe"

Xion shook her head and snapped out of it, "Oh, uh, r-r-right!" she stuttered.

Vanitas genuinely laughed at her clueless innocence as he mischievously grinned, "do you need my help undressing?" he huskily whispered into her ear. Xion didn't notice or felt him when he got on the bed as the only sensation she felt was of him pinning her down, hand going under her back as his fingers tingled and danced on her spine as he hungrily attacked her lips.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Hey, how was your weekend? I tried texting AND calling you but nothing!" Namine scrunched up her nose and made an annoyed face at Xion as she sat down with her food tray at the table.

It was a Tuesday, which meant they could actually sit down and catch up since the rest of their schedules didn't allow them the freedom for girl-talk while on campus unless it was a Saturday or Sunday when they had no classes.

Xion tried giving her a wide cheesy smile but she was exhausted. Sitting there, she shrugged her shoulders and stirred her tapioca pudding with her plastic spork. "Sorry Namine, I was busy. Vanitas' mom is out of town with his Grandpa so he has the house all to himself" Xion sighed dreamily, mind drifting off, "Ahh… Vani…tas!" blushing, she tried to will away the very R-rated memories, "it was great… uhh… really nice" she croaked, trying to sound normal.

A second later, Xion closed her eyes and smiled remembering her very long weekend at her boyfriend's.

The stupid grin plastered on her face being impossible to melt away.

They didn't get much alone time at his house to go that far since Vanitas' mom was constantly on their case. She meant well and she was really sweet but she liked to barge in every thirty minutes to check up on them. They were university students but since Vanitas still lived at home to help out with his kid brother and Grandpa – it was still his mom's house and rules.

"Vani's mom is nice but with her being away for who knows how long…. hmm…" Namine narrowed her eyes at Xion as if accusing her of something. Taking her plastic spork that she stabbed into her chicken salad, she pointed it at her best friend. "You had sex didn't you!" she harshly whispered, leaning across the table as to try and be as discreet as a college student could about discussing sex in a busy cafeteria.

Xion backed away to avoid getting her eye poked out and possibly becoming blind in the process, "can you blame me? It's been awhile since we've done anything" she frowned. Her relationship with her boyfriend wasn't solely physical but every now and then that extra show of love and affection for one another was nice. Fluff was great but spice was even nicer. She loved him whole heartily and being the nineteen-year-old she is – she was madly in love.

Namine rolled her eyes, "I guess not but I really needed your help! I couldn't decide on an outfit" she sighed, "I went on a date with Roxas and so did not want to clash colors with him but in the end I wore a white dress"

"Nami, you always wear white"

Namine giggled at that, "I guess you're right"

"So, Xi, since we're talking about our boyfriends who happen to be cousins, one in particular is having his big two-one coming up here pretty soon and by soon I mean, later today"

Xion sighed, "I know, don't remind me. I still don't know what I'm going to get him"

"Hmm, how about you just wrap yourself in a giant red ribbon with... hmm… no wait, holding a bottle of whipped cream in one hand and in the other a bottle of chocolate syrup with a cherry on top of your head!"

"Namine! I'm not that kinky! No doubt Vani wouldn't object to the idea but still!"

"Then how about baking him a cake? Luckily his birthday happens to be on Valentine's Day aka today and plain chocolate is so cliché"

Xion raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? Did you forget that you're talking to the girl who left her bundt cake in the oven and burned down the home ec class, forcing everyone to evacuate the building?"

Namine giggled at that recent memory, "Thanks for that. I had a major chem test that day and I spent the night making out with Roxas that I didn't study at all"

"Glad to know that my burning of government funded property benefitted you" Xion smiled as she hummed and tried to think of something good to get her boyfriend. She knew that he didn't really care for surprise parties because she was really bad at keeping secrets and he always had ways of making her squirm and ruin it all.

She really didn't want to buy him something or make him something since she was lacking in the art department. She only really knew how to hot glue sea shells together, draw stick figures, smother glue and a pound of glitter on a card; she really wasn't creative at all compared to Vanitas.

Groaning, Xion let out a heavy sigh as she got up from the table to pace around the table while she collected her thoughts. After a minute or two, she had a 'eureka' moment and happily bounced back up, demeanor shifting into a hopeful one. "I think I've got it!" she exclaimed with a newfound skip to her step as she clapped her hands together once.

"Care to enlighten me?" Namine winked at her as Xion nodded, "Riku! I'm going to ask him to teach me"

"Good luck with that. Riku takes cooking very seriously and he won't have any mercy on your soul"

"I'm willing to take my chances, now as long as Vani doesn't know what I'm up to – we'll be set"

"Mums the word" Namine puckered her lips and pretended to lock them with an invisible key as she flicked her wrist as if throwing away said key.

"Thanks, Nami! I really appreciate it" Xion bid a brisk goodbye to her as she made her way to the culinary building in search of Riku.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Inside the almost abandoned building, Xion looked left and right for Riku not knowing if he was in class or in an opened classroom. The hallway was long and narrow, shining with the bright sun as the only light source. She passed one class that was in session, peering through the window she could see that they were working with something she remembered being called fondant. Cooking or baking were neither of her fortes so she was glad she could at least remember this much from Riku.

Passing by a couple of other rooms, she saw groups of students cooking and decorating things. The high flames coming off of skillets had surprised her as she hurriedly walked off and came to the end of the hallway. Hearing a faint sound of music, she found the person she was looking for.

Riku was the only student in the building to blast music while he created a mess. It wasn't so much as a mess since he'd clean up at the end but watching him in action was something… a spiritual experience to say the least.

Xion's blue eyes shifted to purple, catching the reflection of the bright flames encasing a skillet on the stove engulfed in fire by the dark rum being poured in.

If her memory of 'fancy' yet simple to make desserts served her right, she knew that he was in the middle of making banana foster.

Riku was a peculiar friend… well not in the sense that he was a creep or anything, just that he was just a kid. A really, really, smart kid taking university courses and who happened to be her boyfriend's little brother's best friend.

"If you're going to ogle then I suggest taking a seat three rows away from me" Riku called, lips curling into an all too familiar smirk, knowing that Xion was a tornado of disaster just waiting to happen inside a kitchen setting.

She meekly nodded as she ducked into a nearby row, surprised that he had even acknowledged her presence with his music blaring at top volume.

Not too close but not too far either, she sat in the second row instead of the third. Patiently she waited for him to finish whatever it was that he was currently making before plunging into begging for his help.

She silently watched as he lowered the temperature at his caramelizing bananas as he turned off the stove and set the bananas aside. Next, she watched in amazement as he concentrated on which mint leaves to pluck off a long green stem. The final thing he did was twirl around away from the freezer and bend over to reach for a small stainless-steel bowl covered in plastic. She could only assume it was his infamous homemade custard style vanilla-sea salt flavored ice cream which caused her stomach to betray her in that moment with a loud growl.

Riku, being the good, no-nonsense in the kitchen friend that he is – simply ignored her orchestra of internal organs as he decorated a plate. He chopped the bananas into small bite-sized pieces, placing a few on a plate and then scooping two helpings of his custard ice cream on top, finishing off with drizzling some of his banana foster's sauce and garnishing with mint leaves.

Without saying a word, he lowered the volume on his music, not fully turning it off as he slid the plate towards Xion as her eyes widened.

"For me?"

"I know you only venture into this hall when you're in need of something"

Xion frowned, curse her easy to read emotions!

Riku took out a silver dessert spoon from his black waist apron's pocket handing it to her as he placed a hand on his hip. The sassy posture would normally cause Xion to cringe and recoil into herself on any other given day because it was the very same pose that Riku gave anyone who willfully asked for his wrath in the kitchen. He wasn't quite yet annoyed but he wasn't pleased either.

"Did you slip some laxatives in this?" she asked, hesitating to dig into the mouth-watering dessert.

Riku chuckled, shaking his head, "I'm feeling generous today, so do tell" he gestured, posture relaxing as he watched his friend's chest heave and exhale a sigh of relief from her petite frame.

"Vanitas' birthday is today and I was wondering if you could teach me how to bake a cake?" Xion inwardly winced, eyes screwing shut as she moved her body further away from Riku. Even though there was an entire table in their way, she still felt like his rage would destroy it at any given second now like molten lava cascading down a temperamental volcano.

A good five minutes passed as she feared for the worst.

Had Riku ditched her as she refused to open her eyes?

She was still far too scared to even attempt checking.

Why was she so terrified of one brilliant child? Whom she was taller than might she add!

Xion heard a cackle… and then an explosion of laughter.

It was her cue to open her eyes as she watched Riku grab at his sides and doubled over, laughing his ass off at her desperate – but sincere – question.

"Y-Y-You… w-want… haha… ME… hehe… t-t-to… pfft… teach you how… ahaha… to bake a cake?!" he laughed, incredulously loud at her proposal.

Xion ignored the boy's laughing fit as she stuffed her cheeks with melting ice cream and caramelized bananas like a cutely angry chipmunk. Once she was done with the dessert, she set the spoon down and crossed her arms.

"Thanks for treat but I don't need to be ridiculed for asking a simple question. I'm being serious"

Riku came down from his amused high as he took a stool and sat across from her. "Xion… need I remind you what happened the last time I left you unattended with a stove set to 500 degrees?"

"Okay, first of all, how was I supposed to know that Twilight Town made stoves aren't the same as our local ones?! I didn't think that what you let me use was literal hell in a box and second of all, I managed to salvage three whole pans okay! Yeah, sure, maybe one's a little dented but still good enough to continue using!" she huffed, throwing her arms above her head.

Riku leaned in, "you melted my brand-new pans AND I had set the oven to 350. I don't even want to think about how you got it all the way to 500"

Xion deeply sighed, "I paid my dues, didn't I? I'm a shitty baker but I boxed and packaged like a pro! So, we're even for that mishap… but I'm desperate here, Riku. You're the only culinary genius I trust"

"And the only one you know" he interjected, amused by her begging.

"So…" she drawled.

"So…" he copied her.

Xion groaned at his mimicking as she moved the plate to her side so she could set her cheek against the cool table in misery.

"Why can't you be cute like Sora…" she mumbled into the black table.

"Because unlike him, I can actually cook?" Riku shook his head. As much as he would love to continue this banter and tease her even more, he just simply didn't have the time. He still needed to get started on macarons, chocolate roses and strawberries, and a cake sculpted to look like cupid. Part of him regretted bothering to even volunteer for the week long Valentine's Day festivities at the university.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gave him.

"Fine. I'll help you but only if you help me dip strawberries into chocolate. Should be easy enough for you to do"

"Okay, yeah, totally!" Xion shot up, excited to help out so she could receive her end of the deal as well.

Riku nodded, "First off, I'm melting the chocolate and second, what flavor do you want to make this cake?"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Xion was exhausted but felt over the moon ecstatic at her work ethics. She did exactly as Riku ordered and poured her heart out into making the cake batter. She just hoped that all her efforts were appreciated at the end.

Giddily, with a hop to her every step, she made her way down the hall – exiting the building while carrying a small white box neatly wrapped in red twine.

She guarded said little white box like a hawk as she still, unfortunately, had a few more classes in the evening to attend but once everything was finished for the night – she rushed to the best of her clumsy coordinated abilities all while clutching the box tightly to her chest.

Finally reaching her destination, she balanced the box on one hip as she dug into her short jean pocket for the spare key she was given a long time ago. Even though she had used it countless of times by this point, the jittery butterflies in her stomach never left because it meant the world to her. Vanitas had trusted her enough with a copy of his family's house key once their relationship became serious.

Twisting the knob and walking right into the house, she was first greeted by the energetic happy bark of the gentle giant and her boyfriend's most loyal campion – his dog Cerberus.

"Hey, boy!" Xion greeted as she bent over to pet the lovable dog as she smiled, "now where's your owner?" she wondered out loud.

As if understanding her, Cerberus barked again as if signaling her to follow him.

Ascending the stairs slowly, Xion was greeted by a gust of wind.

"Hi, Xion! Bye, Xion!" Sora hurriedly said as he passed her and took the rest of the railing down like a slide.

Xion wasn't given enough time to fully process what just happened as she waved back even though she knew that Sora had already slammed the front door.

Shrugging, she continued her trek upstairs and down the hall to the one room she was all too familiar with. Normally, she'd just barge in like some ball made of boundless energy but she was nervous today.

Gently knocking on the door, she waited until Vanitas opened up. He watched her with questioning golden eyes as he crossed his arms over his bare chest.

Xion noticed the disheveled bed hair and the checkered pj bottoms he was sporting.

A nap.

"Did I wake up, Sleeping Beauty?" she grinned.

Vanitas rolled his eyes, "I was planning on being unconscious for the rest of the day"

Cerberus was the first to enter the room and plopped himself comfortably onto Vanitas' bed as he watched his owner and Xion with a wagging tail.

Xion huffed, "c'mon, Vani, your birthday isn't that terrible… I wish mine fell on a national holiday. I want to be adored by all" she proudly announced.

Vanitas couldn't help but chuckle as he uncrossed his arms and allowed her entry into his room. "wow, that hurts. I thought I was more than enough for you, Jerk" he replied as he grabbed his discarded shirt off the floor and put it back on.

Xion quietly mourned the loss of the sight of seeing that killer bod of his.

Oh well.

"Oh, you are… in fact, you're quite a handful but I love you, flaws and all"

Vanitas nodded, "uh-huh, remind me to switch birthdays with you next year"

"Why?"

"So, you can get a taste of how lame of a holiday Valentine's is"

"Yeah, yeah, I already know your entire 'this holiday is a corporate gimmick used to sell us more useless crap every year' speech. You can save it"

"The only nice thing about this year is that it fell during a weekday rather than a weekend. Everyone was either too busy working or at school to blink twice to notice especially with it being my birthday"

"And you were planning to fast-forward the rest of the day by going to bed early?"

Vanitas tapped the tip of her nose with a small 'boop.'

"Bingo"

"You're already an old man at just twenty-one… hate to break it to ya, Vani, but I think your Grandpa Xehanort rubbed off on you at a young age"

Vanitas cringed at the comparison, "Ven and Roxas cornered me into accepting that we go to the club on Saturday night… those assholes"

Xion's eyes twinkled with amusement, "darn those meddling twin cousins of yours!" she raised a fisted grip high into the air in mock-anger.

Vanitas hummed, "oh, real genuine, I could almost feel the sentiment"

Xion burst into a fit of laughter as she carefully set her box on his bed so that she was free to wrap her arms around his neck. She cursed their drastic height difference as she tip-toed and boosted herself up to peck him on the lips.

"Oh, boo-hoo, my little Grump will survive one night out for fun… just" she cutely pouted, "promise me, no strip clubs!" she warned as she lightly patted his back.

Vanitas chuckled as he pressed her closer, whispering into her ear, "why pay when I have you?"

"My, for someone who utterly despises Valentine's Day, you can be such a sap" she giggled.

Vanitas savored the joyful vibration against him as he silently agreed. He normally wasn't into those touchy-feely moments but for whatever reason, cupid had a hold on him, a hold that allowed him to be honest with her. Not that he wasn't always truthful and brutally honest with her and everyone else for that matter but today of all days just made him feel… weird.

"Are you going to show me what you brought me in that white box or do I need to tickle you into a confession?"

Xion unwound her arms and reached for the box, biting her inner cheek, she paused and thought of what to say. She had worked so hard on getting it right and anticipating his reaction the entire day.

In the end, she just decided to silently let him see for himself as she handed him the box.

Vanitas curiously opened the box and took out a white stick, the stick had a round black chocolate ball with red heart sprinkles scattered around.

"A cake pop?" he raised a brow.

Xion tried her best to not let her heart plummet as she explained, "I… wanted to make something special for you so I asked Riku for help"

"Wow, maybe I should date Riku instead, these look right out of a respectable dessert shop"

Xion crossed her arms, "that's illegal and if you must know – I made the cake pops. Riku only supervised my baking"

Vanitas loved to rile her up, "oh really?"

She huffed again, "yes, really"

"So, if I get food poisoning, then I'll only have myself to blame for believing you"

"Just eat the damn thing, Vani" she grumbled, heart pounding.

She watched as Vanitas took a big bite, breaking the hard chocolate shell of the outside.

"Sea salt" he thoughtfully chewed as he swallowed half of the cake pop in one bite. It was one of his all-time favorite flavors being the staple of Destiny Islands – their home.

"Final verdict?" her legs shook at his opinion, deciding to be wise and sit down at the edge of the bed.

Vanitas would be lying if he said he wasn't touched by the gift. He knew his girlfriend was no top chef in the kitchen and struggled immensely with it. Sometimes he'd even question how the hell she managed to melt pans and burn even the likes of water! But despite her lack of skills, she loved it. She loved cooking and baking and learning from her mistakes. And he loved her even more for never giving up.

"Grump approved" he gave her a roaring two thumbs-up.

"You… really mean it?" she shot up from the bed, startling the dog right next to her.

Vanitas chuckled at her reaction, knowing how much his opinion meant to her.

He nodded as he reached to bring her closer to him. Hope filled her eyes as she awaited one last confirmation but it never came as her skin prickled with tingles as he slightly turned her cheek to lick some chocolate she failed to see on her cheek.

"This is the best present I've ever received" he whispered against her ear, causing her to shiver.

She knew that knowing him all too well for years, his words were a double-edged sword.

One an innuendo.

The other a heart-felt sentiment.

She cupped his stupidly handsome face into her palms and crashed her lips with his.

The moment was cut short as she felt skilled fingers traveling up her highly ticklish sides. She broke the kiss in fits of laughter as she ran away, dodging his advances in trying to recapture her to tickle her some more.

"Vani, no!" she laughed as she jumped on his bed and started throwing pillows at him.

"Hey, it's my birthday! Birthday Boy gets whatever he wishes, Valentine"

Xion smiled for what felt the umpteenth time that day. He finally acknowledged his special birthday.

"Ha! Says the person who planned to celebrate it unconscious!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done!

AAAAAyyyyyeeeee. I'm glad I finally finished this story and on Valentine's Day no less... err, more like, what's left of the holiday/day.

It felt great to write a little KH one-shot. Oh, how I've missed it. I've been so hyped ever since the new D23 Japan KHIII trailers dropped and I saw Vanitas' glorious shiny dome in the new trailer. Lmao.

To anyone reading or has read my other KH fics and even still cares at this point: I'm planning to revamp/complete my multi-chap Vanitas/Xion fics very soon! I mean, it's about damn time that I do, but y'know… all good things come in due time.

Remember to R&R! Plz & Thankies! :]

Please do review! Follows and Alerts tell me that you guys are at least interested in the story but reviews really let me hear out what your feedback and personal opinions on my stories are! [But y'know, like don't Follow this story… since it's a one-shot, therefore it's complete, lol.]

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.

I don't own Vanitas, Xion, and all other characters used in this fic.

Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix/Disney.

The only thing I own besides this random spark of an idea [and will forever use in my KH fics] is Cerberus – Vanitas ever loyal wolf/husky dog!