Kairi huffed and drew back her keyblade. "I think I won that one, Axel." She smirked at her opponent.

He heaved a breath, bent over his own blade. "No fair. I have this heavy coat working against me."

She laughed and wiped the sweat off her brow. "The Good Fairies made clothes for you too. It's not my fault you don't wear them." She pointed out.

"It's not my style. Got it memorized?"

They stood around poking fun at each other when Merlin approached them.

"You two are excelling marvelously! I say this calls for a reward."

Axel's eyes sparkled. "Ice cream?" Kairi elbowed him. It was always ice cream on his mind. Sea salt or nothing.

Merlin tugged his beard. "You two have enough of that. How about some tea?"

Kairi tilted her head. "Tea?"

"Tea is so boring!" Axel scoffed. "How is that a reward?"

Merlin was appalled. "Tea is not simply a drink to imbibe, dear students!" He cried with a flourish of his arms. "Archimedes!" he called out to the owl. "Come here!"

Kairi giggled. She loved the grumpy little bird, and while he refused to say it, he enjoyed their company. Well, Kairi's at the least. Axel, on the hand, relished using Archimedes as target practice. Merlin only encouraged that behavior.

"After all, the elemental heartless will bob and weave in a similar fashion!" Merlin reasoned as Archimedes dodged spurts of fire.

"For the last time, I am not a heartless!" The owl answered angrily.

Axel took pleasure in taunting Archimedes when he got mouthy. His magic was no match for Kairi's innate power, but he could still aim and singe feathers if he wished. He only had to summon his keyblade for him to cower on Kairi's shoulder.

Archimedes poked his head out of his tree nook. "Oh no, I am done with you and your shenanigans! I refuse. I'm only here because I live in your carpet bag," He huffed. "I am staying in here."

The old wizard circled his wand and pulled Archimedes out of the hole. "This is an emergency! These children, they've never had tea!" Merlin gasped.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" He countered, crossing his arms. The effect was diminished by his hanging upside down in midair.

Axel nudged Kairi's shoulder. "We could make a disappearing act," he stage whispered.

"I can hear you," Archimedes hooted. Axel raised a brow in challenge and summoned his keyblade.

"I told him! I told him that I was much too old to deal with children anymore. Wasn't Wart enough of a hassle?" He muttered angrily.

Merlin broke in between the two and announced, "No more distractions! It is tea time!" He waved his wand once more and whirled the four of them around. Kairi floated on the sparkles surrounding her and giggled. Axel was not enjoying the experience nearly as much.

"Stop spinning us around, you old coot!" he gagged as they came to a standstill. Kairi patted him on the shoulder as they settled down.

"Now, I have picked the perfect brew for you. One day, when I was passing through Agrabah, the young sultan gave me a sachet of his favorite combination." With another wave of his wand, Merlin summoned a steaming pink teapot.

A fragrant smell wafted out of the spout. Kairi took a large whiff and sighed. It was beautiful. Merlin was about to pour out the tea when three streaks in red, blue, and green landed in front of them. One one group traveled in such style.

Axel groaned. Kairi resisted the same urge. She adored the three fairies, but wherever they went, a fight no doubt followed. The three fairies barely got along on even the best day. Today, they stood in front of them, frowning.

"Are you having tea without us Merlin?" Fauna, the green fairy, asked gently.

"Did you forget that we were coming, you old-" Merryweather started when Flora nudged her.

"What Merryweather is trying to say is that you know we enjoy a good cuppa as well."

Kairi lifted the pot. "You are free to join us. Merlin brought us a pot."

The three fairies gasped in horror. "Just a pot? What kind of tea is this?" Flora gasped.

Merryweather turned away. "Not even jam or a single crumpet?"

Poor Fauna was close to tears. "You can't have a tea without little cakes!"

Kairi and Axel glanced at each other. Merlin hadn't mentioned any of this earlier. Maybe that's why Archimedes was in such a mood.

Merlin sputtered, "I will admit, I forgot our appointment but I was simply rewarding our trainees for their hard work."

"With no treats? It's the best part of tea!" Flora insisted.

"Master Yen Sid always had a proper spread," Merryweather grumbled.

"Don't worry, my dear. We will take care of everything," Fauna reassured the group. Before Merlin could argue, the three fairies waved their wands and shouted commands.

"Cakes!" shouted Fauna who summoned a plate of petit fours.

"Crumpets!" Flora squealed.

"Blueberry jam!" Merryweather exclaimed and brought forth a jar.

Her words stopped Flora in her tracks. "Who has blueberry jam with crumpets?" She scolded. "Strawberry is the only way to enjoy tea!" She summoned a jar of strawberry jam.

"Blueberry!"

"Strawberry!"

"Blue." Merry's voice escalated.

"Pink." Flora's matched hers.

Oh no, not this argument again. Kairi knew this wouldn't end well. "We all enjoy different kinds of jams and jellies," she tried to reconcile between them.

"Blue!" Merryweather knocked over the plate of petit fours.

"Pink!" Flora flung the teapot off the table. Merlin deftly caught it before it shattered, but not before the tea spilled all over his robes.

Merryweather scrunched her face, pointed her wand and shouted once more! "Blue!"

Kairi saw the next few moments in slow motion. First, Flora ducked Merryweather's blast. Second, so did Merlin. Third, Archimedes. That left only her in the way of the blast. She dodge rolled out of the way. Whew! Safe and sound. She jumped up and found herself without an inch of blue. "Awesome!"

"You better be speaking for yourself." Axel growled from beside her. She turned to find herself face to face with an angry, bristling Axel. Axel with blue hair. "I hate tea time."

—

No less than an hour later, Merryweather withdrew the blue from Axel's hair and they cleaned up their mess.

Kairi slumped against one of the trees with Archimedes napping in his knoll above her. This was some reward. Merlin disappeared soon after the clean up began, off to who knows where.

"Let's never do this again. Tea is now off limits as any reward." Axel hunched over his knee.

"Ah young Axel, do not underestimate the power of tea. Just as Keyblade wielders, it can come in many different forms," Merlin announced as he appeared in a flash. He carried a drink holder with three plastic cups with various colored drinks and straws.

"What is that?" Kairi asked leaning toward the wizard.

He offered her the drink and summoned up the table once more. "As an all powerful wizard, I have been to many worlds. This was a recent discovery of mine. Bubble tea!"

He passed a cup to Axel. He lifted it up and stared at it. "I'm assuming the bubbles are those orbs at the bottom."

Kairi took a sip and sucked up a few of the bubbles. They were chewy and sweet. "This is delightful!"

Axel followed suit. "Not half bad. It's no sea salt ice cream, but if you bring me tea like this, I'll take it." He raised his cup in a toast.

Kairi knocked her cup against his and Merlin's. "Cheers!"