Nobody Else But You [Kingdom Hearts, Goofy + Max, G]

[de-yaten.livejournal.com]

Title: Nobody Else But You
Author/Artist: de_yaten
Rating: G
Warnings: Fluff? Really unoriginal title?
Summary: Prompt says it nicer.
Prompt: Goofy or Pete: Fatherhood - It's hard to be there for your kids, especially if your job requires you to spend so much time away from them
A/N: This is the second time I've written Max in something KH-verse and... it's still a bit angst-y. XD lol. I can't help it. Only two more to go! D:




It had been rough.

The fighting was near-constant, the danger was ever-present, and he had been exposed to more Darkness and cruel deeds than he ever cared to know about.

It had been rough, and yet - yet, Goofy wouldn't trade it for anything. How could he? He met many friends, gained a close companion in Sora, and though most of their 'adventures' had been grave, there were moments where it was okay to smile. Okay to feel happy. Okay to think, "Wait 'till the folks back home here about this one!"

There was only one regret for Goofy, one thing that he wish he could've changed. It came to him every night during their adventures, when the sky was dark and the only thing left to do was let his mind wander. It would wander very, very far - all the way to Disney Castle and a small, untidy room.

His son's room - Max's room, with almost every inch of wall-space covered in posters and pictures of singers and bands and people Goofy had never heard of. He questioned his son's taste in decoration, but who was he to argue with kids these days? In any case, Max told him everyone at school decorated their rooms like this, and what, did he want his only son to be a loser or something? It was button Goofy was reluctant to push. Especially since the day it was brought up was the day he was given his new mission with Donald - it would be best to leave Max on a positive note, to keep things brighter.

Max had taken the news of the mission with a shrug and a casual when-will-you-be-back. Goofy didn't know, and at the time couldn't know, that he would be gone for much longer than expected. He would miss birthdays, school dances, final exam jitters; he would miss summer vacations and the all-too-soon back-to-school woes.

He couldn't begin to imagine every other thing he was missing out on. When he was fighting Heartless, was Max already up and getting ready for school? Or was he fighting Minnie and insisting that he really was sick and couldn't go, and no, it wasn't because there was a test in Math that day? When he was facing down a cruel Nobody with no heart, was Max eating all his vegetables at dinner, or just skipping right to dessert? What new singer was coming into town and Max-needed-tickets-for-him-NOW? What subjects was Max having trouble with at school? What fights with PJ went un-ranted about in Goofy's ears?

He had missed so much, and he hadn't been there. But he was now. Now that it was all over, and the Worlds were relatively safe again. Safe from outside-Darkness, anyway

He was there now and he would make up for it... somehow.

"Uhhh, dad?"

Goofy started out of his thoughts to feel Max trying to pull out of his hold. "I kinda, yanno, can’t breathe here, soo--"

Goofy released his near-death grip on his son. “Sorry, Maxie, it’s just I..." He ruffled Max’s hair gently. “I missed you, is all.”

Max snorted and made to pull away - but stopped and sighed. “I know, dad..." Max tightened his arms. "I know."

Goofy smiled, because the embrace was tight and just shy of painful - but it let Goofy know that even if he had missed out on a whole chunk of Max's life, his son wasn't going to up and leave him for it. (Although he might try to use the experience to get sympathy points and a new skateboard.)