A/N: I hope to update this fic once every other day until it is completed, which shouldn't take long. I only have about three chapters planned.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, only the plot bunny that lodged itself in my head.
Prince Axel was bored, which was never a good thing. As he looked around the expansive throne room nothing of importance was able to catch his eye. Both his mother and father were sitting to his left seemingly engrossed in listening to what the commoner bowing in front of them was saying. If the Prince remembered correctly the older gentleman was accusing his neighbor of selling him sick livestock and was looking for the King and Queen to deploy justice onto the 'wrongdoer'.
The man continued speaking as Axel examined his parents, for he truly had nothing better to do. To him it quickly, if not instantly, became apparent that his parents were barely listening though someone who was not as versed in their body language would never have guessed it. His mother's shoulders held the slightest bit of a slope to them, not at all as rigged as when she had taken up her mantle several hours before. The slightly graying woman's eyes also seemed a bit glassy and a hint unfocused. Axel could only see his father's face, his mother's smaller frame blocking the rest of the Kings body from his view, yet from what Axel could see even he looked tired, the lines around his eyes seemingly more apparent than they had been this morning.
This however was a common occurrence; it was the same every Saturday. On that day of the week the King and Queen would open the court for the day to allow the people to bring forth their problems and concerns. It had been that way for centuries and it seemed like the tradition would be there to stay for as long as Axel's parents were on the throne. Ever since he had started attending such meetings when he was thirteen Axel always secretly envisioned getting rid of the weekly annoyance when he was crowned. Of course this was a silly thought; he knew how much these meetings meant to his people.
Soon enough the man who was accusing his neighbor of 'selling faulty merchandise' was compensated, his father making it so that his animals would receive the proper medicine and care in order to make them well once more. The older man was not completely satisfied if the look on his face said anything, but he bowed once more towards the three royals and proceeded to leave the throne room.
"The next grievance shall be the last that we will have time for today. If you were not able to be helped today please see one of the guards on the way out. They will give you a slip that will allow you to be one of the first to be seen at next week's hearing." The King stated, his voice resounding throughout the giant hall. The King was a stickler for the rules and the royal doctrine, something he had been trying to instill into his son for as long as Axel could remember. In the Kings mind the Kingdom would do well and prosper if they simply followed the laws that were set out by those that came before them, and so he followed these laws down to the letter, even those stating by what time they had to have completed the last of the weekly hearings.
Many of the people filed out, knowing that they would not be heard that day they had no interest in staying. Three boys however remained, two with blonde hair, one with brown, and all with startling blue eyes. Prince Axel paid them almost no attention, though what he did think of them was not positive in the least. These were the last people here, the only people standing between him and freedom from the chair in which he had been sitting in for many more hours than he care to admit.
"Please state your names and the reason for you appearing before us today." The Queen questioned gently. The Queen may have been fair in looks and in health, but she was strong in mind and will. And the one thing that she valued above all was being looked highly upon by those around her. Thus her clothes were always made of the finest fabrics and she wore the most glittering of jewels. Her will and mind were always on one thing, how she would make herself even more popular with the people, and she found the way to do that was to play the kind benevolent Queen.
The tallest of the blondes stepped forward and bowed to the King and Queen before he began to speak. "My name is Cloud Strife and these are my brothers Sora and Roxas." He started gesturing first to the brown haired youth on his left and then to the blonde haired boy on his right. "Several weeks ago our parents passed away due to an illness. They ran a small flower shop in the village and in their will they passed that shop onto us, however there have been complications. A man came to our home around three days after we had their memorial service claiming that our parents were in debt to him and he planned on collecting the next day."
"And so you want this man to give you more time to make what your family owes him?" The Queen asked, sounding genuinely concerned and caring. Axel didn't even care if it was most likely an act at that point, he just wanted them to say yes so he could spend time with his friend who was visiting the Kingdom for the summer.
"That is not what we are asking unfortunately Your Highness. We have gone through all of our parents records many times, and though they were meticulous in keeping their finances logged we can find no hint that there is any truth behind this man's claim. When we told him such he gave us an unreasonable fee on top of what we supposedly owed him, making the payment impossible for any who is not of the higher classes. When we were not able to pay by yesterday's deadline he threatened to force my brothers into indentured servitude, saying that he would come collect them three days from now."
"Now that does seem to be highly suspicious." The King said looking at the three boys before him. The brunette boy did indeed look truly distressed, though the two blondes however seemed to be slightly more sure footed than their brother. "My son what do you think of the matter?" He asked as he turned to look at the red haired Prince.
The Prince was snapped out of his daze at the sound of his father's voice addressing him. Thankfully some part of his mind had in fact been paying attention to what had been happening around him. After weighing his options for a moment he squared his shoulders and spoke to those listening to him, hoping that he had made a decision that would satisfy everyone and allow him to leave.
"We should send some trusted accountants to look at their financial records. If they are in fact being truthful, which seems to be the case, there should be no discrepancies in their parents records. In such an event we would have guards locate the man who claims to have a debt that needs to be settled so he can not disturb them anymore. And in the case that they are lying they were still willing to come and ask for the help of the Crown. For that we should give them a loan so they can pay that man, and allow them to pay it back to the Crown as they can. I believe you once said father "A man forced into servitude will never work as well for his master, than he would work for himself as a free man." As such we should allow them to make their own way in the world, no matter what their parents left for them to carry on their shoulders."
The room was silent for a moment and Prince Axel became worried that he had said the wrong thing. He had been almost sure that his solution would appease his Fathers pride and be fair to those involved, at least enough so to be able to keep this claim from dragging on for too long. Just as he was about to open his mouth again to ask his Father for his opinion his father let out a loud joyous laugh. The Queens tinkling laughter soon joined his, leaving the siblings and the Prince to slightly gap at the two.
"That is a most wonderful solution my son! I believe that would solve your problems quite well! Are you not glad to know that such a wise young man will be your sovereign one day?" The King declared, first turning to his son and then back to those standing before him.
The young brown haired boy, whose name Axel was certain starts with an S, was smiling with a grin that could put many of the twinkling stars to shame. He looked purely ecstatic. It was also the first time Prince Axel saw true emotions pass over the two blonde's faces, considering slight grimaces were highly suggestive of one's true emotions. Hell Axel hid his feelings behind grimaces all the time. But no, these were not such looks. The eldest boy looked relieved and overjoyed, almost as if he was scared that Axel would have sent them all straight to the gallows. The small grin that was covering his face was not as shinning as his brunette brothers but it held in it the same amount of gratitude.
The younger blonde is the one that kept the Princes attention. They boy simply looked stunned. It was as if someone had hit him with a hammer and he was stuck in a state of shock from the action. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide. But his shoulders too sagged with relief and Axel had not even noticed how tense he must have been before that moment, as his whole body seemed to deflate as he relaxed.
"We are most grateful. He will be a wise and benevolent King, as you are Your Grace." Cloud replied as he bowed before the King, his two brothers following suit like puppets. The one- Sora- Axel finally recalled, was all bounce as he fell into the bow. The other boy, Roxas whose name he had never seemed to have forgotten, bowed as if he were made of wood, all stiff and sharp angles.
"I agree." The Queen said as she grabbed her husband's hand. Together they rose from their thrones and the Queen spoke once more. "The court is officially closed for today. All other questions and concerns will be addressed one week from today."
And that was the cue that the remaining people who had lingered on were free to go on their ways as they pleased. And as interested as Axel was in the small blonde, Roxas he reminded himself, he was more concerned with leaving the stifling walls he had been trapped in all day. With that he hurriedly left the room, not once bothering to look back at the blue eyes that followed him.
He never would have guessed in a million years that his eyes would meet those azure pools of blue ever again. But then it should be said that Prince Axel had never been good at guessing.
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The summer sun was shining brightly down on the flower field that lay just on the outskirts of town and right near the castle walls. It seemed to be almost too bright, if Prince Axel was to be honest with himself. Unfortunately his friend and fellow prince, Demyx had to return to his kingdom a full two weeks earlier than they had planned. One of the Dukes of his Kingdom had gotten ill and died, and as per protocol Demyx had to attend the funeral. Thus Axel was left alone, and it was far too sunny for someone who was in such a foul mood.
He had luckily been able to convince his tutor that he would get no reading done inside, insisting he could focus better if he was at least outside in the gardens. After a small amount of poking and prodding Axel was able to get the straight laced man to agree to let him continue his lessons outside. He had hurriedly gathered his books, putting all but one back on a shelf much to his tutors' annoyance, and rushed outside. He was able to easily sneak past the guards, especially since the one at the main gate was the one that was always playing cards, even when he was by himself.
Too soon he realized that the castle had been stifling and the outdoors was too free, too full of the promise of a fun summer that was not to be. And so Axel sat there for minutes on end not even bothering to read, just leaning lightly against the outside of the castle walls. He may have even dosed off a few times before a soft voice reached his ears.
"Um… hello?"
At those words Axels eyes snapped open, he had not even truly been aware when they had fluttered closed. His eyes searched for a moment before landing on the person standing before him. It took him a moment to place the face, but he quickly pieced together that the boy standing in front of him was the one he had placed judgment on the previous week. The younger one with the facial expressions that confused him greatly.
"Hello to yourself." Axel responded offhandedly, and honestly quite rudely, while he was straightening from the slouched position he had slipped into. He reached around to massage the back of his neck. Where did that crick come from?
"I just wanted to thank you is all." The boy, Roxas his brain once more supplied, said in a tone that was far less friendly then the one that had awoken the Prince. "You can go back to napping, or whatever."
The boy turned to walk away before Axel had even noticed the foul tone he had used to address Roxas. Today was just not going his way at all it seemed.
And then for some unknown reason Axel said something he never thought he would. "Wait. I'm sorry, I was rude." Later Axel would attribute it to having had an off day. It was a mixture of all the things that had led him sitting alone in a field, instead of surrounded by the others that resided in the Castle. In a sense, though he would never admit it out loud, he was lonely. And he had just insulted the only person he had seen for what seemed like hours.
That act however caused the boy to pause in his exit in fact his whole body seemed to go rigid. He turned around slowly and pure blue met bright green. There was a question in his gaze, though Axel could not figure out what it was. What was it that the boy was looking for the answer to? The look disappeared as quickly as it came and the boy looked away from the Prince once more.
"You don't have to say such things to save face you know; I won't tell anyone that the almighty Prince Axel got angry with me. Hell, you probably wouldn't care even if I did say something." The blond said flippantly, more than ready to start his return to the village and his home.
"What do you mean by that? And what is with your tone anyway?" Axel questioned. Was it fair to say that he was intrigued by the boy in front of him? Yes. In fact Axel was slowly growing more and more interested in the enigma in front of him that jumped from one emotion to the next as fast as he could blink.
Roxas was, in a word, refreshing to Axel.
"Oh don't act like you don't know your highness." The boy said not even bothering to look back at the young boy still situated against the wall.
"Obviously I don't if I have to ask you." Axel responded getting worked up at the blonde's lack of reaction. He hadn't even looked at him! When was the last time someone had talked to Axel without looking at him? He couldn't remember.
This time Roxas did look around his gaze as questioning as his words. "You have never heard tales of the 'Bad Boy Prince Axel'?"
Those had not been the words that Axel had expected to spill out of the mouth of the young boy before him. Had he done some slightly outrageous things? Well yes but so, one could argue, has everyone. Especially as they were growing up. How had he managed to be labeled the Bad Boy Prince of all things?
And he made that opinion clear. "Bad Boy Prince? Is that what they call me? Not 'Axel the Dashing' or 'The Prince of Swooning Maidens"? I would even accept the clichéd "Prince Charming"! Who came up with such a thing? And how?" He inquired while cracking a wide smile. It was kind of funny after all. Him. The Bad Boy Prince. It was almost laughable considering some of the other Princes he had come in contact with over the years.
At this Roxas sighed. "I don't know who comes up with these things I just know what I hear."
"And you hear that I am some kind of wild Bad Boy Prince?" Axel asked leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees and raising one of his hands to support his head as he tilted it to the side.
Roxas wasted no time before responding. "Well yes, that is what the rumors about you do suggest. Did you really hide a third of the armories swords in the backs of their wardrobes?"
"Guilty as charged." A look of confusion passed over Axels features. "I do wonder how that one got around though, most knights are far too proud to ever admit to getting pranked in such a manner."
Roxas shrugged. "It was the maids. My brothers friend Kairi works in the castle and all of the ladies were gossiping about it in the town square. Apparently they threw quite the fuss, those knights of yours." And then it seemed as if it suddenly struck Roxas what he had just said. "But you didn't hear that from me, and I never said the name Kairi in relation to those rumors. She has nothing to do with it at all."
"Don't worry about it Blondie. Now why don't you just sit down already and tell me what other stories are running through the streets. I bet you don't even know any of the good ones." The Prince said while smirking.
"I- I couldn't sit down. In fact you should be standing! I shouldn't be looking down at you! It's-it's not right!" Roxas retorted indignantly. The conversation had been going so smoothly recently he had almost forgotten he was talking to royalty! He needed to be more respectful, especially to the man who had helped save his family's business.
"Don't get all caught up in our social standings now Blondie. I want to hear more about myself." The red haired Prince paused for a second before continuing. "Wow that sounds really narcissistic."
"Just a touch." The other boy replied, before slowly, finally, turning all the way around and meeting the other boys' eyes once more. The blonde let out a heavy sigh before cautiously sitting down across from Axel. They were a good two feet apart, but being on the same level height wise made all of the difference in the world it seemed.
"So what else has been said about me?" Axel questioned again after a small silence that for all intents and purposes should have been awkward, but for unfathomable reasons it was not.
"The question is what is it that you haven't done? Did you really call a visiting dignitaries daughter a pig?" Roxas inquired, genuinely interested. He had always wondered how far these tales had been stretched as they passed through the grape vine. Now he had access to first-hand knowledge and he was captivated by the idea of finding out the truth.
"Now that one is a lie." Axel replied a large grin in place. "I told her that her face could make gown men weep in terror. And that her manners left so much to be desired she may as well have been a babe with how uncultured she was."
"You did not!" The younger boy responded shocked. "That is worse than the rumors!"
"She started it. I can't remember what she said exactly, but I remember that is was insulting." Axel said bluntly. "Come on you had to have heard more than that!"
And so the boys continued talking for several hours until the sun was about to set. Their conversation slowly moved away from the crazy rumors about Axel to the actual goings on in the castle. They talked about ridiculous things the Knights had done, and about the hilarious acts people had committed at formal engagements such as balls. Somehow the conversations seemed to stay focused on Axel's life despite the fact that both of them were imputing equal effort into the conversation.
"It's getting dark." Roxas said looking up at the sky to see that the sun had basically disappeared behind the trees to the West. "I need to get home Sora will be preparing dinner."
"He is the brown haired one right?" Axel asked. He was pretty sure that Roxas' other brothers name, the blond one, had to do with the weather. Stormy? Rainy? Cloudy? Something like that.
"Yeah." The other boy responded surprised.
"Surprised, Roxas?" Axel responded making sure to put emphasis on the other boy's name. The blonds eyes locked onto Axels for a moment before he quickly looked away.
"I didn't think you would remember our names." The blond said highly abashed. "I shouldn't have just assumed that because you were a Prince you wouldn't bother to remember who we were."
This brought an unbidden thought to Axels mind. "Wait so you thought that I didn't know your name this entire time?"
"Yes." The boy said looking down at his hands as he admitted it.
"Well, that's fair I guess." Axel replied. "I never did use your name did I?"
"I don't think so." The other answered.
"If it makes you feel any better I can't remember your other brother's name. What was it? Thundery? Stormy? Windy? It was weather related right?" the Prince questioned. Part of him was trying to lighten the mood while the other part of him seriously did not know the oldest siblings name, and it was bothering him to no end now that he had thought of it.
At that Roxas burst out into unrestrained laughter. "It's Cloud!" he said when he could get enough air into his lungs to say the words correctly.
"Cloud?" Axel mumbled, letting the name stir around in his mind. After a few seconds of contemplation he continued. "Why in the world would someone name their child after a cloud?"
"I don't know." Roxas replied as his laughter began to calm, though his grin never left his face. "Sora's name means sky. I guess my parents just had a thing for atmosphere related names."
"But what about you?" Axel wondered. He didn't even notice he had voiced his opinion out loud until Roxas answered him.
"Well Sora is my older twin, just by a couple of minutes though. It's kind of funny because my parents thought there was going to be one new baby not two. Imagine their surprise when I was born as well. So I think they just switched around the letters of his name and added an x. I never asked them about how I got my name though so I don't know for sure, that is just what I believe." Roxas' voice began to grow softer the more he spoke and his eyes became more glassy with each word.
Not knowing if the boy was going to cry or just blank out completely Axel tried to bring the conversation back to a happier topic.
"But you still have their store right? I mean you wouldn't be here if I got taken away. So they are always with you, even still right?" Axel said fumbling over the words as he hurriedly tried to explain his thought process to the young boy sitting in front of him. The last thing that he wanted was for the waterworks to start, he was no good with tears.
At this Roxas' eyes snapped back into focused and stared directly into Axels. He did not look away from those green eyes as he spoke. "Yes and I have you to thank for that, in fact thanking you is why I came over to talk to you in the first place. Obviously the thank you did not goes as planned, but I really am grateful for the help you gave me and my family. Because of you that conman was found out and me and my brothers can still run our parents shop."
At this Axel stepped in. "You know it was an obvious decision." At that the blue eyes across from him widened in what Axel assumed was shock. "You wouldn't have waited all day in order to tell such a lie in front of the King and Queen of your Kingdom. Therefore you deserved help, just as any citizen does."
Roxas took a moment to answer but when he did his voice was strong. "None the less thank you." Looking at the sky once more he let out a sigh before standing up. "I really do have to leave now though, or Sora and Cloud will get nervous that I'm not home before dark."
"Are the streets that dangerous?" Axel asked as he stood as well. As far as he was concerned the towns' guards were completely up to par and there should be little to no crime in the town nearest to the castle.
"No, my brothers just have the habit of worrying over me, though they have no reason to." The boy replied. Turning away from the Prince he threw his parting words over his shoulder. "It was nice to talk to you Prince Axel, perhaps one day we can talk again?"
"You bet it Blondie!" The Prince called after the retreating boy. Brushing off his pants Axel turned back towards the Castle already knowing that he would have to change before dinner that night. His thoughts however lingered on the intriguing boy he had just spent the afternoon with.
The book he brought with him lay forgotten on the grass.
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From that day on the boys had the habit of running into each other. That is to say that Axel found out that Roxas enjoyed coming to the field when his brother took over the shop for him in the afternoons. Armed with this knowledge Axel tried to worm his way out of the castle and to the field as often as he could, which was about every other day when he played his cards right.
Roxas was just as surprised as the other boy how easy it was to become friends with one another. They discovered they had a lot of things in common, like their love for Sea Salt Ice Cream, their enjoyment of camping, and they both had an inherent gift in Magic. Although magic was not widely practiced there were those that were able to utilize the art, the two aforementioned boys being those with magical power.
As such they spent many afternoons just playing around with their gifts. As Axel could afford a private tutor in the subject he was much more advanced than Roxas, who had been mainly self-taught, but the young boy was more than willing to learn from the Prince. The blond was a fast learner, nearly a prodigy, and by the time fall rolled around was almost at proficient at his gift as Axel.
As Roxas' skill increased they began to simply play with their gifts, playing catch with a ball of light or racing to see who could make a flower grow quicker. For both boys they were days filled with peace and fun.
But then the weather began to get colder and it was harder and harder for Axel to make excuses to go out into the cold, despite being able to warm himself by creating fire to keep him warm. Eventually as winter fully set in the boys came to the sad agreement that it would be better if they stopped meeting so much, restraining their meetings to once a week.
When the two were able to meet it was much different than when they had been meeting before, it seemed like they spent all of their time catching up on what the other person had done for the last week. Their meetings also grew shorter as it became hard to stay out too long in the cold, despite the boy's handheld fires. Neither of the two were happy about the arrangement, missing the others company dearly during the week in-between these moments they managed to snatch in the snow.
And it was on one of these meeting that Prince Axel started to notice something. No one else he knew smiled as bright as Roxas. Or had eyes quite as blue. Or could make Axel laugh so hard. No one else tried to understand him like Roxas. No one else could make his heart hammer in his chest like Roxas. No one else but Roxas…
And that was it, everything came back to Roxas. Without even noticing it the boy had begun to fill the Princes every waking thought, until the days that they did not meet were like torture. And Prince Axel lived for the blonde's smile, and laugh, and the way his eyes shone when he got excited.
Prince Axel, against all odds, was falling in love with Roxas.
But he dared not tell him. And that day he once more watched Roxas turn his back on him to walk home, the words hanging heavy in Axels chest.
Annnnd that is the end of the first chapter! Tell me what you think of it in a review! I honestly want to know what you guys think of it.