Just the prologue. I was listening to Little Wonders last night at 2 am and this struck me.

Disclaimer: I think you get the point.

Enjoy!


He was holding the tiny, sleeping infant in his arms, cradling the soft bundle against his chest, marveling at how his small hands were clutching so tightly to his shirt, as if he already depended on him. The overwhelming urge to protect this little person washing over him in waves of powerful conviction which only grew stronger as he was watching the chubby, innocent face squint in his dreams. It was so surreal, holding this complete blank slate in his arms, it truly was a miracle.

"He's your responsibility now, Axel," DiZ's low, commanding voice informs him.

"Wait, you're not giving me a baby, are you," he asks, emerald eyes suddenly wide with shock and fear, he doesn't know the first thing about how to actually care for one of these things much less how he would raise it.

Aerith laughs lightly, a light shinning in her green eyes, "Of course not, Axel. Cloud and I will be his legal guardians, but you have a much more important roll."

"This is the key," DiZ says, walking forward and pushing a strand of blonde hair out of the baby's face, "he is what our entire cause is resting on. It's all up to him, but only once he becomes of age. I am fairly certain that Xemnas will somehow get his hands on this bit of information and do everything in his power to either persuade him to join their cause...or kill him."

A rush of adrenaline flows through Axel at these words and he reflexively clutches the child tighter. "Kill...?"

"Well, of course they would much prefer him alive," Aerith states offhandedly, "but if worst comes to worst, they'll see no need in keeping him around. However, we would love to have him alive as well, so it would be beneficial if you could prevent any accidents that may happen."

"So...basically the kid has a bounty on his head already and I have to keep him alive," Axel restates, staring past DiZ and Aerith, who were both dimly illuminated by the street lamp, the darkness of early morning seeping through the scenery behind them.

"That's basically it," DiZ says, "he is the key to our survival, so make sure he survives."

"So I'll be fighting pretty much everyone working for Xemnas for the next 17 years?" Axel asks, still not focusing on anything in particular, feeling the baby's chest rise and fall with his small breaths.

"And protecting him from himself," Aerith adds, the look of a worried mother on her face, "I can tell he's going to be an accident waiting to happen. Not even a week old and look how much trouble he's wriggled himself in to already."

"It's not his fault," Axel states grimly, finally focusing on her amused face, completely killing any joking mood she had tried to establish. His emerald gaze slowly lowers to the infant in his arms, "Poor kid. Already got people out to kill you."

"So every mission you will receive from this moment on comes second to his safety," DiZ informs the pyro, "eating comes second. Breathing comes second. Thinking comes second."

"So I have to give up any free time to this little thing," Axel complains, suddenly realizing the weight of his assignment and not liking how much work this sounded like. Sure, cute kid, but damn was this going to be a pain in the ass!

"He is your first priority, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

The child in his arms wiggles around a little bit before opening his sleepy eyes to stare up at Axel. The red head finds himself staring in to big, shockingly bright blue eyes. He could see their intelligence, their kindness, everything this little baby was going to grow up to be, he could see it all within those crystal blue eyes. They blink at him several times before he reaches up a pudgy hand towards Axel's face.

The pyro bends his head down lower to the infant until his little fingers finally found purchase on his cheek, running down to his jaw, the baby's mouth open in a little o shape, his eyes wide with discovery. He trails his fingers up until they reached Axel's lips, sticking one of them in his mouth. Shocked, the red head gently pulls the infant's hand away from his face. With both hands, the blonde baby reaches up and grabs one of his fingers and held on securely. Curious, Axel let the baby have his hand for now. He brings Axel's finger to his lips, almost like he was placing a tender kiss on it, before sticking it in his mouth and sucking on it like a pacifier.

Wide blue eyes were staring into bright green ones.

The baby pulls the red head's finger out of his mouth and yawns as wide as his little mouth would allow before snuggling back in to his blankets and falling fast asleep.

Axel felt like his world had changed.

"From now on," DiZ states, watching the pyro's focused gaze on the infant, "Roxas is your responsibility."

"Roxas."