A/N: Happy Demyx/Axel day! (I'd usually say it's AkuDemy day, but, as a friend pointed out to me today, the ordering is wrong... so.) This is something I'm planning on finishing, but in honor of it's two main characters, I figured I'd start it up today. Though I'm usually not into songs like "Don't Stop Believing", it was stuck in my head all day, and Demyx somehow ended up listening to it... and the story went from there.

Anyways. Mostly AkuDemy, with some side-mentions of Zemyx and a little bit of onesided AkuRoku.

Disclaimer: Axel, Demyx, Zexion, and any other characters belong to Square Enix. The lyrics to "Don't Stop Believing" are by Journey.

Just a city boy… born and raised in south Detroit… he took the midnight train, going anywhere…

He leaned his head against the window, trying to let himself be lulled by the somewhat jerky motion of the train. The music blasting in his ears was successful at drowning out the rest of the people around him, but didn't even begin to silence the thoughts scurrying around in his head.

A singer in a smoky room… the smell of wine and cheap perfume…

Sure, life had seemed like crap when he got on this train. And sure, it still was crap. One failed band after the other, getting fired from his job because his ex had too much influence and a grudge… life from where he came from wasn't too great. Life where he was going… he had no guarantees on that, either.

He reached for his iPod, meaning to turn up the volume, and caught sight of someone standing next to him, a man with spiky red hair. When the stranger realized that he was being watched, he grinned, the smile changing his features from something that closed off the world to something that welcomed it in.

For a smile they can share the night…

Pausing his iPod, Demyx pulled out his earphones. Noticing the motion, the stranger asked, "Can I sit here?"

He felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the man's voice, and squelched the emotion. Remember Zexion? "Sure."

The stranger's smile didn't fade for an instant as he dropped himself into the chair opposite him, throwing his bag next to Demyx. "Thanks. I'm Axel."

"Demyx," he replied, and felt a smile rise to his own face. It was an odd feeling. "You headed to the city?"

"More like wherever." Axel shook his head. "Had to get away from stuff, you know? Might go back, but sometimes you've just- got to see what life's like somewhere else."

Demyx nodded, sympathetic. "Know that feeling. I'm just trying to get away from a lot of failures and a crazy ex."

"Looks like we've got a bit in common." Axel laughed, a low sound. "Not an ex for me, but someone who used to be a friend and got a bit… obsessed."

They kept talking like that, for hours as the train bulleted into the night, a pair of strangers. And when they got off, they got off together, picking a place purely by the sound of its name, laughing at themselves, a pair of vagrants running away from things instead of trying to pick up the pieces. They said good-bye under the flickering streetlights, thinking that would be the last time they ever saw each other.

But as Demyx walked away, he felt a little bit more optimistic. Less like Zexion could fuck up this life as royally as he had the last one.

And that was supposed to be the end of it.

But things never just end because they're supposed to.