Passion ~After the Battle~
A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic by ChronicLegCramp-Since'99
Pairings: AkuRoku, Zemyx and AkuSai/Lesa
*Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to SquareEnix and Disney, respectively*
Chapter I
Roxas was gazing up at the clear blue sky, finding familiar shapes in the clouds that drifted slowly past his vision. His head rested back on his arms, fingers absently clutching at blades of grass.
"Hey, Roxas," came the murmur of his friends voice, breaking into his thoughts. Roxas allowed his eyes to fall shut, a light smile playing around his lips. He merely hummed in response to his friend. There was a pause and then a low sigh.
"It sure is a beautiful day…" Roxas frowned as he detected a strange undercurrent in his friends, naturally laid-back tones.
"Sure is, Ax-"
"I'm leaving." Roxas almost bolted upright. Instead his eyes flashed open, eyebrows pulling together hastily.
"What do you mean?" He asked, cautiously. Even he could hear the tightness in his voice.
"We were gonna move on sometime, you know," Another sigh. "Just didn't think it'd be this soon…"
"Axel," Roxas said, finally sitting up to face his friend. Axel lay on his front, his head propped up on one hand while the other one tore at the grass in front of him. His natural wildly spiked, pillar-box red hair had been uncharacteristically straightened that morning and was tucked neatly behind his ears. In this style, Roxas could see that Axels hair fell easily almost half way down his back. Roxas met Axels emerald green eyes- set off even more so by the two unique dark upside down teardrop tattoos below either eye- with his own ocean blue ones.
"But you know, I was thinking we should go to Zexs before I go, so I can get that piercing I've been wanting," Axel said, finishing as he looked back down at the grass he'd been picking at.
"Axel." Roxas repeated, staring at his friend with a frown permanently etched on his face now.
"And weren't you thinking of dyeing your hair- what was it, black? We could do it together…" Axel trailed off as he finally caught Roxas' expression. "Aw, come on, Roxas…don't look at me like that…" Roxas huffed slightly and lay back down, now scowling at the sky. Axel sighed again, staring across at the spiky golden blond boys stormy expression.
"I have until the end of summer," Axel eventually admitted. Roxas closed his eyes, letting the information sink in, with a pang to his chest.
"But there's only two weeks left," he replied angrily, and then more quietly, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it would've ruined our whole summer break," Axel answered, placating. "Sure we woulda still had fun and all but it would've been niggling away at the back of your mind, and you know how you are…" Roxas was sure he was pouting but he didn't care. In one swift move he was on his feet, storming off in the direction of the parks exit. Axels towering presence was beside him in an instant, falling into step.
"Where we headed? Zexs?" Axel asked, unnaturally upbeat.
"Do what you want, I'm going home." Roxas shot back, hotly.
"Wha…? Don't be like that- Roxas!" Axel called, helplessly watching Roxas' retreating back.
"Heya, Axel! What's…up…You okay?" Demyx was spinning contentedly on a stall, before coming to an abrupt stop as he took in Axels miserable face. "I'd ask where Roxas is but you look like you might hit me…" Axel rolled his eyes, smiling briefly at Zexion as he came through from the back room.
"Are you alright, Axel?" Zexion asked, carefully.
"Yeah, Axel, what's happened?" chimed in Demyx, rewarding himself with a casual hit up the side of his head from Zexion. Axel chuckled momentarily, shaking his head.
"So I told Roxas I'm leaving, but now he's gone off in a sulk," Axel slumped against the counter with a slight grimace as he remembered Roxas' parting glare.
"Well, you did wait until only two weeks away-" Zexion began.
"And you are his best friend, man. His only friend really…" Demyx cut in, wincing when Axel split a look between the two of them, exuding silent fury.
"Gee, thanks for reminding me, you guys," Axel retorted, folding his arms tightly over his skinny frame. "I know I can always count on you both to make me feel better."
"Except, until you leave- in two weeks," Demyx pointed out almost before Axel had finished speaking. Axel eyes him like he was contemplating ripping out all of the honey-coloured, mullet styled hair of his. Demyxs blue eyes widened as he shrank back. Zexions deep blue eye that wasn't hidden behind locks of his sharp silvery-blue hair, rolled to the heavens once in a perfect arc.
"Just give him space, Axel. To get used to the idea-" Zexion suggested before Demyx cut him off again.
"It's not like he's gonna avoid you for the rest of summer break, I mean, soon you'll be gone forever, man," Axel nodded reluctantly, gradually giving in to his friends reassurances.
"Yeah, you're right. He cant stay mad at me forever…"
Roxas was fuming. But although he wouldn't like to admit it, he was hurt more than anything. Axel had pretended for a whole month that everything was normal, the same as always, when all along he'd been hiding this. Roxas threw down the biro he'd been- not- doing his homework with, onto his desk, viciously. "Some friend," he grumbled; his stomach had been clenched uncomfortably since the park. He let out an uneven breath. Roxas kept picturing his going back to school in the fall but with Axel no longer by his side. More than anything, he frowned at how wrong that image looked, rather than the quickly impending loneliness, returning. Suddenly his chain of thoughts was disturbed by two short fisted pounds to his bedroom door.
"Hey, Chicken-wuss! Your boyfriends here to see you!" Seifers arrogant tones projected through the door, sarcasm fully intact. Apart from the fact that they both had blond hair and blue eyes, Roxas shared no other similarities or interests with his older brother, Seifer. Sometimes Roxas suspected that he had in fact been adopted but that his 'parents' had decided to pretend otherwise. Other times he thought that maybe he had simply just come into being and his supposed 'family' were strangers, secretly waiting and wondering when it was that Roxas was going to go home- to wherever that was. Though he only had this thought on occasion, like when sitting on the Clock Tower with Axel, eating sea-salt ice-cream, or whenever he was looking at and/or thinking about keys. Back in the present, Roxas had suddenly become aware of his door being opened and the all too familiar anorexic frame of Axel entering, almost casually.
"Heya, Roxas," his greeting smile was decidedly somewhat cautious but he shut the door behind him as he slouched over towards the bed, the only other seat available. "Remind me to punch your brother the next time I see him." He continued, trying to break the tension. Roxas couldn't help but notice Axels newly pierced eyebrow, the shiny black metal bar running through it at a slant. He turned away, shooting daggers out the window in front of him. He could feel Axels eyes boring into the side of his face.
"I take it you're still mad then," Axel spoke after what felt like hours of suffocating silence.
"What do you think? " Roxas shot back, still not looking at him; he crossed his arms almost as an afterthought. Axel groaned and lay face down on the bed. Immediately he was met by the off mix of soap and something not too far off vanilla, which was Roxas' natural smell. He took a couple more breaths in through his nose, his best friends scent strangely relaxing and then he lifted his face from the sheets. When Axel hadn't responded, Roxas had automatically begun to itch, trying desperately hard not to turn his full attention to the- now dubbed, untrustworthy- redhead. When he thought he couldn't take it anymore, his friend finally replied.
"I'm sorry, okay?" Axels voice was quiet but genuine and Roxas' frown softened ever so slightly. "I guess I was just trying to keep the illusion up for myself, not just for you…" Roxas sighed, he was still annoyed- it took him a while to let things go- but he glanced over at the older boy. Axel was now lying on his back, his arms behind his head, one leg bent and his green eyes, that usually seemed to forever hold fiery amusement were subdued. Roxas felt another hard pang to his chest as he stared at his friend.
"You're a moron," Roxas said, shaking his head. Axels eyes snapped to meet blue, the fire in them on the brink of return. He laughed, relief slowly spreading through him.
"But you know you love me," Axel replied with a shrug, smiling widely. Roxas rolled his eyes but looked away, anticipating the pink blush that rose to his cheeks.
"I'm still pissed off though," Roxas warned, irritably.
"Hey, Rox, you got any food? I'm starvin'," the red head sat up and stretched lazily, his fitted dark green, sleeveless shirt riding up slightly to expose a strip of smooth creamy white skin. The blond pulled his eyes away, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"I think my mums ordering Chinese," he answered nonchalantly, standing up and switching the TV on for something to do.
"Hell yeah," Axel exclaimed, returning his arms to his sides and rubbing his hands together. The blond kicked his converses off, joining Axel on the bed and instantly taking up channel surfing. Axel pulled his boots off before drawing his legs up to sit cross legged.
"Your piercings cool," Roxas commented grudgingly after a moment.
"You mean frickin' sexy!" the red head said excitedly, striking a pose. "Oh and guess what! Not five minutes after getting it done, I got a date!" Roxas couldn't explain why but at the word date he felt like someone had forced him to drink liquid acid, which proceeded to corrode away at his throat and stomach. He snapped back into reality when he realised that Axel was still talking.
"…It wasn't love at first sight, of course, but I have to admit he sure is attractive- he's got these intelligent aquamarine eyes and this longish flow of weird silver hair…" Axel stared off, dreamily. "But you know, it was really his bad boy aura that made me say yes. That and his physique…but everything about him just screams 'dangerous' and I couldn't resist that…" At some point Roxas had felt like he was having a panic attack and lay down, closing his eyes and trying very hard not to strangle his friend, to get him to stop talking. He covered his face with a hand, attempting to zone out the red head when he realised all was silent around them. He opened one eye to catch Axels curious gaze.
"Well? What do ya think?" he asked eagerly. Roxas contemplated pretending to be dead so that he wouldn't have to answer that question but thankfully, Seifer interrupted by slamming into the room and dumping a steaming hot bag on the floor.
"You kids be good and share now," he sniggered before exiting the way he came, slamming the door shut again. In a second Axel had pounced on the food to Roxas' relief, even if the distraction was momentary. Roxas ate silently, letting the redhead prattle on about the TV show Roxas wasn't paying attention to. Instead he was wondering why he was…affected so much by the news of Axels date. It wasn't anything new, guys- and girls- were always asking Axel out, although he'd never seemed too interested in anyone till now. He'd been out with a couple of guys on one of two dates but would only deem them 'just a bit of fun'. But this new guy- Riku- Axel had actually spent time talking about, going into detail whether Roxas wanted to know or not. This 'Riku' had apparently been the one to finally catch the redheads attention. No, Roxas knew what was wrong- he just wanted Axel to himself for the next two weeks. That was it. Wasn't it? But wait, why was Axel leading on this Riku guy when he was going to be leaving soon? Roxas was starting to annoy himself, so he stared moodily at the TV trying to catch up with the story. Not long after, Axel turned the TV off and stood in front of his friend, hands on hips.
"I thought we were okay now, what's up?" he demanded, eyes scrutinising Roxas' face. Roxas flushed, glaring at his feet. At the corner of his vision he could see Axels foot start impatiently, tapping the floor. In an instant the redhead had forced the blonds chin up with the crook of his index finger, to meet his gaze. Roxas tried to move his head away but Axel wouldn't let him.
"Tell me," was all he said, green staring into blue, firmly. Roxas could barely breathe but he stared right back, allowing anger to become his primary emotion over the other feeling that he possibly name. "Tell. Me."
"No." the blond shot back, his stare merging into a scowl. Axels mouth involuntarily stretched into a smirk as he felt laughter bubbling up inside of him. Unfortunately, this made the hot-headed blond angrier and he gave the redhead a violent shove. Having managed to get free he stormed out of the bedroom without another word. Axel was doubled over both from the shove and the fact that he was laughing his head off at the younger boy. Once he'd calmed down he stretched out on his front on Roxas' bed and promptly fell asleep.
Axel sat up ramrod straight out of the dream, flustered and was startled even further by coming face to face with Roxas. The room was dark apart from the bedside lamp; the bed sheets twisted randomly around his legs were the only sign of his having rolled over in his sleep. He looked back up at the blond who was giving him a peculiar look.
"What?" the redhead said, raising an eyebrow. The blonds face immediately returned to its glare, all pouty lips and huge blue eyes that sparked electricity- the dangerous kind.
"You're in my bed," Roxas grated out, automatically turning red. Axel glanced at the boy, taking in the pyjamas and then at the clock. 21:03. Axel folded his arms.
"And you're not gonna offer your guest the bed?"
"Who says you're staying?" Roxas challenged, quickly. Axel rolled his eyes at that, making the blond cross his own arms.
"Its nine, for crying out loud," Axel reasoned before grinning at the blond. "I'm not moving." Roxas seemed to turn even redder, quietly seething.
"I'm not sleeping on the floor in my own bedroom!" Roxas replied stubbornly, sounding as if he was being strangled.
"Then don't," Axel shrugged, before shifting over to the right, patting the newly found space with a suspicious glint in his eyes. Roxas stared at the redhead incredulously, mouth hanging open slightly. The redhead simply laughed once and then got comfortable, closing his eyes again. Roxas just sat there debating what to do. A couple minutes later he sighed, shaking his head.
"Don't you want to borrow some pjs or something?" Axel didn't open his eyes.
"I doubt anything you own will fit me, Rox," the redhead chuckled lightly. Roxas scowled but went in search for some of his baggier stuff. Padding back over to the bed he threw a baggy white tank top and a pair of grey track bottoms that were too big for him at Axels face, concealing a smirk at the other boys reaction.
"You're abusive, you know. First you shove me, and then you throw clothes at me when I'm trying to sleep," Axel sniffed melodramatically. 'Serves him right' Roxas thought to himself as he settled in on his back, an arm propped behind his head. His smile vanished however as he caught the redhead finish undoing the buttons on his shirt and let it slide off his shoulders onto the floor. Axel didn't notice the blond boy gaping at his slightly toned abs and the smooth flesh that covered his skinny but firm frame. Roxas' wide blue eyes slid over his friends torso almost lazily until they came to an abrupt stop at the waistband of Axels jeans. His long artistic fingers forced the zip down as Roxas watched as if it was in slow motion, desperately trying to clear the sharp obstacle in his throat, while at the same time trying to pry his eyes away from the redhead. Roxas couldn't help but notice how the hem of Axels boxers nudged down slightly as the older boy shimmied out of his jeans. Once the redhead had pulled on the tank top that fit so tight that it rode up, Roxas finally managed to tear his gaze away, rolling onto his side with his back to his friend. The blush on his cheeks burned stronger when he realised he was turned on; squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out the images now imprinted on the backs of his eyelids. His breath caught when he felt the bed shift under Axels weight, gently. Slowly he let out the breath he'd been holding and started biting his lip. After a couple of minutes of silence, he freed his bottom lip from his teeth, having tasted blood and tried to snuggle deeper into his pillow. And away from Axel.
"Hey, Roxas," came the regrettably cheery tones of the redhead. "You never told me what you think of Riku," Roxas' heart nearly stopped, his finally natural toned skin, staining red again.
"I haven't even met him," the blond managed to reply, weakly. He'd almost forgotten completely about Riku when he'd returned to his room earlier to find Axel sleeping soundly, caught in a dream. Roxas had just sat on the bed watching him sleep for an hour without knowing why, before going to get changed for bed in the bathroom. He remembered the redhead breathe Roxas' name once in his sleep and felt his heart accelerate, uncomfortably.
"Roxas?" the redheads voice was a murmur now, significantly closer to the blond than before. "What's wrong? You're not asleep are you…?" Axel reached out to give the boy a light shake when he was startled by Roxas' sudden reply.
"What is it, Axel?" Roxas' tone was tinged with aggression which he was grateful for because it meant his voice hadn't cracked or wobbled.
"Do you think I should go out with him? With Riku?" Axel demanded impatiently, talking to the back of the boys head. He wished the boy would turn so that he could see his expression.
"Didn't you already say yes?" Roxas retorted, still stalling. Axel sighed, crossing his arms. He took in a long breath, trying to calm his patience, momentarily distracted by the combination of soap and vanilla and cream- not that cream necessarily had a particular smell, but if it did…
"What were you dreaming about earlier?" Roxas asked randomly, instead of answering the question. Rather miraculously, the redhead blushed. Although it was very fair and subtle, Axel was glad Roxas couldn't see it. He turned his head to stare at the ceiling, a sheepish smile- more like grimace- on his face.
"I can't really remember…why?" Axel lied, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck.
"You were talking in your sleep." The blond murmured, vaguely. The redheads eyes flew wide, he stared at the back of the blonds head in surprise. And fear.
"What'd I say?" the uneasiness in his voice wasn't especially subtle and he mentally kicked himself.
"Just the one thing really, sure you don't remember what you were dreaming about?" Roxas' tone was almost smug, the redhead noted, 'I couldn't have said too much then…'
"I was in the park, lying down in the grass, on a particularly hot day," he told the blond truthfully, of course he'd left out what he'd been doing laying in the grass in the middle of the park. Or with who. Axel suppressed a squirm as he recalled the dream, shifting further away from Roxas so that his left arm was just about hanging off the edge.
"Should you really start dating this guy, when you'll be leaving soon?" Roxas asked eventually, rather timidly. The redhead sighed and rolled onto his side, watching the rise and fall of his best friends breathing. It seemed erratic.
"I'm gonna tell him at the beginning of our date," he said slowly. "Make it clear that we'd just be a two-week fling, you know," Axel continued to watch as the blond appeared to stop breathing all together, only to start up again faster than before. He quirked an eyebrow as Roxas spoke again.
"It kinda seemed like you were more interested in this one," he was speaking quietly but whether it was from exhaustion or something completely different, Axel couldn't tell. His breathing had evened out once again though.
"Nope, need something t distract me though, right?" Roxas seemed to exhale slowly and then stop again. "Besides, I only want what I can't have," he added as an afterthought, watching the younger boys breathing speed up. The redhead didn't know what to make of his friends unique breathing habits but he wasn't really paying attention anymore. He let his heavy lids close then, drawing him into the deepest depths of sleep. He hoped he didn't dream again that night, and if he did, he hoped he didn't say anything.
When Axel had left them that evening, Zexion and Demyx had gone upstairs to the formers flat above the shop, as they did most days. Demyx had been talking none stop for a good ten minutes when the quieter one of the two got up and walked over to the fridge. Taking out left over spaghetti napolitana from the night before, the silvery blue haired boy began dishing it out onto two plates. The honey blond bounced out of his seat and flew across the room the moment his eyes met with the food. Zexion silently placed the first plate of food into the microwave, pulling out a book from seemingly nowhere and proceeded to read it, leaning back against the counter while the food heated up. Demyxs eyes were trained on the slowly revolving plate, impatiently. The shorter boy sighed but was glad he'd found a way to shut the other one up.
"Ready!" the honey blond exclaimed as the microwave dinged three times. Zexion nodded once, not taking his eyes away from the book and Demyx almost broke the microwave in his haste to get to the piping hot spaghetti. The quiet boy continued reading as he placed the second dish in the machine and turned it on. Demyx instantly started wolfing down the food, pausing to whimper about a burnt tongue.
"Wait a sec…where's the meat?" the honey blond demanded after a moment. Zexion rolled his eye, the book he'd been holding seeming to have disappeared as he retrieved his food and sat down at the table, opposite the other boy.
"Its spaghetti napolitana." Zexion said in a toneless voice, feeling a small smile grace his mouth at Demyxs forlorn expression.
"Don't you have any proper food?" he whined half-heartedly, already knowing the answer.
"If you don't want it, I'll eat it," Zexion replied, watching his friend quickly shovel the rest of the pasta into his mouth. The silvery blue haired boy stifled a giggle behind his napkin as his honey blond friend tried to swallow down the contents stuffed in his mouth. When he was done, he chugged down his coke before letting out a long sigh of relief. Propping a hand under his chin, Demyx watched the other boy as he finished off his own plate. They sat in companionable silence, Zexion eventually pulling his book out again, while the honey blond gazed at him over the table. After a couple minutes deep blue eyes came up to meet soft aqua. Demyxs smile widened and he made a small noise of content, caught in the moment. The other boy blinked, blushed and raised his eyebrows, not necessarily in that order. What he didn't do however, was look away, to the surprise of both himself and his somewhat dreamy eyed best friend.
"Demyx?" Zexion murmured, more to himself than the other boy. Demyx was still staring dopily down into the blue haired boys soul, to the latters chagrin but also a new found other emotion that he couldn't quite put his finger on. But it was there, deep, deep down curled up inside of him. Zexion folded his hands together on the table in front of him and continued to return the honey blonds gaze.
