AUTHOR'S NOTE: An old Christmas gift for a friend. Each chapter focuses on a different pairing.

PAIRING: AkuRoku

IN THE NEXT LIFE

The setting sun was warm on the boy's face as he sat atop the clock tower's edge, knees pulled in close to his chest. Carefully he lifted his gaze to the world, as hues of orange and red were reflected in his eyes. While he watched the sunset as it streaked the sky in warmth, a feeling of emptiness began to set in. As much as he wanted to believe, he knew none of it was real. He was on the brink of existence fading into sleep, which meant, so was everything else.

"Finally woken up, have you?"

Roxas jumped at the sound, quickly turning toward the source. "Axel...," he said as the sight of his red-haired friend fully realized in his mind.

Axel looked out toward the horizon. "No, maybe you're falling asleep." His gaze dropped. "Soon we won't even be able to have these conversations with just our consciousnesses."

Roxas turned back to the setting sun. "I—I'm going back... back to my original form, aren't I."

"I've thought something for a long time," Axel said as he sat down beside Roxas on the tower edge. "Naminé said it, too." He turned and looked over at Roxas. "Roxas... you have a heart don't you? No, Naminé and me, too... do we really not have hearts?"

"That's... I don't know that either."

"I guess you wouldn't..."

"But, I've started thinking, maybe the heart's not something you can see or feel," Roxas went on, "And if so... no, I'll leave it there."

"Hm? What, right at the most important part?"

Roxas smiled. "Sora will find the answer. Because he's me."

"Yeah, you're right," he replied. Axel pulled out two Sea-Salt Ice Creams and handed one to Roxas.

"Oh," the boy exclaimed as he took it from Axel. The two smiled lightly at each other before biting into their ice creams, gazes returning to the setting sun.

"This takes me back. You got it memorized? The day we first met, when you got a new name. We watched the sunset from here, like this."

"Yeah," Roxas answered, "this is the town I was born in. Everyone... Hayner, Pence, Olette... I wonder how they're doing."

"You should go see them again. To find your answer, you know."

"Mm," Roxas murmured. "So, I have to go soon... Sora is waiting."

"Yeah... you're right." Axel turned away from Roxas. "Damn, this ice-cream's really salty," he lied, as he fought back the feeling that was forming deep within his chest—the feeling of farewells, of experiences unspent, of lives unlived. It was all too much, seeing his best friend once more, knowing all the while, it wouldn't last.

Nothing ever lasted.

"Once I leave, we're going to fall asleep," Roxas said quietly, his ice-cream hanging loose in his hands.

"I know," Axel replied, rubbing his eyes with his hand before turning back to Roxas with an uneasy smile. "And then this will be over."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...," Axel began only to stop himself. A sigh escaped him, while he scratched the back of his neck. "You know... There's nothing beyond this."

Roxas faced Axel, his expression serious. "There's always something, Axel."

"If you say so."

"Sora will figure it out, I know he will. Sleep doesn't have to be the end."

"What else could there be?"

"The next life," Roxas replied.

An elated sigh left his lips as a smile appeared on Axel's face. "The next life, eh? What makes you think there's a place for me there?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance."

Axel considered this. "What if we don't remember this life?"

"I could never forget you, Axel."

A short laugh broke into the air. "You know, there was a time where I thought that if I was a part of everyone's memories, I'd live on forever. I tried to make friends with everyone I met, just so that I'd have that." Axel looked up toward the sky. "In the end, it doesn't really matter does it? All those people, who only have fleeting memories of me... how could I live on in such meaningless places?" He gestured to the clock tower, the sun, the town. "None of this is real. This is a place we built together, Roxas. This is a place made by our memories." Axel glanced down at the ice-cream that was melting in his hands. "This is where I belong. This is where I can live forever."

"This is where we'll sleep," Roxas added. "While we wait for the next life."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Axel replied. "A new beginning..."

"I need to go, though," Roxas began, "I can't fall asleep just yet... Sora's still waiting for me."

"Right..."

A light began to envelop Roxas and Axel. Roxas looked over at Axel, smiling. "See you later, Axel," he said, reassuringly, as the light over took him.

Axel gave off a weak smile as the light began to take him, too.

"See ya, partner," Axel replied solemnly, as a single tear fell from his face—

and splashed against the tower edge.