Okay, first off. I don't own Kingdom Hearts 2, any rights to the characters, or the Kingdom Hearts manga...yet wink wink. I also have no affiliation with Squaresoft or Beuna Vista games.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?"

"I wanted to see Roxas.."


"Help!" cried a blond spiky-haired boy as he was surrounded by black beings with glowing yellow eyes, "Help! Anybody!"

Tall buildings and neon lights surrounded him. There could have been people in those buildings, should have been people in those buildings, but no one came out of those buildings. The beings closed in on the boy, the blood drained from his face and his fear was blatantly apparent. Paling, he shut his eyes and hoped for a quick end.

A ring of flames hurdled towards the boy and the beings dissipated into the cold air. An equally spiky red-haired man, wearing a long black coat, stepped towards the boy, the ring flying into his hands as the flames dispersed.

"Seems like you're new here," the red-haired man laughed, smiling at the boy.

Hesitantly, the blond boy took his hand and was pulled up.

"What were those things?" the boy gasped.

"How rude! The first thing you say to a person is a question? Not even a 'What's your name?' I swear where did you learn your manners?" he laughed with an expression of mock pain and hurt, "Those were heartless, beings made from the darkness in a person's heart, but we can get more into that once we get to the others.

"The others?" the blond boy looked more confused than ever.

"The Organization. Don't worry, you'll meet them soon," he smiled, "Oh and my name is Axel, thank you very very much for asking. Got it memorized?"

"I'm.." confusion filled the blond boy's expression, "I..I don't know what my name is.."

Axel laughed heartily, "Thats alright, the others and I will name you, but since I found you first, how does 'Roxas' sound to you?"

"Roxas..." the blond boy repeated to himself.

"Well, better get going before more heartless show up," Axel said as he began walking away, his hands behind his head and his elbows stretching to his sides.

"Wait for me!" the blond boy called after him. Suddenly, what seemed like a pool of pure darkness appeared in front of him. Fear filled him again as the darkness became a tangible being, a 'heartless', was that what Axel called them?

The heartless tensed and charged the blond boy.

"Axel!" he called out as he held his arms in front of himself in an attempt to lessen the pain when it struck.

Axel turned quickly, his eyes wide and filled with shock and fear. However, the heartless bounced away from the blond boy, and the boy held in his hands two blades, one silver and adorned with a rainbow symbol at the end and the other black as the darkness the heartless came from itself. Both blades looked strikingly similar to a..

"Keyblades," Axel smirked as he tossed his large ring towards the heartless, destroying it, and walked over to the boy, "You really are his nobody.."

"Nobody?" the boy asked as he examined the two blades in his hands.

"I'll tell you later. Let's get going," he waved him over as he began walking away. The boy quickly followed him, staying as close as he possibly could. He felt safe when he was close to this person named Axel.

"Roxas!" Axel exclaimed as the blond boy, now wearing his own black coat, walked away from him, with his back facing him, "You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"

Roxas stood still to listen to what he had to say. For a brief moment, his expression softened, a frown twisting his lips. His eyes narrowing, his expression became one of apathy and annoyance.

"No one would miss me," he said as he tilted his head slightly towards Axel.

"That's not true ... I would," Axel retorted weakly, but it was too late, Roxas had already left.

"Axel, I'll be needing you to go find Roxas and bring him back to me," a man heavily wrapped in red bandages spoke clearly to Axel.

"DiZ, sir, why me?" Axel asked, his voice faltering as he did so.

"You thus far are qualified, you did, may I remind you, rid me of those who conspired to overthrow me. So I see no reason why you cannot do this for me, do you?" DiZ spoke with a firm, commanding voice.

"No sir. I'll be on my way," he said, pained, but DiZ wouldn't know, he didn't need to. Axel was given an order.

White creatures with mouths gaping and limbs both twitching wildly and fluidly waving surrounded Roxas as he clenched his keyblade with both hands. They pounced, dipped, and flew, and Roxas was not agile enough to avoid all those attacks. Swinging madly, only registering blade to white, he struck the creatures. Though he had just received, or was it rediscovered, his new weapon, it felt familiar and as he gripped the handle, it felt right.

The creatures were now defeated and Roxas stood still, knees bent and lungs heaving. All around him watching the competition were now frozen, they were frozen from when the small Vivi had warped into a white creature. Roxas gazed at them all and he himself froze when he heard a clapping from behind him.

"Roxas. All right. Fight fight fight," a voice familiar to Roxas said. The voice came a hooded figure in a long black cloak and the figure walked closer to Roxas as he spoke. Roxas gave him a quizzical gaze as the figure spoke in an informal tone.

"You really don't remember?" the figure asked, coming to a stop. "It's me," the hood was lifted revealing long red spikes and light green eyes, "You know, Axel."

"Axel?" Roxas answered just as quizzically as he was confused.

"Talk about blank with a capital 'B.' Man oh man, not even the Dusks are gonna crack this one," Axel said as two circular blades burst from flames into his hands.

"Wait a sec, tell me what's going on!" Roxas exclaimed.

"This town is his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q & A. You're coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story," he stretched his arms and his whole frame waved from side to side as his blades spun in his hands.

"Uh-oh!" Axel said as the world began to distort. Roxas gazed down at the ground, his mind racing. Lifting his keyblade, he threw it down in a fit of rage. The blade slid on the arena floor past Axel.

"What's going on!" Roxas exclaimed. Suddenly, as he gazed at his hand, the blade reappeared in his hand.

"Number 13. Roxas," Axel spoke, "The keyblade's chosen one." With that, Axel stretched his arms out to his sides, gripping his blades tightly.

"Okay, fine. You asked for it!" Roxas said with one last glance at his blade.

"Thats more like it!" Axel smiled as he spun his blades in his hands. A grunt, and Axel tossed his blades at Roxas and sparks flew in front of Roxas as the blades repeatedly grazed the ground. With this their fight began. Grunts and yells filled the air, both giving it their all, it seemed. In reality it was only Roxas who gave it all he could. Axel couldn't bring himself to use all of his ability to fight Roxas, it was Roxas, his only friend. Even if Roxas couldn't remember a thing about him, it didn't matter, it was still Roxas. He'd remember soon, all he had to do was wait, just hold on a little longer.

"Don't stop moving, or the darkness will over take you!" Axel hollered to the trio battling the wave of Dusk nobodies. Jumping into the fray and quickly dispatched two with his blades and turned to face Sora. He had seen him on occasion before, and many times without his knowing, mostly because he was familiar to Axel, and his last reminder of Roxas. Roxas, who he never got to tell his final, complete goodbye before he left. It was something about his eyes that reminded him, or was it his smile, he didn't know.

"Get going!" Axel commanded them.

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Don't ask, just do it!" Axel yelled at them as a dusk came at him and knocked him over. Sora ran towards him as he saw the dusk attack him and quickly took out three in his way. Kneeling down he looked down at Axel, laying on the ground breathing weakly. Something hit Sora as he gazed at the spiky red locks. It was familiar to him, soothing.

"You okay?" he asked him.

"I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me," Axel got up and looked at Sora, "After that, Saïx caught her. He's a member of Organization XIII. Saïx. Got it memorized? Now go save her!" In a way it hurt him to say it, but it really wasn't Roxas he was speaking to, no matter how much he wished it was again.

A dusk charged at Sora from behind, but he quickly spun and knocked it away with his keyblade.

"Leave us alone!" Sora hollered, and the battle ensued. The heat of flames licked their skin and the clang of metal resonated within the abyss they battled in. Axel didn't have much energy but fighting alongside Sora, was so familiar, so right.

They fight the same way, Roxas thought and chuckled when he caught his breath. Soon, there were too many dusks for them to take of.

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side." Axel commented as they were quickly surrounded.

"Feeling a little ... regret?" Sora joked, turning to Axel.

"Nah ... I can handle these punks. Watch this!" he smirked. Leaping into the army of dusks, his blades burst into flames and began to spin madly around him. Pillars of flame burst from the ground around him and in a blinding light, all of the dusks were taken care of. When the light dimmed, Axel was alone on the floor on his back.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed as he gazed around at the sudden absence of nobodies. When he saw Axel on the ground, he sprinted over to him.

"You're ... fading away..." Sora spoke softly as he knelt down next to Axel.

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack," Axel responded, matter-of-factly, "You know what I mean? Not that nobodies actually have beings ... right? Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi. Oh, and almost forgot... Sorry for what I did to her."

"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself," Sora tried to reassure him.

"Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one," he began chuckling, but tears slowly began to form.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?" Sora asked.

"I wanted to see Roxas," Axel admitted, "He... was the only one I liked... He made me feel... like I had a heart. It's kind of... funny, you make me feel... the same," a tear was beginning to form, but he blinked it away, "Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go."

With the last bit of energy in him, he made a portal for Sora to pass. With that, he began to fade away, but with his last shred of energy and sanity, he mouthed one word, one name, Roxas.

"Axel..." Sora softly uttered as Axel disappeared in a wisp of dark smoke.