This is a remake of one of my old stories. I decided to add more description and add in a few more events and change things around. I also changed the original ending and added in an alternate ending. Hope you guys like this one. ^^
Deep ocean blue eyes scanned the overly large and occasionally empty-looking room occupied by the youngest member of Organization XIII. The Superior of said organization had told him plenty of times to clean it, but like all teens, he didn't listen to the father-like figure. Hey; don't blame him. It wasn't like he was 'home' often. He had always been on missions that wore him out more than cleaning all the halls of Castle Oblivion and the Castle That Never Was without rest. Because of that, he usually came back to his room, threw off his clothes, and just went to bed in his boxers. Even when he didn't have a mission, he would always be dragged out by the fire-wielding Nobody he had dubbed his 'best friend'. And because he never really was in his room, he never cleaned it. But that also caused his room to look like a complete disaster. It was so much so that he wouldn't be surprised if Xaldin decided to create a tornado in the smaller male's room for payback due to the fact that he and Number IX decided to shoot tampons out of marshmallow guns (they weren't allowed to use marshmallows anymore because Axel decided to roast all the marshmallows and ended up misusing his element, which was forbidden until Xemnas decided to get rid of the rule about element use) in the kitchen, which Xaldin had claimed his own.
The blonde shook his head to shake the thoughts from his mind. Now wasn't the time to think about that. After all, he still had a room to clean - Superior's orders - and if he didn't follow orders... He didn't even want to think about that now that they actually had hearts in their chests - real, beating hearts. But even with hearts, they were very capable of fading away as if they were truly still Nobodies. This had been proven when the Savage Nymph had decided to take on way too many Heartless and was unable to treat her injuries in time. The blonde was no longer afraid of turning into a Dusk, but that didn't mean that Xemnas couldn't find a way to punish him. And there was always Xemnas' rumored torture machines to be considered... The young blonde shuddered at the thought. Now wasn't the time to think about that either. He sighed as he lifted his gaze from the bed, his eyes focusing on the large mess laid out before him. 'I have to get this done one way or another...' he thought with a sigh, knowing very well that if he completed the mission Xemnas gave him, he would get a free sea-salt ice-cream and maybe even a promotion up to number XII, though the latter was a long shot.
He unfolded his legs, placing his feet firmly on the floor. He pushed up into a standing position, the edges of his cloaked swirling around his ankles. He gingerly stepped through the mess of clothes, notebooks, papers, video game cases, cords, book, magazines, et cetera. He was careful not to step on anything, knowing very well that a lot of that stuff was indeed his best friend's, who, for some odd and unexplainable reason, absolutely loved crashing in his room on many nights. But ever since the pyromaniac had scorched his nightstand in an attempt to turn off the alarm clock, which he had ended up destroying instead, he was rarely allowed to sleep anywhere but the floor. And that was probably the exact reason the blonde had just found a comforter and pillow on his floor - a red comforter and pillow. He sighed once more and shook his head, picking said items up off the floor and tossing them onto the bed. "I'll have to wait before I give them back to him," he said softly as he began cleaning his room again.
He had cleaned up all the clothes, papers, video games, and cords by the time somebody decided to knock on his door. He paused and looked at the door with genuine confusion and curiosity, his small arms full with many video game magazines and actual novels. He was curious as to who was at his door, but he was also afraid that the time he had for his 'mission' had ran out and the Superior had come to check if he had completed it. He let out a sigh of relief as he heard a familiar voice from behind the door, the owner of the voice asking if he could come in. "Sure. Come on in," the blonde called as he set the items on his desk, dusting off his sore hands afterwards. Because he decided to rearrange his room as he cleaned, his arms and hands had become rather sore and almost felt raw to the bone. Of course, he couldn't exactly see his hands due to the black gloves that adorned them, but at least it was worth it to move everything around. He knew now that the bedroom wouldn't look as empty after he cleaned it completely.
He turned his head as he heard the door open, pulling himself out of his thoughts. Another dirty blonde walked into the room, closing the door behind him. The taller male smiled and waved like he always did. His teal eyes glanced around the room, taking everything in. He had never seen the other's room like this before, but that was reasonable considering that the younger teenager had never rearranged his room throughout the whole time he had been in the same building as the others. Number IX was too interested in how much work the other put into the room to notice that Number XIII was cleaning again. So when he looked back towards the computer desk - which was completely cleaned off save for a grey laptop - to see that the lower ranked member had disappeared as well as the stack of books. His expression turned into that of confusion and was about to question his sanity when he heard the closet door slide open. He looked over to the other's closet, practically grinning ear to ear when he found where the calmer Nobody was. "Mind if I help?" he asked once he realized that he was finally cleaning his room. When he didn't get a vocal answer, he decided to get the other's attention. "Rox?"
Upon hearing his nickname, Roxas (who was sometimes known as 'Rox' [to most], 'Roxy' or 'Roxy-kins' [to Larxene before her unfortunate death] or sometimes even 'Little Dude' [to Xigbar, who Roxas had started avoiding due to the fact that he hated anything that had to do with his height]) turned his head to see Number IX from his crouched spot on the floor near the closet. "Huh? Oh. Sorry. Be my guest. I need to finish this as soon as possible," he replied before getting back to putting the books and magazines away. He heard a shuffling, but decided to ignore it. He knew it was only the sitarist cleaning up more of the mess. Thankfully, the both of them knew where everything belonged. Because the light-bearer was stupid enough to think that the other would be quiet, he was caught off guard by the question that penetrated the silence.
"So, do you have anyone you're interested in?"
Roxas snapped his head around to look at the other blonde, a frown taking over his lips. That question again? Scratch that. Where the hell did it come from?! The 15-year-old let out a sigh and shook his head, returning to his work. "I told you before, Demyx; I don't have anyone. I'm starting to get annoyed because you keep asking that same question," he replied in a slightly irritated tone. He heard Demyx mumble something about it just being a question, but he completely ignored it. He was a little irritated, but not angry enough to snap at Demyx or anything like that. He looked back at the taller blonde and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when his bedroom door swung open suddenly. He quickly turned his head to see a slate-haired male not too much taller than Roxas standing in the doorway. Without hesitation, the small Nobody quickly strode up to Roxas at a speed that seemed unreasonable for his size. He reached down and grabbed Roxas' arm, pulling him to his feet and dragging him towards the open door without a word. Roxas frowned and pulled his arm from Number VI's grasp. "Okay, stop. What is going on, Zexion?" he asked in a raised tone, earning a back-hand across his cheek.
Zexion glared harshly at his subordinate, his sapphire eyes sending shivers down Roxas' spine due to how could they were. "First off, Number XIII, respect those of higher rank. Do not raise your voice to me. Second, Number VIII is pissed again and will not listen to anything we say. He is in his room and will not come out. He has set every person who came inside on fire until they left. I think he needs your help. You always reach him somehow, Number XIII," he explained in irritation.
Roxas groaned in annoyance. Axel was pissed again?! What happened this time around? Last time Axel had been this way, he ended up burning up his whole room. It had taken over a month to get his room back to looking relatively like it used to. The blonde shoved the memory to the back of his mind and pushed his way past the slate-haired male. Two pairs of black boots tapped against the pure white marble floors as he quickly walked down the strangely illuminated hallway. He glanced behind him to see the Melodious Nocturne following him closely, but did nothing to stop him. Doors passed him left and right, all with black roman numerals nailed to the decorative white wood; evens on his left, odds on his right. He glanced at each door as he passed it, counting as he went passed them. XII... XI... X... IX.... Both pairs of footsteps paused as they came to a door with the number 'VIII'.
Roxas drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out to calm himself, knowing very well that he couldn't calm Axel down if he was agitated as well. He opened the door as quietly as he could, silently stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He instantly spotted the redhead sitting cross-legged on the bed, the cloak flowing over the side and barely brushing the carpeted floor below. Despite the fact that his back was turned to the door, Roxas could tell that Axel was looking at some sort of book just by his position. And because the redhead pyro was faster when it came to flipping the pages than he would be if it were a novel, he was most likely looking at some type of photo album or picture book.
Roxas took in a deep slow breath once more, causing it to be rather quiet, if not silent. He let it out slowly in another attempt to calm himself, but he found that hard to do due to the stinging sensation on his cheek. Damn, Zexion had a hard backhand... He shoved the thought to the back of his mind, focusing on the pyro once more. He hesitated before he finally became bold enough to speak, even though it was just one word. "Axel?" he asked softly, surprised at how loud it sounded in the quiet room, despite that he had said the name in barely above a whisper. He frowned deep when he was told to go away, instantly noticing the hollow-sounding tone Axel had used. Instead of backing down, the blonde stepped away from the door and walked up to the bed, his boots barely making any sound due to the carpet that blanketed the floor. He stopped once he came to the side of the bed, looking down at the redhead that sat upon it. He reached forward and gently placed his hand on the other's shoulder, causing the older member to flinch. "Axel, I'm not leaving. Now what's wrong?" he asked in a stubborn tone.
"I said go away!" the pyro snapped, twisting his body around and batting Roxas' hand away in the process. The blonde stumbled back in surprise, but quickly regained his composure and examined the angered redhead. The emerald eyes he knew to be filled with playfulness and sarcasm were now filled with rage, jealousy, and even a bit of sorrow, though the latter was very hard to find within the other emotions. This definitely wasn't the Axel he knew... Somehow, he had changed. This wasn't like the other times he had become pissed. The blonde sighed and shook his head with a delicate frown finding its way across his lips.
"I'm not leaving," the blonde said in that same stubborn tone, deciding to stand his ground. He let out a surprised shout and looked around when the whole room burst into flame, the fire flickering away at the wooden decorations and threatening to use them as fuel. And it wasn't just a circle like Axel usually loved to use; it was actually the whole entire room. He returned his eyes to the redhead when he saw motion out of the corner of his eye.
Number VIII had unfolded his legs and pushed his self off the bed and into a standing position, glaring harshly at his 'best friend'. "Roxas, Roxas, Roxas..." he began, the name rolling off of his tongue calmly, but deadly. Ocean blue eyes widened as two chakrams appeared in Axel's hands. "You just don't understand, do you?" he continued. "I love you so much. So fucking much. I would do anything for you. I would gladly drown myself if it meant that I could be with you. I would kill just to call you mine. And you should know more than anyone in this hell hole that I'm not one to betray Xemnas' orders unless there's reason to. And yet, despite all that I would do for you, you turn to Demyx for help. I try to comfort you, you push me away."
Roxas hesitated as he glanced around again at the billowing flames before his eyes returned to the surprisingly calm redhead. "I'm sorry... I really am. I'm just... I just don't know what to do. You're never around when I need you anymore..." he replied softly, his gaze shifting to the ground. 'You were never there... I needed you... Axel... And I still do...' he thought, to afraid to voice the hidden recalled looking high and low for the redhead on various occasions, but never found him. He would call down many halls during his search, but never got any response. Because of that, he usually just gave up and went to Demyx. He pulled himself out of his thoughts as he raised his gaze to Axel once more. He took one step forward and reached his hand towards the other, who showed no emotion to the simple gesture, despite Roxas' subtle effort to show that he still needed the redhead. He felt a pang of regret and sorrow as he saw the smirk that took over the pyromaniac's lips. 'No... This can't happen...' The blonde felt something roll down his cheek when he realized that Axel already had his mind set and instantly knew what it was, though it was perfectly clear that it had gone completely unnoticed to the other.
"You really don't understand."
The Key of Destiny was just about to reply when he heard another voice coming from behind him. "Roxas, Axel's a little crazy right now... Why don't you come back here?" The blonde looked in the direction of the voice to find Demyx standing there, holding his sitar close to his chest.
Roxas shook his head and looked back at Axel. No, Demyx. I need to do this," he said, eyeing the pyro carefully. He hesitated a moment more before he took in a deep breath. "Look, Axel; I don't want to fight you. I want to help," he said cautiously, hoping that he didn't worsen the situation.
Axel let out a blood-curdling laugh that told anybody who heard it that there was no turning back; the redhead was ready to kill anything that moved. When his laugh had died down to a dark chuckle, he looked at Roxas and spoke. "Help? Ha! You're the cause of the problem, Roxas!" he yelled with a demented tone, a wild smirk on his lips. He let his eyes scan across the room as if he were a hawk searching for its prey. He stopped his moving gaze when his eyes lay upon the older of the two blondes. "I'll start with waterboy first," he said in an eerily clam tone as he sprinted towards the sitarist.
Roxas' eyes widened and he darted forward as well, noticing instantly that Demyx was holding the sitar tightly and closing his eyes as if waiting for the blow. But there was no way that the 15-year-old would just let that happen like that. Roxas stood in front of Demyx with his arms outstretched. He watched the redhead stop in his tracks. "Axel, I'm the one you want. Don't take Demyx out because of your anger. He never did anything to you," the young blonde said, eyes looking into Axel's. He glanced back at the one he was protecting, letting out a silent sigh of relief to see that he was okay. The blonde took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he looked at Axel, hearing him chuckle.
The pyro shouldered one of the chakrams as the other one was lowered to his side. "I want to save the best for last, Roxy. You should know that by now," he said with a fake pout. He frowned deeply at the response he heard.
"Axel, I'm not moving. If you want Demyx, you have to get through me." The flames rose higher and the stench of burning fabric and wood had long filled the room. Smoke occupied much of the area above their heads, making the room even hotter. Despite the fact that Roxas felt sticky due to his sweat, Axel looked rather comfortable in the heat, though it was most likely due to his higher body temperature. "Duck, Demyx!" Roxas shouted as a chakrams was thrown in their direction. He quickly ducked down and darted forward, lunging at Axel. His body slammed into the redhead, but they didn't move. Roxas latched onto his best friend, wrapping his arms around the thin waist and burying his face into Axel's chest. He knew very well that he was open for a fatal attack, but didn't bother thinking too much about that. "Axel, please don't fight. I don't want to fight you..." he said in a soft but pleading tone.
His blue eyes widened as he felt something slide through him and heard Axel tell him to get off. He staggered back, not even hearing Demyx's screams. His whole vision consisted of emerald eyes that stared right through hi with a cold and uncaring gaze. A blood-curdling scream of pain echoed through the many calls of the castle as the blonde finally felt the pain of the object that had struck him. He fell to the ground, looking at Axel with tear-filled eyes. He curled up with his hands on the spike that protruded from his stomach, a crimson pool expanding from the wound the chakram had caused. He tore his eyes away from the redhead when the sound of Demyx's voice desperately calling his name reached his ears, instantly seeing that he was kneeled beside him. He let out a grunt and closed his eyes tightly when he felt the chakram disappear, leaving the wound open and bleeding even more. The heat of the room faded slowly as the flames died down.
Roxas forced his eyes open and set his gaze on Axel, who staggered back. His eyes were wide with horror and sudden realization, leaning against the nearest scorched wall for support. His voice came out raspy and weak when he spoke. "No... This... This can't be happening. I-I didn't m-mean-n-n t-to..." he stuttered, unable to finish his own sentence.
Roxas shook violently as tears rolled down his cheeks, each one mostly created from the pain that surged through his body. He carefully and slowly stood up, despite the amount of pain that it caused, ignoring Demyx's pleadings for him to stay still. He tried to step forward, but let out an almost-silent shout as he ended up falling forward, closing his eyes. He landed on something soft, but couldn't recognize it as the carpet for various reasons; one being that his body was telling him that he wasn't lying down. He forced his eyes open to see arms around him and raised his hands to hold onto the other's cloak as he looked up at the one who caught him. He coughed a few times, gritting his teeth to avoid yelling in agony once more. A coppery taste filled his mouth and he spat it out only to have more come up and trail out the corner of his lips. "A...Axel..."
Axel held the fragile boy closer before he lowered himself to the ground, cradling Roxas in his arms and pulling him into his lap as he crossed his legs. He stroked the blonde's hair numbly. "Roxas... I'm so sorry..." he whispered, barely able to do even that. He began to rock back and forth, not even being able to find the will to cry as he looked down at the blonde.
"Axel... I-It hurts-s... M... Make it... s-stop..." he mumbled, his eyes closed tightly.
Axel loosened his grip and his cheeks turned sheet white. He knew exactly what was happening. His eyes widened when he felt the other touch his cheek and wipe away the tears that were forming. Axel reached up and grabbed Roxas' hand, kissing the palm gently. "Rox... You're going to be okay. I promise," he whispered, holding the hand against his cheek.
"You should know more than anyone that you can't... promise that..." the blonde replied, shaking his head slowly. It was clear that the pain he felt was already starting to fade away due to his body growing numb.
Axel's eyes widened as he spotted the flakes of darkness emitting from the boy. "No... No! You can't die! You can't!" he shouted desperately, looking up and down the boy's body.
Roxas chuckled softly and a hand, grabbing the collar of Axel's cloak lightly. He used some of his remaining strength to pull himself up and pull Axel down at the same time, pressing a soft kiss against the other's lips, though he was quick to press harder into it so that Axel couldn't mistaken it as a miss or anything like that. Without continuing or deepening the kiss, the blonde let go and fell back against the other's arms. "It's too late... Axel... I can't feel pain anymore. I could barely even feel that... My body is... numb..." he replied in a whisper, fighting to keep his half-lidded eyes open. He moved his hand from the redhead's cloaks to his lips, gently feeling the curves as he looked at where his hand moved. "Just so you know... I needed you. I searched for you - always. There was never a time that I didn't want to talk to you, that I didn't want to be around you... even when we didn't have hearts. But you know... Forever is... such a short time... isn't it?" he said weakly with a small smile, his hand shaking as they traced the shape of Axel's lips. He fought to cling on to what little life he had left, but found it futile.
Axel's eyes widened even more as Roxas' eyes closed forever, his hand falling from the redhead's lips. He watched in horror and sorrow as the blonde's body faded from existence, knowing that there was nothing he could do. He didn't even look up as Demyx crawled towards him.
Demyx shook uncontrollably as he waved his hand where Roxas last was. " He can't be gone. He... He was way too young...! He can't be dead..." he said in disbelief. There was no way that he wanted to believe that the youngest member of Organization XIII was gone forever, even if he had watched him fade away. He looked up when he heard Axel say the deceased member's name gently and sat back.
Axel pulled his arms closer to his chest, his shoulders shaking as he fought back tears. He could still feel the warmth of the small boy in his arms and the blood still remained on his clothes and on the floor around him. He could still even feel the other's fingers tracing along his lips; feel the kiss he had given him only seconds ago. But Roxas... Roxas himself was gone... He drew in a shaky breath and closed his eyes as a lone tear rolled down his cheek, remembering the last time he had been alone with the teenager months ago.
---
Roxas leaned back against the park bench of Twilight Town, looking up at the forever-orange and red sky. He watched the clouds lazily drift by as he happily licked the sea-salt ice-cream he always loved. Of course, it was Axel who had given it to him, but he wasn't there at the moment, so there was nobody there to thank. Roxas had been told to stay put as Axel went back to get a new ice-cream bar to replace the one he had dropped to the ground only moment ago. He paused as he saw red spikes bouncing in the bottom of his vision and looked in front of him once more to see the one he had been waiting for walking towards him. He returned the smile the redhead offered.
"I'm back," Axel stated as he sat down next to Roxas, who ended up laughing at the redhead's idiotic statement.
"I can see that," Roxas replied with a smile. He turned his attention to the sky once more, not knowing that Axel had done the same as him. He continued to eat the delicious treat, sitting back against the bench. He hummed in thought before he smiled behind his ice-cream. "Do you think we can stay with each other like this forever, Axel?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue. He looked at the redhead through the corner of his eye. He nearly chuckled when he saw the look of surprise the other gave, but managed to keep it in and cover it up with a slight cough, pretending to choke a bit on the ice-cream.
He heard a chuckle and felt his hair being ruffled, but quickly swatted away the hand. "Of course, Rox. I'll stay by your side forever. I'll never leave or betray you. I will always protect you," Axel replied, causing the blonde to smile. "As long as you don't leave the organization again. Or die, for that matter. That way, we can stay this way forever."
Roxas nodded in agreement and returned his eyes to the sky.
---
Axel's shoulders shook even more as he let his arms go limp. "Yes, Roxas... Forever really is a short time..." he whispered as if he was replying to the young blonde. Tears flowed silently down his cheeks as he hugged himself and closed his eyes, not bothering to pay any attention to the hand that rested on his back. Images of their times together flashed through his head. The serious moments, the boring ones, the cute ones, the multiple times that they were pissed at each other, he didn't care. All that mattered was that Roxas was there this while entire time. And he never noticed how much he truly cared for the blonde or how much of his time had been spent with him. He had so much more to say, so much more to do. But now... he couldn't...
Three months later, the redhead found himself walking down the hall once more, but soon slowed to a stop seemingly just right in the middle of it. He could feel a strong force right at this spot and smiled softly at it. He lifted a hand and gently touched his lips, closing his eyes as an image of a boy with a round face framed by blonde hair and accented with soft lips and bright blue eyes filled his mind. "You're still here, aren't you?" he asked in barely above a whisper, the sound echoing through the halls without one of the members hearing it. "I can feel you... Roxas..."
A faded form of the blonde the redhead once knew and still loved stood around one of the corners. The form stepped silently out from around the corner, placing a hand gently on the place where the two walls met, his eyes watching the other's back. A small smile graced his lips when the other shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk once more. "Yes, Axel... I'm still here. I'll always be here," he said softly, the voice gentle and kind, but certainly not unheard. But when the redhead stopped and turned around, there was nobody standing at the corner.