Roxas walked out of Memory's Skyscraper and down the street, not even noticing Axel until he spoke.
"Your mind's made up?" Roxas stopped in his tracks and turned to him.
"Why did the keyblade choose me? I have to know." Axel narrowed his eyes.
"You can't turn on the Organization! You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!" Roxas turned back around.
"No one would miss me." Roxas started walking away.
"That's not true! I would…" Roxas paused again for a moment before walking away again. Axel looked down. "…Roxas, wait." Axel ran after the boy. Roxas stopped, but wouldn't turn around. "I'll go with you."
"No. You belong here. With the rest of the Organization members." Axel shook his head.
"No, I don't. If you aren't here, I don't belong here either."
"…Fine. Do what you want. It's no business of mine." The blonde walked away again, this time with Axel at his heels.
A week passed since they left the Organization. All the events played out as they should have. Roxas defeated Xion. Roxas defeated Riku. Axel was there, watching. Whenever he tried to help the boy, he'd gotten yelled at. Roxas insisted that this was HIS fight. His fight, and his alone. And that annoyed Axel to no end. They went to their usual spot at the top at the clock tower.
"How're your injuries?" Roxas looked down at his arm. He had a big gash right in between his shoulder and elbow, which Axel had bandaged after they were safe and hidden. Plus several other cuts and bruses. His body ached everywhere and the cuts stung insanely but for whatever reason he felt he should keep that to himself.
"I'll survive…"
"I'm glad. You should've let me help. I hate seeing you all hurt and messed up like this."
"You HATE it? Hate's a feeling, Axel. You can't hate anything. And if you hate it, you shouldn't have come." Roxas said harshly. 'you shouldn't have come, you shouldn't have come, you shouldn't have come.' His words ran through Axel's head over and over again. They made an odd tightness arise in his chest and throat. He couldn't speak. And the feeling was oddly…familiar. But from where? Roxas turned his head to Axel. "Why did you come, anyway? You could've stayed. You could've saved yourself. But you threw your own well being away to follow me." The blonde locked eyes with the redhead. Axel stared back at the deep blue pools and searched for the answer Roxas wanted, and the answer he wanted more than Roxas. But he couldn't find one. He swallowed hard in an attempt to loosen the knot in his throat.
"I…I honestly…" Axel sighed. "I just don't know. I was trying to look out for you, I guess. I couldn't stand by and let you leave. Who knows what kind of trouble you would've gotten into?" Roxas grunted.
"I thought you hated babysitting me." Inner Axel wanted to assume a fetal position and die. Roxas asking questions he didn't know an answer for, even though he's the only person who would know.
"I do! …or did, at least. But then we got closer…we were best friends. And all those missions we went on, and all the times we went to get ice cream, I stopped caring that it was my job to do it. I was doing it because I wanted to be with you." Roxas looked down,
"Were? Are we not best friends anymore?"
"Do you not want to be my best friend anymore?" Roxas looked back into the aqua green eyes next to him.
"No. And I don't think I ever will want that."
"Then we'll be best friends forever." Axel smiled and stared up at the sky. The sun had set and the moon had taken its' place. "Roxas, have you ever been up here at night?"
"No, never. Just at sunset with you." Axel smiled.
"Look up, then" Roxas did as Axel told him and felt his jaw drop in response. The sky was dotted with hundreds of small white, shining dots.
"Woooow…" The boy was mystified by the new sight.
"Those are stars. On a clear night like tonight, you can see hundreds of them, but there are trillions of them we can't see. Got it memorized?" Axel saw Roxas smile out of the corner of his eye. "And every once in a while you'll see one that flies across-" Speak of the devil. A sparkle of light shot across the sky, leaving a path of light in its wake that was gone in the blink on an eye. Axel smiled. "Quick Roxas, close your eyes and make a wish." Roxas shut his eyes tight. Axel did the same. They both opened their eyes a minute later. "So what did you wish for?" Roxas smiled again.
"To be able to see beautiful stars like this every night." Axel laughed.
"Really? I wished for unlimited sea salt ice cream." Roxas was laughing too.
"Axel, how in the world do you stay skinny?" Axel stood up on the edge and stepped down to the floor.
"I have no idea. It's getting late, maybe we should catch some Z's." Roxas joined Axel on the floor.
"Probably. But where?" Axel raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong with right here?" The redhead sat on the floor, back against the wall, arms resting on his bent knees.
"Nothing, but wouldn't we get cold?" Axel smirked and held out his arms.
"Stay close to me and you wont." The blonde was reluctant, making Axel sigh. "What's up?"
"I dunno…" Axel smirked.
"Don't you trust me?" Roxas nodded. The older got on his knees long enough to unzip his coat and take it off before sitting back down. "Then c'mere." Roxas sat in between Axel's legs and rested his head on the curve of his neck. Axel took the coat and covered the boy with it. Roxas fisted his hand lightly in the chest fabric of Axel's shirt and yawned.
"Thanks, Axel, for not…" He adjusted himself until he was as comfortable as he could get. "…abandoning me…" Axel wrapped his arms around the blonde boy.
"…You're welcome, Roxas…" Roxas dozed off quickly to the cinnamon scent of Axel's breath and the strawberry scent of his red hair. Axel sighed. "I would never abandon you…and I didn't wish for ice cream…the only sweetness I need is your smile…I wished I could see it all the time…" Axel gently ran his gloved fingers through the spikes, resting his hand at the top of Roxas's head. The still sleeping blonde shifted closer, a small grin on his face. Axel smiled and looked up at the stars until sleep finally took him.