"Here you go," Axel huffed, plopping down on the precarious ledge of the clock tower. The clock struck five, and I closed my eyes and listened, taking the ice cream that my friend offered.

I could feel him looking at me, so I opened my shocking blue eyes and glanced over at him, but he just smirked and took a bite of his own sea salt ice cream. "How was your mission?" he asked me casually, one leg propped up against the side of the building while the other hung lamely over the edge.

"It was okay. Xion and I got to work together, but she ran off as soon as we RTC'd," I recalled sadly, licking the blue treat. "I think maybe it was something I said; her eyes were watery."

Axel laughed in his friendly way and scratched his head, and I didn't exactly know why. "That's called 'crying', Roxas. Xion was crying."

"Crying?" I didn't know what it meant, but it sounded bad, and my chest started hurting.

"Yeah, y'know... when people get upset about something, they cry. Sometimes people cry when they're really happy too."

I slurped a drip of melted ice cream from my finger, and looked over at Axel, who was staring off at the single-car train of Twilight Town. "That sounds confusing."

He grinned. "It kind of is."

"I don't understand why she was crying. Was she happy or sad?"

"Who, Xion?" Axel looked out at the horizon, where the sun dropped lazily below the buildings, turning the sky a warm purplish orange color. "That's hard to tell. Did something happen out on your mission?"

I thought hard, searching. "I don't think so. We got to Wonderland, and I just told her to stay close, because Saïx said we were going after a big Heartless. But we were done in just a few minutes. Do you think it's my fault?"

"Hm. No, I don't think your quite capable of making someone cry, Roxas."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I don't know why, but I felt kind of insulted.

Axel looked over at me thoughtfully. "Well, you're a Nobody. I mean, not just any Nobody... Roxas, you still have so much to learn." He turned away and kind of laughed. "Whatever's going on with Xion isn't your fault, 'kay? I think someone just needs to talk to her."

I looked down, spotting those kids that I had seen a few days ago. They were arguing and laughing about something, and I wondered if their laughter was different than a Nobody's. If there was something we were all missing out on, but didn't know, because it all seemed natural to us. "I don't think she wants to talk to me," I muttered at my shoes.

It grew quiet for a while, as I stared out at the sunset, watching the clouds move and the colors blend.

"Eat your ice cream before it melts," Axel said after a minute or two. I'm not sure how long it was, really, but that seemed close enough.

I did as I was told, trying to separate the sweetness from the saltiness, but only tasting a terrible mixture of both flavors. It was bitter.

"Roxas..."

Confused at my friend's tone, I turned. "Huh?"

Axel's warm hands tugged at my collar, and touched my face as he pulled us close. My mouth touched his jaw softly as he brought my face up to his, looking straight into my eyes almost sadly, or nervously. I don't know which. Our lips met, and then the flavors separated; all I could taste was the sweetness of the ice cream on his breath, and then he smiled gently.

And that made me laugh.

And it did feel different, I felt happy and complete. Now, I don't know the difference between having a heart, and not having one, since I can't remember anything from Before. But I felt, at just that moment, I felt like I did have a heart. My chest was warm, and the heat swam into the rest of my body, filling me with something amazing. Something hard to ignore, and that I didn't want to ignore.

I reached up and my arms found their way around his neck, dropping the ice cream down, way down to the floor below. A moan passed through my lips, and I crawled up onto the ledge, clutching at Axel's clothes. He responded gratefully and pressed himself closer to me. I grew warmer and soon he wasn't just smiling; Axel was grinning against my mouth, and I bit his bottom lip, unsure of what to do. It just seemed right.

Axel thought so too, apparently, because he pushed his hands into my messy hair.

Quietly, I pulled back and tucked my head under his chin. "Is that what friends do, Axel?"

"Friends?" He sighed happily. "Kind of... Maybe really good friends. Someone you'd do anything for."

"You'd do anything for me?"

A laugh vibrated through him and into me, and I almost felt whole again. "Yeah, I guess I would."

I smiled, my face hot and my body loose. The sun dropped below the horizon, and I looked up, mouth against his neck. That felt right, too. "Axel... I dropped my ice cream."

He chuckled in his amusing Axel-chuckle, and ruffled my hair. "Oh boy, Roxas..."