1This is for my lovely Sakura-chan, and for Hinote. Sakura-chan plays the most wonderful Namine, and Hinote is an amazing Axel roleplayer! This is a tribute to the pairing Akumine, which is Axel x Namine. I used the Disney's Storybook Collection as reference, since I'm no good with happy endings (as we all know - hehe). Stories used to help me were Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Kingdom Hearts characters, and I most definitely do not own Disney's work.

Story Begins Now

Once upon a time in a far away place, there lived a lovely princess named Namine. She was a sweet and kind young girl, but when she was born, had been cursed with the power to alter the memories of anyone who dared become close to her. King Xemnas, both frightened and disgusted, had her locked away in a tower far from the main chambers of the Castle, his now useless jester having to attend to her to make sure she was fed and had any essential things she needed.

The Melodious Nocturne, which was Demyx the jester's stage name, was a caring young man with a passion for music. In fact, had he not be extremely talented with the foreign instrument, he would be still working at his master's shop. Even when his job was to just feed Namine and attend to her hygienic needs, he always played for Namine or snuck in sweets for her to eat after her dinner. When he wasn't playing, he would chat with her awhile, always bringing up Master Xigbar, the man who raised and took care of him before Xemnas summoned him to work here. She never minded though, because he went out of his way to treat her kindly when even her own family did not. What she enjoyed most about the musician was he never worried that one day she may take away the memories of his precious master.

On her fifteenth birthday, Xemnas died of a horrible fever and, instead of leaving anything to her, gave the Castle and everything in it to Marluxia, King Xemnas' 'Graceful Assassin'. Marluxia, now king, did not want the Memory Witch anywhere near his kingdom, and ended up sending her away to one of her step mothers. A huntress, Larxene never cared much for others, so she barely gave Namine the time of day. The young girl was so miserable, lost without music or the never-ending chatter of a man she would never have the honor of meeting.

Once she had become familiar with her new home, the woman began giving Namine chores such as cleaning up or getting fresh water. Eventually, Larxene stopped caring for the girl altogether, and went to live in a place good deals away from the cottage she left Namine in. In her new domain, the wicked woman summoned up one of her most loyal subjects (slaves), the book keeper Zexion. Now, he may not sound incredibly scary, but the boy was probably possessed by a demon somewhere deep in himself. With wit and knowledge beyond his years, he could toy with your very will like a child with a paper airplane, and could crush it just as quickly. Having read so many books, he knew almost any possible way to kill someone like he's done it himself many times.

"I'm going to trick the new king into marrying me and become Queen, but that little bitch will get in my way when I succeed. I want you to kill Namine, and if you dare come back with her still breathing, I will put you in a world of pain!" A moment of silence, the woman getting an intricately designed box and holding it out to Zexion, "To prove you killed her, I want you to bring her heart to me in this." The book keeper looked down at the chest, and nodded, leaving the wench and going to find the girl Namine.

He had full intent on killing the poor princess, 'befriending' her first before doing his duty. After all, a schemer's job was to get into the victim's head, then take pleasure as they writhe. To his misfortune, he ended up actually liking the girl, and couldn't bear even the thought of killing her. "Namine, I will say this once, so please listen. The Savage Nymph had summoned me to murder you, but...You need to run. Run far away from here and hide from the huntress!" Frightened, the girl ran deeper into the woods than she ever had, becoming lost on the way. By some miracle, she fell upon a cottage that looked habited, but not by the most civilized or clean sort of person.

After waiting, she got to meet a street performing magician named Axel, who was the owner of the house. He offered her to stay with him, and she accepted on the condition he didn't become close to her. He agreed, waving it off like that was a given. This action made her believe that he was the sort of like Larxene, but after many days, she discovered he was actually very kind, as well as funny. Namine eventually fell in love with the man and actually began enjoying her stay, but the same couldn't quite be said for the man who saved her.

"You fool! I told you to kill her, and you try to trick me with the heart of a dog!?" As angry as that should've been, she was actually heckling Zexion, the boy locked in a dungeon and being mercilessly tortured by the woman, "it seems like I have to do everything myself! But, just to make sure you have gotten my message to heart..." A glint of pure malice passed the woman's eyes, the book keeper keeping watch of her with a deadly glare. She dove one of her infamous yellow daggers into his chest, sawing slowly to make sure he was in agony. He didn't give a damn though.

"I'm sorry...but my death isn't...going to help..." he coughed, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and his gaze becoming more hollow than usual as a smirk played across his face, "your end will be...a terrible one...See you in Hell, wench." The last bold words to ever leave his lips, his heart pulled from his chest in a cut up gooey mess, Zexion's whipped, beaten and now empty corpse fell to the cold floor.

"Feh. I should've killed you with your darling master Vexen long ago, boy." Fleeing to her loyal scientist's former laboratory, and threw his things around until she found the potion she was looking for. "One drink of this, and it will be all over for you, you little wench." Larxene laughed, and down her throat the drink went. Her home came crumbling down as the huntress grew, and grew, and transformed into a disgusting monstrosity. She was like a Siren; her body became some sort of horrible bird-ish gargoyle and her antennae for hair grew into long, electrifying whips. Her face remained that of the pretty little lady, but her snarl was a different story.

A terrifying screech echoed in the air, Larxene having found the girl and snatching her, crying out in victory as her claws began closing around Namine's small and fragile frame, "You're not escaping this time," she sang, grip tightening even more. However, she didn't expect to be impaled by a medieval wheel of spikes and flames, a male's voice catching her off guard as much as the stab.

"Let go of Namine!" Axel ordered, taking another swing at her. The huntress was intrigued by this man, and despite the bloody pain she was in, let go of Namine to challenge the fire wielder. The battle was fierce, the witch using everything she had to harm the fairy of a man, who leaped and danced his way out of danger, his speed unbelievable as he placed so many blows to the monster with very little effort. Being cut to death wasn't the most joyful way to die, which was why the last words that flew past Larxene's mind was the ones of her former book keeper, and the ear piercing scream being the last the world ever heard of her.

Returning to Namine's side, Axel held her close and whispered a healing spell, something he had learned from a certain musician he's met long ago. The injuries she sustained from the huntress were gone instantly, the girl waking up in his arms with a smile. The redhead returned the smile with a smirk of his own, no words needing to be said. The small but sweet kiss they shared was enough for them to know they would have a happy ending.

Story Ends Here

Um...Yeah...It's sad to know that even if the story is a happy ending, even if it was crappy, someone had to die a painful death. Poor Zexion. Well, he died doing a good deed! The reason 'fifteen' was emphasized was because in Disney, everything happened on the sixteenth birthday. I'm such a rebel, I know.

Pairings: Axel x Namine with the subtle mention of Zexion x Vexen. Xigbar was not Demyx's lover, but rather a father figure to him. Other than that, I've not much to say...Well, actually. I hope you liked it, Sakura-chan! And also, I'm still working on the two drawings I promised you!

(Your Zemmy-kins)