It was a shame that he had almost forgotten what was in that box.
Roxas cleared a path through the pile of junk cluttered up in the basement to reach the beaten up cardboard case. Its flaps were slightly bent upwards which made it easier for him to open it. Dust clumps that settled on top of the box released into the air. He sniffled and ended up sneezing the rest of the tiny particles away. He slowly peeked inside.
Letters. Nearly enough envelopes to fill the entire container rested inside.
For a moment, the man just stared in awe. How could he have forgotten about this?
Roxas reached in and pulled out a single card which had already been opened. The front had been neatly dated and signed. His name was marked in the center and the alias of another inked the left corner. His penmanship was always very nice, Roxas noted.
When the blonde flipped the envelope upside-down, a piece of folded up paper fell out and landed safely on his lap. With nervous hands, Roxas unfolded the crumbled paper revealing a hand-written note.
Dear, Roxas,
I still can't believe I'm heading out tomorrow, I get to drive a freakin' tank! You should see it, thing's huge. I wish I could take a picture and send it to you, but hopefully describing it will make up for that. But then again, knowing you, you're probably losing it right now. Don't worry, kid, I'll be careful. I promsied didn't I? Besides, I've got backup. I think I told you about Zack in my last letter. Guy's set on becoming a hero. I admire that. I want to be a hero, especially to you. Next time I'll tell you all about the tank experience.
With love,
Axel
He sat on the wooden floor re-reading the words on the fragile paper, specifically the last few.
There was no 'next time', he recalled. This was the last thing Axel had sent him and that was over a year ago. His eyes scrolled back up to the middle of the passage.
And it was over three years ago when he made that promise.
"You'll wait for me, won't you?"
"Yeah," Axel smiled and pressed his lips against the cool skin of Roxas's forhead, "anything for you, kid." The blond's face flushed as he averted his eyes to the blanket of snow beneath him. He lifted his checkered scarf so that it'd cover his mouth.
"And you won't go run off with some foreign girl?" Axel some how understood the muffled sentence and chuckled from Roxas's weird question.
"Nope." Roxas suddenly looked back up with tears welling up in his blue eyes. Smiling sadly, the older boy affectionately rubbed a hand on top of the others golden locks.
"And you'll be careful right? Promise me you will." Arms wrapped around his small body and pulled him in close. The warmth of Axel blocked out all the surrounding chill and he of course returned the embrace. Salty water dampened the taller boy's sweater as tears steadily flowed out of the boy in his arms.
"I promise, Roxas." He sealed the vow with a gentle kiss.
Roxas had slid the piece of paper back into the envelope before he had a chance to ruin it with his tears.