Author's Note: A fanfiction for my Eechi-love, because she asked for an AkuRoku fanfiction after we finished 358/2 Days, and I was all too eager to write one.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Boo.
Warning: -shrugs-
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A Study in HandsA lot can be said about a person by just looking at their hands.
Roxas's hands were rough from the very beginning, made calloused through months of gripping cool metal. His fingernails were always ragged and bitten down to the quick, as he had a habit of chewing on his nails when he was worried. (The habit was quickly put to rest by Xion, who insisted that it was disgusting and said she'd pinch him every time she saw him doing so.) His hands were small but capable.
Xion's hands were small and delicate, fingers long and thin. They were soft, too – strange, since she wielded the keyblade just as Roxas did. At first you could see the veins clearly through her skin, dark purple and blue against the white of her skin. Her nails were long, and she liked to tap them against glass or stone just to hear the click-click-click because the quiet that echoed in the hallways of the castle could drive anybody insane.
Axel's hands were by far the largest of the trio, with slender fingers and a burnt palm. Axel played with fire, after all, and those who play with fire get burnt. He talked with his hands, large sweeping gestures and finger pointing. His fingers were always stiff, and he cracks them each time he summoned his chakrams. They were stiff because he held onto things tightly, as if afraid that they would disappear if he let out.
He clutched both Xion and Roxas's hands in his larger ones, and they were happy to be held. They were friends, were they not? But as the days passed – day 100 or something, Axel thinks – they began to pull at their hand. He only held on tighter. Xion pulled the hardest, and finally he let her go. Reluctantly. She stood beside him, but her hands were pressed against her chest as if protecting herself. Axel turned to Roxas – the boy he cared about, and as he started figuring out the truth, the boy he was afraid for – and he entwined his burnt fingers with Roxas's rough ones and held on for his life.
Day 200 or something, Xion started reaching for Roxas.
As the days wore on and Axel's fingers grew stiffer, he unconsciously started letting go. Xion grabbed whereas Axel let go, flailing and reaching and pleading – "Roxas, lets go to the beach. The beach!"
In the end he was left reaching for a hand that was fading away, no longer existent, and for a hand that was clenched tightly, knuckles white and shaking. Everything he cared about and tried to hold onto was gone or out of his reach. Xion – his best friend, that no matter how angry he was, couldn't help but forgive. And Roxas – his best friend who he struggled to keep by his side and would do anything for.
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Not exactly AkuRoku but you can see the hints, yes?