AN: Yay! My first Kingdom Hearts fanfiction for FFdotnet! I hope you guys like it, it's not all that great ^^;. I got my friend, Brianna, to help me with the end so thank you B!!! That and I don't think I got Reno in character. Like, at all...so I'm warning you now, OOC RENO!! xDD lol.

DISCLAMER: Do you really think I own Kingdom Hearts? Well, sadly, I don't. So there.

Every man is afraid of something.
That's how you know he's in love with you; when he is afraid of losing you.
~ Unknown

Tragedy is something we cannot avoid. It happens to everyone at some point in their lives, whether it affects our lives greatly or not. Tragedy is not always seen and can happen in a blink of an eye. I had to learn this lesson the hard way, a way I wish never would have happened, but I could not control it.

The day had started out like any other day. It was early in the morning, too early in my opinion, but then again I'm not much of a morning person. My room was dark, curtains closed, but my door had been thrown open from the other side, the blinding white light flooding into my room. My annoying older brother, who just had to be a morning person, strode into my room to the window and pushed the curtains to the side. I groaned, lazily pulling my pillow over my head and refusing to open my eyes and look at the older red haired man.

"God damn it, Axel!" my brother sighed, "It's like a freakin' sauna in here! How the hell do you get to sleep?" I couldn't help it. I absolutely hated being cold. I ignored my brother and tried to fall back asleep but my covers were ripped off me. I covered my bare chest, shivering slightly at the sudden cooler air, before reaching up and chucking my pillow at the older male.

"What the hell, Reno?" I growled, "Its Saturday! It's not like I have school," I reached over for my alarm clock, picking it up and nearly shoving it into his face. "It's only 9:30! Was it really necessary for you to wake me up now?" Reno just smirked.

"Fine. If you want Roxas to get pissed at you for being late for another date, be my guest," he said as he left the room.

Roxas. Shit, I almost totally forgot. I literally jumped out of bed, nearly tripping over my bed sheets, and raced around the room, grabbing any article of clothing I could find. I Ran into the bathroom and shoved my younger sister, Kairi, out, slamming the door shut in her face. I chuckled quietly to myself as I heard her screams of protest from outside. She did have slight temper issues, and I'd probably have to deal with them later. I quickly showered, wrapping a towel lazily and quickly around my waist before stepping out. I ran a brush through my crimson red hair, it spiking up as it dried all on its own. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a white long sleeve shirt, with a darker red t-shirt over top before running back out of the bathroom and the towel and my sleep pants into the laundry hamper. My green eyes glanced over at Kairi, who was standing just out side the bathroom looking extremely pissed off. She was still in her pyjama…dress…thing…and her dark red hair was an absolute mess.

"I'd get cleaned up before going to meet Namine, Kairi. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to walk around with you looking like that," I smirked before jogging down the stairs, pushing the white sleeves of my shirt up to my elbows as I heard her scream and stomp into the bathroom.

When I reached the kitchen, Reno was sitting lazily at the table, and he of course had his feet up on the table. I smacked the back of his head as I walked past.

"Ow! Axel!"

"Don't put you disgusting feet on the table,"I growled. I quickly slipped on my shoes, pulled on a sweater, grabbed my wallet, and left the house.

By the time I got to the café where I was supposed to meet Roxas, I was five minutes late. I sighed, hoping that Roxas wouldn't be too upset, and opened the glass door, listening to the quiet jingle of a bell. The small shop was nearly empty. I'll admit that I wasn't all too surprised; it was only about 10:15 according to my cell phone. I scanned the room for my small blond, finding him quite easily. He was sitting at a booth on the other side of the room by the windows. He wore his light grey skinny jeans with his checkered hoodie. His chin rested in his hand while he gazed out the window.

I watched his black, worn-out converse shoe tap impatiently as I approached, biting my bottom lip lightly. I slowly slid into the seat across from him. His bright blue eyes glanced over at me and he let his hand drop on the table as he turned his head to face me.

"Good morning, Axel," he greeted with a smile on his face. I blinked. Wasn't he mad? I was late again. I was sure he'd be pissed this time.

"Sorry I'm late," I apologized, giving the blond an awkward smile. He simply waved a hand at me.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's only five minutes, no big deal."

"You seem in a rather good mood today," I said, leaning back into the seat and resting my hands on my stomach.

"Yes well, Sora stayed the night with Riku, so I got the bedroom to myself," he paused, frowning slightly, "Except Cloud was being a bastard. He wouldn't leave me the fuck alone." I nodded in response. Sora and Cloud were Roxas' brothers. Sora, being his twin, and Cloud being his older brother. However, even though Sora and Roxas were twins, Sora was completely opposite from the blond. Yeah, they were the same height and had the same facial features and eye color, but Sora was a brunet – the only brunet child in the family – and childish while Roxas was blond almost too mature for his age.

"Anyways," Roxas started up, "what are the plans for today, other than sitting around here."

"Wait a minute, you mean you didn't think about that? I thought you were the one planning today!" I muttered. Roxas chuckled to himself.

"Ah, it doesn't matter; let's just do whatever, okay?" He said, standing to his feet. I followed and we walked out of the café and into the cool, January air.

Later that night, I was sitting and watching T.V with Kairi. She was rattling on about her day with Namine, Roxas' younger sister, but I wasn't really listening. I was just occationally nodding my head and muttering a "uh-huh", or an "oh really?" every now and then. After about fifteen minutes of girly torture I managed to escape up stairs to my room. I changed into a pair of my black, fleece, sleep pants and a loose black shirt. I flopped down on my bed, leaning over to my bed side table and opening the top drawer. Sticking my hand in, I began searching lazily for my PSP. 'Pens, batteries, keys, Tylenol, lighter…ah ha! There it is!' I thought before pulling out the sleek black game system. Just as I began to play, the phone rang. I sat up to answer it, but the phone stopped ringing before my feet hit the ground. I shrugged, figuring either the caller hung up, or Reno or Kairi answered it. I was just about to un-pause my game when I heard Reno's muffled voice from downstairs.

"…Cloud? ...Are you okay?" he asked. I could tell something was up, just by the sound of his voice. I slowly stood up, leaving my PSP on the bed and left the room. "Oh my god…"I heard the older male once more as I continued down the stairs. Kairi had turned off the T.V and was watching as Reno looked around the room warily. I stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking over at Kairi and mouthing 'what's going on?' She simply shook her head and shrugged.

"Alright, I'll tell them," Reno murmured quietly before he hung up the phone. Kairi and I stayed silent as Reno slowly turned. His expression was blank and his blue eyes were unreadable, almost holding no emotion what so ever. I caught Kairi shift uncomfortably, her left hand rubbing the upper part of her right arm and biting her lower lip.

"What is it, Reno?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm, even though I was feeling extremely anxious. Reno was quiet for a moment before taking a deep, sharp, shaky breath.

"I really don't want to be the one to tell you guys this," he murmured quietly, his eyes avoiding our gaze by staring blankly at the floor and shaking his head, "but the Strife family got in a pretty bad car accident." Kairi gasped, her hands flying in front of her mouth. I wasn't all too surprised. Kairi had known Sora and Namine since she was in kindergarten.

"What happened?" I managed to spit out, rather quickly I might add. Reno was once again silent.

"Reno!" Kairi said, her voice raised, after what seemed like hours of silence. I could that she was worried, her eyes were watering.

"They were hit by a drunk driver," the redhead explained, his eyes glancing over to Kairi, "Namine and Sora are fine, since they were in the back seat, just a couple cuts and bruises. Cloud is fine as well. He was extremely lucky, just a broken arm is all…" he fell silent again. I bit my lip roughly when he failed to mention Roxas.

"…And Roxas?" I muttered quietly, refusing to look at my almost identical older brother.

"He…was thrown through the windshield," Reno replied and before he could continue, I rushed up stairs, ripping off my sleep pants and throwing on an old pair of jeans. I grabbed my keys out of my drawer and slipped on a sweater before rushing back downstairs.

"Axel! Where are you going?" Kairi asked when I reached the door, quickly putting my shoes on.

"The hospital," I answered quickly, throwing the front door open.

"I'm coming with you," she said shakily, slipping on her own shoes and grabbing her jacket from the coat rack. We both rushed out to my car, ignoring Reno's shouts of protest, saying that mom and dad wouldn't be too happy when they got home and we weren't there, and pulled out of the drive way, listening to the old car screech as I turned out onto the main road.

When we reached the emergency section of the hospital, we immediately rushed to the front desk, pushing past patients, their families, and doctors. The woman behind the desk was busy typing away on her computer and filling out forms. She looked young, no older than 25. Her brown hair was pulled up into a loose bun and her glasses hung from a string around her neck.

"Roxas, I need to see…Roxas" I managed to breathe out, Kairi appearing beside me not long after.

"And Sora and Namine," my sister added.

"I need to know their last name," The nurse looked up and smiled sweetly.

"Strife," we said in unison. I watched as her warm, brown eyes left us and went back to the computer. I bit my lip, tapping my foot impatiently as she looked up the room.

"Ah ha, here we are, Strife," the nurse said, the smile still on her face. I growled quietly to myself. How could she smile working in a place like this? "They're in room 313," she said. The minute I got the room number, I rushed to the elevator, Kairi not far behind. I pushed the button for the third floor and started pounding on the close door button.

"Axel! Calm down!" Kairi growled, grabbing a hold of my arm and tried to keep it still at my side.

"Stupid elevator is too slow" I muttered quietly under my breath. Kairi sighed.

When the elevator reached the third floor, the door opened with a "bing" sound. I jogged out of the elevator and looked down the hall, trying to find room 313. I walked quickly, Kairi switching from walking to jogging at my side to keep up, as I muttered numbers under my breath. It wasn't long till I found the room I was looking for. The door was a plain wood, with a black plaque on it's left side, the number 313 in large white writing and the family's last name on it just below. I raised my hand hesitantly before letting my knuckles quietly hit the wood three times. After a moment, the door was slowly opened, revealing Cloud. He looked tired and almost worn out. A small, almost forced smile, twitched up on the corners of his mouth.

"Axel, Kairi…what're you doing here?" He asked, running his good hand through his blond, spikey hair.

"I need to see Roxas," I explained, "I need to know if he's alright." Cloud was quiet and he closed his eyes and shook his head before stepping out into the hallway, quietly shutting the door behind him.

"We…We're not sure if he's going to make it," Cloud explained quietly, "He hit the ground pretty hard when he flew through the windshield…not to mention the glass." I shook my head.

"Don't say that," I murmured, "Roxas is a strong lil guy, and he'll pull through easily." I know that I was saying that, just to try and convince myself. Cloud shook his head and muttered something to himself before looking to meet my gaze.

"You can go in and see him if you want. He's asleep right now though," then he turned to look at Kairi, "Sora and Namine went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. C'mon, I'll take you down there," he said with a wave of his hand as he turned down the hallway. Kairi followed Cloud quietly and I turned to look at the door. I took a deep breath before slowly opening the door.

"Oh god…"I muttered quietly when I saw him, my head shaking slightly and my body leaning against the door frame for support. He was worse than I had thought. The room was dark with no lights on, except for a small lamp beside Roxas' hospital bed. Many machines surrounded his bed, a couple beeping annoyingly. His body was covered in bandages, some I could see the faint red of what I assumed was blood, and casts. His left eye was a dark shade of blue and purple and there was a large gouge in his right cheek. Wires and tubes stuck out of him every which way, and his heart monitor was going off at a steady, slow rate. When I had saw him this morning, he was cheery and happy, looking at him now made me feel numb. I gulped, trying to get rid of a lump that had formed in my throat as I slowly shut the door behind me and made my way to the small chair on the right side of his bed. My vision started to blur, so I blinked and rubbed my eyes as I sat down. I pursed my lips together as I gazed at the younger blond, slowly lifting my hand to hold his left one, gently of course. His chest rose, slowly and almost shakily.

"Roxas" I sighed, shaking my head slowly, looking at my lap. I couldn't bear to look at him.

"Axel?" A cracked, weak voice muttered from beside me. I looked back up at Roxas. He was awake, and…smiling? How could he smile at a time like this? Did he not see the condition his own body was in? And his eyes, even though he was smiling, his normally bright and happy eyes were dull and lifeless.

I forced myself to smile. "Hey, glad to see you up," I whispered quietly, gently brushing my thumb against the back of his hand. He was quiet, just looking at me and smiling.

"I'm happy that you came," his voice was cracking again, it seemed like he had to force himself to talk.

"Don't talk. Save your strength for something else," I sighed, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the edge of the bed. Roxas shook his head slowly.

"There's no point in trying, Axel. You know just as well as I do… I won't make it," He said slowly. I bit my lip.

"Rox, I know you can. You just have to rest-"
"Axel," He stopped me, "It's impossible. The doctors tried…I'm just…too weak." I stood up quickly, knocking the chair to the ground as I did.

"No! You're not weak and you know that! Why do you always think so little of yourself!? Nothing is impossible, Roxas! Not if you try!" I said a little louder then I had meant to. His blue eyes looked away and up at the ceiling. I bit my lip again and slowly bent over, picking up the chair and sitting back down. "I'm sorry," I mumbled, "But I.…y-you can't leave me, Roxas. At least not like this. I don't want you to go." He sighed before slowly turning his head to look at me.

"Hey, it's not like I want to go...." He whispered. I didn't realize that tears were now freely streaming down my face, but I did notice that Roxas' heart monitor had started to slow down at a frightening rate. I gulped, quickly standing and rubbing my eyes.

"I'm going to go get you a doctor," I murmured, turning around and taking a step forward, but something stopped me. I turned my head to see Roxas sitting up, his hand gripping onto my own lightly, but it looked like he was using all his strength just to do these two small actions.

"No. Don't…don't go," he struggled to talk. I nodded slowly and he laid back down, refusing to let go of my hand. "It's no use. If you left now, by the time you got back it'd be too late." He sighed and fell silent for a moment and I starred at him blankly. "Listen to me, I want you to promise you won't pull a Cloud and get all emo after I'm gone, alright?" He gave a small, weak laugh before becoming quiet again.

He was silent for what seemed like ages. I watched as his chest rose and fell shakily, almost heavily like his was struggling to breathe. His blue eyes closed a moment and I blinked back tears, slowly sitting back down in my chair. My eyes were glued to him. No matter how much I wanted to look away, I just couldn't. It hurt to see him like this.

"Axel," his voice was quiet; barely even a whisper, "I-I'm really sorry about this whole thing…please tell my family that, and tell them that I'll miss them and that I love them…and our friends," he gave a small smile, "I know Demyx will be heartbroken that he didn't get to say goodbye." Ah, Demyx. He was like a child sometimes, but Roxas was right. The kid would be upset, but he'd get over it eventually…unless of course someone brought the subject up again. Then he'd probably cry like a baby for a good fifteen minutes. I knew for a fact I would never get over him, and he knew that. "Axel, I want you to be happy too."

"You know that won't be possible without you. I need you, Roxas. You're the only thing that gets me out of bed every morning; because I know I'll get to see you. Not Namine, or Demyx, or hell, even Xion. Only you."

"It has to be," he sighed awkwardly "You said it yourself, nothing is impossible."

"Well maybe I was wrong," I mumbled under my breath.

"You weren't wrong," He breathed. His talking had seemed to slow drastically almost like he was pausing between every other word.

"Then how come your leaving me!" I argued standing and pushing the chair to the ground again. Tears ran down Roxas' cheeks as he closed his eyes slowly.

"I don't want to leave you," he whispered.

I realized I was now crying too. I didn't bother to pick up the chair and knelt down beside the bed. I carefully took his hand in mine again. "Roxas look at me," I murmured quietly. He slowly turned his head and opened his almost lifeless blue eyes. "It hurts me more than you know to say goodbye…I love you so much. I just can't bear to lose you."

"I…Love you too, Axel" He said slowly. His eyes then closed once more and I felt my heart begin to race. Then Roxas' heart monitor had become a steady, monotone, beep.