Author's Note: Because of my inability to complete the first two damn pages of my other fic, "Snapshots and Drying Ink" I decided to write this one-shot instead. Okay, it was SUPPOSED to be a one-shot, but I'm making it into multiple chapters instead. You know, to motivate myself and what not. Anyway, thanks for deciding to read this. Please remember to review, and constructive criticism is welcomed. And another thing - if you notice, I sort of accidentally wrote this story in both present and past tense. No, that's not me being awesome and witty, that's just my own stupidity and inability to write well. Sorry if you actually notice and get confused by it.

Memento Mori

Do you know what it means?

I honestly didn't know why I kept coming to these damn parties. There was nothing there for me anymore, so I guess I just went for the hell of it. Because I sure as hell would rather be back at my little rat's nest, blowing smoke into the already polluted air, lying on my back and staring into nothing.

Tch. Yeah, right.

Anything was better than just sitting around in my own filth, like a complete nobody. Coming to these parties made me feel alive, see. Well, used to. Now…I guess my heart's just not into it anymore, you know?

I leaned casually against the back of the club, crushing my cigarette into the graffiti covered walls. If I went back into the party now, I could make it home by 1 AM…pfft, if I drove. But I don't want to risk getting a DUI. Those doughnut eating bastards have been really riding my case lately, what with those freaky cult killings and what not. But, whatever. I guess I can make it back if I crawled or some-

I don't know if I even want to know.

I could've sworn that a real cat was hiding in this alley, probably hungry or whatever. That is until I turned around and came crotch-to-face with some blonde bare-footed kid in what looked like a ghost sheet. He was kneeling on the ground making little kitty noises.

My god, there was a crazy on the loose…an escapee from a happy house. How in the hell did he get unnoticed in this city, especially at this time of night, and in this area?

I turned away quietly, backing away slowly towards the other end of the alley, trying not to step on a beer can or something. I don't want him biting me and giving me rabies or whatever crazy craziness he has.

"Sora?"

Oh shi-

"Sora, is that you?"

"Uh…"

He rushed forward and grabbed my coat in what would have been a choke hold if he'd reached high enough. But jeez…in this crappy moonlight, in his crazy looking sheet, the kid didn't look half-bad. A little insane, but what did I expect from a happy house resident? But as close as this kid is (ohmigod he's going to bite my nose off), when you get a good look into his eyes…wow, you know?

"You're…not Sora…"

"You're…kinda hurting me…"

He let go of his strained grip and backed away, slowly. A horrified look grows on his face, complete with widening eyes and a gaping mouth; his entire body starts to shake and he looked like he was about to have a-

"Sora!"

-seizure.

I half dive over to him and cover his mouth, pulling him into a sort of bear hug. He goes wild and starts flailing all over the place "Damn…hey, crazy! Stop shaking! I'm a nice guy, alright? Niiiice. And if you DON'T STOP SCREAMING the guys with the long needles and mean faces are going to take you away, okay? So stop-"

"Let go!"

He tore himself from me and braced himself against the wall, panting and gearing his head around wildly. Next thing I knew, he'd flung his head in my direction, and sent me a look that could've frozen hell over.

"I don't know who you are, but you'd better stay away from me. I don't want you to force me into whatever crazy things you do at places like this at this time of night." He scans my body with his eyes before turning away with a huff, going down towards the darker end of the alley.

Fine, he-

Wait a sec…

"Did…did you just call me crazy? Look kid, I'm not the one in a dark alleyway meowing like a lost cat in a sheet in the middle of the night. I was trying to stop the tantrum you were on or…whatever it is you were doing. Got that? I'm not the crazy one here."

He pauses in his bare-footed stride and looks over his shoulder. "I-ah."

He stepped on a piece of broken glass, and blood was running down his foot and pooling on towards the sidewalk.

"See?" I sighed as I walked towards him. "Completely crazy. Well, you can't walk now, can you?"

"I don't need your help."

"Huh. Sure." I lean over to inspect his foot, but he slaps my hand away. "I said I don't need your help!"

"Dammit! So you're saying that you just want to walk around the city like this?"

He looks away. "I do what I have to."

"But you want to find your cat, right?"

He looked confused. "What?"

"Isn't that what you were looking for? You're cat Sora?"

"Er…yeah. He ran away yesterday."

I feel kind of bad for him. Maybe it was what helped keep him sane. Losing pets can be hard on kids.

"If you at least let me fix your foot, I'll help you find your cat, okay?"

"I don't need your help!"

"What have you got to lose, kid? Besides a foot? Come on, I don't live far from here."

"...Fine."

It's what I live by.

After losing a battle involving a human foot, tape, bandages, a ripped shirt, a frozen steak, some beer, and the occasional swear, blondie and I wound in my living/dining/guest room. I smoke casually on my couch, while he just stands there looking nervous. I don't think they have couches in crazy homes, because he stares at it like it's going to eat him or something.

"'S matter now, kid? I fixed your foot, and we'll find you kitty in the morning. Why don't you rest or something? Or do you want to go home?"

"You call this," he lifts up his foot in all its taped, broken bandages, and meat stench glory. "Fixed?"

"Hey, it stopped bleeding, right?"

He rolls his eyes and slowly lowers himself to the floor, being careful to avoid the haphazardly thrown clothes and year old food. "So…now what?"

It was a good question, and I couldn't give him an answer. It was dark enough outside to make the streets fatal, and it would go against my conscious to kick him out. I don't want him getting mugged or killed or kidnapped or anything. Or all three.

Especially not after spending most of my living resources to fix his damn foot-

"Okay?"

"What?"

"I said that you don't have to help me find my cat, okay? I can find him myself."

"Are you sure?" the thought of this innocent looking kid wandering around a dark street at night made my stomach twist.

"……" he looks down, and his face contorts into a half scared, half frustrated look.

"Just stay here tonight. In the morning, I'll take you all around the city, and we won't come back till we find Sora, okay?" I throw him a large, fake, corny smile that made me inwardly cringe.

"Okay. But where am I going to sleep?"

Oh. Hadn't thought of that. "Climb up here on the couch with me."

"What? There's barely enough room for you, and we just met. And I don't like sleeping near other people."

"Oooh. Bratty, aren't we? Think of it as a new experience. Besides, can you think of anywhere else to sleep in this place? No? Thought so. Get up here."

As he settles himself behind me, he mutters, "I don't even know your name."

"It's Axel. A-x-e-l. Got it memorized? What's yours?"

"…it's not important."

"What? I invite you into my home, fix your foot, and give you a place to sleep, but you can't even tell me your name?"

He shuffles around for a bit, and then becomes silent. I thought he'd fallen asleep, until he swings his leg around and drops it on my hip. To my surprise, he's actually pretty heavy.

"Yeah, you can totally tell, right?"

"Hey, I did my best!"

What a weird way to live.

When I wake up in the morning, I immediately notice 3 things. 1) I'm not alone in my couch. 2) There's something squeezing me. 3) I think I'm spooning with whoever this is.

Well, I guess I got drunk last night after all.

I turn around to tell the prostitute or whoever to get the hell out of my place, when I notice that whoever's clutching my back is not only a guy, but also the blonde kid I picked up last night. Surprise, surprise.

What's his name…?

I shake him. "Hey, kid."

"…mmnnn."

"Wake up, crazy. The sun's out."

"…not yet…"

"Don't you want to find your kitty? Huh?"

He whimpers. "I don't want to go yet."

It must be medicine time back at the crazy house. I shook him harder. "Hey, we're wasting time!"

He opens his eyes and looks at me and damn if he doesn't have the deepest blue eyes ever. "Axel?" he blinks rapidly and burrows into my chest. I guess I forgot to get out of the couch. "Are we…is this still…I'm not going yet, am I?" his voice is a little slurred but shaky. I don't know what he's talking about, but he looked terrified. He must have had a bad dream or something.

"You're not going anywhere, so don't worry." Against my better judgement, and whatever morals or standards I had, I hugged him into my chest. "We'll find your cat, don't worry."

"Yeah…" his eyes widen and he shoots up. "Oh yeah…we have to find Sora."

"Yes, yes we do. Did you have a bad dream?"

"What?"

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"No." He swings his legs over me and hops off the couch. Of course. It's not like I expected an explanation to all that whimpering.

"Hey, do you at least want to eat?"

He looks at the 3 month old moldy sandwich on the floor of the kitchen, then at the beer bottles, and then at me. "No."

"We'll eat out, then. Do you want a different shirt?"

He looks at the dirty clothes strewn across the room. I should really do my laundry. "Do you have anything clean?"

I didn't even think my clothes would fit him. "Yes, but you're going to have to tell me your name. You don't want me calling you 'kid' or 'crazy', do you?"

He turns around and kicks away a beer can. "It's Roxas."

Finally. "Roxas, okay. Well, Roxas, shall we go?"

Maybe. But it's the only way I know.

All I could find that was mostly clean was a red t-shirt and baggy jeans. He looks kinda cute in my clothes, even if they are too big for him. In the end, I didn't have any money left to spend, so we had to eat whatever was in my fridge. So I took some bread, burned it, and we had some toast. He sniffed and picked at it like he'd never seen it before, and then bit into it like it was poisoned or something. It didn't taste that bad. It was edible at least.

Once we were outside, I asked, "Where do we start looking?"

He shrugged. "I think we should go back to that alley."

"You think so?" I lit a cigarette. "But he wasn't there last night, right? Wanna try somewhere else?"

He reaches up and plucks the cigarette from my mouth. "Smoking is bad for you."

"Thanks, mom. I'm aware of it."

"If you are, then why do you keep doing it?"

Because it makes me feel alive. But what would he understand? "Roxas, don't you think that we should look somewhere else? Cats stray when they're alone. He might have been picked up and taken to a shelter or something."

"No, we have to go back there. He swore he'd be there."

"Your cat talks?"

"…yes?"

I shrugged and began walking towards the night club. If he talks to it, so what? When I'm drunk enough, my door talks.

But I'm still a little worried.

The alley was empty of every living thing, including cats, and smelled worse than it did last night. But the kid, that is, Roxas, insisted on sitting down and waiting for his pet animal to arrive at the place they agreed on. I waited with him, because I had nothing better to do, and because leaving him alone made me feel weird.

"If he's not here," I began, taking out a cigarette. "Or if he doesn't come, where else do you want to look?"

He takes it from me and tosses it behind him. "We'll have to go back."

"Giving up already? It's a cat! It'll come up somewhere."

He shakes his head. "No." A sigh. "Let's just leave now. We can come back later. Thanks for waiting with me. You didn't have to."

"I promised you, didn't I?"

Ah, poor kid. As we left, I wondered if I could afford to by him a new cat. How much did they cost, anyway? Could he talk to this one if-

"Axel!"

Before I could answer, I'm shoved up against a wall, and Roxas falls to the ground behind me. Some large, overly sized asshole in a black dress with a hood paraded down like he owned the alley and shoved us aside. Worse things have happened, so I'm not hurt, but I can't say the same for the kid.

I help him up, but there's a folded black paper attached to his back. Funny. I don't think it was there before. "What's this?" I pulled it off and opened it.

In large, white letters there is a message, and when he reads it, his face drains. I hope he isn't going to flip out again. "What's it say?"

He swallows hard and closes his eyes. "Memento Mori."

"What's it mean?"

He opens his eyes and turns toward me. "It means…" his eyes shake and fill with tears. "That Sora isn't coming. And…I can't go back with you. Sorry."

A/N: Holy shit, I actually finished this chapter. I had to slap myself repeatedly so that I could push out the chapter to 8 pages. And I wrote this whole thing over the span of like, a MONTH. Woo. -victory dance- I highly suggest that you DON'T look up "Memento Mori" and spoil the mystery of the story. Please review me, eh? If I don't get at least 5, I ain't updating. I mean it. I'm a review whore. (Typos fixed)