Fading Embers

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side........" I said looking at the hundreds and thousands of Dusks surrounding me and Rox- er.......Sora.....

"Feeling a little...regret?" Sora asked.

I scoffed. "Nah.....I can handle these punks." I looked forward, contemplating whether I should use that. "Heh." I said, making up my mind, "Watch this." I jumped away from Sora, not wanting him to get hurt. My chakrams began swirling in flames and spirals of fire rose out of 'nowhere'. "AAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!" I yelled, unleashing my ultimate attack.

After the big flash of light, I saw Sora a bit disoriented, trying to find where I was. Boy, was he going to be in shock. "Whoa!" he gasped, all the nobodies were gone! Well.....almost. "You're...fading away....." Sora said, kneeling besides me.

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean? Not that Nobodies actually HAVE beings......right?"

"Hey Axel." The young blonde said, running up to me.

"What is it buddy?" I said, handing him some sea-salt ice-cream.

"I've been wondering.....Why do we exist?"

I was awe struck. "What........?" I couldn't even form the words right.

"We, the Nobodies, have no beings. We don't exist. So how are we here? WHY.....are we here?"

"Anyways." I said, trying to forget, "I digress. "Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot...Sorry for what I did to her."

"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself." The boy looked hopeful.

"Hey, when you find Namine......can you tell her I said sorry?" I asked my best friend.

He looked at me funny. "When we find her, you can tell her that yourself."

I had transported Namine to the Lands of Ice as a way to let off some steam. She hasn't returned, so me and my friend were planning on looking for her. Well, he was. He made me come along with him.

I laughed half-heartedly. "Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." I laughed a little harder.

Even after all this. The Nobodies. The Heartless. The Organization. The pathetic manipulations. The Key to Destiny. And for what? In the end, not only did I not gain a heart.....I lost my only true friend........

"Axel....." Sora began, realizing that I wouldn't be able to go with him, "What were you trying to do?"

'Deja Vu.......' I thought to myself. 'His questions always did catch me off guard.'

"Axel?.........Why do you want a heart?"

A sudden image of my friend appeared in Sora's place. "I wanted to see Roxas."

"Axel? Why do you keep staring at me?" Roxas said, backing up a little bit. "Are you.....Are you gay?" He asked, half joking.

"Ahahahaha." We laughed together as our ice-cream melted in the twilight.

"He....was the only one I liked......"

"What's it like having a heart?" Another random question. "I'm not like the rest of you. I can't remember my somebody. I can't remember.....anything....."

Sometimes I actually felt sorry for him.....

"..He made me feel.....like I had a heart......." I stared at Sora, and for the first time, saw the resemblance between him and....... "Funny.....You make me feel...the same...."

"We won't be together forever, so lets make the best of the time we do have together."

"Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go!" I said, using the last of my powers, the last of my embers, to open a dark portal.

"Axel....."

All this time, I've been trying to save you. Now I know you didn't need, or want, someone to save you. What you wanted, was for someone to find you.

"Don't worry Roxas.......We'll have all the time we need to spend together." I replied.

He stared at me like I was crazy.

"Don't you remember? We promised to meet again in the next life." I told him "Got it memorized?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. I'll be waiting."

Roxas began to walk away, on some mission Xemnas had assigned him.

"Silly....." Axel sighed, knowing Roxas can't hear him, "Just because you have a next life....."

I Don't Own Kingdom Hearts