The Watch and the Wind

Summary: "Thief" was so negative. Axel preferred to think of himself as a liberator, thank you very much.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. This story was inspired by The Time Traveler's Wife and a few episodes of Doctor Who. I don't own them, either. Also, Seussical the musical? Not mine.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Axel was sprinting as fast as he could down the corridor, but that didn't hinder the enormous shit-eating grin on his face. He'd gotten what he came for. He looked down to the item in his hand. It was simple enough: a plain watch, sort of like a cheapo Timex Wal-Mart might carry. All similarities ended there, of course, or Axel would have just broken into a Wal-Mart.

He'd gotten the information about the watch from a note left on his desk. It was surprisingly informative, containing codes and tricks to bypass security. His superior was kind of a badass motherfucker like that. Axel had no idea how he'd known all this stuff, but it made breaking and entering that much easier so he didn't complain.

Axel was brought back to reality by the sound of gunshots.

"Shit!" Axel said. "Shit shit shit!" He ran around a corner and cussed once more when he saw the dead end. He fastened the watch on his left wrist and began to fiddle with the buttons.

"Work, damn you." He hissed.

Axel looked up at the sound of footsteps. Two men with guns turned the corner.

"Give it up, naughty thief!" One of them cried.

Axel, instead of listening, continued jabbing at buttons.

"I said give it here! Or else I'll have to do some bad stuff!" The man aimed his gun at Axel. "You have until the count of five!"

Axel grimaced. Like hell he was giving up the watch! This thing was priceless.

"One."

"Work work work!" Axel muttered.

"Two. Three. Four."

And then Axel grinned as a soft wind began to blow around him.

"No!" The other guard hissed. "Take that thing off!"

"FIVE!" The man who had been counting down waved his hands frantically while the other opened fire, shooting directly at Axel.

But Axel was already gone.

"Oomph!" Axel landed in a pile of leaves. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, where the fuck am I?" Axel stood up, dusted himself off, and smirked at the watch.

"I'll be damned. You actually worked, you little sexy thing, you."

Axel looked around at the field he was in and stopped when his gaze met startling bright blue eyes.

"Hello there, kiddo!"

The child made a choking sound. Axel furrowed his brows. "Are you okay?"

"Ntposedtotaktoangers."

"Excuse me? I didn't understand a word of that." Axel walked closer to the boy, but the kid darted back behind a tree. So Axel walked around the tree, but the boy kept circling around so he wouldn't be seen.

"Stop following me!"

Axel paused. "I'm not following you."

"Shh! I said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers!"

Axel grinned. "Well, then. I'll introduce myself and we'll no longer be strangers." Axel sat down against the tree and waited for the boy to poke his head around the side. "My name is Axel."

"…Roxas."

"Roxas, huh? Well, hey there Roxie. Take a breather." Axel grinned and grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him down to sit beside him. "How old are you?"

"Four."

"Four, huh? You're pretty clever, knowing not to talk to strangers and all."

Roxas grinned at him. "Cloud 'n Sora teached me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. They're my big brothers. Today they didn't want to play." Roxas frowned. "They went to the tree fort and pulled up the ladder so I couldn't get up. 'Cause they're meanies." Roxas' bottom lip began to wobble.

"Hey! Buck up, little man." Axel said in an attempt to be comforting. "I'm sure they're just working on something. Maybe it's dangerous."

"Why do they get to do all the fun stuff?" Roxas pouted.

"Dangerous doesn't mean fun." Axel replied.

"What do you know? You're a weirdo man who came out of the leaves."

Axel laughed. "You know what? You're right, kid."

"Don't call me that. I'm not a baby."

Axel smiled at the sulking blonde. "What if I told you a secret?"

Roxas perked up. "A secret?" He whispered.

"Oh, yeah. A big one. But do you promise to keep it super safe and not tell anyone?" Axel smirked as Roxas nodded enthusiastically. "See this?" Axel showed Roxas the watch on his wrist. "Guess what this is?"

"A watch?"

"Yep, but it's a super special watch."

"Does it make you fly?"

Axel grinned. "Nope, even better. I can travel through time."

"Travel through time?" Roxas looked confused. "How do you do that?"

"It means," Axel clarified, "that I can go from today back to yesterday or I can go forward to tomorrow."

Roxas' eyes widened in comprehension. "Wow!"

"I know. But I stole it."

"Axel!" Roxas looked shocked. "Stealing is very bad!"

"I know, so you got to keep that a secret."

Roxas nodded solemnly. "Okay."

Axel frowned when he felt wind blow around him. "Again? But I didn't hit anything!"

Roxas looked confused. "What's wrong?"

Axel looked up. "I'm going away."

"Why? Can't you stay and play pirates?"

"Roxie, I'd love to play pirates. I'll come back, alright?"

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Super-pinky-swear-double-dog-dare promise?"

Axel laughed. "Super-pinky-swear-double-dog-dare-with-cherries-on-top promise!"

Axel disappeared.

Axel reappeared in a dark room that was full of clothes. Highly confused, he fumbled along the wall looking for a light switch. He stumbled quite a bit, but managed to get the lights on.

He was in some sort of giant closet? It had shelves that were three stories tall filled with plastic containers labeled oddly. Axel wasn't sure who would need two boxes full of jock straps. There were hundreds of shoes to his left, dozens of hats to his right. And Axel was so confused.

He began fiddling with the watch in an attempt to go back and play pirates with Roxas, but it didn't work.

"Damn thing." He mumbled.

"I could have sworn I left this light off… Oh! And who are you? Why are you backstage?"

Axel turned and was blinded by the gayest Gaylord he'd ever seen. "Uh…"

"Are you lost?" The pink-haired man gesticulated energetically. "I bet you are. I bet you're an older sibling who tried to find the dressing room and got lost in the costume room! You poor thing."

"Oh. Yes." Axel nodded. Nice of the Gaylord to give him an excuse. "I think I'll just return to the audience and find them after."

"That'd be a great idea! The show's on in twenty, so I'd much rather you wait until the performance is over. Do you need me to show you the way?"

"No. Just tell me, please?"

"Down the hall, make a left and go up the stairs. You probably want the first floor; I'm not sure where you're sitting but there are stairs to the balcony on the first floor if you need them."

"Thank you, uh…"

"Marluxia."

"Yes. Thanks."

"No problem, sweetheart. I just wanted to find a few flowers to finish off a costume. Off you go, then!"

Axel wandered out of the room and went down the hall and up the stairs. He might as well watch the stupid thing. His damn watch wouldn't zap him back. He'd have time to fiddle during the show.

Axel picked the balcony and sat down in the back near two bored-looking teenagers.

"Did your parents drag you along too?" One said.

"Yes." Axel lied. "Yes, they did."

"Bummer." The blonde boy turned back to stare at his program. The brunette jabbed him in the shoulder.

"Lighten up, Cloud! It's not every day your little brother is an elephant!"

Cloud's glare was impressive, Axel decided. Even more impressive was the brunette's total obliviousness.

"Isn't it so cute? I wish we'd done this in middle school, Cloud. A school play! It's just oozing cute, you know?"

"Sora?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Axel only knew of one Sora and one Cloud that had one baby brother. Named Roxas. Who was going to be an elephant? And was now in middle school? Axel grinned. This time travel shit was the shit!

Axel sat listening to Cloud and Sora whine at one another for awhile until the lights dimmed.

And Axel watched what could only be described as a disaster. A miserable Cat-in-the-Hat whose voice was obviously bipolar and squealed like nails on a chalkboard. A not-at-all enthusiastic Roxas who was forced into the role, judging by his lack of enthusiasm. The most energetic character was probably the emo Who. Ho-ho? Something like that.

But it was all worth it because Roxas sang. Axel was impressed. No wonder he had been forced into a lead role—no way the Gaylord was going to waste a voice like that on Thing 1 or 2.

After the play, when Roxas had left his family and friends and well-wishers to return to the dressing room and lose his trunk and ears, Axel ambushed him.

"Holy fuck!"

"Roxie! Where do you learn language like that?"

Roxas blushed and shoved Axel in the chest. "Where do you think, dickhead?"

"Hey now, you're in middle school! Let's keep in PG."

Then awkward silence prevailed, until Roxas broke it.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came back to visit! I was trying to go back and play pirates-"

"Axel, that was seven years ago!"

"… Really?"

"Are you saying you just… popped here? With that watch?" Roxas looked skeptical.

"Yes. I did."

"But…" Roxas looked confused. "That can't be right. I mean, you've visited me before-"

"What do you mean—"

"…When I was younger than this, so are you just all out of order?"

Axel sighed. "Look, I don't know how this thing works. It just pops me around-"

"So you stole something that you have no idea how to use?"

"Well, yeah. It was worth money. But then I got caught and had to escape."

Roxas frowned. "So you just threw on the watch without thinking that maybe traveling through time is dangerous?"

"Uh, yeah! 'Cause it's badass, like me."

Roxas sighed. "You're so dumb."

"Aw, Roxie. You hurt my feelings."

"Seriously, Axel. You could get hurt doing crap like this. You need to figure out how to use that thing."

"I'm working on it! I mean, I just got it like… not even six hours ago-"

"It's been seven years-"

"Roxie, you gotta believe me. I stole it last night and then I went back to you at four and then I came here and-" Axel was cut off as wind began to circle around him. "Shit! Not now!"

Roxas growled. "Don't you think I'm letting you get away with this!"

Axel rolled his eyes and disappeared.

Axel reappeared in a playground. To be more precise, he appeared on a slide and then landed ass-first in the sand. Apparently it was attached to an elementary school, seeing as the acronym RGES was printed on all the individual pieces that formed the plastic slide. Axel got up and shook the sand from his pants.

"RGES." He mumbled to himself. "Radiant Garden Elementary School…?" That's the only place he could think of. Being a liberator from Hollow Bastion, he had little experience with Radiant Garden. He decided to snoop around.

As soon as he headed toward the school, he heard a bell. "Oh, shit."

What seemed like thousands of kids rushed from the school building in all directions. The swarm was headed down to the playground, so he moved to avoid being trampled in the direct path between school and fun. And then he felt a tug on his pants leg.

"Roxie?"

The blonde smiled up at him. "Whatcha doing here, Axel? Why are you at school? Are you in Cloud's class? Cloud doesn't go to school here 'cause he's in big kid school now. Why is your hair so red?"

Axel blinked. "Well, I-"

"Guess what? It's outside time now so I get to play. Do you want to play with me? I bet you do 'cause you're good at playing pirates-"

"Rox-"

"I like bugs. Squish squish bugs! Did you know cadepillers turn into boo-ti-full butterflies? Boo-ti-full is one of my spelling words 'cause it's hard to spell right sometimes. You know what else is fun? I like to play pirates-"

"Roxas, pleas-"

"Please and thank you! Those are the magic words, Axel. Mommy would be so proud of you! You have to say 'you're welcome' too!"

"ROXAS!" Axel startled the small boy into silence. "There we go. Now, how old are you now?"

"I'm in first grade! At school! I passed kindergarten and got to go on and Sora's in fourth grade but Cloud's in sixth and guess what's funny about that? I'm six years old! But still only in first grade, which is kinda funny like I said!"

Axel sighed and spent the remainder of Roxas' recess listening to the little boy chatter away about everything from frogs to noodles hanging from his kitchen ceiling. And then Roxas got teary eyed when he had to go back inside. Axel told him that he had to go anyway.

"That's right! You're a time traveler!" Roxas whispered very loudly. "But Sora and Cloud told me there's no such thing."

"Roxie, I thought I said that was a super secret."

"Well, I had to tell them!"

"You had too?"

"Yes! What if you were a keeper?"

"A what?"

"You know." Roxas hunched his shoulders and stuck out his hands and walked around like a zombie. "A person that follows little kids and gobbles them up!"

"A creeper?"

"Yeah! Cloud said to watch out for 'em."

"Well, what if I can prove to you I'm from the future?"

"How?"

Axel paused. "Well, what if I told you that Sora was going to break his arm next week?"

Roxas gasped. "But I'll have to wait 'til next week to see…!"

"Don't sound so excited, you violent little monster."

"No, I'm a tyrannosaurus rex! Rawr!"

"Ouch! Don't bite."

"I am the king of the dinosaurs! I bite whoever I want!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "It's time for all kings to return to their classrooms."

Roxas turned to see the teacher signaling him in. "Oh. Bye Axel! See you soon!" Roxas gave him a hug and left.

And Axel just stared after him.

"Well, shit."

A week later, Axel pushed Sora out of the tree fort and broke his arm. Then he "appeared" to the six year old and Roxas was thoroughly convinced that Axel had super powers.

Axel appeared on the doorstep of an impressive-looking house. In the rain. Fortunately, he was on the porch under an awning of some kind. It was too fancy to really be called a roof. Axel shrugged. He'd never understand the eccentric behaviors of the rich.

To his surprise, the front door opened and a super smiley woman bounced out with a baby on her hip and gave him a hug.

"Thank god you're here! I thought I'd never get out of here." She shoved the child into Axel's arms and spun around to reenter the house. "Thank you so much for coming, I know it's last minute. Let me show you where things are."

Axel reluctantly entered the house, grimacing as his hair was munched on. He tugged it gently from the baby's grasp. "You stop that."

Bright and innocent blue eyes met his gaze. Axel rolled his eyes. "Of course it's you."

"Okay! Sora and Cloud have already eaten dinner, so hopefully they shouldn't ask for a snack. Don't let them guilt trip you; after dinner, it's Cheerios and water only! Roxas has eaten, too, but he gets hungry sometimes and it's easier just to feed him than try to explain it's no longer dinnertime. If he gets fussy, I'll leave some baby food on the counter. He likes Cheerios and is always trying to keep up with his brothers, though, so he might refuse the baby food if Cloud and Sora are snacking with you."

Axel blinked and followed her voice into the kitchen. "How old are they, again?"

"Oh! Well, Cloud is seven, Sora just turned four, and Roxas here will be one in a few weeks!" She beamed. "Remind Sora to use the bathroom before bed. Sometimes he forgets and he'll wet it. Roxas, of course, is in diapers." She grabbed Roxas from Axel's arms and pulled down his pants. "See the stars? Well, sometimes these things have triangles or some other shape, but when he's wet they'll disappear. He'll cry, though, so you know. Sometimes he'll tell you. 'et' meets 'wet,' but sometimes he might be saying 'it'."

She set Roxas on the ground. Axel watched as he toddled along towards a stuffed bear. "Uh, and what if something happens?"

"Hm? Oh, I'll leave my contact information! No worries, dearest, I'm only having dinner with some friends! I should be back before one! At about eight, go ahead and start bathtime. Sora and Roxas share the tub, but make sure Sora doesn't frighten Roxas with his splashing. Cloud takes a shower while they're in the tub, but he's a little shy so let him start before you and then come in once he's in the shower. Just lie and tell him you can't see anything. Silly boy. Then Cloud usually reads to Sora, so use that time to try and get Roxas to go to sleep. You typically have to rock him. Sometimes he wants to go with his brothers, so there's also a rocking chair in Sora's room I use."

The woman paused to write numbers on a sheet of paper she'd placed on the counter. Roxas tugged on Axel's pants. Axel looked down and was presented with a bear. "For me?"

"He does that a lot, just hold it. He'll come back for it eventually. Oh, and don't let Roxas in Cloud's room. He's got his Legos set up just so and doesn't like them to get messed up. Sora knows not to touch them, but Roxas tries to eat the pieces. He's just at that stage. Legos are a choking hazard, I know, but Cloud can spend hours with those bricks." She finished her lengthy explanation. "Remember, you're free to anything in the fridge! Cloud and Sora are upstairs playing video games, I think. Good luck!" And she was gone.

Axel froze, suddenly realizing what he'd gotten himself into. "…I'm babysitting?"

Axel spent the first few minutes just standing there and mindlessly taking objects Roxas offered to him. At least until Roxas offered him a knife.

"Woah there, little guy! How on earth did you get this?" Roxas just smiled a bit and walked back over to his makeshift flight of stairs. "Hey, don't you climb up those!" Axel scooped him up and put the knife back in its holder. "Roxie, drawers are not for climbing. And stop eating my hair."

Then he heard a stampede of elephants coming down the back stairs. Two small blurs, one blonde and one brunette, slid on their socks through the kitchen and headed towards the pantry.

"Woah woah woah, what are you two doing?" Axel marched over to the door and saw Cloud reaching for the cookies.

Cloud turned and frowned at the redhead. "You're the babysitter?"

Axel pulled strands of his hair away from Roxas' mouth as he nodded.

"Well hi there, mister! My name is Sora! It's like the sky, my name! What's your name?"

"Axel."

"Wow! What a great name! This is Cloud and you've got Roxas. Don't worry, he eats lots of things. Did you know he'll even try to eat leaves and trash and play-dough and socks? He's so silly!"

"He's a baby, Sora." Cloud murmured, reaching for his blonde baby brother. Axel freely handed him over and was glad to see that Cloud's hair was apparently just as tasty. "I think he's hungry."

"Well, he's always trying to eat things! We should give him cookies."

Roxas perked up. "Ookies?"

Cloud smirked and eyed Axel. "Yes. We're having cookies."

Axel frowned. "No, Cheerios." And as soon as Roxas heard the word "no" he began to cry. "Oh, shit."

Cloud slapped his cheek innocently. "Oh, dear. Roxas is crying. We'd better see what we can do."

Sora, truly innocent, started bringing random things in a sweet attempt to appease his crying brother. Roxas didn't settle down, though. "Ookies!" He cried. "Ookies, Sowa!"

Axel looked murderously at Cloud, who continued to innocently wave the cookie bag in front of Roxas' face.

"I'm sorry, Rox. That meanie over there won't let us have any cookies." He sighed. "I wish we could too."

Sora tugged at Axel's pants, making the redhead wonder what about his pants attracted children. "Pleeeease, Mr. Axel? Please can we have cookies?"

Axel sighed. "Fine. One cookie apiece."

An entire bag of cookies later, Axel realized he had created sugar monsters. Cloud was hyperactively running around the house with a pirate hat and sword. Sora, ever the tag along, was running beside him with an eye patch and a dagger. Roxas, who had only eaten two cookies, was happily playing with red hair in Axel's lap while Axel tried to lip-read his favorite TV show. Axel had resigned himself to baby-drool hair.

Axel didn't see much reason to make the older boys stop running around. After all, they were burning off that energy. Eventually they'd go to sleep. Maybe. He hoped. And then Roxas shifted uncomfortably on his lap. Axel looked down and was met with teary eyes.

"What's the matter, Roxie?"

"Et."

"Hmm?"

"Et."

And then Axel realized what the baby meant. "Oh. Well, um, let's go see what we can do about that."

Changing diapers was not for the faint of heart. Axel was sort of nervous. After all, these were blondie's bits and everything. Roxas was sniffling, probably because Axel had smashed the poor kid's head against the wooden changing table while trying to get him down on the comfy padded thing. And then Roxas wouldn't stop wiggling.

Axel managed to get Roxas' little pants off. And then came the diaper. The stars were gone, and Axel was confronted with the gross thought of baby piss. But Axel just couldn't let Roxas lay there in it. So he unfastened the little straps and shoved the diaper into the diaper-genie thing

And then he was faced with crèmes! Baby crème. And wipes and gels and moisturizers! His face didn't even get this kind of attention. He fiddled with the products, wondering if he was supposed to use any of them. Then he felt it—the warm liquid on his shirt.

"Roxas!" He grabbed a clean diaper and covered the giggling baby's penis. "Roxas, you can't just pee on people like that! Stop giggling! It's gross and you know it, you little booger." Axel frowned at his shirt. He watched the squares disappear on the new diaper and then tossed it into the diaper genie.

"Now. How should we pamper your ass?" He heard a gasp and saw Sora's head in the doorway. "What?"

"That's a bad word! Mr. Axel, you can't say words that are bad!" Sora looked frightened.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Does your mom normally put anything on Roxas' butt?"

Sora moved towards the changing table. "…Will an answer get me more cookies?"

"We're out of cookies. You and Cloud ate them all."

"Ookie?"

Axel, taking matters into his own hands, just wiped Roxas gently and strapped a new diaper around him.

"Oh, you didn't need to do that! It's bath time! Cloud's already in the shower and sent me to find Mr. Axel!"

Axel sighed.

"Don't look! Just…just don't!" Axel rolled his eyes at the seven-year-old's modesty. He was seven. What did he have to hide?

"I'm not looking, Cloud." And he wasn't. Sora was fascinated by water, laying down and rolling about and holding his breath in the water. Roxas looked a little frightened, so Axel was doing his best to soothe the baby. Washing Sora had been easy. He didn't care when it got in his eyes. He was even putting his whole face in the water and blowing bubbles, a trick that amused Roxas to no end.

"Sowa silly."

"You're right, Sora is silly. Will you let me wash your hair?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"C'mon, Rox." Sora said as he pulled his face from the water. "I'll wash your hair."

"No."

"LOOK AWAY. I'm getting out!" Axel closed his eyes. "You're not looking away!"

"His eyes are closed, Cloud!"

"Sora! You look away, too!"

"Why? You got a penis and I got a penis and Rox's got a penis and I bet Axel does too. Do you got a penis, Axel?"

"Of course!" Axel grinned cheekily. "All boys have penises."

"I don't care. Don't look." Cloud finally got out of the shower and hustled out of the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later in boxers and a t-shirt, with his towel around his shoulders.

"Hey Rox, what if I wash your hair? Would that be okay?"

"No."

When everyone was dressed and clean, they all retreated into Sora's bedroom to read stories. Sora hopped under his covers and Cloud curled up by Sora's side. Axel sat in the rocking chair and held Roxas against his chest, the little boy's cheek pressed against Axel's heart.

By the time Cloud had finished Where the Wild Things Are Roxas was fast asleep. Cloud read another story (about Horton the Elephant, which Axel found extremely ironic) and Sora agreed to lights out when that one was done. Axel lifted Roxas onto his shoulder and followed Cloud out of Sora's bedroom.

Cloud cornered him with a look when they were in the hallway. "You're not too bad."

Axel smirked. "Thanks, short stuff."

Cloud twitched. "I'll grow. You wait and see."

"Go to bed, shorty. Good night."

"Night." Cloud headed down to his room.

Axel stroked the sleeping baby's back as he carried Roxas to his nursery. When the two entered the room, Axel couldn't put the baby in his crib. Instead, he settled down in another rocking chair with Roxas snuggled against his shoulder. Axel pressed his cheek against the top of the child's head, enjoying the smell of clean baby.

"You're adorable, you know. You still are when you're older." After what seemed like an hour, Axel placed Roxas in his crib and pressed a kiss to his forward.

Then he realized what he'd done.

"Well, double shit."

Axel landed with a light plop in a familiar room. Instead of the sweet baby blue he'd just seen in Roxas' nursery, it was mostly white with one black accent wall. Roxas' red comforter was strewn over the side of the bed.

Axel could hear faint moans. His brow furrowed, slightly concerned. Was Roxas alright? He slowly moved forward to check things out. His jaw dropped at the sight. Oh, Roxas was perfectly fine, and Axel meant that in the "holy fucking God gorgeous" kind of way.

Blonde hair was splayed out on a black pillow. Dusky pink nipples stood out against Roxas' smooth alabaster chest. Axel could see faint muscle lines, but the boy wasn't overly toned. Axel's gaze lingered on golden pubic hair and the erect penis nesting perfectly against Roxas' lower body. Roxas groaned as his left hand pumped up and down his penis, stopping near the top so he could rub his thumb against a leaking slit.

"Oh, Axel…"

Axel froze. He hoped he wasn't drooling. Roxas' right hand concentrated on his nipples, tugging and teasing them to pertness. Eventually the playing stopped and Roxas reached toward a small tube of lube on his bedside table. He popped the cap and slowly coated his fingers. Still rubbing his penis, Roxas spread his legs and slowly trailed his lubed hand down to rub against his anus. And when one digit disappeared into that hot body, Axel moaned. Loudly.

Loudly enough to alert one masturbating blonde of his presence. With an unmanly squeal, Roxas quickly (and in Axel's opinion, unfortunately) tugged his comforter up to his chin.

Axel grinned sheepishly. "Uh, hi?"

"What are you doing?"

"Well, Roxie, I'm a time traveler-"

"And pervert!"

"—And I just appeared here. Previously I might have guessed it's because I was here before-"

"—Fucking pervert douchebag-"

"—but now I'm starting to think it has more to with-"

"—GET OUT!"

"—you."

"I SAID GET OUT."

"Now, now Roxie…"

"Axel, OUT."

And Axel left because he couldn't really argue with Roxas when the poor kid's forehead vein was exploding like that.

Axel thought Roxas' angry face was adorable.

"What," the blonde seethed, "did you think you were doing?"

"I didn't mean too, Roxie, I just poofed in and heard you moaning-"

"—I was NOT moaning!"

"You were. You were masturbating! You even cried my name!"

"No!"

"Jerking off to me!"

"Axel!"

"Being your own best friend! Cleaning out your account! Humping your hose! Lubing your love monkey! "

"Axel!"

"Taking a load off! Taming the shrew! Waxing your Buick! Flaying the emperor!"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Axel!" Roxas' face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Yes, oh whacker of the willy?"

"…I hate you. Why are you even here?"

"Just passing through." Axel wandered around Roxas' room, poking at knickknacks. He heard Roxas sigh.

"You're always just passing through. When are you going to stay?"

"What?" Axel turned around, alarmed. "I'm not staying!"

Roxas was staring at the floor and Axel wasn't sure he wanted to know why.

"Look, Roxie," he began, "I've only known you for like, a day."

Roxas looked up with tears in his eyes. "You fucker!" He spat. He grit his teeth as he glared at Axel. "You motherfucking bastard! What is this, some kind of giant fucking game to you?"

"Roxie, it's-"

"SHUT UP!" A tear slid down Roxas' face, but he angrily wiped it away. "This is my entire life you've been fucking with! God damn it, I've always had dreams about you! You and your fucking green eyes and your perfect hair and in comparison everyone always falls short to my imaginary lover!

"Except you're not fucking imaginary, are you? You're real and I'm just the joke. A fucking joke!"

Roxas choked on his words, fighting back sobs. "You know what? Up yours, Axel! Do your fucking time-travel crap, but why don't you leave me the hell out of it?"

Axel was dumbfounded, but he couldn't stand the sight of Roxas in tears.

"Roxas…"

"No! Don't you come near me with that watch on! Fuck off!"

"If I take it off…?"

"You won't!" Roxas stumbled to his bed and pulled his comforter over his head. "You'll say you'll stay but then as soon as I look away that watch will be back on your wrist and you'll leave me again!"

Axel frowned. "Why should I stay with a weepy kid like you?"

Roxas grabbed his forehead his frustration and keened in pain. "I love you, you giant shithead!" And then Roxas burst into tears. "I love you so much, but that doesn't mean I don't fucking hate you, too!" Roxas gasped for air between his sobs. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to sit around and just wait for you?"

Axel was shaking. "You…love me?"

"FUCKER! How can you ask me that when I'm like this!"

One moment Roxas was crying alone on his bed, and the next Axel's arms were around him.

"I'm no good at this, Rox. I don't love you, but hell if I'm letting you go now before I ever get the chance to find out."

Roxas blinked through his tears. "You mean…?"

"I'll stay. I'll fucking stay, but shit Roxas! You can't dump any more of this emotional crap on me today. And we've gotta figure out where I'm gonna stay and work and how we met…"

Roxas buried his face into Axel's chest. "I'll think of something, I swear. Please don't leave me. Please."

"I won't. Fuck, this watch is coming off right now, okay? Stop crying, damn it." Axel ripped the watch off and threw it to the floor. And disappeared instantly.

"No! Axel! Axel!" Roxas' tears came back full force. He angrily snatched the watch from the floor and threw it against the wall. He froze when a wadded-up scrap of paper fell amongst the pieces. He unfolded the message and stared.

He collected the watch pieces silently and placed them in a shoebox in the back of his closet.

Axel wasn't sure where he was, but he knew his foot hurt fucking bad.

"Shit! You hit him, Zexy!"

"That's our job."

"But it was still kind of mean!"

"I don't care. Get the watch off him."

The blonde guard shuffled towards Axel and grabbed at his wrist. "Not on this one." He then looked at the other. "And not on that one? It's gone?"

"Search him."

"What if he tries, you know," the blonde paused and made little quotation marks with his hands. "Funny business?"

"I'll shoot his other foot."

"Bully!" The blonde pouted as he patted Axel down, searching the redhead's pockets and feeling for any odd externalities. "I don't think he's got it."

Zexion frowned. "But he was running."

"Geez, Zexy, if I were planning to steal crap and the alarm went off and I hadn't even gotten it yet I'd still run anyway, too!"

Axel, in his fuzzy pain-induced haze, wondered if he'd reappeared before he'd fully disappeared because the two guards didn't remember his disappearance. He blinked. Time was fucking with his head.

"He's in black and not authorized to be here. He's a criminal. We need to take him in."

"Wow." The blonde squirmed. "You sound sexy when you're all authoritative. It kind of turns me on."

"Just bring him."

"Okay!" The blonde swung Axel's arm up over his shoulders and the blonde could support his weight. "My name's Demyx and I'll be your transportation this evening. Please try not to bleed on me too much. Blood makes me squeamish."

"You're a pussy."

"That's Zexion. He's a real hottie, huh? I like it when you talk dirty, baby! That turns me on, too!"

Zexion sighed.

"…So what should we do with him?" Zexion finished summarizing Axel's story to the head of security while Demyx attempted to tend to Axel's wound. In other words, Demyx had gotten Axel's shoe and sock off but had gotten woozy at the sight of blood and given up.

"Jail. Fix his foot up and then five years in jail."

"Only five?"

"He didn't steal anything; we can only charge him with breaking and entering. Five years maximum."

"Did you alert the boss?"

The head of security nodded. "He should be here any minute."

There was a knock on the door, and Zexion opened the door.

Even in his pain Axel could recognize those eyes.

"Roxas?"

It wasn't the Roxas he knew; his golden blonde hair was faded and he was covered in wrinkles. He was old.

"Do you know this man, boss?"

Roxas' eyes locked on Axel's.

"No."

Axel ended up seeing a callous man named Vexen for his foot injury, and then he was shipped off to prison.

The five year sentence hung over his head like a dark cloud. How could this have happened? And most importantly, why hadn't Roxas stopped it? He recognized Axel—Roxas had looked at him the same way in the past! It wasn't memory loss. Roxas had chosen not to acknowledge him, and he'd be damned if that didn't hurt.

His cell was small: nine by seven feet with a toilet, sink, and cot. He had a single shelf. During the day it was too loud, and during the night it was absolutely silent. It was always cold.

Four months into his sentence, Axel had a visitor. He'd gone up to the visiting booth and was surprised to see Demyx.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting! How's prison?"

"…"

Axel had listened to the cheery blonde's words until his allotted forty-five minute time was up, then was escorted back to his cell.

Later that evening, he stubbed his toe against his cot. Cussing, he bent down to check on his toe.

That's when he found the box under his cot.

Hey there, gorgeous!

I suppose I can call myself a narcissist for that comment, but really, you should have seen how cute Roxie was after he'd seen mini-me! I haven't seen him so bashful since… well, I won't ruin it. But honestly, we had to sit down and go through our photo albums the next day.

You remember how you stole that watch? Well, of course. That's what you're in jail for. And now I'm breaking you out. Why four months, you ask? Roxie might be cute, but he's nobody's bitch. He was pretty disappointed in me for stealing and wanted to teach me a lesson. Break the habit, I guess. He's a dumbass like that. I would of broken us out sooner.

Yeah. It's me, your future self here. The watch is in the box. So is the fucking instruction manual. Read it, dipshit. And take the box with you when you go so we don't get in trouble for breaking you out.

I think there's a Roxas in the past who misses you. Coordinates /2015/04/07/2080/06/24/15:06:31. You'll know what that means when you read the fucking instruction manual.

Have I told you to fucking read it? Good.

Don't fuck up. I didn't, so I guess you won't. Want a hint? I read the fucking manual.

Love, Axel

Roxas was sitting on his bed and rereading his note when Axel arrived. He looked up with a smile, still a bit teary-eyed.

"Axel."

"Roxas." Axel shifted and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm here to stay. And you're doing better than I thought you'd be."

"I know. You left me a note."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. 'I'll be back, angel. Please save the pieces.'"

Axel grinned. "Well, damn. I'm good."

Roxas smiled. "Yeah."

They both paused, trapped in a silent staring contest.

"Oh fucking hell, Roxas." Axel strode forward and pulled the blonde into a passionate kiss. The two stayed lip-locked for a couple of moments until Axel pulled away. "You're not fucking getting rid of me now."

"Oh yeah?"

"…But I have something I need to do."

"Oh?" Roxas grinned. "I'm not surprised."

"I'll come back."

"You'd better."

"Or else?"

"Or else." Roxas pulled the redhead down into a quick kiss. "Where are you going?"

Axel grinned and fiddled with his watch. "You already know."

"Axel!"

"Hey, little man! Ready to play pirates?"