Title: Make it Home
Authoress: Orcadia/Adarcoi/OrinaDarces
Rating: T+ for implied Relationships and Character death
Summery: Axel promised he'd come back. AU. AkuRoku. Implied Character Death. Please Read and Review!
Warning: Slight Yaoi, but no smut. Implied connection to US Army and the Iraq war still ongoing in 2008.
Orcadia: I got this idea after finding one of my all-time favorite country songs: Riding with Private Malone by David Ball. I know when you think of Axel and Roxas you tend not to think of Country, but so many individuals are loosing their lives to this war that it is very possible to be a true setting for a story. I apologize for the shortness and the lack of plot-development, I wrote this from 12:20-4 am the night of my Sophomore Year Spring Dance, but I was too afraid I'd loose the idea. Please review, I want to know if the style is okay, because it's pretty much the same as a story I'm working on called Graves below Petals. Thanx a bunch! 3 Ya!
The yard was peaceful, as any neat suburban street would be, small children playing amongst the lilies and daffodils on side road gardens, women pushing strollers as they chatted over the latest advancements down at the local Baptist church, and the old woman sitting on her porch, an old Danielle Steele romance novel held between her shaking hands as she burrowed her head down to read the printing as the characters joined in one last farewell kiss. Everything was as it should be—just like in a fairy tale. The young boy, no older than sixteen stood at the base of his driveway, hands rushing down into his pockets as he dug out the change left over from earlier expenditures. His blonde hair tousled slightly as the wind picked up again, pulling with it, a small blinking of his soft crystalline eyes, the ones of soft blue hues and deep ocean stones. His jeans pooled around his ankles as they looked four sizes too big for him, a thick black belt was tied at the top to keep them from falling off his hips as he bent down to retrieve a fallen quarter. His white t-shirt was nothing out of the ordinary, just a simple cotton white top with no special writing, and it seemed to fit perfectly on his body mirror the plus-size jeans. The truck that had stopped in front of his house was playing the same obnoxious tune it did every Friday through June and July, the soft hum of ice-cream tunes as he was flocked with small children, all holding up their precious quarters for a Drumstick or a Rocket Pop. He did seem too old for the expedition, surrounded by children who only reached mid-way up his body, and even though he was short he still towered over the children.
The boy smiled as he made his way to the front of the line, his grin mirroring that of the man sitting inside the truck, his rugged looking dirty blonde hair cut in what looked to be a sad attempt at a Mohawk, who showered smiles back. "Heya, Roxy-boy!" He grinned, neat navy colored irises meeting that of the boy, who was laying down the three dollars in change he had scraped together from around his house, "what can I get you today? Your usual, I'm supposin',"
The boy merely nodded, handing over the change in exchange for a two neon blue colored squares on Popsicle sticks, each wrapped in thin white sleeves of paper as they met with the heat of July for the first time since being placed inside the truck's freezer. "Thanks, Demyx." The boy murmured, shooting a wave back at the driver as he turned away with his purchase, working his way through the hordes of children and back to his own driveway, still listening to the thick draw of the ice-cream music. He returned to the commonality of his drive, the ruby colored BMW parked in on the right side beside the black mailbox imprinted with his house number, 183 Twilight Court.
He held both the sticks in one hand, pinching them between his middle finger and thumb as he opened the mailbox, drawing out the stack of letters, junk mail and magazines. He shoved it beneath his arm as his feet swept to the porch of his house, shuffling along the wood as he knocked soundly on the door with his knee, pulling his hand close and licked off a falling drip of the blue popsicle in the July heat.
The door swung open for him, a tall man standing in the doorway whose eyes seemed to shine with hope and happiness as he helped the blonde inside with the mail and the ice-cream. He almost didn't want to let the blonde pass, instead to rush him into a hug and even though it had only taken him ten minutes to get the ice-cream, he still felt like it had been an eternity since that had been in contact with one another. But truly, he knew nothing of how long eternity was. Here they were; boyfriends; Roxas and Axel forever transcribed in the elm tree at the local park, the one between the water fountain of the mermaid that they had first met, and the old bench which they shared many nights sitting and watching the stars pass by. They hadn't lived together originally, it had all been part of some odd circumstances that Roxas had moved into the suburban house under the watch of his older brother, but when he had mysteriously up and left for a touch of 'Christian Service' in the outback, Roxas was left alone and slightly afraid of how he would live caring for himself. But then there was Axel, the boy who had lived in this town all his life, the boy that had never dreamt of something spectacular to do with his own life, and felt that no future would ever come out of graduating mid-range in his high school classes.
That was why Axel entered the service. It wasn't that he was too stupid to go to collage, or just too much of a delinquent not to make it in a real job, but he just wanted to help, and all of the men and women dying across seas was heartbreaking to him, even though he had personally never known them. Roxas would have never said anything to hurt him, but Axel knew that deep down in the blonde's heart he never wanted the redhead to leave him alone again, in fear that he may never return to the quite suburbia of their hopes and dreams, the place where their lives too shape and meaning, where they became friends, and as the year passed they held tight to their relationship and constant wondering. Axel's ever waiting for the notice to enter the planes that landed only forty miles south of his own home, the ones that every day transported new lost souls over to the barren deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, where they would surly loose their lives.
But every day that he had to spend with the blonde was a blessing, it was a constant worry, that he might not see the ruffled spikes or the crystal cerulean eyes look up at him between bites of Lucky Charms or three cheese Lasagna, so every last second was what he had always dreamed for, a purpose in his life.
Most of his friends had actually joined along with him, quite a few he had made friends with through the service and through his training for his position in the squad. His staff sergeant, not one of the nicest people on the earth, was a man named affectionately, Xemnas, rumor had it that he had changed his name after he got busted from a drug ring, while others protested he was just another case of how stupid parents named their kids nowadays. The others on his team had turned out to be some of his friends, Demyx, the ice-cream truck driver during the summer and a life guard at the county pool on weekends, Zexion, the town's assistant librarian and English teacher at the Elementary school, Marluxia, an aspiring florist from the neighboring high school, and Luxlord, a gambler who had transferred part way through senior year to get a fresh start after getting caught playing strip-poker with a group of girls in his afternoon club. The rest of the squad, Axel had come to know nicely, saying that one day they would have to work together anyway, there was Larxene, a very tough woman whose glare could send shivers down anyone's back, no matter how bad-ass you wanted to seem, Vexen, a medic, Laxeaus, a man of very few words who could out haul them all in a test of fitness, and lastly Saix, a bit animalistic when it came to fighting, but he was tough. These new people had become close to the redhead, knowing that soon they would all leave together and behind would stay their loved ones, Demyx's mother who cared for him since his father committed suicide, Marluxia's apprentice Namine who drew the outlines for his beautiful bouquets, and not to mention Axel's beloved Roxas—his Roxy.
"Thanks for the ice-cream," The redhead smiled, relieving the blonde of one of the blue popsicles, licking his way up the spine of the frozen treat and making his way back into the kitchen where he had begun slicing a watermelon and was busily hallowing out the rind to use as a decorative bowl for fruit salad.
"No problem, Ax." The blonde smiled, picking up one cube of honeydew and popping it into his mouth. "Mail came today also," He muttered, setting the stack of envelopes down on the counter as he divided them into the separate piles of importance. One for the magazines of Avon products and Catalogues, another for bills and payments that he still needed for the car outside, and the others for letters, one by one he laid a piece of mail in it's appropriate landing place. One electric bill, one Credit card offer, one from his aunt Aerith wishing him a happy birthday, another for Axel; this one was different though, the envelope seemed to epitomize gloom as the blonde held it delicately in his hands. His eyes timidly shook with fear as his thin finger pulled across the opening, lifting the page from its glued point, pulling out the letter with shaky fingers.
Axel had caught on by now, and he knew that this very letter would have come sooner or later, and he and Roxas would have to live through all kinds of heartbreak. He sat quietly in the seat beside his blonde, eyes intent on watching the boy read.
Roxas began slowly, as if not to disturb the still sleeping earth to its slow realization that a good thing would end. "Axel Hikaru, age twenty-two, born August Eighth Nineteen-Eighty-Three, is requested on the account of the United States of America, is herby requested to join Squad 13-O on the Eleventh of November, Two-Thousand-Five. You will meet at Nine A.M at the Oathkeeper Airport to your post in the Northern boarder of Afghanistan."
Roxas could barely finish the letter, his eyes dripping thin rivers of tears as he stared in disbelief at the letter that had come for his boyfriend. Then he began to sob, tunneling his face into the contours of Axel's chest, drying his eyes with the soft cotton of his t-shirt as the redhead drew careful circles in the blonde's back, trying to calm him into a sense of security.
"I promise, Roxas, no matter what happens, I'll come back home. I'll come back to you…"
XOXOXOXOXO
It was a lie, however, everyday Roxas waited by the telephone for a call or a letter from the mail. The summer pulled through the next year, the flowers wilting without anyone to care for them, the library was in disarray due to a lack of working individuals, the ice-cream truck no longer stopped by the blonde's house at two every Friday, everything that had given Roxas' life meaning was gone from it's proper place.
He wiped a demanding tear from his eye, head hung low as he picked up the phone to stop its incessant ringing. "Hello?"
"Hello, Mr. Tenshi, I presume."
"This is he." Roxas muttered, not leaving a trace of emotion as the speaker on the other end continued to speak.
"Well, We seem to have had a little mix up down at the bank, you see, a small package was found in a safety deposit box that otherwise was unused and dead by the Federal Government. We might like you to come down and take a look at it if you can."
"Yeah," Roxas replied, his voice spiking a bit as he coughed into the receiver. "Till what time are you open today?"
"Six-Thirty." The banker replied, saying his thank you's and goodbye's to Roxas before hanging up.
Axel had never mentioned a safety deposit box, and he surly didn't remember that Axel had ever kept anything other than up in the attic.
The blonde collected himself, pulling a thin windbreaker over his stick like limbs, not noticing how much he had let himself go since he had stopped receiving calls from Axel.
XOXOXOXOXO
The bank was quiet, the only woman standing by a small wooden jewelry box, her long ruby colored hair tied back in a tight bun, looking out at the entering blonde boy as he approached her through half-rimmed glasses.
"Mr. Tenshi?" She asked timidly, pulling the box out and holding it quickly out to me. "This is from a safety deposit box number Twelve-eighty-three of our branch, and it was opened on the Tenth of November three years ago."
Roxas was too confused to link anything together as he stared at the circles designing the top of the box in glass.
He let the woman continue, "It was addressed to give to you on the Fourteenth of July, Two-Thousand-Eight, if not previously ordered not to." She placed the box in the hands of the small boy who felt even smaller now that he was lost in his own thoughts amongst those of the world.
Roxas lifted the lid slowly, a similar tune rolling out of the music-organ as it cranked along with the reeds and bending of the metal pieces inside.
Every minute from this minute now
We can do what we like anywhere
I want so much to open your eyes
Cause I need you to look into mine
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
And amongst the notes and the sadness, the tears came trickling down as Roxas picked up the last letter he ever wanted to read.
My Name is Axel, of course you already know that, in case you've forgotten how much I love you, it is as unchanging as the largest tree, un measurable as the oceans are deep, and as full as the air that kept me breathing while I held you in my arms. If you are reading this, my dear Roxy, it only means one thing: I never made it home. But for every dream that shattered, another one comes true; but I still love you, with all my heart and someday we will be home, together, and I will be beside you for the rest of eternity when it's your turn to join my side again.
You'll always be with me,
XOXOXOXOXO
Orcadia: sniff sniff Poor Axel. I liked how it turned out, I actually don't usually base stories after current events or even contain any reference to the church, but here I did, and I hope you like it! Please Review! (Yes…Click the review button!) (Good boy!)