99 Red Balloons Go By...
by: Strike To Incinerate
(Completed 6.09.07)
Dedication: RainPoet. Please stop being mad at me... please?
Inspiration: An AkuRoku slideshow on Youtube.
Yay, AkuRoku songfic. I'm loved this song since I was a kid, and I'm not sure, but I'm hoping that RainPoet is a fan of it, too. So, here's hoping she'll forgive me... AkuRoku fluff.
--
"You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone"
--
Axel handed 99 munny to the cashier, one munny for each red balloon in the bag. He'd have to blow the up himself, but as this point, he didn't care. All he wanted was for Roxas to forgive him. And if he'd have to use an 80's song to do it... well, the one thing besides himself that Roxas and Demyx had in common was a fetish for the music of the 90's.
He couldn't wish any harder for this to work.
"Hey, good luck with whatever you're planning!" Rikku called as Axel headed for the exit.
"Thanks, Rikku," he replied over his shoulder.
"I wonder what's up..." Yuna mused as she restocked a shelf of teddybears.
"Oooh, I heard he and Roxas got into another argument! I bet he's trying to make it up to him!" the green-eyed blond squealed. "It's it romantic? 99 Red Balloons Go Byyy!" she sang.
"Rikku... that's minus 15 respect points..." Paine intoned, causing Rikku to pout.
--
"Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, "Something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by."
--
"Demyx, where are we here again?" the silver haired boy asked, his pale cheeks flushed and extremely worn out.
Demyx finished blowing up a balloon, tied it off, then answered, "Axel. Roxas. Can't have them fighting. Need to finish blowing up these balloons," he replied quickly.
"Aw, come on, Riku! It's fun! Besides, I want my brother to be happy! Axel, too!" Sora encouraged, scooting closer to his best friend.
Seeing the brunette's face all lit up with the thought of helping two people be as happy as they were... well, Riku couldn't quit now!
"All right! That's the spirit!" Demyx cheered.
To prevent any further outbursts and ensure that all of the balloons were blown up, Zexion wrapped his arm around the dirty-blond neck, hauling him in for a kiss.
--
"99 red balloons floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else."
--
By that evening, word had spread all throughout Radiant Garden; Axel was on a mission. Namine bursted into Roxas and Sora's home, dragging Kairi by the wrist.
"Roxas! Axel! The 90's! TOMORROW MORNING!" she said breathlessly.
Kairi giggled.
Sora's eyes widened in terror. "Namine! Kairi! You weren't supposed to tell him!" he cried.
Roxas looked at his brother, disgusted and hurt.
"If I want to be angry at Axel, I will DAMN well be angry!" he said, then stormed up the stairs to his room.
Namine and Kairi jumped as the door slammed.
--
"The war machine, it springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As 99 red balloons go by."
--
Axel'd set him off one too many times. How many times did he have to ask him to stop before the redhead understood that no really did mean no?
As always... one more time...
But Roxas had had enough. When Axel's arm had slipped around his waist during the break before 4th period, he'd snapped. Pushed the redhead away violently, glaring at him, and yelling, "Keep your hands off of me!"
It only took one second of that surprise in Axel's green eyes to send him tearing down the hall.
It wasn't even that Axel TOUCHED him. It was that Axel touched him and it meant absolutely NOTHING to the older teen. Anything would've been better than plain old surprise; pain, anger, sadness. But surprise? That was it?
Roxas didn't want to be someone's boytoy. Even though pushing Axel away was breaking his heart.
--
"99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call out the troops now in a hurry."
--
The anxiety was setting in now. What if Roxas DIDN'T like Axel's idea? What if he thought it was cheap, unoriginal, and just plain cliche?
God, the sun would be up in five minutes. Sora, Riku, Demyx, Zexion, Marluxia and Larxene were waiting in Sora and Roxas' backyard, ready to let go of the red balloons as soon as the sun came up.
What if Roxas didn't even see it? Sora had told him that Namine and Kairi had spilled the beans, so it was up to curiousity... or maybe, just maybe, he hoped, Roxas did want to forgive him.
Hope was a magical, wonderful thing. Seeing the ribbons of light pushing out the night, Axel stood, leaning down to press 'PLAY' on the stereo.
--
"This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by."
--
"Now?" Sora asked.
"Not yet!" Marluxia hissed. What a perfectionist, Sora thought, pouting.
"NOW?" He repeated, even more anxiously than the first time.
"Gotta wait for the..." Demyx started.
The music flowed. They all let go.
--
"99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In the dust that was a city."
--
Roxas awoke as dawn broke, half-curious to see what Axel's big 'plan' was... and half-angry that the stupid idiot couldn't put aside his pride and just APOLOGIZE.
He heard the upbeat music, laced with chimes and a beautiful alto voice.
A flock of red balloons rose up outside his window. If he'd cared to count, he bet there would've been exactly ninety-nine...
"Axel... I totally forgive you..." he murmured, sitting up.
A familiar red-headed pyro peeked in through his bedroom window, standing on the porch. "Oh, thank Jesus, Mary and King Mickey. I was worried you'd hate it..."
Roxas shook his head. "Well... I'll really forgive you when you say..."
"I'm sorry. I'll never touch you again," he promised quickly. "Not... not unless you want me to," he added.
"I don't want you to touch me if you don't mean it," the blond said, frowning a little.
Axel's eyes widened. That stupid, vacant, surprised look. "What? You think I don't mean it?" he asked. "Come here! I will show you!" he said, cupping Roxas' cheek and drawing him in for a kiss.
Roxas wrapped his arms around Axel, and as he pulled the borderline-anorexic in through the window, behind his back, Axel let one final balloon go.
--
"If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here.
And here it is, a red balloon
I think of you and let it go."
--
There. I wrote some AkuRoku/Zemyx/Soriku fluff.
I'm not gonna beg for reviews, because this wasn't written for feedback. They'd be nice, though...
All characters are property of Square Enix and Disney. Song belongs to Goldfinger. Or Nena. Not exactly sure. Never really knew the name of the artist. When I went to azlyrics, though, the only one that came up was Goldfinger.
I own the idea, that's it, anyway.