A few quick swipes and the room was bathed in the soft dancing of firelight. Roxas lit the candle by his bedside, blowing out the match and discarding it to smolder in a nearby ashtray, watching the thin wisps of smoke curl and twist before disappearing into the darkness. A strange chill ran though him. As he watched the smoke slowly burn to naught he felt unreasonably scared. It was idiocy, what did he have to fear? It wasn't like he was going to disappear anytime soon, fade into eternal darkness. No, that was stupid. He couldn't just fade away like smoke. It was considered normalcy by him now to have these strange sensations float in and seize him only to disappate a few seconds later like nothing had ever happened.
Yet a stranger emotion gripped him still. A powerful, burning emotion. Oceanic eyes settled on the dancing flame absolutely captivated. Staring deep into the flaming glow he felt a strange heat spread through him, starting in his chest and working its way throughout his entire body until he was consumed by the flame of some distant, forgotten memory chained to his heart. The flame inside him slowly coaxed the boy onto his back, a soft noise escaping his throat at the sensation of lips against his throat though he were completely alone. There were hands along him too, he concluded. He could feel one tangled in his hair, the other snaking its way mischieviously lower, slipping below the waistband of his pants. Roxas tried to protest but the flame teased and stroked at him, elliciting a tiny moan. He didn't understand what was going on. A part of him didn't care. A part of him wanted more.
"A-Ax...Axel.." The strange name left his lips over and over, blindly compelled to call for a person he'd never met. He couldn't recall anyone with that name but it swelled up feelings of warmth and security inside him. For once he didn't feel alone. He always felt alone, even with Hayner and the gang. He knew there was something different about him and even though his friends were considerate enough to never openly admit it, he knew deep inside he wasn't equal. This name, this strange little name, erased his loneliness with one simple word. Axel. Just one word and the world ceased to exist.
Roxas sat up, feeling the heat within him shift as if a body was pulling away from him. He whined in protest, shivering against the sharp onset of chill night air. He wanted Axel, if that's what this heat wanted to call itself. He didn't want to be cold. He didn't want to be alone. He stared into the candlelight intently in hopes of conjuring up this delusional burning. Illusions of emerald eyes staring back at him beckoned from within the fire, playful and mischievious eyes belonging to a handsome face crowned with spikes of flaming red hair. Axel was calling for him.
"Axel..." Reaching out a shaking hand he allowed the flames to lick at his fingers, pulling away when he felt no pain. He was going crazy... He just stuck his hand in fire yet he was unscathed, no burns, no marks, no nothing. It was as if the flames didn't want to hurt him. He grabbed the flame, yelping as it was extinguished, leaving behind an angry mark in the center of his hand. Roxas brought the hand to his lips, gently kissing it. He understood completely. A message within the flames only he could decode. It wasn't time yet.
Not yet, Roxas.