He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day, resting his forehead in his hands, staring blankly down at the desk. Apart from a small degree of annoyance, he felt absolutely nothing.
No interest in the subject that the lecturer was currently droning on about, no dislike for the girl sitting behind him, chatting away on her phone in not so hushed tones. He felt a small amount of affection for his friend Naminé, who was currently sitting next to him, taking the notes for the lecture that he wasn't paying attention to. She was perhaps the only person who properly understood him, as she often mentioned having the same apathy for the world as he did, the same numbness and lack of emotional response. Her very appearance suggested blandness and a lack of colour in her life. Her pale hair and skin was washed out further by her entirely white outfit, leaving her bright blue eyes the only interesting, coloured part of her body.
Roxas would have said it was frustrating, but he didn't quite know what frustration was.
The lecturer finished his rambling speech about something entirely uninteresting, smiling vacantly at the room full of people packed away and ready to leave, before he dismissed them. Almost in unison, they got to their feet and began to filter from the room. Naminé clung to Roxas' arm as they moved with the crush of people out of the room and into the wide corridor.
They walked out of the building in silence, still comfortably holding on to one another as they made their way to the spot where they were going to meet their friends, Hayner, Pence and Olette. The brunette was already there, sitting on the bench, fiddling anxiously with the hem of her yellow dress. She smiled widely at them as they approached. They smiled back, but it was largely a habitual reaction, rather than a response to an actual emotion.
"I've never been so bored in my life," Naminé said as she took up a spot beside the other girl. Olette smiled at her, then looked up at Roxas.
"Come sit down. I just spoke to Pence, and he and Hayner aren't going to be here for about 10 minutes. We have some time to waste."
Roxas obeyed her without question, sitting down next to her. She chatted away to Naminé about some very trivial things, like the latest chick-flick out in the cinema, and the shoes they had in a shop she passed a week ago. Naminé was doing very well at pretending she had a genuine interest in these things, smiling happily and responding in a way that ensured that Olette didn't stop talking to her.
Roxas and Naminé had met the three other teens when they moved to Twilight Town for college, and they had managed to fool them thus far into thinking that they were normal people, just like them, as well as the rest of the town.
Roxas sighed again.
A series of high pitched beeps broke through his reverie, and Roxas looked up to see Olette pull out her phone and answer it. He half-listened to her side of the conversation, which was punctuated by gasps and giggles. He looked over at Naminé, noting the blank, unfeeling expressions that had crossed her face while Olette wasn't looking.
'It's okay,' he mouthed to her. She nodded, and her lips twitched ever so slightly, the closest she ever got to a genuine smile.
'Superficial,' she mouthed back.
They looked at one another for a moment more before Olette finished her conversation and hung up, by which time their perfect masks were back in place.
"That was Selphie. She and Kairi are planning a trip over with Riku and Sora," she said happily, smiling the whole time.
Roxas gave a fake smile of his own, but he recognised the slight shift in emotion he felt at the mention of Sora's name. He was perhaps the only person who could evoke an emotional response from him. Sora made him feel slightly less detached from the world, and he had to admit that he admired him for that. It was still a long way off from what he knew other people felt. The only other person who made him feel connected to the world was his mother, who had passed away a few years ago. Sora was his only remaining tie to humanity.
Love. Happiness. Friendship.
Roxas sighed again.
The scent of smoke and warm fires danced towards him on the wind, and there was something so startlingly recognizable about it that Roxas looked up sharply to see where it was coming from. Across the small courtyard between the buildings were three people.
Two of them were entirely unremarkable, generic people who didn't catch Roxas' eye. He was instead drawn to the tall, thin man in the middle, the man putting on the same front that he and Naminé always upheld. He was older than Roxas, but probably not by much. His red hair stood away from his head in long spikes that seemed to defy gravity, the colour matching the blood red triangles beneath this eyes that Roxas could see from where he sat.
The red-head turned to look at him suddenly, his startlingly green eyes hard and cold. After a moment of searching his face, the man's expression softened.
Roxas felt a flood of recognition pass through him, and a feeling of great comfort and something he couldn't quite identify.
"Axel," he said under his breath, the stranger's name coming unbidden to his lips.
He heard Naminé say his name, but he didn't respond. Instead he got to his feet and walked towards the middle of the courtyard, meeting Axel halfway.
"Roxas," he said, his voice full of warmth and compassion. His green eyes were swimming with tears.
"Axel," he responded, smiling back at him. He didn't even notice that tears had begun to work their way down his face. For what seemed like the longest moment, he stared up at the man, stunned by the jumble of memories that worked their way into the front of his mind. Things he'd said to Axel; things Axel had said to him.
"I'll meet you in the next life."
"Yeah. I'll be waiting. "
"Silly. Just because you have a next life."
Roxas smiled up at him through his tears. "I told you I'd be waiting." He stepped forwards and laid his head on Axel's shoulder, slowly wrapping his arms around his waist. He revelled in the warmth of the other man, smiling happily to himself as he began to cry, heavy sobs wracking his small frame as memories began to resolve themselves in his mind, his friendship and eventual relationship with the other Nobody, the arguments they had when Roxas found himself with no other choice but to leave the organisation, their altogether too short reunion.
"I found you," Axel murmured, his own voice broken by tears. A pair of strong, warm arms had wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him closer, as though he were scared of slipping away once again.
He hadn't even realised the name had slipped from his lips until his two companions asked him who that was. He didn't reply, as the entirety of his focus was on the blond boy not a few metres away from him. He was shorter than Axel himself was, but his presence was suddenly so commanding that he was the only thing he could see. Roxas.
The boy was staring at him with such intensity that he was scared he'd be blown away by it, but instead he stood his ground. His blue eyes changed from shock to wonder as his face softened and he smiled broadly. Axel smiled back, unable to process the sudden flood of emotion that attacked him, the first of any sort of feeling he had felt in a long time.
He heard his own name come from the boy's mouth, quiet and full of wonder. The blonde behind him called out Roxas' name, but he didn't seem to have heard her as he walked towards Axel. Axel had to hold himself back from running across the courtyard and flinging himself at the poor boy, but instead settled for walking towards him as quickly as he could. He felt tears flooding down his face, but he knew that these tears, his first, were tears of joy, not of sadness.
"Roxas," he heard himself say, smiling down at the boy.
"Axel." He paused, his eyes searching Axel's. "I told you I'd be waiting."
He wrapped his arms around Axel's waist, burying his face in his black jumper. Axel found himself crying, sobs shaking his frame as he buried his face in Roxas' hair and wrapped his arms around the younger boy's shoulders. "I found you."
"No one will miss me."
"That's not true! I would…"
"I missed you so much, Roxas."
The world seemed to pass them by for a while, as they stood in one another's arms, crying out all of the emotions that had suddenly found them again. Axel stood there for a moment once he came to his senses, breathing in Roxas' scent deeply.
"Are you really here?" Roxas asked as he pulled away from Axel's shoulder, his arms still wrapped firmly around Axel's waist. "Is this actually happening? Or is it just a cruel dream?"
Axel smiled. "It's real. No dream could be this good."
Roxas smiled back, dashing a few lingering tears away from his eyes. "How long has it been?"
Axel shook his head. "I have no idea." He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss onto Roxas' lips, before he pulled back and smiled more softly. Roxas looked up at Axel, their eyes catching together for what seemed like an eternity.
"Roxas," someone called. The blond jumped, startled, before he looked back to his friends. Olette and Naminé had been joined by Hayner and Pence, who were both frowning at him, their eyes narrowed at Axel threateningly.
"Who's this?" Hayner asked as all four of them got closer to the pair.
Naminé's eyes widened in recognition as she got closer, and she gave a wan, half-smile.
"Axel," she said softly, waiting for him to extract himself from Roxas' grasp before she hugged him warmly. "It's so good to see you again, Number Eight."
"Likewise, Little Witch. I can't remember the last time we spoke," he said happily. He stepped away from Naminé, letting Roxas step back into his arms, delighting in the feel of his warm skin against his own. Roxas stood facing his friends, Axel's warm arms draped over his shoulders, his chin resting on the crown of Roxas' head. It felt so comfortable and right.
For the first time in his 18 years, Roxas felt happy, rather than empty. The world around him that had seemed pale before was suddenly so bright and colourful.
He had his heart back. He had been unfeeling for most of his life, only a few short rays of emotion breaking through to him when he was around Sora and his mother. But now, the clouds had been dashed away, and there was Axel, holding his heart.
Pence was saying something, but Roxas wasn't paying him any attention. His eyes had slid shut as he stood there, perfectly comfortable in Axel's arms, content to just stand there and bask in his warmth.
"Roxas," Axel said softly, right next to his ear. His warm breath sent shivers through the rest of his body, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Hayner was scowling at him and Roxas felt sorry almost immediately.
"Who is this guy, Roxas?" Hayner barked. Beside him Olette winced.
"This is Axel," he said simply. He smiled at him happily, and Hayner looked ready to blow, before he took a deep breath and calmed down slightly.
"I thought we were going to see a movie. You promised."
Roxas understood why he was so angry. Hayner was all about promises, oaths and agreements; to him it was a crime to break a promise, or to go back on your word. Hayner, once so extraordinarily complex to Roxas, was now incredibly simple.
Hayner was waiting for an answer, but Roxas couldn't quite formulate one for him.
"Roxas is keeping a promise he made a long time ago," Axel said, a smile colouring his voice. "He promised me we'd meet again, and when we did, we'd go get sea-salt ice cream together."
Hayner's face fell. He couldn't argue with a promise.
"When did you make this promise?" That was Pence.
Roxas smiled at all of his friends, happy for the first time in his life. "A lifetime ago."
Okay. Cool. Thanks for reading ^__^
xx