Kingdom Hearts II – Generation 2

--Prologue: Reunion With Axel--

Sora was standing on the shore watching the waves when something bumped his left ankle. Looking down he spotted a small red and white beach ball resting by his leg. Picking it up, he was examining it when there was a tug at his pants leg.

"Please, mister," a small voice asked, "can I have my ball back?"

Sora looked down. There was a small redheaded boy standing there looking up at him with hopeful eyes. There was something familiar about the boy, but Sora couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Here you go," he said, handing the ball to the child.

The boy resumed playing with the ball until a white portal opened and a familiar figure stepped through. The older redhead took the ball from the child and chastised the boy:

"Now, Roxas, what did you forget to do?"

"Oh, sorry," the boy said, sweetly. He went over to Sora and looked up at him. "Thank you for giving me my ball back."

"You're welcome," Sora managed to say through his amazement. He looked over at the boy's father and grinned broadly.

"Axel!"

"Hey, Sora," Axel smiled.

"I thought you were… you know…"

"Dead?"

Sora smiled. "I'm glad you're alive. Or whatever you are."

"No, I'm alive," Axel smiled. "I came alive when I became a father."

"How on earth? Who's his mother?"

"A girl I met at Radiant Garden," Axel replied. "She died a week ago in childbirth along with Roxas' baby sister."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sora said, meaning it.

Axel looked down at the boy, playing with a lock of his son's fiery red hair.

"He looks a lot like you," Sora said.

"Yeah, a real mini clone, even down to the personality," Axel replied. "He's a real little demon sometimes," he said affectionately.

Roxas stuck his tongue out at his father and threw the ball into the air. On the inside, Sora was beaming with happiness. He knew that this was the real Roxas's emotions he was feeling, but felt good all the same.

"What's that say about you, then, I wonder?" Sora said playfully.

Little Roxas giggled and said,

"He gotcha, daddy."

Axel looked at Sora in mock hurt, putting a hand to his chest.

"And after I saved you, too…" he said, wiping away a fake tear.

"Oh, is he the one, daddy?"

"Yes, son," Axel smiled. "That's Sora. So, I'll assume you found your friend Riku."

"I did," Sora smiled. "We have a daughter now."

"Excuse me?" Axel blinked. "Did you just say you and Riku have a daughter? Together?"

"Her name is Paopuko," Sora beamed. "She's about the same age as your son, Roxas. Kairi has a daughter, too. Her name is Namine. She's a month younger than Paopuko."

"That at least makes sense," Axel pointed out. "Who's her father?"

"One of our friends," Sora replied. "His name's Wakka. He and Kairi were married for a short time. But Kairi spotted someone she decided she liked better, so she divorced Wakka. But the man she fell for vanished from sight. We never got to find out anything about him. Just that he was a musician, and she thought he was really talented."

"How'd Wakka take it?" Axel asked, genuinely curious.

"He was actually somewhat relieved," Sora shrugged. "He realized shortly after Namine was born that he was actually in love with Selphie. They got married last year."

It was about this time that Riku and Kairi arrived with their children in tow.

Namine was a small blond-haired girl with big eyes and a pretty small smile. She was in every way the miniature of the girl who had bewitched Sora in Castle Oblivion.

Paopuko was a silver-blue haired and eyes the same color as Riku's. Her hair was styled like Riku's but with a single ponytail on the right side.

Kairi eyed Axel suspiciously until Roxas tugged his father's jeans.

"Um, daddy? Is she the lady you dated before you met mommy?"

"Yeah," Axel said, running an embarrassed hand through his head.

"Dated?!" Kairi exclaimed. "You kidnapped me!"

"Really, daddy?" Roxas asked, wide-eyed. "You were a kidnapper?"

"Well…erm…" Axel sounded rather abashed about the whole matter.

"Don't lie to him, you cad!" Kairi said.

Little Roxas took offence to this and walked right up to her.

"Don't talk to my daddy like that you…you…witch!" he said.

Kairi gasped at this, looking at Axel for an explanation.

"This is how you raised your son? To insult other people?!"

"No. Roxas, apologize," Axel said sharply.

Little Roxas shuffled his feet, put his hands behind his back and said,

"I'm sorry…"

"That's better," Kairi said.

"…witch," Roxas finished.

Roxas hid behind his dad as Kairi's fury unleashed itself.

Axel turned to Roxas. "I really should just let her, you know. You did bring it upon yourself. You have only yourself to blame."

"But, daddy! She insulted you!"

"Wa…" Axel began. But his voice failed him. "I mean, it's okay. I can handle a few insults."

Sora knew what Axel had been about to say, and wondered why he had trouble mentioning the word 'water'. He doubted the man was afraid of the stuff. No, there had to be another reason.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Axel replied.

"Daddy misses his musician friend," Roxas said.

"Hey!" Kairi roared. "What about me? Don't I get an apology or something?"

Axel bowed in her direction, "On behalf of my beloved son, I apologize profusely."

"That's much better," Kairi said, turning her attention to look out over the water.

Once she had turned away, Axel gave Roxas a thumbs up and mouthed the word "witch" at Kairi.

Sora snickered, causing Kairi to turn around and see an all-too-innocent Axel standing there, kicking the sand and looking up at the sky.

"Oh!" She cried out in annoyance. "I give up. Come on, Namine."

"But I wanna play with Roxas!" Namine protested.

"Guess you're stuck with me for a while," Axel shrugged. "And I did apologize for kidnapping you, so I don't see…"

"When did you apologize?!" Kairi demanded. "This is the first I've heard of it."

Axel turned to Sora in confusion.

"Well…. Actually…" Sora hemmed. "You see. Things got so busy that I never actually got around to passing on your message. Sorry, Axel."

"I see," Kairi said, calmly. "I forgive you, Axel. If nothing else, then for the sake of our children."

Riku, who'd been watching the children play, spoke up for the first time. "It's getting dark. I suggest we make our way home for now. Tomorrow we'll meet for lunch at Heart & Sole."

"So, you like the place?" Axel asked.

"Best fish and chips on Destiny Islands," Riku praised.

"Glad to hear it," Axel beamed.

"Daddy owns it," Roxas smiled. "Right, Daddy?"

"Right, son." Axel replied.

The four adults shook hands. Then they gathered up their children and made their way back to their homes. As they parted, their children reached out their hands to each other, as if to promise friendship to each other for the rest of their lives.