Crush.

I couldn't help but wonder: How? When?

Why?

Rhetorical questions echoing in my mind, directed at deaf ears. Pointless. Or purposeful?

"Axel," she called, her voice a gentle string of soprano. It was enough to pull me out of my dreaming and throw me into a trance. "Axel, are you sure you're okay?"

'Not really.' "Yeah, don't mind me. Just dreaming of Lala Land and all that crap." I couldn't explain myself. Why had I been drifting?

"Roxas…" I called, wanting to tell her, but suddenly the words clogged in my throat, my explanation suffocating my brain. My mind tethered itself to her name, unable to comprehend or continue to function.

"What is it?" she asked, blue eyes curiously locking onto mine, our gazes connected. I felt my face turning red with discomfort, embarrassment, but slightly overjoyed at being able to look into my own personal blue sky.

My trance lingered until I saw a concerned brow on her slender face. I looked away. "Nothing, I forget." I chuckled, a bit of nervousness creeping into the sound I made. "Seems like I'm forgetting everything today."

She giggled, the sound of cute splayed all around by her voice. She grabbed my arm, told me, "We're leaving," with a sly smile, and we headed back to the complex of littered structures.

The neighborhood we lived in was as friendly as its appearance. Cautious looks darted across everyone's faces, suspicion and contempt ruling the atmosphere, right alongside the various horrid stenches of waste and wild animals. Dilapidated, worn out apartments dotted the many blocks, scattered in a messy fashion. Houses and buildings were not a commonplace. The dirt from the border of town was already seeping into the heart of this massive complex.

Passing indulgent pedestrians, Roxas led me past corners, streets, crowds and, now, sidewalks. "Where are we going?" I was profoundly curious. 'What do you have in store for us today?'

Roxas was a quiet girl, shying away from people, she later told me. When we met, I was strolling through town, looking for something to kill time with. She bumped into me after backing away from an ill-intentioned man. I stepped in to shoo the perv away, then turned to help her up, to comfort her.

That's when I first received a dazzling display of beauty from her. She looked up, her matted, silky, dirty blonde hair flowing against the wind, her hands calm but unsure. And her eyes. Her eyes.

I will never forget those eyes.

A brilliant soft shade of blue, mimicking the sky above, shined through her open eyes. Staring at me, her gaze tore through my own and sifted into my very essence, my very being. My soul. Grabbing my outstretched hand, she gave a sheepish smile, one of many that have blessed my memories.

"Axel." If only she could call out to me like that over and over. "Axel? Helloooo?" Oh. She was calling out to me "You keep zoning out. I don't know if I'll be able to save you if a car or something come along."

"Sorry, I guess I'm a bit distracted." I look at her, another rush of warmth heating my cheeks. "So, where are we going?"

"C'mon, follow me. I'll have to show you for you to appreciate it." Tugging on my sleeve once more, she directed me towards our destination. When we hit the border, I asked her why. What were we doing?

"You'll like it," she said with a smile, her voice glimmering as bright as her teeth. "It's a special place."

I then felt both uncomfortable and ecstatic. Uncomfortable because I had no idea where this place was, and Roxas wasn't mush of a destination-chooser. Whenever she'd led me somewhere, it was always run-down, vacant, dirty. I was also uncomfortable because of the situation: she told me it was a "special place." It was her place. I couldn't just go there casually. But, even with all my insecure thoughts, it was prevailed by the ecstatic, over joyous knowledge that Roxas was asking me. No, even better.

She was taking me there. Alone.

So, I just like that, I followed her.

I kept pace behind her, sorting out the frantic possibilities of the coming interaction between me and her inside of my head. As we walked, the landscape went through some sort of revival. The sidewalks and rubble of cement metamorphosed into soft, fertile soil, already encroaching the innards of the city. I looked upon the dirt and grime smearing the horizon, sick of the very place I grew up in. My childhood memories, my moments of triumph, my accomplishments within that city were dead to me now, as I ruefully stared at my so-called hometown.

I looked at the soil once more as it breached the perimeter of the city.

I was glad the earth was reclaiming itself.

But the change didn't end there. The soil that we traversed encompassed a lengthy distance. It rose and fell, the same way sand in a desert is oriented. The side winding mounds of dirt playfully cascaded upon itself, visually pleasing any onlookers or passerby, which seemed to be only us. The path we took along this fantastic stretch of land was through the valleys of the dirt hills. Like a snake, it weaved between the open spaces, twisting and slithering as we went along.

'What have you been doing out there by yourself, Roxas?'

This explained why she's been out a lot lately, though. I'd ask around the town sometimes when she went missing. Needless to say, those times worried me. I didn't want to lose my closest friend.

Roxas and I were nearly inseparable after the day I helped her out. Apparently, she felt safer with me. I took it as a good sign of friendship and we continued to be that way. Both of us enjoyed each other's company, just strolling around or talking up conversations of this and that. I anticipated and reveled each meeting, as it took away the dullness of my life. Roxas gave me a spark, a will to survive, a fire to go on.

Everything I did was for her.

In mid-stride, Roxas turned and stopped, standing and holding out her hand in a signal for me to halt.

"Axel, I really want to surprise you. But, to do that, you have to do one little favor for me." She smiled shyly, deviously returning her gaze unto mine.

'For you, anything.' "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"Nothing really. Just a simple request of you closing your eyes." Her widening grin suppressed a faint chuckle I so wanted to hear.

"Heh, okay. Just promise me one thing," I said, holding up my index finger. "Don't push me off a cliff."

Her face shifted into sarcastic humor. "I'd never!" Then, playfully, she came up behind me, reached up and covered my eyes. I laughed at the fact I was taller than her by a couple of heads. Her reaction was to knee me in the leg and started to make me move.

We must've walked a long distance. Time passed by as my feet, step after step, traversed yet another piece of land. Yet, even with my eyes veiled by Roxas' soft hands, I noticed differences. There was a scent in the air, a pungent perfume of foliage. I guessed grass, since there were no roots of trees that I didn't step on. Sure enough, when I lowered my hand, blades of tall grass rubbed against my skin. The air felt cool, calm, almost serene. Silence was interjected here and there by chirping of birds or footsteps of some animals. My curiosity only grew as we got closer to our destination, one step at a time.

Finally, after an extensive walk through the grass, Roxas loosened her grip. "Keep them closed," she said as she puller her gentle hands away, my face already missing the sweet caress.

I heard her shuffle towards the front of where I was. My eyes tightly shut, not wanting to spoil her fun, I eagerly awaited her command. "Okay, are you ready?" I could hear the smile in her voice.

"I don't really have much of a choice," I grinned.

"Open!"

My eyelids quickly retracted, excited to see what had been laid in store.

…It was beautiful.

What awaited to greet my eyes was the lush green tides of an enormous field. Roxas had brought me on top of a plateau, which was technically not a cliff. It overlooked the waves of tall grass swaying in the soft wind. A small river wound its way across the scenery, beginning from the east and ending northwest, fading into the sunset. The tall oak tree adjacent to me, the only tree here, stood dominantly on top of the crack of land, the guardian of the treasure.

"You like it?"

Roxas walked in front of me, silhouetted by the setting sun. The light behind her glowed a fierce, fiery orange, encasing her in a bed of light. Her hair flowed as the breeze rolled across the land. Her smile was brimming from ear to ear, her eyes searching mine, awaiting my answer.

"I do," I said, unable to pull my stare away, I kept my eyes fixed on her. If there was ever a heaven on earth, it would be right here, right now, with Roxas as the beautiful angel.

"Roxas…" I whispered, unable to bring my voice louder. "I…I…"

"You what, Axel?" She stared shyly at the ground, almost as if she knew. She wanted it. She was waiting for it.

"I love you, Roxas."

Her face turned a full shade of red, but still kept her smiling face present. "Axel…I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't know before." She stepped closer.

"I was always skeptical about how you felt about me." Another step, hands creeping closer as well.

"I never felt anything stronger, more fulfilling, more crazy than how I feel about you." Those words struck my heart, making it leap, back-flip, somersault. I became inwardly ecstatic, while outwardly paralyzed. She glided closer, now in front of me. Her hand placed on my heart, the other on my face. I felt her warmth against my cheek, and my face began to match its heat. She looked into my eyes once more, with a sparkle and shimmer of joy and fear, excitement and anxiety. She held onto me, started pulling me in.

She whispered, "I love you," straight into my ear, my mind savoring every last second, every syllable of those exhilarating words.

I pulled my head slightly back, so I could once again stare into those bright orbs of blue sky.

"I love you, too."

I pulled her in, hands behind her head, behind her waist. I pulled her, closing the distance between us. I closed my eyes, kept pulling her.

We kissed. Her smooth, soft, gentle lips pressed unto mine.

We kissed. I placed my own pressure, returning hers, filled with passion, love.

Desire.

We kissed.

'I love you, Roxas.'

Forever.