Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Credit to Square Enix and Disney. Credit for the personalities of some of the characters to the brilliant minds of Parle Productions.
WARNING: This fanfiction is not canon. There's yaoi involved (homosexual relationships) but not any actual sex scenes. Rated M for crude references and language.
A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of my Kingdom Hearts fanfiction, Sweet Dreams. In all actuality, you don't need to really be familiar with Kingdom Hearts to catch on to this fanfiction, since it's not really canon, so if you stumbled across it feel free to give it a chance! I'm more than happy to get reviews, follows, and favorites, but only if you feel like I deserve them. Happy reading! xx ~TranquilGuardian
Chapter One:
Demyx's POV:
I woke up in a cold sweat, sitting straight up in bed. My covers were tangled around my legs, and I frantically kicked myself free like I was fighting for my life. It took me a second to realize that I was screaming, and another second to realize that I should probably stop screaming. I clutched my pillow to my chest, trembling. The darkness of the room screamed out around me, since I'd opted to turn off my computer monitor the night before. It had been overheating and was my only source of light at night, and now I wished I'd just left the damn thing on. The dream had been so real…so terrifying…
I flinched when my bedroom door flew open, the light turning on with a snap. I cringed, my eyes adjusting to the sudden change in visibility. Axel was standing in my doorway in only flannel pajama bottoms, his chakrams held in a defensive position. The spikes on the left side of his head were almost completely smashed flat from sleep and his piercing green eyes surveyed the room frantically.
"Why were you screaming?" he demanded, never dropping his hold on his chakrams. He stepped into the room hesitantly, looking around him.
I blushed. "Er…bad dream," I admitted, feeling mortified. I couldn't believe I'd overreacted to the point that Axel had thought he had to check on me. I had feelings for him, and the last thing I needed was for him to think that I was some baby. Even though we'd been together in the past, I knew Axel only saw me as a friend now. I wasn't about to ruin that friendship by making him feel like I was some kid that had couldn't even handle a nightmare.
Axel looked relieved, however, not irritated, and he let his chakrams drop to the floor with a thud. "I thought someone was hurting you," he sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
Zexion entered the room, studying me worriedly. He was fully clothed, but his hair was destroyed from his pillow similarly to Axel's. "Are you alright?" he asked urgently. "Is everything okay?"
"Wittle Bitty Demyx had a nightmare," Axel teased gently, smiling at me. There was no malice in his voice, but I still looked down in embarrassment.
"Stop that," Zexion snapped, coming to tuck me back in. "Nightmares are no fun." He pulled the covers back up to my collar bone, fluffing the pillow for me like I was a child. He picked my stupid embarrassing baby blanket up off the floor and handed it back to me. I wished he hadn't come in, so that maybe Axel had been the one to be nurturing. I cared for Zexion, but not like I cared for Axel. It couldn't compare to how I felt for Axel.
"What are you, his mom?" Axel grumbled.
"His friend," Zexion replied shortly, crossing his arms. "And right now, I'm being a hell of a lot better friend to him than you are."
"I was the first one in here!" Axel protested.
"Only because your room is directly across from his!" Zexion retorted.
Axel ignored him, yawning and turning back to me. "Do you need me to stay in here with you tonight, Dem?"
"I'm fine," I said quickly, feeling stupid.
Axel raised one eyebrow. "Do you need me to stay in here with you tonight, Dem?" he repeated.
I sighed, nodding reluctantly and gratefully while my cheeks flamed. Axel pulled back my blankets casually and climbed into bed with me. "Damn, you're drenched," he complained, running a hand along my arm.
"I was sweating," I said quietly, biting my lip.
"Yeah, I can tell. Try to calm down, alright?" He gave me a sympathetic look, tapping the tip of my nose with his finger.
I nodded, and Zexion leaned sleepily against the doorframe. "You two lovebirds all tucked in for the night?" he teased, yawning.
"Turn the light off, emo," Axel grumbled. "Shouldn't you be with Roxas or something?"
"Roxas?" I asked curiously, looking for something to distract me from the dream and always willing to hear new gossip.
"Yeah, didn't you hear? He and Roxas are a thing now." Axel grinned at Zexion.
"We went on one date," Zexion replied, rolling his eyes. "That hardly makes us a thing."
"Did you kiss him?" Axel asked nosily. I looked at him in amused shock, nudging his foot with mine under the blankets.
"No!" Zexion said indignantly. "I…I don't think it would work out between us anyway."
"Details, smurf," Axel said flatly. Apparently he needed something a hell of a lot harder than a nudge to realize that he needed to mind his own business.
"Don't ever call me a smurf again," Zexion replied solemnly. He tiredly brushed his soft blue hair out of his eyes, fighting back another yawn. He was irritated, but he was too tired to pick a fight with Axel.
"Why not? You're short and blue," Axel grinned. His mischievous Cheshire Cat smile made me laugh. He thought he was the cleverest thing out there, and it was hilarious.
"Do I look happy, Axel?" Zexion sighed.
"Do you ever look happy, Zexion?" Axel retorted.
At that, Zexion shut the light off and walked out.
When Axel became drowsy that night, his arms went around me. I felt myself start to get that pathetic knotted happy feeling in my stomach, but I instead forced myself to focus on what it really meant. Which was absolutely nothing. I knew that when Axel was sleepy, he became a cuddler. The fact that the last time the Organization had had a sleepover he'd snuggled Xigbar was proof enough of that. Sure enough, he hadn't remembered any of it the next morning, and Xigbar had cackled as he'd shown Axel all of the stupid selfies he'd taken of the two of them whilst a half conscious, then unconscious Axel, had been spooning him. It didn't mean anything, as much as I wished it did.
My mind slowly went back to the dream I'd had. That god awful, terrifying, hell of a dream. I'd been tied to a stake. I didn't know how I'd gotten there or what I'd done to deserve it, but it had still occurred in the dream. Before I'd known it, a flame had been lit at my feet. The terror I'd felt had been so real as the agony had coursed through me. So much heat, so much pain…I'd been more scared in this stupid state of unconsciousness than I'd ever been while awake. It was like someone had read my mind when picking the nightmare I'd experienced. Being burned alive was my worst fear, as silly as that might sound. It had been a terror in the back of my mind since early childhood.
My nerves slowly started to unwind as I felt Axel's arms wrapped around my waist; his comforting presence warm against my back. I slowly drifted off to sleep, my nightmare all but forgotten and my mind wishing that Axel could hold me like this every night.
Xigbar's POV:
It was cold, so cold…I couldn't feel my fingers. I wrapped my nearly numb arms around myself, too exhausted to even shiver. My hands, especially the tips of my fingers, were blackened, and so were my feet. My frozen tears clung to my cheeks, my chest hurting with every shallow breath. I felt my body slip into hypothermia, but there was absolutely nothing I could do. There was no shelter, no warmth…So this was how it was going to be, huh? This was how I was going to go? Funny, considering it was the one way I never wanted to die…it was my worst fear, freezing to death. But here I was. Existing in agony until I took my final labored breath. That breath came quickly, and my heart stopped beating.
I sat up in bed, breathing heavily. Looking around, I knew that I was firmly and safely in my bedroom and that it was a comfortable temperature. "Just a dream," I said to myself, laughing nervously. "It was just a dream. I don't even have a heart. Nope, Xig, you're fine. You're alive." I swallowed hard, wrapping myself tighter in the comforter unconsciously.
Vexen, whose room was next to mine, thumped on the wall. "Xigbar, I'd immensely appreciate it if you stopped talking to yourself!" he called, voice muffled by the wall. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"Shove it, blondie," I said back, trying to shake the memory of the nightmare.
There was no response except an exasperated sigh.
Axel's POV:
"Axel! Axel, wake up!" a voice hissed, shaking me roughly.
"What?!" I asked frantically, sitting up quickly at being roused from sleep so urgently. I head butted Demyx hard, and we both cried out in pain.
"It's Zexion!" Demyx said, rubbing his forehead with a frown.
"What about him?" I complained, my eyes finally adjusting to the fact that I was staring at the chest of his rumpled tee shirt. I raised my eyes. The boy was practically hovering over top of me.
"Listen!" he said, seeming scared.
I listened hard, just in time to hear a faint yell taper off.
"You're sure that's Zexion?" I demanded.
He nodded fearfully, and I needed no more encouragement. I wasn't a huge fan of the emo, but Demyx cared about him. Too much for my comfort, actually. He and Zexion had dated briefly in the past, in between one of our own breakups, but it hadn't lasted long. To Demyx, I was just his best friend. Someone to talk to, someone to watch movies with. I knew that it was Zexion he truly wanted to be with.
Somehow I'd managed to kick off one of my socks in my sleep, and I sprinted to Zexion's room half barefoot. I opened the door and turned the light on (this was starting to feel annoyingly déjà vu ish). He was still asleep, thrashing around in his tangled blankets and moaning. It was the most emotion I'd ever seen the kid show, to be honest.
"Hey!" I said loudly. "Wake up!"
I got no response, so I casually picked up the glass of water off of his nightstand and dumped it on him.
He yelped, swinging out wildly, and fell completely off of his bed in a tangle of wet blankets and flailing limbs.
"Zexy?" Demyx asked cautiously. "You alright?"
Zexion smiled in embarrassment after he'd managed to catch a bit of his breath, rubbing his neck. He'd started to tear up a bit, and he wiped the wetness out of his eyes. "Guess it's a full moon," he chuckled weakly. "I had a nightmare too."
Demyx knelt next to Zexion, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes. "What was it about?" he asked compassionately.
Zexion's cheeks flushed. "I…I was being suffocated," he replied, massaging his throat absently. "Sora was choking me, and he had his hand over my nose and mouth." I saw him flinch just a bit at the memory.
"Why didn't you lick him?" I questioned, eyeing the way Demyx had placed his hand over Zexion's worriedly.
"You don't control what you do in your dreams, Axel!" Zexion snapped.
"Dang, sorry!" I cried, holding my hands up in surrender.
Demyx pulled Zexion to his feet and hugged him tightly, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. Demyx and I were on again off again…currently off again. I wanted to get back with him more than anyone would ever know, but he truly was displaying feelings for Zexion. As much as I cared about him, I wasn't going to interfere. I wanted him to choose me because he wanted to, not because I'd screwed up all of his other relationships.
Zexion yawned massively, his hair falling into both of his eyes and making him resemble a blue hairball. A weirdly adorable blue hairball, but still.
"Go to bed, emo," I said, his yawn making me yawn. "Nightmare's over, everything's fine."
Zexion moved the wet blankets out of his bed and climbed slowly back into it, peeling his soaking shirt off over his head. Demyx's eyes widened a little, and I saw an appreciative smile on his face.
I'd had all I could take. "Bedtime!" I said sharply, flicking the light off and nearly stomping off.
