Disclaimer: I own the characters in no way, shape, or form.

Pairings: Roxas/Axel, Sora/Riku, and probably a few others.

Author Note:
There are two things you should keep in mind.
Number one, the genres are labeled that way for a reason.
Two, I am no writer.

Warnings: You'll see plenty of bastardized mythical (and some not so mythical) creatures as well as time era clichés. Though I can guarantee that you won't see vampires. So if you're looking for that sort of thing, it's best you continue your search elsewhere.

Also, I read this over but if there are mistakes I didn't catch I apologize. Grammar is not my strong point but I try, so if there are any errors that reoccur please feel free to inform me.


Soaring Descent

Prologue

"Don't you dare give me that 'I can't live without him' bullshit!"

If Axel didn't want to hear his reasons, he wouldn't speak. So he didn't. What was there to say, anyway? No matter what he said Axel would twist and taunt and make his words, his reasons, his logic, seem petty, ignorant and childish. His friend didn't understand, couldn't understand what he was feeling right now. What his body, his being, what the fucking universe was screaming at him to do.

"God damn it Roxas! You didn't even fucking know him!" Axel spat at the boy standing not five feet away from him. They were so close, a few steps and he could reach out and touch the blond, yank him backwards, do something, anything. The distance seemed far too vast.

Roxas remained still, his back turned to the furious redhead. Staring out at the huge expanse of cloudless blue sky beyond him, he wondered if Sora's eyes would have mirrored its color. Of course they would have, he decided. The sky was stunning and Sora deserved no less.

"Roxas…" Axel's voice sounded desperate, pained, even to his own ears. He was sure he was going to explode; the train wreck he could feel inside his chest told him so. The pounding of his heart was sickening. Fuck it. Nausea was getting the best of him. He might as well start heading towards the edge, even if he were too late to save Roxas, he could always throw-up over the side of the building.

Roxas knew that Sora's presence would have been just as meaningful to everyone as the sky—essential; part of everyone's lives. Sora would have been able to make everything better, relate to anyone. Fix anything, anyone. Fix me.

He was so empty.

It didn't make any sense.

Keeping balance on the edge of the building no longer seemed to hold any importance. It felt as though he were no longer standing, instead he was flying, arms outstretched and eyes trained upwards, fixated on something he couldn't see, something he couldn't imagine.

Roxas barely registered the arms wrapping around him before he was tugged violently backwards. Axel landed on his ass with a thump, keeping his arms wound tightly around the boy now securely held captive in his lap.

Dully, Roxas felt guilty for how badly Axel was shaking. He wanted to comfort his friend, apologize and laugh it off, show him he cared. But he didn't. He couldn't. He was too numb to care. He was only vaguely aware that he should care and that how little he actually did should be frightening him. When had he become so detached?

They were both silent for a long time, one worrying himself sick and the other lost in thought. After a few minutes of staying in that position Axel relaxed slightly, leaning forward against the boy in his lap, slumping over him and resting his cheek on top of blond hair. It would have been peaceful, sitting on top of Gizmo Factory in all of its twenty-story glory; the sun shining brightly, breeze gentle and cool. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.

"You're not struggling," Axel pointed out finally.

The false tranquility was easily broken by Roxas' response, "I don't need to." There was a small pause in which Axel's breath caught in his throat. "You can't hold on to me forever."

With those words anything Axel could have hoped for crashed and burned. He would have liked to sit back and admire the demolition and fiery defeat of his fragile hope, but the waves of hurt and anger that washed over him were too demanding. He was drowning.

Before Roxas knew what was happening he was being vehemently spun around in Axel's lap to face the redhead. The only thing he offered to the devastatingly raw emotions playing on Axel's face was a slight disgruntled look courtesy of the awkward straddling position he was forced into. This only caused a flicker in Axel's expression that clearly contained disgust. It was obvious Axel felt utterly betrayed; worthless in the eyes of someone he had given his trust.

"You've lost weight," Roxas observed aloud, shifting slightly on Axel's lap

A soft snort. He'd always been thin, but he had grown unhealthily so over the past few weeks. Worry caused him loss of appetite. "And who is at fault for that, I wonder?"

I am. "You should eat."

"Right now? Yeah, right. As if I'd do something that stupid," he rolled his eyes. "Why's my boniness noteworthy, anyway?"

"Your lap is uncomfortable," Roxas replied easily. A beat, in which Axel was silent, wondering whether or not he should be offended, then, "Go get yourself a sandwich. I want to be alone with Sora."

There was a hard numbing pain in the vicinity of Roxas' cheek; a punch. He hadn't had time to react more than his head snapping to the side before Axel roughly shoved him off of his lap. Next thing he knew his hands were stinging from having scraped against the coarse concrete. Immediately he made to get to his feet but was sent back to the ground by a hard kick to his side.

"Sora isn't here, Roxas," Axel's voice was borderline hysteric.

Roxas raised his arms automatically in defense as another kick came.

"Sora has never been here. Do you want to know why, Roxas?" One more kick and then Axel was kneeling beside the winded boy, a hand fisting into his shirt and yanking him upright. He leaned forward and pressed the side of his face close to Roxas', lips against his ear he spoke slowly, in a low, seething hiss, "Because he's fucking dead."

This time it was Axel who was on the receiving end of a punch, the smaller boy's fist connecting painfully with his jaw. The redhead staggered backwards, clumsily getting to his feet. Roxas quickly followed suit, not missing a beat he launched himself at the other boy, dodging a punch and landing his own fist hard in Axel's gut.

Axel doubled over, his breathing heavy. "Fuck you," he growled. "Why hell are you doing this!?" his voice was gaining volume as he spoke and he raised his head to pin Roxas with his heated gaze, still clutching his throbbing stomach.

Roxas returned the gaze impassively, wiping the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand. "Does it matter?" he asked, voice betraying no emotion. "The point is, I am. What are you going to do about it?" There's nothing you can do. Give up.

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?" Axel screamed so loudly it hurt, his voice breaking in protest. He was so frustrated, felt so fucking helpless. Green eyes stung as the tears rolled hot down his face. He wasn't crying, he never did after all. Roxas would understand, his fucking best friend would know it wasn't true, that the tears weren't real. Axel didn't cry.

The desperation, the hopelessness in his voice, the expression on his face, everything about Axel—it was heartbreaking. Roxas made a note to feel heartbroken whenever he was actually capable of it. Right now it wasn't possible; he doesn't possess the capacity for it.

"This is not about you. It's about him." Things would be better if it was about you.

It hurt. Roxas was walking back towards the edge of the building, and it hurt. Axel stood there uselessly as Roxas stepped up onto the ledge, the wind playfully tousling his blond spikes. Roxas had been right; there was nothing he could do. The other boy was spreading his arms again, wide and welcoming, embracing something that could not embrace him in return. It hurt so fucking bad.

Even from the back, his friend looked beautiful. Even as Roxas was so close to stepping off the edge, Axel felt his heart clench painfully, familiarly, for reasons that had nothing to do with the current situation.

Once positioned on the ledge, Roxas carefully turned around to face Axel, a sincere smile gracing his lips.

"Let's meet again in another life." Roxas' voice was as sweet and clear as the sky that meant so much to him. The words he spoke had a sense of finality that made Axel's adrenaline rush even faster than it already was.

Before he could even fully register what was happening, Axel was rushing forward, quickly closing the distance that he had allowed the blond to place between them. There wasn't enough time, but there had to be, he had to get there in time, he had to. There was nothing else, only Roxas. He was like a dog that had only been taught one trick. Getting to him was the only thing he knew.

Roxas closed his eyes, a smile gracing his lips; he felt more alive now than he ever had in his life, and for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, he felt like love was real. It wasn't just something in fairy tales, something you hear about and try to mimic but never fully understand; no, it was possible, it was real. He could feel it; he could hear it in each of Axel's steps as he blindly rushed forward. It was a pity that he would be too late.

Roxas returned his gaze to the sky as he stepped backward, off the ledge; off the building.

He was not quite past the point of being able to regain balance when the entire process was crudely sped up by a blur of red hair and pair of hands roughly shoving him firmly on the chest.

His peaceful fall had been interrupted, rushed. Axel had pushed him. Roxas couldn't say he minded. Axel's fiery red hair contrasted nicely with the blue. There was nothing he would rather look at as he fell than his best friend framed by that beautiful expanse of sky.