Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts universe or any of the characters within it, and in successive chapters I will not own them either.
Warnings: Some violence, blood, mild language and mild suggestive themes.
See profile for other information.

It was all black. Darkness. Darkness, the very thing that had influenced him and all of the others he'd conspired with. They'd all wished to fill the darkness in their chests, the empty hole left behind by the heart's void. It had been a helpless yearning, the one for the darkness; it was an inevitable part of all of their lives and those so close to it, and as was with him and the other Nobodies, they simply could not avoid succumbing to it. The pressure, the attraction was too great. It was a difficult thing for Somebodies to understand, how attractive the dark becomes when all light has left. But he could tell as he surveyed the pitch-black vacancy that he had been wrong, that they all had been wrong. The darkness did not lead to the light — the darkness led to nothing but more darkness.

Yet something else piqued his interest as he took in the emptiness around him: the darkness, the one surrounding him in his wake once again, was different this time. It didn't feel like it was his friend, or even an acquaintance; it felt cold, and he couldn't help holding onto a feeling of discomfort as he lay on his back, frozen in place. His eyes were instinctively closing as he absorbed the cold surrounding him. It felt like a cold he knew, like a cold that he'd felt before. The cold was peculiar, though, because it was not the kind of felt that he said he felt, but the kind that he had actually felt, when he could feel such things.

At first he wasn't sure if he was awake at all, but he blinked his eyes and couldn't imagine ever having a dream so vivid (a realization he thought to be very contradictory). He himself didn't even understand how a dream in pitch black could be considered vivid, but, despite this, he didn't question it. He just had this feeling that what was happening to him was real. But, then again, he was unsure if these "feelings" he claimed to have were to be trusted.

He became conscious of himself at last, and stood up. The last thing he remembered was fading away into nothingness.

He spun around, searching in the empty black abyss, but he could see nothing. After several moments passed, a thought plagued him. He wondered if there really was there nothing there, or he could he just not see what was right in front of him. Composing himself, he took a bold step forward, closing his eyes once again as he readied himself for death, for true death, the kind where he couldn't come back.

But he didn't fall into the nothingness; in fact, he remained upright. He took yet another bold step, opening his eyes and letting the toe of his boot feel the solidity of the ground before continuing. The coldness was becoming too pervasive to ignore, and he glanced down just to realize he himself wasn't even there. He stretched out his arm and wrist and found that he could feel them but that neither portion of his limb was visible.

I don't get this, Axel thought, scrunching his features in contemplation. I… I gave it up. All of it. So… why am I…? Am I…

He paused, still thinking. After a few moments, he cleared his throat.

"Hey! Hey, anyone there? Anyone? Hello-o?" There was no reply, and Axel bit his lip.

Suddenly, a spark caught his eye. He soon noted that it wasn't really a spark; it was, in fact, more like a compressed ball of light. It formed just above his line of sight, and he keenly looked to it. Instinctively he wanted to touch it, but he stopped himself, letting his hand dangle just a few centimeters from the light floating above him. He held it there for a few moments, wrinkling his features as he flexed his fingers hesitantly.

Oh, what the hell, he thought as a smirk gradually spread across his face. What's… the worst that could happen?

I …die? He chuckled at the thought, his shoulders rolling back and shuddering as he sniggered.

Formulating his typical cocky demeanor, Axel outstretched his arm and touched the light.

The effect was blinding. He covered his eyes as the white overwhelmed him, and he felt himself fall, his eyes closing as he automatically tried to brace for the impact. Despite the protection of his eyes, his behind remained unprotected, and after falling a shock of pain was sent to his backside. After grunting and rubbing the area, he removed his hand from his eyes and took in what was laid out before him. Or rather, what stood before him.

"Heya, buuuddy! Long time no see, don't you think? A bit too long for my taste, anyway," the familiar voice joked at him, reverberating as if there were walls surrounding them. He placed a dramatic hand on his hip and formulated a grin like none Axel had seen in the longest time. "So, how ya been?"

Axel's jaw had dropped, and he was gaping. He remained on the ground, too awestruck to move any closer. Surrounding him, and ... the boy… was pure white, similar to how the previous area had been purely black. The ground was intact here as well, as the boy was standing directly upright, and Axel had no trouble sitting. He could see himself now, and the black coat that had enshrouded him in his death.

"What's that?" the boy said, giving him a familiar smirk. "Didn't you miss me?"

This is ridiculous, Axel thought, shaking his head as all his prior amusement left him. Someone's messing with my head —

"No one's messing with you, Axel, sheesh," the boy said, making eye contact upon seeing Axel's shock. "This is Lea. Ya know… You."

He can hear my thoughts? The hell's going on —

"Of course I can. I'm you. Duh," Lea said, pulling an eyelid down and sticking his tongue out at Axel.

"Look, kid," Axel started, furrowing his brow in what appeared to be anger. "I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I know that there's no way that you're me."

Axel stood and looked down at his young self.

"The whole me is gone. Got it memorized?"

"You don't really believe that," Lea said matter-of-factly, then scrunched his face a few moments later. "Well, okay. I'm not actually you. But, come on. Don't you remember? I'm the other half of you."

"What do you want?" Axel asked, ignoring his claim.

"Well, what do most halves want?" Lea asked.

Axel just stared back at those emerald eyes, those eyes that he knew so well, and said nothing.

"They want to be whole. With their other half, as the saying goes," Lea replied, pausing. "Though I guess that saying's more for girl on guy action, but what the hey. It works, right?"

"Whole?" Axel repeated quietly, ignoring Lea's additional comment.

"Yeah, you know. Two halves make a whole?" Lea said — or at least, Axel thought he said. He realized a few moments later that the boy's lips hadn't moved at all.

Taken aback, Axel looked down, away from this madness that was unfolding before him. Soon he clenched his fists, a haphazard attempt to stop himself from shaking, and looked up quickly, locking his eyes with the gaze of this kid claiming to be him.

"Tell me what's going on, kid," Axel demanded, attempting to summon his chakrams. He then grunted heatedly when they failed to appear.

"Whoa, chill out," Lea said, laughing and seeming to enjoy Axel's confusion. Axel's eyebrow raised as his mouth shifted, his upper lip curled.

"This ain't funny, kid!" Axel shouted, but didn't move.

Someone's messing with me, alright. He was strangely sure of it. They… they know what I want, and they're loving taunting me with it. Well, too bad. I've had enough of that in any life.

"Axel," Lea said, finally with a more serious tone, "I'm not fake. I'm your other. And now that we're both here… we can be whole again."

"C'mon kid, cut the act," Axel shouted back, anger boiling. "You think you can make up some lies and just boss me around? That I'll just go along with it and be at your beck and call? Well, think again. I'm sick of doing things I don't wanna do."

Axel furrowed his brow; his voice had quieted.

"Well, that's nice, but I'm not joking," Lea called back at him, putting a hand behind his neck. He sighed quietly. "Touch me, Axel. Touch me, and we'll be whole."

"'Scuse me?" Axel asked, too taken aback to recall his anger.

"Touch me. That's all you have to do, and we'll be whole."

It can't… it can't be that simple. This kid—

"When did I get so paranoid?" Lea asked, talking to himself. "Maaan, what happened to the easygoing me…?"

Lea cleared his throat. As the boy had readied to speak, he'd craned his head upward, as if expecting to see something come from the empty sky.

"Look, Ax. How do you think I know what you're thinking?" Axel stiffened as Lea looked at him again, his gaze much less flippant than before. "Well, I'll tell you. It's cause we're part of the same person. And… if that still doesn't convince you… touch," Lea said, holding out an arm. As he did so, the light around both of them seemed to blur. When the two met eyes again, Axel's breathing began to straighten out. His anger had simmered out, another fire he hadn't the energy to fuel, and now he was finding himself close to believing the boy. He was appalled at his own thoughts; his own desperate want for it all to be real. Because it wasn't. It couldn't be.

He simply stood for a while, gazing down enviously — no, remorsefully — at the other boy. His hand was slowly inching toward Lea's outstretched palm and he had to continually prevent himself from reaching out far enough to make direct contact — until he decided to let himself do what he wanted. Axel reached out, slowly uncurling his fingers. He could feel his mind preparing himself for the blast, the explosion, the cataclysm. When, finally, after several minutes of effort, they touched.

As Axel's hand brushed Lea's wrist, the vortex of light and darkness enveloped the two of them. Frightened by the sudden consumption, Axel attempted to draw his hand back, but it felt as if it had been glued to Lea's. Tugging consistently in fear as the tornado twirled, Axel realized he was stuck. His mouth hung ajar, and through the vortex he let his gaze drift skyward. His fearful eyes met Lea's. He was befuddled by what he saw: Lea's eyes were calm, unafraid, a fact that seemed unfathomable to Axel as both their worlds began to spin. The vortex whirled around and around, rapidly now, until it was spinning so quickly that both of them were swallowed by the tornado of light and dark.