"Axel! W-wait up!" the seventh princess of hearts yells as she runs after the mysterious red headed man. They'd been walking through the corridor for hours, and he hadn't once waited for her to catch up. i Some capturer he is, /i Kairi thought to herself. i He's just letting me go wherever I want! /i Even with her new found freedom, she found herself constantly chasing after him through the unwelcoming darkness, struggling to keep up with him. He walks to fast. Kairi could tell; he was a man on a mission.

"I'm not waiting and neither is he; speed up, princess." he says with a grunt, still walking at the same brisk pace he had been on before. "I'm surprised you haven't lost your heart yet, Kairi. I guess the rumors are true. You really are seventh princess, now aren't you?"

"Lose... my heart?" she repeats in disbelief, covering her heart with her fist. "Then why haven't you-"

"It's the coat. Keeps me protected in this dark abyss us Nobodies call a shortcut, got it memorized?" he says, not even turning to face her as they spoke. This girl was getting so annoying with her ignorance and stupid questions; it drove him nuts just listening to her talk! All she'd say is, 'Oh, Sora's coming to save me!' or, 'Let me go or I'll bite you!' and when she did, GOD did it hurt... Nobody or not, Axel could still feel that one, and that girl sure did bite down hard. He wouldn't be surprised if she'd left a mark.

"So... where are we going, anyways? You could at least tell me that."

"Dunno. Away from Sora, I suppose."

"What?"

Stupid girl... "Don't you get it? You're his world, Kairi; how do you think he's gonna act when he figures out his girlfriend's been stolen? We're bating him."

That second sentence hit her hard. "G-girlfriend? You've got it all wrong, Axel; I am NOT Sora's-"

"Maybe not, but I'm sure he likes you that way."

She blushes a little as she walks behind her captor. "And what happens when you do get Sora, right where you want him?"

"I take his heart, and with it, Roxas."

She gasps, stopping in the middle of the darkness. "Y-You expect me to help you kill Sora?"

"I wasn't i asking /i for your permission. You're coming with me, either way."

"And what if I run?"

"Go ahead and try. See where you end up when you jump into random portals. Don't come crying to me if you drown or lose your heart, princess. Make my day." he sasses, still walking through the dark corridor. "Either way, Sora's gonna come running to me to get you back, dead or alive."

Her heart beats fast, her body shakes nervously; she could never wrap the thought of losing Sora around her brain. She could never even i think /i of losing him. Especially after putting him through so much, making him feel so much pain just to find him. If she lost Sora...

God, she didn't know what she'd do.

"Why, Axel?" her voice cracks as tears run down from her eyes. The red head stops for the first time in hours, looking back at his captive. That stupid princess had broken down on the floor, was kneeling and crying her eyes out. Ugh. This is why Axel hated girls; they were too goddamn emotional. "Why would you want to kill Sora? What higher purpose would his death serve?"

He dodges the topic, ignoring her annoying questions. "Get up and stop crying. We're running out of time."

"If you think that I'll take another step with you knowing what you're trying to do, you're wrong! Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't just turn around and go back to Twilight Town right now?"

"Because you wanted to see Sora, right?"

She gasps for air between sobs. "More than anything in the world..."

"Then don't you want to see him once last time? Don't you want to at least let him know you're okay? That all the pain and the suffering was worth it? Or do you just want to leave him hanging on by a thread, just dangling there, waiting for you to pull him back up just before the string breaks?" His words really hit her hard; he was right. If Axel really i was /i going to kill Sora, she could at least let him know she was alright.

What is she thinking? God, she sounded like she had no faith in him! Sora's tough; he could take him on and kill him in once shot! She would NEVER let Axel kill Sora, even if it meant giving up her own heart. Wait... that was it! "Why can't you just take my heart instead?"

"Stupid girl..." he mumbles under his breath. "It's not the same."

"Why not? Two years ago, Sora gave me i his /i heart; my heart's just as good as his!"

He shakes his head, completely aggravated with her. "No, it's not, Kairi. You don't get it."

"Then tell me! Tell me why the HELL I can't sacrifice my own heart for the guy I lov-" she stops there, covering her mouth with her hand. She couldn't believe she almost said the big l-o-v-e word... She didn't think of Sora that way... did she?

"The guy you WHAT, Kairi? Love?" he sighs. "Love... You damn Somebodies and your stupid emotions..." he turns to face her, looks into her blue eyes with flaming, livid emerald ones. "I'll tell you something interesting, and you'll understand what is running through my mind."

She nods, interested to hear what the noble Nobody had to say.

"I have a best friend." He begins, dumbing down his story to this girls knowledge as much as possible. "His name is... or, was, Roxas. He and I were the best of pals, always meeting up at the clock tower Twilight Town to eat ice cream and talk after missions. God, those were fun times. And then Roxas quit the Organization, and lemme tell ya': Xemnas. Does not. Like quitters. And then... so... um... Look, long story short: I was later given orders to kill him."

Kairi's eyes widen.

"I tried. But I couldn't. He was my..." he stifles the urge to call him his crush. "...best friend, ya' know? It's rough, having to hurt someone so close. And in the end... he ended up inside your little boyfriend, got it memorized?" He says, staring away from the princess to reflect on their relationship. He and Roxas were always good buddies but... he couldn't help but feel attached to him. Ever since Day One, Roxas was like his own little puppy dog, always following him around. And just like any owner, Axel became attached to his puppy, his little aibou... He'd never told him, since he didn't have the chance but...

He'd always wanted to. "Ever since then, I've gone against the Organization's wishes. I put my own agenda before everything else and set off to capture the princess, knowing that the knight in shining armor would come running after." he laughs at his own analogy. "I miss Roxas. And I INTEND on getting him back, no matter what or who wants to stop me."

"So why can't you take my heart instead? My heart is his... so just take it. I don't want it if it means losing Sora..."

"Roxas's memories aren't in your heart. They lie in Sora's, and the only way for him to remember himself, myself, and us... is to take Sora's heart and give it to him. He'll have all of his memories of before all this shit happened and I'll get my Roxas back. Besides, that means I'll have to deal with Sora after you're gone, and I definitely don't want that." he laughs, trying to cover the doubt embedded in his voice. Humor was the only way to cover his fake emotions, and it seemed that Kairi was buying it. "Now come on. We wouldn't want to keep them waiting, would we?" Axel extends a hand to the crying girl on the floor, smiling friendlier than before. She smiles too, accepting his peace offering. "Y-yeah..."

The two walk in silence for the rest of the way, never stopping or slowing, always walking at the same quick pace. They didn't know where they were going, but it didn't seem to matter, as long as they got to see the two people they loved... Roxas and Sora...

Just one last time...