Roxas and Axel ran down the hallway laughing, as an extremely angry, and yelling Saix chased them. Behind them, curious heads poked out of the doorways along the hall. In front of them too, the members of the Organization came out of their separate rooms to see what the commotion was. Both of the fleeing boys ducked around everyone quickly and then as they saw what was going on, most of the other members lifted their arms to let them through and then dropped them again to hold back Saix, who barreled through without a second though. Eventually, he was slowed down enough by people to stop being able to get through easily. It wasn't the brightest idea to dye Saix's hair pink, but it was totally worth it. Demyx gave Axel and Roxas a thumbs-up, and slapped Roxas a high-five as they passed him. Splitting up, the two boys raced down opposite hallways, and left Saix to get laughed at by their fellow members of Organization XIII.
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Axel had his hand clamped firmly over Roxas's mouth as they both tried not to laugh. Demyx was dancing around his room with his water shapes. It wasn't that they hadn't seen it before; it was the fact that he was now singing as he danced, and that is the kind of thing that both of the immature teens found hilarious. Roxas was leaned back against Axel for support as his body shook with laughs. Axel's breath caught in his throat, as Roxas leaned against him. Roxas didn't know what he was doing to the red head. Axel fought the urge to kiss the younger, and his brain started forming ideas of all the perverted things they could do together. Unfortunately at that moment, Demyx spun around and saw the two laughing boys. Roxas and Axel looked at each other, and burst into laughter as Demyx blushed. Walking over, he slammed the door, causing them to laugh harder. Axel wrapped my arms tighter around Roxas, making it look like an accident, and then released him, as they continued to laugh.
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Roxas and Axel lay, staring up at the heart shaped moon. The red head looked at the little blond who had his arms crossed behind his head. He continued to fight the urge to kiss Roxas, even though he was no longer lying on Axel's chest. Axel still didn't know why he felt this way, but his mind provided no answers, and when Roxas turned to look at Axel, the elder quickly twisted his head the other way, so as not to have to face whatever he was feeling.
"It's beautiful," Roxas muttered. Axel turned his head back to face the boy. Roxas was smiling that insanely beautiful smile.
"Yeah, you are," he replied, not really realizing what he had said. Axel was too captivated by that smile to even bother with trying to figure out what he had said until Roxas's smile faded to a small scowl.
"What? Axel, What are you talking about?" Roxas asked, though he didn't look as confused as Axel would have expected. He sat up and stared at the older boy, and Axel followed, suit, pulling himself up so that he sat cross-legged beside Roxas.
"This." Axel answered simply, kissing him softly on the lips. He sat frozen for a moment and the red head started to retreat, wondering if Roxas would hate him now, but as he pulled back, Roxas's arms came up, holding him in place as he continued from the starting point the elder had given him.
"Do you know how long I waited for you to say something, Axel?" Roxas asked his voice muffled by Axel's lips.
"How long?" Axel replied, but never gave Roxas a chance to answer as he pinned him to the ground.
It was hours later when Roxas was pulling on his black cloak that had been torn off in haste that he finally answered, "Forever." Then he placed another tender kiss on Axel's bruised lips and left, leaving him to locate his own cloak.
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"Nobody would miss me anyways." Roxas replied, walking slowly away.
"That's not true… I would." Axel replied, and a small tear fell down his cheek. This wasn't right. Roxas couldn't just leave him here, alone. Axel wondered why Roxas was even leaving at all, and wanted to beg for the blond to let him come too, but Axel's mouth seemed not to work.
Even the sky seemed to have relented its beauty to Roxas, its normal peaceful moon hidden now. The shadows of the clouds seemed to writhe, fighting and crashing against each other like black waves against an equally dark shore. Why did those clouds seem to echo Axel's current feelings? Or were they echoing Roxas's?
It was amazing how much nobody's could feel when they weren't supposed to feel anything at all. It was amazing how at Roxas's next words, Axel's nonexistent heart shattered. Each drop that hit the ground might as well have been the blood from the shredded heart that tried now to gain freedom from his chest, even though it didn't exist.
"Goodbye, Axel." He murmured and then he was gone.
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Roxas stood, dressed differently than Axel had ever seen him. A black shirt and a white jacket, as well as black and white pants had replaced his familiar black cloak. The elder's eyes softened slightly as he gazed upon the boy. He hadn't changed at all.
"Who are you?" He yelled, backing up slightly. It hurt. Why was Roxas trying to run away from him?
"Roxas, come on, you gotta remember it. We were best friends!" Axel's loud voice softened slightly as he said the next words and Axel was almost sure that Roxas hadn't even heard him speaking. "We were lovers."
"I don't even know you!" He cried, and the world seemed to grow darker before Axel's eyes.
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Axel lay on the ground with that boy standing over him. The person Roxas used to be. What was his name? Oh yeah, Sora. He knelt over Axel, as the nobody faded away. The red head opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He tried again, and managed a soft whisper. "I love you, Roxas." Sora looked down at Axel empathetically.
"If I ever meet him, I'll be sure to tell him that."
"He already knows." Axel murmured as his body faded. He was sure that Sora never heard him.
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Axel stood on the beach grinning down at the figures below him. Brown spiky hair on one, and blond on the other, made them a bit less than identical, but that look of pure innocence that made the blond so adorable still lived on both. "Hey, Sora." Axel greeted shortly in a voice that was not his own as he sat beside the brown haired one. "Other Sora." He greeted again, looking at the blond. That in itself was one of the major tip-offs that Axel was not truly himself. Axel savored the chance to say the blonde's name.
"How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Roxas!" The blond complained, sitting up. "Me and Sora aren't one person anymore, neither are Naminé and Kairi, and you always get their names right." He folded his arms across his chest, sulking.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just because you found a way to split your bodies doesn't mean your not still one person." Axel – or whoever it was - said out loud. It wasn't really him talking, but instead the person that he used to be. A person with silver hair.
Roxas stood up. "Well if you would find a way to split your bodies, we would be all set. Wouldn't we, Axel?"
Axel wanted so much to nod, but he couldn't. Instead he heard his other self say, "I don't even know who that is."
Axel saw Sora turn to Roxas, and the angry tears that ran down Roxas's cheek hurt the red head so much. His body was shaking as he flushed with anger and confusion and sadness that so clearly showed on his child-like face. "I know you miss him, Roxas. We'll find him one day."
"Shut up, Sora!" The look on Sora's face clearly told Axel that Roxas had never gotten this mad, and never yelled at him before. " We already found him. He's right over there! Axel is R-"
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Axel shot up in his bed, his breath coming in ragged pants. It had been another one of those dreams about Roxas and him. Gods, he missed the kid. He wanted so much just to see him again, and the only time he could do it was during his dreams. These dreams always ended before he could figure out who he was, and it was extremely aggravating. All he knew was that it was someone whose name started with the letter "R".
This dream had been different though. He had never before learned that Roxas and Sora had split their bodies, and it made him feel better to know that if, no, when he got out, he would be able to see his little blond again. Apparently Roxas knew something that both his counterpart and Axel's, did not. He knew that whoever it was with the silver hair was Axel, but apparently nobody believed him.
He wanted so much to be able to reach out and comfort the boy. Hold him in his arms and brush all of the tears away. But he couldn't escape from this miserable dungeon. Pure white walls with eternal blankness unless his counterpart had some insanely strong thought or feeling and then it would race across the wall in a blinding charade of colors and lights and a deafening torrent of words and sound.
He didn't know why he couldn't talk to his counterpart. Maybe because he had died and been returned to this body by death. Maybe his last wish, to see Roxas again, had been granted in the form of a curse. For how could it be a blessing, being able to see and hear Roxas in his dreams, but never be able to touch him or feel his warmth? How could that ever be a blessing?
His fist flew toward the wall, wanting to hit something. Inches away from that screen of white, he stopped. It was impossible to get any closer than this as much as he tried. He had only touched it once on accident and from what he had gotten, it had made his host unconscious for at least a day. It was almost impossible to know that, but for the fact that when his counterpart had awoken it had been one of his stronger memories.
Sora had pretty much attacked him, hugging him until he couldn't breath. Every time Sora was near it seemed to be a strong thought for him. Axel preferred to ignore these thoughts since about half the time they lead to rather vivid daydreams, and those daydreams were often a lot more like the old Roxas and him than he would have ever liked to see.
Of course, these were only daydreams and not real. If it were real, Axel probably would have found a way to kill himself so he wouldn't ever have to see them. Finally, giving up, he flopped down on the floor and brushed his fingers along the quite solid barrier that guarded the wall.
"Why can't I get out of here? I need to get out of here. Roxas. Please. Find a way to get me out of here." He pleaded though he knew Roxas would never be able to hear him. But to his surprise, apparently the silver haired boy could.
"Who's there?" the words were pretty quiet compared to the usual flashes of extreme sound. Calm, serene blue shrouded the walls. Axels head shot up and his hand came away from the barrier, and just like that the blue disappeared and the sound fled.
Reaching out once more, he tried to find the barrier, but found that it was gone. His hand touched the wall lightly. The walls went that blue again and Axel found himself being pulled at. His body felt ripped apart and he wanted to take his hand away, but he quickly found that he couldn't. He opened him mouth and found his scream echoed by his counterpart as he felt them ripped apart.
It was complete blackness for a long while. He couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't even breath. Finally, he pulled himself up, opening his eyes to see color. It scared him. He never saw this much color at one time. It was either white or his host's sickening daydreams.
"Is it just me, or did that really hurt?" He asked out loud and was answered by a groan from next to him. He looked over to see a head of silver hair next to him. Something clicked in his head as he realized what happened. He was out. He was alive again and he no longer had to live in his counterpart's head.
"I'm going to say that that really hurt." The boy said sitting up as well, and glancing over Axel with a small frown. "Who are you?"
"I'm- I think I'm your nobody." Axel said, still trying to work it out himself. "Who are you?" He said, echoing the boy out of curiosity. He wanted to find out who this was and why he knew Sora and Roxas.
"Riku. My name's Riku." The boy answered, reaching up and touching his head gingerly. Axel knew that it must hurt. After all, Riku had just had his nobody ripped out of his head. It couldn't have had at all pleasant.
"Riku! Are you okay?" Sora's voice came through the doorway, as he slipped in. Riku nodded and Sora sighed with relief before he caught sight of the redhead. He looked startled for a minute and then asked, "Axel? Why are you… I thought you…"
"Yeah, apparently I'm more alive than anyone thought." Axel said with another wince as he pulled himself into a sitting position on the floor. He felt like his body had been torn to shreds and then put back together.
"So you're Axel. Apparently the blond was right." Riku said with surprise in his voice.
"Yeah. Roxas tends to do that. It gets rather annoying after a while." Axel said with a scowl. Where was the little blond anyways? That was the whole reason Axel had longed to get out.
"Sora? Is Riku okay?" The blonds voice invaded Axel's thoughts, causing him to look at the doorway. The blond peeked around the corner, his eyes scanning the room for Sora until he caught sight of the red head as well. "Axel!" He cried happily, not even pausing to get an answer to his original question as he tackled Axel.
"Really? Where?" Axel asked, laughing out loud. Roxas scowled and hit him in the side of the head lightly. It was when Roxas buried his face in the familiar black cloak that Axel smiled tenderly, the joking stopped for the moment. Axel placed his fingers tenderly under Roxas's chin, lifting the boys face so he could look into his eyes. "I told you that I would miss you." Axel reminded him with a smirk, kissing him lightly before pulling away.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you." Roxas said, letting Axel's arms wrap around him in that familiar manner. He wanted and needed comforting and Axel was glad to give that to him. "I'm so sorry, Axel."
Axel just smiled. "It's okay, Roxas. It's okay, I promise." He muttered, closing his eyes. He could feel rather than see Riku leave the room, dragging Sora behind him. Axel knew that Roxas felt the same as him. Like something had been missing and now it was back. He knew that was how Roxas felt as their lips met again.
It was amazing how much nobody's could feel when they weren't supposed to feel anything at all.