December 17th, 1941

The Andrew Sister's were singing there number one hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" while the couple's swing danced on the dance floor. Roxas sighed as he absentmindedly stirred his fruity beverage out of boredom.

"ROXIE!" A familiar voice called out from the dance floor.

Roxas' eye twitched from the name as he looked over to the source who had called for him. It wasn't hard to spot that spiky red hair in the crowd as it moved closer to where he sat at the booth.

"Roxie! Baby! How are you?" The red head asked as he slid into the empty spot next to Roxas.

"I told you not to call me Roxie, Axel." Roxas growled as he watched Axel lean back in his seat.

"But it's the nickname I gave you. Don't you like it?" Axel asked, fake tears running down his face.

Roxas looked away, chanting to himself on how he wouldn't look into those beautiful green eyes.

"Just…not in public." A feint blush appearing on his face.

"I love it when you blush. It makes you human." Axel teased as he wrapped an arm around Roxas's shoulder.

Roxas crossed his arms over his chest as he glared up at Axel.

"Are you going to miss me?" The glare vanished from Roxas's face as he turned his look to the table.

"How could you ask me such a question?" Axel placed a finger under Roxas's chin, bringing it up to meet his gaze.

"Because I want to hear your answer." The silence lingered in the air as Axel continued to stare Roxas's eyes.

"Roxas…hey! Is he molesting you again?" The innocent voice of Sora called out. Roxas tore his gaze to look over at Sora as he and Riku walked over.

"I take that as an insult." Axel stated as he watched to two new arrivals sit across from Axel and Roxas. Sora shrugged as Riku put an arm around him.

"It's Friday! Why aren't we partying?" Sora questioned as he looked out to the dance floor.

"We were. We are just taking a break from dancing." Roxas defended as he took a sip of his drink.

"Why should we party? We all know what's going to happen in a natter of hours." Silence lingered in the air as everyone exchanged looks with one another.

A loud whistle was heard above all the commotion as someone ran down the stairs.

"Troops! Fall out! We got us a war to win!" Axel and Riku got up from there seat as every male around them proceeded to the stairs. Sora moved out of his seat to hug Riku while Roxas just sat there. Axel's eyes saddened as he sat back down next to Roxas.

"I will miss you…but-"

"Your worried. I know." Axel interrupted a small smile on his lips. Roxas looked up at him, a tear sliding down his cheek.

"I'll make you promise. Something that'll…give you a definite answer of me coming back."

At that, Axel reached into his pocket pulling out something small, round, and silvery. Roxas' heart skipped a beat as Axel lightly grabbed his hand to slide the ring he had onto his finger.

September 6th, 1945

"Hey Sora…our boys coming home today." Roxas murmured from his seat on the couch, a hand under his chin as he read today's magazine.

"Oh yea! Our boys are coming home!" Sora cheered as he jumped up and down excitedly.

"But…I think we should clean the house."

Sora froze in his cheering to stare at his brother, "Uh…about the cleaning part."

"Sora?"

"BYE ROXAS!" Sora shouted as he bolted out of the room.

"Sora! Get your butt back here now!" Roxas shouted as he chased his brother out of the living room, up the stairs, only to be met with the Sora's closed door.

"Gosh darn it! Sora! Open this door now!" Roxas demanded as he pounded his fist against the door.

"No~! Not gonna happen~! As much as I love Riku…I ain't cleaning for him." Sora sang from the other side of the door. Before Roxas could think of a comeback, the doorbell downstairs rang.

"It's them!" Cried Sora as the door burst open, a blur of brown rushing past Roxas.

"Hey!" Roxas called while following his brother down the stairs. The smiles disappeared from there faces as they stared at the Riku and another man, in there uniforms, standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked as he stared at Riku then to the other man dressed in a suit.

"Which one of you is Roxas Strife?" His question was answered with Roxas raising his hand.

"Well-" the blonde/brown haired mohawk guy stuttered, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "-we have…something to tell you…and well…I don't know how…d*mn it…they sent the wrong guy for this."

"Demyx…you're his commander. It's your job." Riku whispered, his eyes looking anywhere else but the two in front of him. This guy, Demyx, stopped fidgeting to stand up straight. A serious look in his eyes.

"Axel...h-he went M.I.A., Roxas." Demyx said, getting straight to the point. Roxas could feel his heart sink as his knees gave way. He didn't cry. He didn't say a word. He just stared up into the sky as countless thoughts ran through his mind. The ring on his finger felt heavy as that one particular memory of Axel giving it to him repeated over and over.

"Roxas!"

December 17th, 1945

Roxas sat at the bar, head lying on the table as he drifted in and out from the conversation that Riku and Sorer were having. He took a deep breath while burying his head deeper into his arms. The conversation paused beside him followed by the sound of an old bar stool swiveling around.

"Roxas?"

He lifted his head out from his arms to look into the worried eyes of his brother.

"I'm not going to be alright until Axel comes home." Roxas told Sora, answering the unasked question.

"We don't know if he'll even return…." Sora trailed off.

"He went M.I.A.: Missing In Action. Which means he'll return. Even though I'd rather have him dead, I can't stand the thought of what could be happening to him." Sora just stared as he watched Roxas use the end of his sweater to wipe his eye.

"We made a promise." Roxas said, giving Sora a look that told him he was done talking.

Moments later after Roxas had went back to resting his head in his arms, he heard the bar stools move beside him along with a hand being placed gently on his back.

"We're leaving. Want to come home with us?" Sora asked soothingly.

"No…."

"Please don't drink this pain away." Sora begged.

"I'm not going to become one of those whiskey lullaby's." Roxas growled his eyes narrowed as he watched his brother and Riku walk out of the bar.

Sighing, Roxas sat up, wiping the hair from his brow. Something glistened to Roxas' right where he found the ring still on his finger. He stared at it for a moment before bringing his other hand up to take it off.

"It's been 4 years. I don't want to give up on you...but I might just have to..." Roxas closed his eyes as he chucked the ring over his shoulder, a sad sigh escaping his lips.

"Hey! You know this can kill someone like that!" That voice. Roxas whipped his head around to stare into those green eyes he hasn't seen in four years.