Bond of Flame

Prologue

From deep within the Nobody's territory, Sora and Axel fought side by side. Dusks were coming in a never-ending wave as the two battled on. All the while they waged war, Sora couldn't help but wonder why Axel seemed to have this sudden change of heart.

...Heart...

Now there was a word that seemed out-of-place for a nobody, but then again, Axel wasn't your average nobody. Despite Sora's frustration and the confusion when it came to the nobodies. Having them constantly calling him a traitor when he had no idea what they were talking about, and the Organization never even gave him a clue, Sora could tell that Axel was different. He reminded Sora of a big brother figure, and maybe even a bit like Riku, though he was a far cry from being his best friend...or, was he?

Sora saw a dusk about to strike Axel from behind and launched himself into the air, quickly spinning around the dusk, the grunt nobody was left turning its head in confusion giving Sora the chance he needed to finish it off.

Axel smiled when he turned and saw that Sora had his back. "Just like old times ey?" He asked, thinking of Roxas.

Sora glanced at the red-headed nobody before swinging his Keyblade: Oathkeeper, at another two dusks taking them out.

The battle kept raging, but the two kept fighting, each one swimming in their own thoughts while letting their natural fighting instincts do all the work. These nobodies weren't very strong, it was only their numbers that made them a threat. As long at the two fighters kept moving they would be alright.

Axel couldn't help but fight seperate from Sora, so he could watch him from a distance; to see him in action. As Sora swung the Keyblade, taking out one dusk after another, Axel had to wonder, was Roxas still in there somewhere?...

A dusk took its chance and snuck up on Axel, striking him in the back. Axel turned and out of anger blasted it away from his flaming, spinning blades.

Sora saw him take the hit and went to assist when he, himself, was set upon by a dozen or so dusks. They dog-piled on top of him, pinning him down and stopping him from helping Axel.

"Get off me!" He shouted.

But it was no use, these creatures didn't have enough sense to even comprehend what the boy had even said. they seemed to take it as a threat and pushed him into the ground even more. sora was trapped!

Axel saw this and flung one of the spinning blades Sora's way.

"Duck!" Was Sora's only warning.

The Keyblade wielder stopped trying to get up and dropped down just in time as the blade flew mere inches above his head and cut down all but three of the dusks. After that it was a simple tuck and roll for Sora to free himself. He jumped up a few feet from Axel.

"Thanks!" Sora called to him, but Axel merely shook his head.

"Don't thank me yet."

They were still surrounded by a vast army of dusks.

"Ugh! they just keep coming!" Sora cried out with a moan, it was clear he was getting tired. Axel noticed this as his strength was also beginning to fade. They had to end this now, or rather, he had to end it.

Axel took one look at Sora who was standing right beside him now and closed his eyes. He had seen that Sora was fighting alongside him, but it still felt like Roxas. He finally had his best friend back, and that was all that mattered to him.

"You can't let these things slow you down anymore Sora. Kairi is waiting, she needs you and so do your other friends. You've got to stop the Organization, before they can complete their plan!"

Sora looked up at Axel, confused. "What are you talking about? What plan?"

Axel stepped forward, his spinning blades ignited into a powerful inferno that began to engulf him as well. As he looked back at Sora he was smiling. "Why, Kingdom Hearts of course. The boss has something big planned for all of those hearts and it's up to you to stop him. You, the Keylbade's chosen one are the only ones who can defeat him. Got it memorized?"

Sora blinked, lowering his Keyblade slightly, "The only 'ones'?...Wait! You mean Roxas?! He has a Kayblade to?!"

Axel laughed as he turned his head slightly to look at Sora from one side. "Hahaha! You always were selfish Roxas, you should have shared some of your smarts with Sora. It would have saved him a lot of trouble!"

Sora was about to question him further when something behind Axel caused him to gasp. Axel turned and saw a large mass of dusks charging them at once. "Listen up! Roxas, Sora, the fight is up to you now! I've done all I can, but it looks like you're on your own!"

With that, Axel began powering up even more and as the mass of nobodies charged in he unleashed a powerful flame attack, wiping them all out in a single blow.

But that last attack came at a heavy price...

Sora looked around and gasped in awe, amazed that all the nobodies were gone. His gaze rested at a figure laying on the ground.

"Axel!"

Sora ran over to him and noticed what was happening. "You...you're fading!"

Axel looked up, the smile never leaving his face. "Well, that's what happens when you put your entire being into an attack." He raised one weak, shaky hand and opened a portal. "Kairi's that way. Go, save her."

"But what about you?" Sora asked, his face full of worry.

"I'm a nobody, without a heart I'm fading away into nothing...perhaps...that's all I ever was."

"Don't say that!" Sora shouted. "Or course you were somebody once! If every heartless was a person then so was every nobody!"

Axel smiled as he became more transparent. "Stupid, just because you have a heart."

Sora started crying, but he felt as if they were someone else's tears.

Axel saw the tear fall before he faded completely.

Sora stood up only after Donald and Goofy had caught up to him. Without a word to either of them, the wielder of the Keyblade ran straight through the portal.

"Axel!"

Sora slowly sat up from his bed. a call from a seagull caused him to look out the window. He was back on Destiny Islands. It took him a minute to realise that the war with the nobodies was over. Xeanort was defeated and Kingdom Hearts had been sealed a second time.

He, Riku and Kairi were safe and Goofy, Donald and the king had returned to their own home in Disney Castle. Life had finally gotten back to normal. The heartless had all but vanished as had the nobodies. It seemed the Keyblade could finally be put to rest, at least that's what Sora would have liked to believe.

He still felt bad that Axel had given his life to protect him, it was only after Axel's death that Sora had discovered that Roxas was Sora's nobody, and it did little to put his mind at ease, or rather, his heart.

He had saved the worlds and brought peace once more, but he still felt like he had failed in some way...there was only one thing to do. Sora had to see the King.

A/N: This story just came out of no where. I was playing Kingdom Hearts 2 just to relax after a long, tiring day Christmas shopping and doing some yard work when this idea just came to me. What was going through Sora and Axel's mind as they fought side by side? The battle area, if you hadn't guessed was the path just before Sora enters "The World that Never Was" Some of the events in the battle actually happened while I was playing, obviously I wasn't dog-piled, but they did seem to go after me more than Axel.

Anyway, this was also supposed to be just a one-shot, but It seems to have some potential to make for a good longer story. We shall see how this plays out. Oh, and one last thing to clear up any confusion. This isn't a SoraxAxel fic, they share more like a brother-like relationship in this one, since Axel and Roxas were best friends. hope you enjoyed this chapter and look for the next one to come soon, probably after I update "Phoenix in the Night" and "Ponysona 3"