Bound by Fire
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl
For Taliax, with much thanks (and some apologies XD). ^^
Summary: Axel has had three friendships in his life, and he wouldn't give up any of them for the worlds. Variations of AkuSaiRokuShi, all platonic; mostly AU.
Introduction: Man, I've been working on this at least since May, if not longer... It kinda ended up being a combination of everything I keep wanting to do for you and never get a chance to - not like it was a chore or anything, since these are pretty much my favorite things to write about. XD
The title: because Axel seems to be the glue that holds these four together. (As opposed to AkuRokuShi, where Roxas holds them together.) He's also a star figure in five of the six stories, then took over the RokuShi story as well. *sweatdrop*
For some incredibly strange reason, AkuSai seemed to worm its way into almost every single one of these. ;) Though Saïx ended up OOC a lot, I kept getting carried away. DX
...Aaaand, because I have OCD, I'm working on Bound by Moonlight for SaiRoku, SaiShi, SaiRokuShi, etc. *eyeroll*
Part 1 of 6 - Axel and Saïx (rough draft)
Summary: "I never lose things. So where is it? Chi, go find it." Saïx needs his Disney Town ticket back.
A/N: Takes place a little after Christmas at the Castle.
o.o.o
Saïx stood in the middle of his room, as close to exasperation as a Nobody could get. "Where is it?"
Chi sat at his feet, looking up at him anxiously. The usually spotless room was full of strewn clothes and objects and open drawers, all set in disarray during Saïx's increasingly 'frustrated' search. "I never lose things, so where could it possibly be?"
"Bark," Chi offered.
"Hush, let me think..."
No time. He was going to be late if he didn't get out of here this instant. "I'll have to look again later. Chi, be good." She head-butted his ankle. He stooped briefly to scratch behind her ears, then headed out to meet with Lord Xemnas.
He did not notice the little Chihuahua trotting after him, slipping out of the portal at his heels. However, instead of accompanying him to the head of the Proof of Existence, she went sniffing her way along to the thirteenth portal.
She finally found what she was looking for in the eighth portal, after her master had gone down to breakfast. Watched by curious and somewhat perplexed Assassins, Chi moved through the dark room, sniffing through strewn boots and empty video game cases and at the sleeping flame-user's arm dangling over the edge of the bed. Then the other side of the room, through a pile of Keychain Gears and at a half-constructed stuffed animal.
It was in the pocket of one of the dirty coats heaped on the floor. Chi had a difficult time sticking her snout into the stiff garment's pocket, but she managed it, grasping the card in her teeth and tugging it free. Then she proudly trotted back out of the room and up into her master's portal, set down her prize, assumed a guarding stance, and waited.
o.o.o.o.o
Saïx returned to his room after work to find Chi drowsing on top of the very item he'd practically torn his room apart looking for that morning. "Chi!"
She jerked awake and yipped excitedly.
"What did you...?" He tucked her under one arm and studied the Disney Town pass in his other hand. "You found it," he finally acknowledged.
"Bark!"
He kissed the top of her head. "I know of a house full of Dalmatian puppies I'm sure you'll enjoy visiting. I will take you there soon - you've earned it."
o.o.o.o.o
The next morning, Axel stared at his mission brief for a while before finally remarking, "Luna Diviner's feeling a bit nostalgic, eh?"
"Difficult for Nobodies to 'feel' anything without hearts," Saïx returned. "We can't leave until I've sent off everyone else, so go waste time since I know you're not going to do anything useful."
"Why be useful when you can play with those instead?" Axel laughed, pointing across the room at the Keybearers (who were amiably arguing about panel arrangement efficiency).
"Don't you dare keep them late, I need a full day's worth of work out of both of them."
"Blah blah blah, whatever you say, boss."
It was later in the morning than Saïx would have liked when the last Organization member finally vanished through a dark corridor. He turned to Axel, who was napping on one of the couches. "Axel, we're leaving."
"Five more minutes, Mom," Axel muttered.
"Wake up, Axel."
"Blargh..."
Saïx went to get Chi, and came back into the Grey Area to find Axel still on the couch.
"Lea, you really need to stop playing video games so late."
Axel's eyes opened at that, and he stared. "Well, Isa," he said slowly, "between work and baby-sitting, when am I supposed to get my video game time in?"
"I would think that working to restore your ability to feel emotion should take precedence over how many alien-shaped groups of pixels you can successfully aim at."
"It's not just shooting games! My Virtu-Farm's been prospering spectacularly, and I'm this close to 100% completion on Sky Castle. Besides, I think your priorities are a bit out of whack, too, if you're taking the day off to go play in Disney Town."
"It's reconnaissance."
"In an amusement park."
"I can reassign you if you wish."
Axel grinned. "Nope, I'm good."
Saïx held out what looked like a handful of fluff.
"D'aww, I get to bring Bomb? Yay!"
"It's only fair," the Diviner muttered.
Armed with a kitten and a Chihuahua, the two Nobodies headed to Disney Town and presented their passes. "Oh!" the admission attendant exclaimed as she looked at Axel. "I remember you! You came here with that adorable little girl and boy, all in the black coats."
"Little girl?" Saïx asked in puzzlement as they continued on into the town.
"Yeah. Xion, duh. What other little girls do we have in this Organization?"
Saïx stopped dead. "You gave my Disney Town pass to Xion?"
"I lent your Disney Town pass to Xion, and so what? As if you were using it!"
"Do you have any idea how long I was searching for it?"
"You could have just asked."
"And had you guessing why I needed it and somehow finagling the Keybearers along, I don't think so."
"They would have loved to join us."
"And would then have gotten in the way, distracted you into uselessness, and-"
That was when Chi started barking shrilly, so that it was a little hard to think.
"Chi, be quiet," Saïx commanded. She backed away toward Axel and kept barking, now sounding a little desperate.
Axel scooped her up and cuddled her, cooing, "Your daddy's bein' meeeeaaaan."
Saïx noticed that the little dog was trembling. "Give her to me."
"My puppy!"
"She's full-grown, and give her to me, she's mine."
"She's mad at you."
"I'm going to corridor that cat of yours somewhere unpleasant if you don't hand over my dog."
"Hey, do I threaten your fluffy?" Axel said indignantly. However, he was not unaware of the animal's distress, and passed her over readily enough. She seemed to calm down once the argument stopped. "See, Daddy and Uncle Axel are still friends," he cooed at her over Saïx's shoulder. "Humans only argue like old married couples when they looooove each other."
She watched him as she licked Saïx's glove. "Stop saying strange things," Saïx said with a frown. "Let's go, we're wasting time."
"I'll say. Let's catch all the popular rides first and save your boring ones for when everyone gets out of school and makes the lines really long."
"My boring ones?"
"Heh, one would think you'd be more of a thrill seeker now that you've got no heart to freak out with..."
"I never 'freaked out' on any rides-"
"Only 'cause you always REFUSED TO RIDE THEM-"
"-and I hope you don't intend to spend the entire day vainly attempting to stimulate the heart you don't have, since it's not going to work and there are more productive ways to pass the time here."
"Isa, you're talking as if visiting Disney Town is a chore."
"According to the mission brief, it should be."
"Well, better remember to investigate and analyze everything in between the Rumble Racing track and the ice cream shop and the Fruit Ball court and the performance stage, otherwise the higher-ups'll think we just came here to have fun," Axel laughed.
"We certainly can't have that," Saïx murmured, with what Axel could have sworn was a small twinkle in his eyes.
"Nope, can't have that at all."
They proceeded to enjoy their secret vacation to the full extent of their ability, which was rather more than any Nobody should have been capable of. Despite the fact that pretty much all the information in the report was falsified, Saïx counted that particular mission a success.
