A tribute to all of us who've felt like we've had to change in order to become who we are.

Could be slight Akuroku if you squint real hard, but its mostly friendship, I swear.

Thanks for the reviews guys. Even just one makes this all worth while.

A Change in Scenery

LightBloom

Roxas was very much used to Axel. Axel, with his crazy hair, painted like a fire truck ever since he was born. His stupid little cheeky smile and his sharp serpent green eyes. His sarcastic comments and the harsh laugh that followed, Axel was always on the lookout for a chance to look smarter than everyone else. After middle school, he'd given up his signature catchphrase every sentence and let it slip out every now and then in front of Roxas to earn himself a skeptical look. He would cause problems and point his finger towards the right—where Roxas would always happen to be standing and Roxas would always have to bail them out of a week's worth detention. The short surly blond would always know where to find the sneaky red head and why the cheerleaders would come storming over to his table in tears because it just so happened that the day that Axel had a very "nasty cough" and "had to stay home" that the school mascots and decorations were perma-glued together at the top of the flagpole.

This was all to say that Roxas knew Axel very well.

They were complete opposites, albeit, and god knows how, but they were absolutely best friends. Roxas didn't mind excluding himself from the crowd since it meant he would have peace and silence. Sure, most his lunches had been spent in the quiet hidden corner of the room, and his social life was definitely far from Sora's social butterfly actions, but it was quiet. He could talk to his few friends without worrying about gossip and was left alone simply for being the 'quiet one'. A small price to pay for a little peace and quiet.

Axel lived for the drama.

He loved it, and even that was an understatement. He'd cause situations for the cheerleaders to burst into tears simply for being so peppy. Axel was the one who would cause early releases because he was in need of a cigarette that he wasn't going to smoke in the boys' bathroom. He spent more time in detention than he ever spent at home and specifically went out of his way on the weekends to make sure people did not forget him. Axel loved drama.

So it was no surprise on Monday morning, when Roxas arrived at school only to discover that Axel had decided that fire engine red was simply much too normal of a color.

"Green," Roxas stated blankly. "You dyed your hair green."

"Apple green," corrected Axel cheerily, tugging at his green locks. "What do you think?"

Roxas gave him one look up and down, ignoring the shocked faces passing by to class. A tall, lanky, green headed boy with emerald eyes and a red shirt. Black pants.

"You look like a tree."

It wasn't a lie, necessarily. Axel was very tall. If he'd been carrying an apple, wearing brown pants instead of black…It would have been a miracle if a bird weren't nesting on his head. Axel remained unfazed.

"Really? I was hoping for a natural look?"

"How the hell is green a natural look on anyone?"

Axel's cheeks turned a little pink before he managed to turn away. "It looks good on Chia pets," he muttered as he marched down the steps to class.

Somehow, Roxas knew this wasn't the last he'd hear of this.

He was proven right on Tuesday when he discovered that the green wasn't a permanent color. The second longest day in the week rolled along leisurely, and for one wonderful moment in his life, Roxas forgot that he had the most insane friend in the world. For one moment he was simply Roxas, the guy who came to school to waste time and skateboarded in the park straight till dusk afterwards. Then, the brightest shade of pink he'd ever seen in his life flew into his line of vision, and that moment burst into flames. Combusting into happy-go-lucky green eyes, Roxas almost dropped his backpack in shock.

"Morning Roxas"

"I thought you were Marluxia for minute," Roxas admitted shamelessly.

"What gave me away?" Axel crooned; wicked smile perched on his face. "My amazing gorgeous face?"

"Your idiotic expression"

"Ouch, I felt a wound there," Axel cried out dramatically, hand slapping over his heart for effect. Several students gave him intrigued looks before shrugging, continuing on with life. Axel was known for drama. This should be no exception. "You broke my heart Roxas, aren't you going to fix it?"

"Not wasting my time with it," he grumbled, starring up. Twice in one week…this was…odd. "Why pink?"

Axel laughed sheepishly. "A mix up with the color—the wrong dye in the wrong box."

Roxas highly doubted it.

Hump day—formally known as Wednesday—crawled in with a bright blinding yellow. For someone like Roxas, who spent his night by candlelight (well, not really, but it was a really dim flashlight), the color blinded him, clashing offensively with the still dark sky. Duck yellow, Lemon yellow, buttery yellow, you name, Axel's hair covered it. Every single possible shade of that cheery color covered the span of his head, his green eyes glowing brilliantly in contrast.

"What do you think Roxas?" He asked excitedly, tugging his hair in all possible directions.

Roxas momentarily wondered how it was, with all those chemicals seeped into his skull this week that chunks hadn't just fallen out at the violent tugs it was suffering.

"We match!"

Roxas promptly left him at the bottom of the stairs.

Thursday was slightly better—at least in was normal color, he admitted grudgingly as Axel continued walking circles around him. His long black hair bounced in sync while long fingers continued poking at his every being, hoping to catch his attention—or annoy him. Who knew anymore? With Axel, the two tended to coincide more often than not. Axel suddenly bent over to face him correctly with a wide smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he laughed. Upon noticing his amusement was one sided however, the smile turned into a frown, brow furrowing. Bending over further in curiosity, he peered into Roxas' unresponsive expression, as if he could get the answers simply by staring. When it was obvious that the world didn't work that way (even for Axel), he spoke up.

"Roxas? What's wrong?"

Roxas bit his lip, eyes narrowing irritably. "Is this some kind of identity crisis?"

Close up, seeing the green eyes widen was almost comical. "Excuse me?"

"Is something wrong, and you just can't figure out how to tell me? Or you don't want to tell me?"

Axel burst out laughing, eyes closing as his laughter grew. "It's just a little hair dye Rox—"

"Shut up"

The ice in his voice shocked all remaining laughter away, leaving Axel stunned in front of the bench. Frustration reaching its max, Roxas snatched up his backpack from the bench. "I was just…I…"

He dug his heels into the ground before getting up on his feet. "Stupid. Forget it," he muttered angrily below his breath, brushing past the taller teen. Leaving his friend puzzled in the park, Roxas couldn't help but glare at the sunset angrily. How dare it be red, how dare it be so right, when everything else seemed so wrong.

Friday arrived, and Roxas was never happier to see the end of the week. He stuck with the cold shoulder treatment (Axel was like a kid; shut off the attention, shut off Axel) and ignored him as the cerulean hair flashed, calling out to him. Pouting as Roxas shoved past him and out of the parking lot, he stood awkwardly against his car, alone. Roxas sighed heavily, forcing himself to keep looking forward he ignored the welcoming warm car and opted instead for a harsh long walk home. He would ignore his best friends wounded look and keep walking even if he could hear Axel whining loudly behind him.

Even if it was supposed to rain heavily today

Of course, by the time he got home, Roxas had put aside his ego and admitted that it had been the stupidest idea to date. Exhausted from his long one hour walk, Roxas tossed his bag on the ground and collapsed on his couch. Taking in the silence of the house, suddenly, it hit him how lonely it was. There was no one home until eleven. He hadn't really realized how much space Axel took up in his house until now. There was no one home to bother him.

No one to whine and bitch until Roxas got up and put some smores on the table. No would be here to complain when he'd push them aside and laugh in his face when he snuck five in later. There wasn't anyone here to watch bad movies with him on the weekend and pretend to hate them along with him, or to watch chick flicks on Saturday night just to grind on each other's nerves, and secretly agree that Aqua Fair was most definitely the hottest female actor of all times, because she ALWAYS got the lead AND beat up the boys. Not even to disagree over who would win in a fight, Aqua or Tifa (Axel voted Tifa because of her "assets" to Roxas's disgust).

There wasn't anyone here at two in the morning vigorously copying 8 paged essays, boasting about how theirs were going to be better, and then sitting sheepishly in detention while Roxas bailed them out for copying said paper. There wasn't going to be any company tonight, he realized silently. As annoying as he was, Roxas thought with a frown, Axel was easy to miss. The doorbell rang out long—Axel held it that way just to annoy him. Groaning, he rolled over, already aware who was at the door. "What do you want Axel?"

"…Let me in?"

Grumbling, Roxas lamely made it over to his door, gripping the doorknob tightly. "Why should I?"

"Roxas, I'm sorry. Honest. I didn't mean to make you worry."

Worry? Roxas frowned. He didn't worry.

"I…I was…trying something different—you know, a change of scenery! I thought you'd understand…or at least take it better than this…"

Roxas rolled his eyes. Who could understand a force of nature?

"Can I come in? It's raining."

Sighing, Roxas obliges. He wasn't so heartless that he'd leave someone out in the rain. Even if it was Axel. The door swung open to reveal that yes, it was raining. Axel's hair was hanging over his shoulders, limp. Rain dripping from his chin, he held out a large tub and flashed a trademark smile.

"I brought sea salt ice cream," he admitted sheepishly. "Since you always complain about having to buy it."

Despite being angry—oh, he'd knownthat Axel had the cash to pay for all of that stupid ice cream—All Roxas could focus on was the unmistakable shade of flame red dripping wet on his porch. The color of the sunset was back and despite the stupidity and cheesiness of the scene, Roxas couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Axel shuffled uncomfortably. "I-I changed it again…what do you think?"

Roxas smiled.

"It suits you."