Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Some credit goes to Invaderhorizongreen for helping me on many occasions with this story.

Beep beep beep be- Axel slammed his hand down on the annoying alarm clock, silencing the persistent beeping. He sighed, not wanting to get out of bed; it was a Saturday after all, which meant no school. However, he still had a job to do.

The pyro reluctantly slid out of bed and got dressed in a red T-shirt and some old jeans before walking to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. Already sitting in one of the attached dining room table's chairs was his roommate and best friend, Demyx. The blond waved to the redhead, a large smile dominating his features.

"Hey Axel! I was starting to think I'd have to wake you up." He said, shaking his head.

Axel rolled his eyes and began buttering a bagel. "You know I take volunteering seriously. Of course I'd wake up."

Now it was Demyx's turn to roll his eyes. "You always sleep through your alarm because it's a half an hour earlier than you need to be up."

"Shut up."

The blond smirked, happy in succeeding in irritating his friend. "Any new arrivals?" He wondered as he took a bite of his cereal.

Axel shook his head. "Nope. Last one was Namine. She's a sweet little thing. You'd love her."

"Then I guess I'll have to drop by and visit everyone soon."

"You should." Axel said as he stuffed the buttered bagel in his mouth. "See ya later. Got to go."

"Bye! Have fun!" Demyx called after him as he walked out the door.

.o.O.o.

Ten minutes later Axel pulled into the parking lot of the Twilight Park Animal Sanctuary, parking his Outlander in his usual spot behind the building. He clocked in before entering through the back door, the one primarily used by volunteers. After a quick stop at his desk to grab a small notepad Axel stopped at the first cage he came across.

"Sora? Kairi?" The man called as stepped inside the metal bars.

Immediately two blue eyed lion cubs came bounding up to him, one dark brown and the other tawny. Both began jumping excitedly around Axel as he bent down to pet them. 'Lively as ever' He thought as he jotted down the cubs' condition.

Dropping the notepad in his back pocket Axel left the cage briefly, coming back with two plates of red meat and placing them in front of the young lions. The cubs dug into the food ravenously, barely stopping to chew. Finishing in seconds the two reverted back to enthusiastically jumping on their caretaker.

Axel took a step back and knelt down to their level. "Sit." He said in a firm but playful voice. Kairi obediently sat down, though Sora continued to bounce. Axel held his hand above the cub's head and said the command again. The times the brown cat plopped down next to his friend. Axel made a clicking sound with his tongue before throwing each of them a treat. "Good job!" He praised.

Axel cycled through every trick they knew, finding to his pleasure that they'd remembered what he had taught them. With a final click of his tongue the pyro released the cubs to their own devices, leaving to check on his other charges.

First was Namine, Xion, and Marluxia, the three deer fawns. Namine was a female albino, Xion, also a female, was black, and Marluxia, the boy, was tawny with a hint of pink, and all had bright blue eyes. Second was the wolf pups, Riku, Larxene, and Xemnas. Riku and Xemnas were both silver, only separated by their sea green and blue eyes respectively. Larxene was gold, a large contrast to the others. Sora and Kairi were the two remaining lion cubs. There had been two others; Ventus and Vanitas, though they had died shortly after being brought to the sanctuary despite his and the other volunteer's efforts.

Regardless, Axel loved volunteering at the animal sanctuary. It was fun to play with the young ones and to watch them grow up. Some even got released back into the wild. However, the job did have it's downsides. Seeing some die or be put down was emotionally taxing, as well as dealing with the sick and wounded. Rescues were hard, but luckily he didn't have do that.

His job was to care for the rescued young animals the sanctuary took in, and hopefully either get to release them into the wild or transfer them to zoos that would take good care of them. He had only started in the winter, so the ones he cared for now were his first charges.

Despite his inexperience, Axel was a valuable employee of Twilight Park. If it wasn't for his excellent ability to sympathize with the animals Sora and Kairi could have died just like Ventus and Vanitas. All four had eaten some kind of poison, Ventus and Vanitas had been the unfortunate ones who'd eaten most of it, but because of that the other two lived.

Axel sat down at his desk just outside where the youngsters were kept, recording information on the animals. It was boring but mandatory. He quickly finished, and was putting all the paperwork away when someone entered the building.

"Hey Saix." Axel greeted as his boss walked past the doorway to his office.

"Hello Axel. I true you've fed the animals?" Saix said dryly. He and Axel weren't exactly on the bst terms.

The redhead's signature smirk played across his face. "Of course. I treat these little guys like they were my own."

"As long as you do your job I have no interest in your emotions towards the animals." The bluenette remarked as he walked away to attend to his own duties.

Axel crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair and sighed contently. He loved his job.

First chapter-done! Don't worry guys, the storyline gets far better from here! Be expecting the next chapter soon, and be ready for a new arrival!