Deep in the shadows of Sora's heart could be found another soul, one that should not have been there, but was trapped within the keyblader. Roxas sat on the none-existent ground, knees pulled to his thin chest, his face buried in them. In the distance he could both hear and feel that Sora was struggling to fight, he could sense the familiar presence of Dusk's all around the other boy, 'There are too many of them!' Sora yelled.
Another familiar presence made itself know, Roxas could feel them and they tinged long forgotten memories in his heart, feelings he thought were gone after so long inside Sora. Roxas lifted his head in confusion, in front of him was the window to the outside world, one he had gazed out of many times so he could know which one of his comrades Sora had defeated. Oh how the blonde could clearly remember each one of his comrades death's, he saw in his own mind Xaldin's fall from glory, saw Demyx fall to the ruthless brunettes keyblade and how he had felt sick inside watching his friend fall at the hand of his supposed somebody; He felt as though it had been he who had taken their lives. He could hear a new voice out there, one that struck a cord in the heart he should not of had. Roxas pushed himself to his feet and walked forward to peer out the 'window' of Sora's mind, the sight before his eyes made his heart skip, someone had joined the fight to help Sora and his friends.
"Ax..el?" The Key of Destiny whispered softly to the empty air, placing a hand against the 'glass', watching with baited breath as the red haired Flurry fought along side the brunette keyblader. They were struggling admirably against a few, he was sure, thousands of Dusks in the Betwixt and Between; The very home of the Dusk's. 'Hey, wanna see something cool? I can defeat these guys in one move!' Axel's voice drifted in to meet Roxas's ears and the blonde felt his heart stop beating, he knew exactly what Axel was planning and knew with a sickening twist in his gut what would happen should the red head do it.
"Axel...No..." Roxas whispered at first, watching as if in slow motion as Axel stepped away from the brunette, getting into position as he brought his arms closer to his lithe body. "No...No...NO!" The blonde shrieked inside Sora's mind, slamming his fist repeatedly against the 'window', "Axel wait! Don't do it! PLEASE! AXEL!"
Beyond the window the Flurry of Dancing Flames willed every ounce of his power into one powerful attack, the look in his eye at first appearing determined, was actually resigned; As if he was prepared to die. In a flash of purifying heat, the Dusks were eradicated on one fell swoop. When the light faded, Axel lay very still on the ground, Sora ran to his side and dropped down beside him. 'Axel! Are you alright!' The Brunette asked, receiving a tired smirk from the red head, his body was fading fast into the darkness. 'Listen, you gotta keep going Sora, Saix has Kairi in the dungeons...T-tell her I'm sorry ok? I never meant for any of this to happen...' He groaned softly, Sora placed a hand on his shoulder, 'C'mon Axel, you can tell her yourself. Get up, you can come with us!' Axel smiled sadly, closing his eyes, 'Nah...My heart wouldn't really be in it, Y'know?'
'Axel...Why? Why did you do it? Why did you help us?' Sora asked, Axel opened his brilliant green eyes to look at him, his words a whisper. "AAAXXXEEELLL!" Roxas screamed inside Soar's mind, knowing very well the young keyblader couldn't hear him. Roxas watched helplessly, tears streaking his face, as Axel faded away: His last words both torture and relief. 'I just wanted to see him one more time…He was the only one that...made me feel like I had a heart…'
Axel felt numbness take over his senses, he frowned, he should be dead right? So why was it his mind was still working? Green eyes fluttered open and all at once his senses returned, the first thing he noticed was that his body felt wet and clammy, as if he taken a dip in the ocean and fallen asleep on the sand with his cloths on. The second thing was, to his slight surprise, the sound of water reaching his ears. Then his vision cleared and his eyes were met with an odd sight, "Stars?" He wondered aloud, his expression turning confused as he sat up to take in his surroundings; He was sitting on the beach of an island, half in an half out of the water. Axel ran a hand through his spiky hair, knocking sand from the mass of lank red strands. Standing, he tried to summon a portal and found he couldn't, he had lost the power of darkness? With sudden realization he reached up and placed a hand to his chest and gasped, he had a heartbeat! But did he still posses the power of fire? He tried summoning his weapons and sure enough they appeared, so he still had the ability to fight!
Still, Axel was confused, where was he? How had he gotten his heart back? Frowning, he walked across the light beige colored sand and onto a little dock that jutted out near by, in the distance he could see another, much larger island. Looking down he was slightly surprised to find a few boats tied up at the dock, choosing one he made his way to the other island, and at the time, a whole new life.
Roxas paced back and forth across Sora's mind, they'd arrived in Destiny Island some weeks prior, and this had become a constant thing. Ever sense the battle in the Betwixt and Between the blonde had become restless, angry, and desperate. A deep despair that was not his own plagued Sora and somehow he knew Roxas was responsible, ever since he had met the blonde at the top of the Castle That Never Was; Sora had also noticed Roxas's increasing agitation via a series of severe head aches. Sora had desperately beg the King into helping him release Roxas from his mind, not only to free himself of the despair and pain, but because he somehow knew it was partly his own fault the blonde was upset. Recently he had been having nightmares, which he later realized were Roxas's memories, about the battles he had had with the Organization.
After telling all this to the King, he had agreed to help Sora free Roxas, as you can Imagine this pleased Roxas quite a bit. The blonde desperately wanted to be free, he knew the next time he opened his eyes he'd be free, somehow or other. He just knew, for whatever gut reason, that Axel was out there somewhere and he was determined to find him; But for now he would sleep and allow Sora and the King to find a way to free him.