AkuRoku: Short Way Down

Roxas felt like he was looking down into a never ending abyss. In reality he was only looking down a rather long set of winding and twisting stairs. But because of the turning sea of nerves inside him, the stairs seemed like his scariest nightmare. Though contradictory to his panicked emotions, he also felt a flicker of exited fire spark inside his belly. Roxas took a deep breath and began his slow descent down the curving stairs.

As he carefully placed one foot in front of the other, Roxas let his hand rest lightly on the smooth railing. The elegant staircase was incredibly long but to him the descent was all too short. He was all alone on his journey, which left him to think in the silence that was only broken by his footsteps. The fancy black shoes he was wearing tapped every time he set his foot down. Roxas knew that this seemingly insignificant walk was actually the beginning of his life. A life that Roxas had always dreamed about, but was currently making him shake with nervousness. Roxas had no regrets, but somehow it had still not clicked in his mind that all of this was actually happening.

Roxas tugged at the hem of his suit as he walked a nervous habit he never could outgrow. Trying to stop fiddling with his clothes, his hands found their way instead to his hair, successfully messing up his already untidy spikes. If Sora were there Roxas was sure he would have yelled at him for messing up all the hard work Sora had put into Roxas' hair. Roxas giggled at the thought of it, he could just picture Sora stomping in his childish way, and then Axel would probably just stand and there and laugh like always, of course not helping the situation and just getting Roxas into more trouble.

Axel.

Roxas smiled to himself as he played the red head's sweet laugh in his mind. His feet began to pull himself forward on their own accord as Roxas surrendered himself to his daydream. He pictures all of Axel's small habits, like how he rubbed the back of his neck when he felt awkward, or how his eyes lit up whenever he was exited. All of the things Roxas loved about Axel rushed into his mind as he continued descending ever down the stairs. He thought of Axel's bright red hair that stood out in any crowd, his lean form a silhouette always in the back of Roxas' mind. He thought of how he loved Axel's smirk that seemed constantly plastered on his face, a slightly cocky trademark that had successfully seduced Roxas before they started dating. Though he would never admit that to Axel.

For Roxas it was a short way down the endless staircase, and all too soon he was stepping onto the landing at the bottom, and staring at a large intimidating church door.

All of his nerves rushed back to him like a giant wave, and his knees began shaking once more. All he could think was, 'This is really happening. Really, really happening.' Though his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a chuckle sound behind him.

"I told Sora that even if he gave you his little pep talk, there was no way you were going to walk down those stairs without turning yourself into a nervous wreck."

Roxas whipped around so fast he almost fell straight on his face. Axel only laughed more, before walking up to Roxas and gently taking his hand. Roxas turned his blue eyes to look Axel up and down, taking him in. He looked absolutely fantastic in his tuxedo, his red hair clashing with the deep black.

"You look nice too," Axel grinned, reading Roxas' thoughts. He took Roxas' hand gently, his smile turning sweet as he pulled Roxas closer.

Roxas squeezed Axel's hand before turning to look back at the church door, "Well I guess this is it, huh?"

Axel looked at the door and nodded, "Sure is."

As Roxas turned to face the door, a puzzled look crossed his face, "You know, in all of the excitement, I never thought of this. Aren't you supposed to you know, be already standing in there, waiting for me? Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding or something?"

Axel linked his arm with Roxas as he turned to face the door as well, "Yeah, in a traditional wedding. But I thought this would be better, since this isn't really a very traditional wedding is it? Although I must day, you do make a very dashing bride, I hope I haven't spoiled anything by seeing you sooner."

Axel laughed as Roxas lightly punched his arm, "Hey! Who said I was the bride?"

"Please Roxas, the only way it could be any more obvious is if you were wearing a dress."

Roxas huffed at Axel and turned away in a pout. As a tune started to play inside the church, Axel leaned down close to Roxas. Roxas' nervous butterflies found their way back into his stomach at the sound of the music.

"Hey Roxas."

Roxas bit his lip and turned to look at Axel, "Y-Yeah?"

Axel looked straight into Roxas' eyes, leaning his forehead against Roxas'.

"I love you," and with that, he placed a small kiss on Roxas' lips, then the doors opened and before Roxas knew it they were walking down the aisle.

It was a short way down the aisle for Roxas as he made his way to marry the one true love of his life.