Light Up The Sky
By: Tomi Sama
Pairing: AkuRoku
Warnings: Fluffy. Drabble-ish.
Disclaimer: If I did own, there wouldn't be a need for fanfics. The game would have all the AkuRoku goodness it deserves.
Author's Note: Happy Fourth of July! If you're not American and don't celebrate, still have a good day… Sorry if you don't get fireworks. Oh, and this was a result of watching the fireworks the night before (we have two-days worth of fireworks here) and I've always loved fireworks, and I was thinking about this last night. Anyway. It's short, it's fluffy… it's not really that good, but oh well. I needed to write it. XP
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It had called for an alarming amount of favors; the amount of which actually surprised Axel. The redhead was something of a God at pulling strings, playing people against each other, and getting what he desired because of it. Apparently, his fellow members of the Organization knew what this day meant for him, and so to get the day off and get the blessing of Xemnas to do what he planned, took more work than he thought it would.
With the exception of Roxas (who was still asleep in bed, another favor Axel pulled in: he paid Xigbar to cover for Roxas while the redhead turned off his alarm clock. The Organization worked the young keyblade master too hard) every other member of the Organization needed a favor, needed something done.
Some of them had been innocent enough: to get Demyx to take his place on a Mission he had to buy him new strings for his guitar. Some had been harder. Saix agree to talk to the Superior, meaning Axel would get the night off, if Axel talked the Superior into keeping Saix "company" for the night.
After two hours of debating to Xemnas on why Saix was worthy to be a bedfellow (the thought alone made Axel almost too nauseous to talk), the Superior agreed with a knowing grin and Axel left, free for the night, slightly disheartened by the fact that the Superior was going to allow him the night off all long. Xemnas had been torturing him by making him the Organization's bitch for the previous week.
By the time he got to Number Thirteen's door, he was in good spirits again.
The young blond was still sleeping. The door had been locked earlier, but Axel picked it when he shut off the alarm, and left it unlocked incase he needed to get in quickly to steal Roxas (if Xemnas wouldn't have allowed him the night off, even the Superior knew that Axel would take off, anyway, with or without permission). The redhead almost felt bad to wake his sleeping friend.
But it was late. Roxas didn't get back from a mission until seven this morning, he'd set his alarm clock for two. It was currently six thirty.
"Roxas?" Axel ignored the fire that shot through his body as he touched his younger friend's bare shoulder, shaking it gently. "Roxas, wake up. We've got to go."
Blond eyes opened lazily, smiling slightly as he realized the emerald eyes and red hair belonged to that of his best friend. The sight would have made Axel's heart stop, if he had one. "Where are we going?"
"One of my favorite places in all the worlds."
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Axel wasn't a very good secret keeper. Roxas was surprised that even intense pestering the redhead didn't give anything away. When asked where they were going, Axel simply replied with "another world" took the blond's hand, and pulled him into the darkness.
In the other world, they just did normal things. They ate dinner, strange meat things that were long and thin. Then they walked around and viewed the decorations, everyone had the same one: a rectangle with red and white stripes, a blue square in the upper-left-hand corner with white stars. As twilight turned to dark, Axel led them to a hill, spread out a blanket, and laid down with his hands under his head.
Roxas wasn't sure what Axel still had planned, but he sat down next to his friend, regardless.
After ten minutes or so, Roxas noticed that the hill overlooked a park. There were people gathering, slowly, but surely, as the dusk fully turned to night. As if the entire park knew what was happening, the chattering died away, the music stopped and people turned to the sky.
"Axel, what's…"
BOOM!
Roxas couldn't help but flinch. He was seconds away from jumping up, summoning the keyblades and getting ready for the heartless invasion. Instead, he looked to where the boom had come from. Red and white fire filled the sky.
"Was that you?" Roxas asked, turning to look at his friend. Axel sat up, his knees bent with his arms folded over them. The goofy grin plastered on his face was filled with more wonder than a seven-year-old who just received their favorite chocolate bar for no reason.
"No. It's gunpowder. A long time ago, here, a war was fought. These guys won. This is how they celebrate their freedom from the other guys. I read about it in one of their libraries after I found their fireworks."
Fireworks. Roxas thought as another mass of colored fire exploded in the sky. Appropriate name.
Unable to stop himself, he leaned against Axel. The redhead adjusted the way he was sitting, draping his arm over his blond friend's shoulders. The summer air was chilly, but leaning against each other, watching the amazing sight, both felt warmth.
After more went off, Roxas pulled away slightly, turning to face Axel.
"That one looked like a Chakram!"
"They all looked like Chakrams, if you played connect the dots correctly." Axel laughed and pulled the blond back to him, resting his head on the smaller boy's watching the show.
Only when Roxas sparred against or battled with his elder friend, did he appreciate what fire could do. This was definitely impressive. The only thing better than actually watching the fireworks explode, was watching his best friend's reaction. His eyes lit up, he never lost the smile that was so rare to come by back in The World That Never Was. The redhead always put up a tough front, always grinning and joking to make the younger Nobodies (like himself and Demyx) feel better about being so empty. Roxas never realized how unhappy Axel was before.
Axel looked happy, genuinely happy, for the first time in Roxas' memory. It made the blond boy's chest throb. He felt happy too.
An hour later, when the show was over, Axel laid back down, looking exhausted. He was impressed, he told Roxas quietly in between the booms. He wished he had control over his element to that extent. Roxas thought if he tried hard enough, Axel could control the fire even more than the fireworks.
Spent, looking emotionally satisfied for the first time, Axel had his eyes closed, reliving the fireworks in his head. Although the show was impressive, in his head, they were even better. Roxas admired his friend.
The park flooded with lights as the music resumed. Most people were leaving. All around them, other people set off smaller fireworks, nothing in comparison to the actual show, but impressive to Roxas nonetheless.
Suddenly, Axel said, "I'm glad it was you."
"Me?" Roxas looked down, leaning back on his elbows. "Me what?"
Axel chucked and opened his eyes, peering into Roxas' with a lazy intensity that burned Roxas without Axel intending it to. "I'm glad it was you I saved this for. I've been coming here for a few years, and I thought about bringing someone. First I thought Zexion. I figured he'd like the educational part of it. By the next year Demyx was here, but he was scared of fire and I was afraid he'd try to put the fire in the sky out. Then I thought Marluxia would like it, but he was so busy weeding his garden all day that he would have said no even if I had asked him. Then you showed up."
Roxas waited for him to continue, but the redhead finished simply. "I'm glad I didn't take them. It wouldn't have made it as special."
It was Roxas' turn to feel like he had a heart.
As if the action were spur of the moment (which it hadn't been, Axel had been waiting for this moment since Roxas had joined the organization three months ago) the redhead lifted a hand up, placing it gently behind the blond's neck. Roxas thought he would have fought it, but he just let Axel lead him down. He let Axel kiss him gently, on the lips, as if they were lovers instead of friends. Surprisingly, Roxas let himself kiss Axel back.
If Roxas thought Axel looked happy before, the only way to describe the redhead now would be blissful or ecstatic. Axel let go of his younger friend's neck, to run his fingers down his arm, placing his bare hand in his friend's smaller one.
"Happy Fourth of July, Roxas." Axel murmured softly, almost as a promise of many Fourth of Julys to come between the two of them.
Roxas smiled and laid down beside his best friend, their fingers laced together gently as they watched the wind clear the smoke from the sky.
"Happy Fourth of July, Axel."