Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Fireflies

xXx

"Hurry it up, rookie!"

"It would be nice of you to help!"

Roxas let out a loud laugh into the humid night air, racing against the damp wind hitting his face. He ran across the grassy plain with ease, dodging overgrown plants and hidden animals trying to escape the commotion.

Behind was a trailing redhead, who, every so often, would look over his shoulder and curse at the view behind him. "There's more now!"

The blond glanced back and smirked. He came upon a decent area, far from the village from which they had come from, and skidded to a halt. In one swift, graceful movement, he flipped his trench coat open and from the back of his inner clothing, pulled out a pair of gleaming guns that sparkled beautifully underneath the moonlight.

"Out of the way!" He grunted as he faced an incoming storm of night predators.

Axel did as he was told and slid onto the floor, avoiding the line of fire. As he did so, he pulled out his own pair of shiny toys, aiming them at the same group he had so skillfully escaped from.

"Remember this, rookie! This is what it's like... to kill a vampire!"

xXx

"Roxas, information from the vampire coven has been leaked."

The blond's attention focused tenfold as his superior spoke to him in his authoritative voice. His eyes followed the pacing man, getting impatient with every passing second of distressed silence.

"Sir, what is it?" He asked, his face racked with worry.

The older man faced him, a troubled expression drawn onto his face. "It seems... We have a traitor in our midst."

"A traitor?" Roxas exclaimed, shooting up from his seat in anger. "Who is it?" He hissed angrily, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. His fists clenched tightly, close to drawing blood from the palm of his hand.

His superior shook his head. "We don't know." He ushered the fuming blond back into his seat before continuing. "We have reason to believe that it's one of the new recruits. The timing of this news and the decision to recruit came too perfectly... Intel says that there's a 60 percent chance it's a rookie. I want you to sniff him out for me, Roxas. You're one of our best senior officers and also our most skilled, despite your age. I know I can count on you."

Roxas gave him an understanding nod, keeping silent for him to continue.

"I've assigned you to a rookie named Axel. See if he's hiding anything."

"Understood."

xXx

If you really look at it, the lifespan of a human is just like a firefly's gleam: fleeting and evanescent. Compared to the world around it, it's just a trivial matter of life, a very short, overpopulated matter of life.

Compared to a vampire, a human is simply a firefly, living in their own world, ignorant of the truth around them. A vampire is like the world. The world dies because people destroy it, likewise, a vampire only dies when people move to eradicate them. When left alone, a vampire can live forever with the world, if the people don't destroy one of them first.

To be human is to be a firefly, living life with short-lived aspirations and dreams only to die in a futile death. Why then, would you want to be human?

xXx

"There used to be a lot of these where I came from." Axel yawned as he leaned his tired body against the trunk of an ancient tree that had grown all on its own in the otherwise treeless clearing.

Blue eyes questioned him. "What? Vampires?"

"No, fireflies." He pointed at the swerving lights across the field, flitting here and there only to smack against another light clumsily. He watched them dance, but all the while keeping his blond senior within the corner of his eye.

"Are you from a small village?" Roxas asked, taking a seat beside the redhead, accidentally bumping into his shoulder as he let his weight fall atop the grass and roots.

He nodded with a slight smile, enjoying the moment of peace in his hectic life. "Yeah," he breathed as if out of breath.

The two sat in silence admiring the light show; the fireflies danced while the stars accented them from the background. The warm breeze lifted their colorful tresses every so often as if setting them at ease, a reward for their hard work.

Roxas closed his eyes as he could feel a smile rise to his lips. He relaxed against his partner, leaning against that bit of shoulder he touched. He liked this feeling of being with someone at a place where there wasn't any fighting or blood. Just the night, some fireflies and Axel, the rookie he had come to enjoy.

"We should head back." Roxas sighed, his eyes still closed, but a frown replacing his smile.

Axel nodded in understanding. "Yeah, of course." He let out a groan as he wrestled against his aching muscles to a standing position, helping Roxas up once he was steady on his feet. "Let's get back." He gave Roxas a grin before turning to walk back in the direction of the village.

"Hey, Axel." Roxas called when the redhead had already put a small distance between them. When he was sure he had Axel's full attention, he smiled at him. "Let's do this again."

Axel grinned widely at his partner, assuring him of a second viewing. "Yeah, we'll watch the fireflies again."

xXx

Panic flashed across his face as Axel could only watch Roxas being stolen away from his grasp. His body wouldn't listen to him; it was numbed with pain just as Roxas' small figure was. Neither one was ready to fight anymore.

They should have known it was a trap. It was so obvious and yet! And yet... they had decided to go on anyway, confident that they'd make it through.

Axel's mind hazed with fear, anxiety and petrification. His body only knew how to tremble now, shivering against the cold winter air with his eyes eyes following every movement of Roxas' captor.

He'd memorize his face. Commit it to memory. And when he sees him again, he'd kill him.

Axel's breathing escalated as the image of Roxas' unconscious face shrunk with every foot they put between him and his partner, leaving Axel alone in the snow, bleeding and on the brink of consciousness. He grabbed a fistful of ice cold snow, barely hearing the crunch between his fingers. He shut his eyes, heart racing and a growing frostbite on his fingers.

"ROXAS!"

xXx

Whispers.

It seems that's the only thing this organization knew.

Secrets.

"That's him, right?" And you call yourselves secret agents.

"Yeah, he's the traitor. One of our guys caught him talking to a vampire last week and another one last night." It was true.

"He sold our best figher, Roxas, his own partner out for some blood? How low."

Axel kept on walking.

xXx

"Axel, wake up." A sweet voice, a voice he recognized.

Green orbs met blue ones, a blue he had so longed to see. "Roxas!" He cried and threw his arms around the body of his missing partner.

"Good to see you partner." Roxas smiled as he returned the long hug of reunion.

Axel nodded, his heart relieved of all the worry that had accumulated in the past 6 months of Roxas' absence. "Yeah, they've kept their promise and I've kept mine. It's about time we leave." He jumped to his feet and examined their surroundings. It was a beautifully decorated room with elaborately decorated artwork and furniture.

When he received no response, Axel whipped around worriedly. "Roxas?"

Roxas' face blanched as he ran for Axel, why though, Axel didn't know... until his vision became blurred and Roxas' image began to sway to and fro like waves on a shore. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but could not hold out any longer.

"Axel! ...Get out of here you worthless excuse for a vampire!" A few gunshots were fired, then there was darkness.

xXx

"Roxas, if you don't turn him, I'll not hesitate to throw him into the kitchen for dinner."

"I know, but..."

"Roxas."

"...I understand."

Axel came to in the same room he had awoken earlier. The voices he had heard in his sleep were hazy now, barely audible within his memory's grasp. He just knew that they spoke of something he didn't want to hear. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his forehead in an attempt to recall the voices.

His worried thoughts were instantly erased as thin arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

A smile graced his features as he held onto the arms, caressing a small hand at his abdomen. "Rox-"

"Axel, did you know that there are purebloods in the vampire world?"

The redhead's lips formed a grim line at the sudden change of topic. "Yes. They're the hardest to locate due to their immunity to the sun and the reduction of fangs when taken blood regularly. Why?" He tried to glance at his partner, but only found a mass of blond hair at his back, his face huddled against his shirt.

Roxas let out a breathy laugh. "Not too bad, rookie." He sighed in a heavenly breath, sending warm shivers up Axel's spine. "Did you know that in our organization, they didn't test you if you were a vampire 50 years ago?"

Axel's eyes narrowed, his grip on the blond's hands loosening, but Roxas' only tightened his grip around his waist in response, almost as if he were afraid that Axel would run away from him. "What are you saying?"

"50 years ago, there was a Sora in the organization, one of the first recruits." Roxas laughed shakily. "He disappeared mysteriously one night on a mission. After a couple of years, he was assumed dead." He pressed his cheek against Axel's back. "18 years ago, his grandson joins the organization with an uncanny, almost strange, resemblance. His name..." He trailed off as if to prepare both of them. " ...is Roxas."

The redhead laughed, wondering if that was it. "So you're Sora's grandson, what's the big deal?" Axel could feel the death grip Roxas had on him now, and the movement of his shirt meant that Roxas was shaking his head against him.

"No, Axel. I am Sora."

xXx

Traitor.

That's all Axel's eyes seemed to say to Roxas now. That one word he had never cared for before, now harassed him with every fleeting connection he made with the redhead's eyes. He didn't want to do this. He knew he wouldn't want it.

"Axel..." Roxas said gently, reach out to touch the other's cheek.

The redhead turned his head away stubbornly, acting as if Roxas' touch was poison. In a sense it was, because if Roxas touched him, he would no longer be able to move nor think clearly. That's just what his partner did to him; Roxas reduced him to nothing more than a redheaded ameba so to say.

Roxas gave up on being gentle and grabbed the redhead's face roughly, not caring if his hold hurt him because in just a few moments, he wouldn't feel the pain anymore. He wouldn't feel anything.

When Axel's eyes shone with fear at Roxas' change of heart, blue eyes softened as his chest ached. He eased his grip somewhat and pressed their foreheads together in apology.

"You said we'd watch the fireflies again." He whispered softly.

Axel scoffed, "That was before I found out you betrayed us. All of us."

Roxas brushed a strand of hair away from Axel's face, a compassionate expression across his face. He gazed into Axel's eyes for a few moments before kissing his forehead, keeping his lips pressed against the soft skin.

"The next time you wake up..."

He kissed his lips briefly.

"You won't be a firefly anymore."

xXx

TA: Okay, so, this is my second attempt at an AkuRoku vamp oneshot. The first one I wrote ,"This isn't Fate it's a game of Tag," I didn't like very much so I decided to write another one. Kind of like a way to redeem myself. LoL Plus, I hated how every comment, if not the majority, was all about Edward Cullen and Twilight. People, no, just... no.

Vampires don't sparkle and they don't feed on animals. They're cold, twisted, sometimes sweet, but in they end, they'll just bite you in the ass... or should I say neck? XD Ahh that was cheap.

Enough with that! How was it? ...And you know how much I like reviews. XD -hinthint-