Authoress Note: I'm not particularly fond of this drabble, but the idea was floating around in my head. This is a spoiler of sorts, so I'm just taking the moment to warn you. I don't even think that Riku has a Nobody…I don't recall him ever becoming a Heartless. But from the moment I saw Axel I just thought, "that has got to be Riku's Nobody".

Warnings: Hints at Axel/Roxas and Riku/Sora. That means boy x boy, ladies and gents, and also there's some spoiler material for those who haven't beat Kingdom Hearts II.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts and it's characters. Obviously.

Word Count: 393 words not counting the above and the title.

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Got It Memorized

Axel had expected to someday die and fade away, but he hadn't thought he would feel it. Right now he could though, and it was very much real. It hurt and stung and bit into his flesh. He could feel it crawling up his spine and digging around in his brain. Everything was rushing back to him, and he knew. Suddenly knew all the things that Roxas was always unsure of. Knew where he was going and who he was. Where he had come from and exactly how he knew Roxas before all this mess had started.

He had known that Roxas was Sora's Nobody already upon their first meeting. That was the reason, after all, that the blonde could summon and handle the Keyblade. It was the reason why the boy had been picked out of a mass of others, whom were just sitting there in their space of nothing waiting to be given a chance to be somewhat whole again.

But he hadn't thought that he had known Roxas, no. He hadn't thought he'd known Sora. And at this moment, his supposed death and rebirth, he knew he'd get a second chance at being with Sora - his best friend. He knew this because his other was closely tied to Sora in ways that could make others extremely envious.

He'd get a second chance at being Sora's best friend again, and that made him happy. Axel would make things work this time, and he wouldn't muck it up with false assumptions and silence.

Roxas made him think he could feel, but Sora, the boys other, finalized that thought. He felt like he was getting high off the emotion that was coursing through him as his body deteriorated before the boy. His green eyes locked with blue eyes clouded by confusion and sadness.

"You make me feel what Roxas made me feel." He chocked out the only words he could say, wanting to say more, but knowing it would tip everything over. The relationship between himself and his best friend would be up to their others from this point onward. "Got...it memorized?"

The last thing he saw before his eyes rolled up into the back of his skull was Sora's widened eyes and a whispered name.

"Riku..."

The next life had no room for mistakes. Everything was going to be just fine.