Second Chance.
Note: I've combined both games and manga of Kingdom Hearts into this story, since I love the manga so much yet the games are awesome too. I don't own any of them, though.
Oh, and the italics are both memories and in thoughts, and the bold are the notes, and bold and italics combined are exclaimations(if that's a word.) and titles of the chapters.
CH2: Confronting Memories.
"Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?" Axel grumbled to himself as he entered Twilight Town to find the final member of Organization XIII, one whom Xemnas confronted earlier. According to Saix, the newest Nobody is the nobody of the Keyblade wielder Sora who recently just turned into a heartless before strangely returning back into a human being, while his nobody, who was just named 'Roxas' exists at the same time...well, not really existing, but you get the point.
Thus far, Roxas refused to join and just walked away, and it was Axel's job to get the kid to change his mind. Normally the redhead wouldn't do that, because really, he didn't find himself the type to like or take care of kids. Besides, they were Nobodies-no hearts and everything. Finally, he found the lone kid walking through the streets alone, passing three human teenagers eating sea-salt ice cream.
Roxas stopped, and glanced at the kids around his age, and Axel caught up, placing a hand onto the boy's shoulder. When the spiky-blonde haired nobody gazed up at him, Axel could see that the boy was Sora's nobody, because the two had the same faces and same eyes, not that Axel met Sora before. The blonde hair though, reminded him of someone else he met years ago when Axel was a human himself, around Sora's age.
"Lookin' for something?" Axel asked.
The younger Nobody didn't respond, just stared up at him, like a zombie, which, although Axel didn't have a heart, it was starting to creep him out. Instead, Roxas turned back to where the other three kids were with their ice cream, and Axel followed the gaze, and realised that for a new nobody who was just born in a matter of a few hours, already wants something to eat.
But really? Sea-Salt Ice Cream? Axel recalled something like that when he was a human, but the name of it, and the flavor of actual salt in it...just sounded disgusting. Still, if that's what Roxas wanted to try out for the first time, then...maybe it wouldn't hurt to try it out. After all, it was his job to bring the kid in.
"Want Ice Cream?" Axel offered.
Roxas looked at him again, then slightly nodded.
Well, eating a salty flavoured ice cream wasn't on his job list, but Axel knew that this might be a way to get the kid to join in. So, after buying to Sea Salt Ice Cream popsicles, the eighth member of the Oraganization gestured the kid to follow him up on the clock tower, since at the moment, it felt like a perfect hiding spot, not to mention for privicy. Both of them sat on the edge, ice creams in hand.
Axel watched as Roxas took the first bite, and, for the first time all day, the boy finally spoke, saying, "It's...salty...but sweet." then continued eating.
Sweet and salty? Axel had to admit, he was a bit curious now himself. Looking at his own ice cream in disgusted nervousness, he took his own bite, and the moment it hit his taste buds that he immediately sticked his tounge out in disgust, muttering, "Blegh.", wanting to spit it out. But then the after taste came in, and Axel was surprised that it was sweet as well as salty. Now he understood why it was called Sea-Salt Ice Cream.
He glanced at Roxas again, and finally replied, "It's called Salt-Salt Ice Cream. Got it Memorized?"
"...I think so." was Roxas slow reply.
Man, this is gonna take a while. Axel sighed, then said, "So, you're Roxas, right?" when Roxas didn't answer, the redhead continued, "Listen, I work for that guy you met earlier; he's my boss. He'll help you."
Roxas gazed at him, mildly curious like a new born baby.
"We're the same as you." Axel explained, "You, me and the guy you met are Nobodies-those without hearts."
"Without...hearts." Roxas repeated.
"Yup." Axel nodded, "But we're special, because there are special nobodies who take up human forms. You should consider yourself lucky. Anyway, we want to help you, to help you learn and remember. That's one of the reasons why we want you to join us."
Roxas still showed no signs of any other emotions, just blank like a complete and total zombie. "...Join you?"
'Ugh, even I wasn't this bad when I was born as a Nobody.' Axel grumbled in his mind. Then again, since Sora returned to human form and held onto his memories, Roxas was like a new born zombie child, which, again, is creepy.
Eventually, he sighed and said, "Like I said, we want to help you. Whadd'ya say? Will you join?"
It took a good ten minutes for Roxas to reply while both of them finished their first ice cream, and, just as Axel was about to give up, the youngest Nobody finally nodded, saying a soft, "...Okay."
"Really?" Axel blinked, then smirked, stood up and helped Roxas stand up as well, saying, "All right, let's head over to your new home. Oh, before we do." remembering something, Axel pulled out a black coat just like the one he was wearing, except that it was made a size to fit Roxas, and then helped the kid to put it on.
"These coats that we're wearing will keep us safe from the darkness." Axel explained, "As long as we wear them, we can go through corridors of darkness with no problems." before looking at Roxas from shoulder to foot and smiled at the way the kid looked. "Looks good on you."
"...Thanks." Roxas said.
Axel, sastified, nodded, "No prob. Oh, and one more thing, introductions should be made. First off, our boss's name is Xemnas-X-E-M-N-A-S."
"...Xem...nas." Roxas slowly repeated.
"Good!" Axel nodded, "You're learning already. Now, secondly, my name is Axel; A-X-E-L. Got it Memorized?" he tapped the side of his head with a smirk.
Unfortunately, Roxas instead slowly said, "Ax...cess."
'Axcess!?' Axel thought in shock, then repeated, "Axel. AXEL."
"Ax...el." Roxas replied again.
'Man, this kid is more zombie than I thought.' Axel grumbled to himself, before saying, "Alright, let's get goin'. Just stick close to me." before holding up a hand and summoned a portal to darkness, before stepping in, making sure that Roxas was following him to head over towards the Castle that Never Was.
Once Axel reported to Xemnas, the redhead sadly agreed to stick close to Roxas when his welcome into Organization XIII is made.
Axel could hear Xemnas' boring introduction, but just waited for the cue, and he could already picture Demyx falling asleep in his chair inside the throne room.
"Good tidings, friends. Today is a momentous day." Xemnas announced, causing Axel to roll his eyes, thinking, 'Just get on with it.'
"I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat." Xemnas says.
Finally, on cue, the doors opened, and Axel gave Roxas a gentle push on the back to get the young Nobody to walk, which he did, and the taller Nobody followed to keep an eye on him. Both of them stepped into the middle of the centre, Axel never keeping his eyes off Roxas.
"Let us all welcome one of the Keyblade's chosen; Number XIII-Roxas." Xemnas says, smirking at the clueless Nobody.
This was the day that Axel's life changed forever.
Shutting his eyes tightly to drive out the memory, Axel knew that he had to get Sora and his friends to Kairi and fast. The past can wait. Normally, Axel would've used the corridor of darkness to get the group into the castle quicker, but since Sora, Donald, and Goofy had no coats and Mickey had long discarded his own in Hollow Bastion, the only way to get to the castle now was going through the empty streets of the World That Never Was.
The five of them gaze up at the large fortress floating in the sky where Kingdom Hearts is shining behind it.
"That's the Castle of the Organization." Axel explained, "Kairi should be in the dungeon there."
"So we just go in, right?" Sora asked.
"Then we better find a way to get to that castle!" Mickey declared.
Axel then said, "Gotta be careful, though. There's no telling what they'd do. Last I checked, apart from me, Xemnas, Saix, Xigbar and Luxord are the remaining members left. I'll show you guys the way."
"Lead the way, Axel!" Sora nodded.
Nodding himself, Axel lead the group to his former home and hopefully towards Kairi and to stop Xemnas once and for all. Though Axel didn't know what would become of himself once it's all over. Would he just disappear as well like the others?
Either way, maybe it's for the best.
It's been a week since Roxas has joined the Organization, and to Axel's dismay, on the first day, he was assigned to look after Roxas until the boy gets put onto a mission. Through complaining, the redhead just got used to it and today, a meeting was being formed. Blegh, how Axel hated meetings. So, the first thing he did was to find the younger Nobody who was no doubt sleeping in his room.
Sadly, the Dusks, who were assigned to look after him, were playing tricks on the kid, and plugged the boy's nose with a peg. Axel caught them just in time, shouting, "Hey! Whadd'ya think you're doing!?" causing the dusks to disappear.
Sighing, Axel took away the peg to allow Roxas to breathe while grumbling, "Damn, those Dusks. Have to go and pick on the new guy." before telling Roxas that it was time to get up, and as usual, the kid was still in his zombie mode, so, Axel had to get the kid to follow him.
"So, you got my name memorized yet?" Axel asked, "Axel...A-X-E-L."
And again, Roxas reply was, "Ax...cess."
"..el!" Axel corrected, to which Roxas repeated, "...el."
Both were continuing to walk, that they didn't notice Vexen who apparently wanted to greet Roxas, but he and Axel just walked passed the scientest, not even taking knowlage of the man who was offended.
"YOU DON'T WALK PASSED YOUR SUPERIORS!" Vexen shouted, causing both Axel and Roxas to pause and look at him.
Finally knowing, Axel just dryly replied, "Oh, hey Vexen. Haven't seen you in a while. Thought you were dead." before turning away.
Unfortunately, his day was about to get worse, when four other members, Xigbar, Luxord, Xaldin and Marluxia walked passed.
"You know, Axel seemed to be the type to look after others." Xigbar admitted with a smirk.
"Certainly." agreed Xaldin.
"Indeed." added Luxord.
"I agree." Marluxia concluded, while holding a rose to his nose.
Axel glared at them, stating, "I just gotten used to it, you guys." before finally leading Roxas into the round room, telling Demyx to shut up after the latter called him 'Babysitter'. The redhead then settled Roxas down onto the thirteenth throne, telling him to sit still and not fall, ignoring what Zexion and Lexeus were talking about.
Finally, exhausted, Axel muttered, "Phew." in relief while sitting on his own chair, but as he did, a loud, "PFFFT!" was made and he nearly jumped out of his skin, before feeling something unusual about his seat. Shifting, he pulled out a woppy cosin, and glared at it, before demanding, "What is this!?"
At this, Demyx and Larxene laughed hysterically, causing Axel to glare at both of them, angered at this stupid joke while both of them, one afraid of the other, were still laughing their heads off.
Axel blinked as they arrived in the middle of the street. 'Where'd that memory come from?' he thought to himself. He didn't remember any meeting like that on Roxas' first week months ago, and it was strange yet, familiar. Why, though? What happened on that day?
Suddenly the group stopped, and while Sora sensed something strange and familiar, Axel shifted his eyes, before they widened in shock as he sensed incoming attackers. It started raining and thunder formed, lightning flashing in the sky. Sensing unwanted company, Axel immediately summoned his Chakrams and threw them towards two ninja Nobodies which appeared out of nowhere to block Donald and Goofy who were surprised, and the nobodies were quickly destroyed, getting Sora's attention.
"How did-?" but Sora never got the chance to finish, as everything around him and Axel becomes hazy, causing both of them to turn around as a corridor of darkness appeared, and a figure, about Sora's height in an Organization coat, appeared. Axel's eyes widened in shock, as the figure summoned a familiar weapon.
"It can't be!" He gasped just as Sora exclaimed, "A Keyblade!?"
The figure ran towards Sora who prepared himself, but Axel stood in front of the Keyblade wielder, and blocked the figure's attack, as a second Keyblade appeared. Axel was struggling in keeping the figure away from Sora.
"I knew it..." he grunted, "Roxas-! What are you doing here!?"
"Roxas?" Sora asked, shocked at what he was hearing, before glancing back at the figure who apparently is Roxas but has his hood up. "Who are you?" the teen asked.
"Someone from the dark." Roxas replied to Sora's question but ignored Axel who pushed him back, and demanded, "What's gotten into you!?"
Roxas glared at his former friend and replied, "You betrayed me, and Sora's the reason why I can't exist. I knew that no one would miss me."
Shocked at his friend's words, Axel shook his head, yelling, "You still haven't gotten it into your skull!? Look, I'm sorry for what I did, but I didn't have a choice! If I did, I'd chosen you over the friggin' Organization anyday!"
"Sorry? We don't have hearts to be 'Sorry'." Roxas stated, "You know that."
'He's the darker side of the Roxas I know, and the Roxas from what DiZ did to him.' Axel realised.
Sora stood from where he was, witnessing the scene going on, before glaring at Roxas and said, "So you're not Riku!"
"Riku?" Roxas snorted, "I defeated a Riku once."
"You what!?" Sora demanded, summoning his Kingdom Key-Keyblade. Axel was struggling in holding in his anger and sorrow and the forming guilt for what has happened.
Eventually, he glared at Sora and said, "Stay out of this!" before glancing back at Roxas, knowing that once again, he has no choice but to get into a fighting stance. Axel just hoped that he'd be able to knock some sense into the youngest Nobody. Roxas seemed to get the picture, and runs towards Axel who immediately blocked more attacks, the two of them leaping in the air and clashing against each other, just like when Axel last confronted his friend in the fake Twilight Town. Axel landed on the ground, before rolling out of the way from Roxas air-strike attack, but couldn't dodge the next attack as he was knocked and slid towards the wall of a building.
Crying out in pain, Axel dropped his weapons, and sat on the ground, almost limp and panting. He was still exhausted from his attempted suicide attack, one that should've claimed his life but instead was saved. Maybe the reason why Roxas saved him was because he wanted...revenge. Maybe Roxas was so angry at him and wanted to kill him himself.
At this point, Roxas was about to give out a finishing blow when Sora snuck up behind him and striked him from behind, his Nobody frozen in place, and Axel saw what happened and gasped. 'Roxas!' he thought in despair.
Roxas, stunned, dropped his keyblades which both disappeared, and Axel immediately stood up before falling on his knees, but had enough time to catch his friend and hold him in his arms, for the first time in their lives, embracing, just as Roxas' hood fell off. Axel couldn't believe at first that this was real, but then he decided that he didn't care. Sora stood, shocked at this sight.
"Axel..." Roxas began, exhausted. "...Why did you...?"
"I don't know, man." Axel admitted. "I just don't know..." he closed his eyes and held the blonde-haired boy closer. "I guess...I just wanted things the way they were. I wanted...I wanted to see you again."
Roxas was silent for a few moments, before asking, "Did you...really miss me?"
The red-haired man smiled in sadness, and said, "I'm no good in this mushy stuff, but yeah...I missed you a lot. Out of all of the Oraganization members...You're the only one I liked. It thanks to you...I could feel my emotions again, even without a heart. Strange, isn't it?"
"Sora did the same to you, though." Roxas reminded.
"So you heard, huh?" Axel asked, then sighed and replied, "It doesn't matter. You're different, and made me happy. That's all that matters. You're my best friend, Rox'."
Both of them and Sora were silent, though the Keyblade wielder felt his chest tighten at this, and tears forming in his eyes. Despite Axel and Roxas being Nobodies, Sora knew what it was like to miss best friends, and he was still in search for Riku and wanted to rescue Kairi. These two, they reminded him of the days when Sora himself and Riku would hang out together before Xehanort screwed things up with all the worlds and everyone.
"...I have to go back." Roxas whispered, to which Axel felt like he wanted to really cry now. "Sora can't keep up by himself."
Axel nodded, knowing that this would be the last time he would ever see his friend again. "Yeah, I guess not. Too bad we couldn't leave off with ice cream." which made Roxas chuckle, finally embracing Axel in return.
"Sorry I screwed up." Axel muttered.
"I'm sorry too." Roxas replied. "See you later, Axel."
Axel smiled, despite something wet trickling down from his eyes, as he nodded, "See ya later, pal."
As Roxas began to fade away, to Sora's shock, the blonde-haired nobody glanced at him with a smile, saying, "You make a good other, Sora." before disappearing completely, back inside the Keyblade wielder who blinked in surprise, while Axel arms now closed around himself in empty air, half-overcome with saddness and lowered his head, his tears-his actual tears, falling free and onto the ground.
Realising that he was actually crying, Axel blinked, then wiped his face with his sleeve to calm down. He hasn't cried in years, and to think that he'd actually cry without a heart, it was a shock yet a relief to him. Standing up, Axel looked at Sora who felt sorry for him, while thinking about what Roxas just told him.
"Axel..." Sora trailled off while the rain finally stopped and it seemed that everything returned to normal for now.
"I'm fine." Axel said, making up an excuse, "It's only rain. I wasn't crying or anything; don't have a heart to do so."
But Axel was only fooling himself.
My tears nearly fell when I wrote the moment of Roxas and Axel. Those two are so close to each other. Look out for more chapters!
