Axel felt his body land atop some rather uneven ground in a matter of an instant.

Notwithstanding the brevity of the fall, the pain in his backside was as prominent as it had been before, and for understandable reasons he felt a little nauseous, so after opening his eyes he took a moment to get a hold of himself. To do so he let in a few soft but deep breaths, fluttering his eyes in rhythm with his breathing. This continued for several seconds until he felt something moving below him — until he realized it wasn't the ground that was bumpy, but, rather, that he was on top of someone.

"Ow," the young boy said, rubbing his forehead. He brushed aside long brown bangs and made eye contact with Axel.

"S-Sora?" Axel exclaimed, jumping off of him and staggering backward, falling over. His head was still spinning from the tornado a few moments ago.

"What? How do you know my name?"

"Huh?" Axel blinked a few times.

Frantically, he searched for a way to discover his own appearance. To his puzzlement, his clothes were unfamiliar. Ignoring this, he cleverly summoned a chakram and observed his reflection. He was surprised to find that, aside from the clothing differences, his appearance was exactly the same; his age had remained, at least visually, the same as last he had recalled.

Axel looked up at Sora, a baffled expression on his face.

Then why doesn't he… Axel's own thought was interrupted by a severe pain in his chest, to which he grasped, closing his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah… yeah," Axel said, but he was sure his face still looked astonished. "You… really don't remember me?"

"I've never met you. I think I would've remembered a tall guy with HUGE red hair and really bright green eyes."

Axel felt less dizzy now, and looked back at Sora in the face. Mentally he drew lines across all of the other boy's features, and noticed something he would have never expected. He looked… older. Or at least more mature than when Axel had known him. His brow was slightly more rigid, his cheeks slightly less round, and his height slightly greater. Axel placed his empty hand atop his head, cocking his head somewhat to the right.

They were in a town, Axel soon noticed, surrounded by dimly lit buildings, though the sky was dark. Axel staggered a little as he glanced up, awestruck by the odd nature of the world. It was one he did not recognize.

Sora was looking up, then around. He scratched his head and eyed Axel.

"Where'd you fall from? There aren't any buildings above us… huh?"

Those were the last words Axel heard.

Someone was humming — that was the first thing Axel noticed when he returned to consciousness. In the few moments before he opened his eyes he couldn't quite determine with absolute certainty what the song was, but he was more than fairly confident that it was "It's a Small World", and, truthfully, he wasn't fond of waking up to such a haunting song. He allowed his eyes to wander after he opened then, and he soon saw the source of the sounds: it was an older man, probably about forty (Axel couldn't help but think he was probably notin the top three of people he would have pictured to have been humming "It's a Small World"). The man was chewing on a toothpick and had goggles strapped to his head, shielding his faded blond hair. He'd been sitting in a small wooden chair with his legs crossed, but he uncrossed them as he noticed Axel's eyes opening. He grinned, causing the toothpick to veer upwards.

"Oh, hey, kid. You're just in time. Hey, Aerith!" He turned to the door, shouting. "Kid's awake!"

Axel sat up, rubbing his head as he glanced around the room. It was apparently planned around the color red, as the walls, the doors, the carpet, and the supports for the bed all bore it. He quickly noticed the three doors that provided entry to the place; one was to his left, another to his right, and the last was directly in front of him. In the left corner of the room he could see a small wardrobe atop a table and to his right was another table with odd objects on it. Though cramped, Axel declared the room, in general, to be rather nice.

"Hey, kid, relax. You'd better lay back down, Aerith's coming, and I don't think she'd fancy ya sitting up already. So what's your name?"

Axel hesitated very noticeably.

As he'd open his mouth to say "Axel", and then add his typical tagline, he realized that he'd been joined with Lea again — or something had likely happened between the two of them. If he felt so inclined, it wouldn't be improper to use his original, given name. He sat for a few seconds and observed himself. He couldn't see his face as of now, but when he'd spoken with Sora he'd looked like his typical Nobody self. Tilting his head, he continued to contemplate. Out of the corner of his eye, Axel saw the man tilt his head as well, his toothpick once again shifting position as his expression reverted back to a frown.

Wait… Sora!

"Where's Sora?" Axel threw in, quickly sitting up again.

"Kid, I asked yourname. And ya shouldn't be…"

"Where is he?"

"Frankly, I ain't sure. I asked your name."

Axel seemed to hesitate again, then, closing his eyes, spat out, "A-Axel. Get it …memorized."

"Heh, ya sure about that?" the man said, raising an eyebrow. Axel gave him an aggravated look, curling a fist. The man nearly laughed. "Kid, you can't fight right now. Don't think ya could take me even if ya could."

"Pft," Axel scoffed, dramatically summoning a chakram, "I can take an old man like you any day, Pops. And I ain't a kid. Get that memorized too."

"Old man?" The man looked offended for a few moments, but then was shocked at the sudden appearance of the weapon in Axel's hand. He soon backed off. Not long after this, his expression changed again, his eyes narrowing as he removed the toothpick from his jaw, throwing it into a nearby waste bin. He stood still, his eyes never leaving Axel's weapon.

"What's going on in here?" A woman's voice became apparent in the doorway, and Axel turned to it. The woman seemed calm, despite Axel's large weapon. "Cid, you can leave? Thank you… And could you put that away?"

Axel glanced down to his hands, which both held the weapons, and did so reluctantly as Cid left the room, grumbling.

Axel looked her over. She was a girl (obviously) that he had never seen or met before. Although she was standing up, he could easily tell that she was much shorter than he was; she was probably, he estimated, at least thirty centimeters shorter. Her hair was brown, as was common for her whitish skin color, but her eyes were a bright green, similar to Axel's. The hair was tied in a braid with a pink bow, and she wore a long dress that matched the shade of the bow. Lastly, he noted, she was attractive.

"You should lie down," she said. He ignored her and looked away.

"Look, the concern's nice and all, but I'm fine," he said.

"You really should lie down," she repeated, touching his shoulder and catching him off guard. He flinched at the touch, and she drew back. "Your heart rate was so irregular. If you push it, who knows…"

Axel, of course, understood the implication that was being made. It would probably be in his best interest to obey her, he acknowledged. This reasoning lasted until a few seconds later, when something crossed his mind after some delay.

"Heart rate?" Axel repeated, shocked. He placed his hand across his chest, and he felt it. It was beating. His chest was heaving, not in a mock imitation of a heart and lungs functioning, as occurred with a Nobody, but a genuine, wave-like motion. On top of the wave-like motion, there was something else, something even more convincing of his heart's existence — a beat. Ba-dump. Ba-dump, it sounded. A sound so familiar, a sound he'd sought to hear for the longest time, a sound that finally, finally was his.

"Is something wrong?" Aerith asked him, as he clutched the middle of his chest where his heart pounded.

"No," Axel said, shielding a smile. "Everything's… everything's just great."

He felt a sudden desire to get up and give his new heart a whirl, but her pleading look stopped him.

Why does she care so much? She just met me… And I doubt the first impression I made is doing me any good. Whipping out a chakram right in her face made her worship the ground I walk on, I'm sure.

Feeling uncomfortable now — a genuine, heartfelt discomfort, he thought, almost pleased — he leaned back, obviously to her surprise.

"There, happy?" he said, almost in a mocking way, though that wasn't how he'd meant it. He placed his hands behind his head and proceeded to lean.

He'd been cranky initially, but was already feeling a little more contented with his surroundings. It'd caught him off guard, actually — the anger. It just seemed so wrong: he'd found himself to be alive again, with a beating heart, and the first thing he'd felt was anger. Not happiness, not relief, not thankfulness or invigoration or ecstasy. Anger.

"Yes," she said, chuckling, and Axel almost forgot what he'd said. He turned his attention back to her.

"Soooo, who're you?" Axel asked, acting bored.

"I'm Aerith," she replied. "And you?"

"Axel. Got it memorized?" He said it with quite a bit more confidence this time, even pointing to his temple for effect.

"Well, I think so," she said, smiling.

"You'd better. It's very important." He placed his hands back behind his head once again and stretched a little.

Aerith chuckled. He looked to her, smiling.

"Hey, I'm serious."

"Right," she said, still smiling. "I have to go for now, Axel, so just stay put, okay?"

He was hesitant to answer. As he'd opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly felt strangely uncomfortable. There was something that felt not quite right about what he was considering telling her.

What's the problem, man? Why do I feel… like I shouldn't? Axel thought, in denial. Who am I kidding? It's 'cause I'm gonna lie to her.

So, this is what all the hype is? This…

"Really, Axel, please stay," Aerith repeated, seeing him pause. "Sora told us to take care of you, and we can't unless you do your part."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be a good boy." She departed before the second half of her statement had registered with him. "Wait, where's —?"

He yelled after her, but she was already gone.

Axel was bored out of his mind for the rest of the day. A heart didn't seem to affect his feeling of boredom at all. Apparently Nobodies could feel something, and that something was boredom. He didn't want to sleep; he wanted to know where Sora was, and what he was doing. But at the same time, he felt a weird — perhaps it was an obligation — to respect Aerith. And on top of that, Sora was behind her actions.

He'd taken to further examining the room around him. The design of the area was not like any world he had ever been to; it seemed to let off an elegant and prestigious aura. He had also noted the door that Aerith had entered from and the one that Cid had departed from; these were the front and the left, respectively. The left door led to some sort of hallway, and from across the hall he could see other doors, so he presumed he must be in some place with multiple rooms for inhabitants, whether it be a house or a hotel. He hadn't gotten a good look at the front door, but from what he could tell the room was mostly green, and was probably a counterpart with the one he was in. So it was just the right door that remained a mystery.

Y'know, I really have no clue where I am, Axel thought, interestingly calm. Actually, on second thought, I'd say that's a bit of an understatement. I don't know who I am, where I am, or what's happening to me. Talk about clueless.

He was about to let out a frustrated sigh when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye — a movement.

"Somebody there?" Axel asked, sitting up slowly, the bed letting out an ominous creak as he did so.

"What? No way!" he heard a girl exclaim, and found the source of the voice in the corner of the room. It belonged to a teenage girl. She was wearing shorts that barely covered the top of her thighs (Axel almost felt perverted just for looking at her) as well as long socks that added an intriguing contrast. She'd hung her head immediately after speaking, causing the headband wrapped around her forehead to droop sadly. She groaned and then proceeded to mope.

Axel simply blinked a few times.

The girl sighed, and then finally looked back to him. She tilted her head in mimicry of Axel, and then bit her lip. "Sheesh, I don't know what everyone was all worried about. You look fine to me. Except for that silly look on your face."

Axel glared at her, taking a few moments to find his voice. "Wait a sec. You'recriticizing how I'm reacting here? When I just found some girl in the same room as me?"

"What's so weird about that? And fine, I'll leave."

And with that, she disappeared.

Axel found himself a little confused, for obvious reasons. He spent some time thinking about what possibly could have been going on with her, and was actually pleased to have something to think about besides wonder regarding Sora's whereabouts.

What was she gonna do in here? A practical joke? Axel thought, raising an eyebrow as he did. But right in front of me? Who does she think she is, some kind of ninja?

Axel turned to the wall behind him upon hearing a strange grumbling. After the grumbling continued, he realized there was a conversation going on in the room next door. Grunting to himself indifferently, he disregarded the voices, which weren't discernible from where he was sitting, until he heard a combination of sounds that sounded very similar to his name.

He stiffened, lifting an eyebrow and slowly getting up. A pain pulsed through his chest as he stood, so he held onto the bed as he shuffled across the wall from which he heard the sounds. He took in a deep breath as he tiptoed over, the pain still present.

"What about him?" he heard a voice he recognized as Aerith's say.

"I don't think we can trust 'im," a male said, whose voice he knew as Cid's. Axel straightened, leaning in closer.

"What? Why?" Aerith asked, her voice barely audible.

"It took the guy a whole friggin' minute to answer when I asked his damned name."

"That could be just because he wasn't feeling well, Cid…"

"Yeah, right, whenever I'm not feelin' so hot I don't go and forget my name."

"Whenever you're not feeling well all we hear is swearing anyways," he heard the teen girl say, laughing.

"Watch it —"

"Anyways, Cid, I don't think you can say not to trust him just because of that."

"Well that's not it! I bet Yuffie he would notice if she snuck on in there, an' he did!" This exclamation was followed by a mischievous cackle. "That one's 1,000 munny in my pocket…" He heard the girl grunt with distaste.

"Anyways, it uh, means he's experienced with…" Cid trailed off. He remained silent for a few moments, apparently thinking (a feat Axel figured he must do approximately once a week). "Stealthiness! An' he's really interested in where Sora is! I think he's after him."

"Alright, alright, Cid. If you want us to be on the lookout, we'll be on the lookout, okay?"

"Darn right. That kid's trouble."

Axel's torso hurt all of a sudden, and he pressed his palm gently against it. It was a foreign, unfamiliar pain that felt nothing like the hunger that he knew. He sat down to try to better handle it, though he sensed that this would be pointless. The happiness from the knowledge of his heart had faded, and now this strange pain was taking over. But, despite the pain in his chest, thoughts were streaming through his head.

They don't… trust me. Not that I really blame them, but… He tried to comprehend as the pain worsened. Is this… from the heart?

He lied down, attempting to get the agony to fade, but it remained present, in spite of his best efforts.

I don't get it… this… this is what I've been searching for… for all this time?

He was staring at the wall. Just staring and thinking.

"Are you alright?" He was slightly shocked upon hearing her voice so suddenly, but he recovered quickly.

"Yeah," he said, meeting eyes with her.

He'd been thinking. And he'd made a decision. It went along the lines of: They don't want me here? Fine. I'll just have to take myself off their hands. And I'll find Sora myself.

"You sure?" When he nodded, she added, "I made you something to eat, it's in the —"

"Look," Axel said, sitting up so that his legs were hanging off the bed, "I'd better get going."

"What? But you can't…"

"I've really… gotta go," he said insistently.

Before she could interrogate him further, he had stood up. Immediately he found that this was not a smart thing to do. The second his feet hit the ground he felt his body shut down. In the next few seconds, he was on his knees and she was over him. She was saying something but he couldn't discern it; his senses had gotten too blurry too quickly. He tried to ask what was happening but he wasn't sure what actually came out, and as she didn't respond, he had to assume that it hadn't come out as he intended. He heard her shout something, and someone else — a man he didn't recognize — appeared by her side, helping Axel back onto the bed.

As she shifted him around the bed a little, he heard the sound of her voice, and managed to distinguish the word "relax", but that was the extent of it and he was having difficulty doing so. There was a light, fuzzy fog over everything around him, and he could barely make out Aerith's brown hair as well as the other man's. Axel's surroundings had become glazed in a way that he had never seen before, in a way that made him wonder how others saw the world. But this wonder was overridden by the discomfort he was feeling.

Eventually, though it took several minutes, the haze began to fade away, and he could see the two of them more clearly. In addition, the sick feeling that his body had been enveloped in had degenerated at least to a point where he was able to comprehend what was going on around him. He breathed in, a look of pure shock on his face.

"What… the hell… was that?" he managed to get out, holding his head with one hand and his chest with the other and suppressing a groan.

"That was your heart rate dropping," she said, abruptly moving his hand and putting her head to his chest. Axel felt himself turn a little red as she listened. He looked away. After about a minute, she spoke. "It looks like it went back up for the most part… still a little slow…"

"Hey, where are you guys?" Axel heard a voice say from the other room. Gasping, he looked to the open door, searching for the source, all but pushing Aerith's head off of him.

"Sora, we're in here," Aerith said, having also looked to the door. Sora walked in, hands behind his head. He stood in the back near the brown-haired man.

"Oh, there you guys are." He seemed to notice Axel's stare right away, and waved a little shyly. "Hi."

"You're back?" Aerith said, looking fondly at him.

"Well, you know… I was still in the neighborhood, and er… Is he okay?"

At this point Axel tried to sit up again, but Aerith pushed him down, saying his name in different tones as he continually pushed in protest.

"No, he isn't doing well at all. Something's really wrong."

"Wha — really? What's… what's wrong?" Sora was looking at Axel now, but Axel wasn't looking back.

"He's just… his heart is causing him trouble."

No lie there, Axel thought crudely, grasping his chest a little harder as he felt the depressed beat.

"Really?" Sora said, frowning, still continuing to look at Axel, who wouldn't look back at him. "I'm sorry."

Axel sat silently for a few moments, fiddling with his hands, then shaking his head.

"Why do you do that?" he said under his breath.

"Huh?" Sora blinked.

"Nothing."

Now the entire group was silent, no one bothering to look at one another. The quiet was at last broken by Aerith, whose very hushed voice still managed to catch their attention.

"So, Axel… where is it you need to go? Maybe we should phone in and tell them you can't make it."

Axel's mouth dropped slightly. It hung suspended for several seconds.

"Axel? Is there anyone you want to call? Someone looking for you?" Axel said nothing.

"Don't you have any friends wondering where you are? Or family?" Sora interjected.

"Do you at least live around here?" Aerith tried again. Axel shook his head without looking at any of them. "You can't live too far…"

"That'd depend on what world this is," Axel said in a partial attempt to change the subject. He was wondering what world this was.

"You… you know about different worlds?" Sora repeated, seeming surprised. Axel still said nothing. "And you don't even know what world you're in? This is Traverse Town."

"Hm…" Axel made a face of contemplation. "Nope, never heard of that one."

"Then how did you get here? Could you have amnesia?" Aerith asked him, her face becoming bewildered.

"If I did, I wouldn't remember, now would I?" Axel responded, laughing at himself. Both Sora and Aerith had flinched, presumably surprised that he was laughing, probably due to the nature of the joke. "But it doesn't really matter anyway. Not sure where I'd go back to."

An uneasy silence followed, and it just about killed him.

Stop looking at me like that, he wanted to say, I don't want your pity. I don't need your pity. I've always done just fine without it.

"Well…" Aerith spoke at last. "We'll… we'll just have to help you, then."

"Yeah," Sora quickly agreed, pointing a single thumb at his chest. "We'll be your friends. You can count on us."

"I'm… I'm not really sure what to do to help, but… we'll do our best. I'm sure of it."

Axel was gaping at them both, simply staring. He'd never met strangers that would do such a thing. Naïve, he would have assumed, they would have to be to be so friendly toward him.

"Why?" Axel managed, almost choking. He bit his lip at the discovery that the word had come out sounding angry. He took in a deep breath and spoke again. "Why would you? What would you get outta helping me?"

Sora made a thoughtful face and then shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, putting his hands in the air. "But… sometimes I just like it… for the feeling, you know? It makes you feel… good."

He smiled at Axel, who still was looking blankly. Then, a few seconds later, Sora's eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers as if he'd made a sudden discovery. He looked just like Roxas. Roxas would always get excited and smile the same way.

"I've got it!" Sora exclaimed, grinning again. "Maybe Merlin can help him."

"Merlin?" Axel repeated, never having heard the name before aside from in myth.

"Yeah, he's this old wizard I know. I saw him again today… but maybe he'll know a spell or something that'll help you out. He knows a lot of stuff."

"Sounds like as good a suggestion as any," Aerith said approvingly. She then hesitated. "Axel, is that okay with you?"

"Uh, I… er… yeah, sure." Axel replied forcedly, scratching his cheek and neglecting to make eye contact.

"Great! I'll go get him tomorrow. Okay, Axel?"

Like I've got any other choices, Axel couldn't help thinking, but he nodded lowly.

With this, Aerith and the brown-haired man took their leave. This left Sora alone with Axel, though Axel was still avoiding all eye contact.

"Wait a second!" Sora exclaimed suddenly. "How did you know my name? Do you remember me from somewhere?"

"I… erm…" Axel paused indecisively. His face remained completely void of emotion as he responded. "Beats me. Now that you mention it, I don't remember you from anything I can think of."

"Oh," Sora said, looking disappointed.

"Pft, liar." The comment was heard and Cid stepped in, startling the two of them already in the room. Through the crunches of the toothpick in his mouth he said, "Sora, this guy's trouble. He's one of them who's trying to get you — that's 'ow he knows your name."

Axel clenched his fists, breathing becoming shallow.

"What's your problem?" Axel exclaimed, turning to Cid and glaring.

"I've seen your type before. You're a liar, Axel. If that even is your name —"

"Well,as a matter of fact —" Sora was looking back and forth between them with a frightened look on his face.

"Sora, you can't trust this guy. Don't you think it's a bit suspicious that he's got no friends or family?"

"That's it," Axel said darkly, standing up and summoning both of his chakrams. Again he felt his heart rate drop, gasping as both of his weapons disappeared instantly. He held onto the wall for support, pressing his other hand hard against his chest.

"Oh, looky here," Cid said, readying to kick Axel.

"Forget it! Stop!" Sora shouted, exasperated.

"Sora?" Aerith called upon hearing his cry. "Is everything okay?"

"They're fighting," he replied unhappily as she entered.

"What?" Aerith asked, frowning, "Axel, why aren't you lying down? I told you…"

"He's the enemy, Aerith! Stop tryin' to help —"

She shut him up with a few quiet words Axel couldn't make out. The older man stood there with his chin to the floor, his eye staring intently at the irked woman. Sora and Axel's mouths hung open, their jaws joining Cid's at the floor. Neither Aerith nor Cid said a word as she dragged him by his ear out of the room while he groaned in pain. After a short departure, Aerith returned, without Cid. Despite the display, Aerith seemed undisturbed.

"Axel, you need to sit down," she told him gently.

As she reached out to help him, he resisted, shaking his head slowly.

"No," Axel said. "Ya see, this is why I've gotta leave. You understand?"

"Oh, don't get worked up over Cid. He just wants to keep us all safe. We've been getting attacked a lot lately."

Upon seeing Axel's relentlessly dubious look, Sora butted in.

"I believe you," he said, noticing when Axel looked up. "I don't think you want any trouble."

"I believe you too," Aerith added eventually. Axel looked between the two of them.

"You must be crazy," Axel said quietly, letting out a subdued sigh as he sat back down on the bed, rubbing his head. Aerith and Sora seemed relieved, but also seemed not to have heard what he said.

Silently, he took in some deep breaths. Something just felt so different about all of it. When he looked at other people he felt sensations he didn't recognize: when he'd stood up to combat Cid he'd felt a rush in his chest; when he'd considered lying he'd felt a pressure in his lower abdomen, and when they'd been talking about him he'd felt a strange sort of nauseous. He thought at first that somehow the world had changed, that somehow the people around him were different, and he almost felt like it was true — but something else, something he couldn't quite discern, was telling him that it wasn't the world that changed, it was his perception of it; his view had been skewed for so many years by his heart's vacancy that, despite its return, he remained lost and confused still.

And suddenly, Axel wanted to go to bed.