Hello all! You know, upon uploading this, I didn't really expect it to get a lot of attention. I'm happy, though. :) Thanks to those who reviewed and favorited/subbed to this. Means a lot.

And thanks for the compliments, you know who you are.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Important Stuff: Every other chapter will switch from sides of the story- Axel, Roxas, Axel, etc. And maybe some others, MAYBE.


The fact that he was their Prince didn't really mean much to the crew. Nor did the fact he was the best at their occupation- stealing, killing, kidnapping, you name it, he could do it. Practically everything he tried he was good at. Well, except for one thing.

Axel, the prince of pirates, could never fully gain the trust and respect from his crew.

Brushing his bright red spikes into a ponytail, Prince Axel once again looked over his map. It had been days since they had caught sight of another ship, and the crew was becoming testy. Soon enough, he was sure to have a mutiny on his hands.

With Axel's crew, there was no question to their loyalty for the ship- in fact, the ship was probably the only thing keeping Axel from a mutiny. It was ship this, and ship that, they were always thinking in the way that would be best for the ship. Below the God-forsaken boat, their loyalties fell to a captain that had been missing for months. His name had been Reno, and not too long ago, he had been tossed overboard in battle.

Reno was a great man, only about three years older than Axel-a man-boy at the age of nineteen. Although everyone had adored Reno, no one could claim that they knew him as Axel had. The two had grown uptogether.

Reno and Axel had looked alike since birth- red hair, same height, all that. The only differences were the eye colors, and the fact that Reno was three years elder. More changes took charge as they grew, but not many. They got similar tattoos, but in different places. They wore similar clothers- but in different ways.

And then one day, Axel admitted to Reno a secret.

The red-headed prince of pirates stood up from his place at the desk, growing tired of his work. He could pass it off as making routes, deciding where they were to go next, but everyone knew what was really going on.

He was looking for his friend, the closest thing he had ever had to a brother, a keeper, a father, even, at times.

Most of the crew spent the hours trying to convince him to move on.

Axel placed his captain's hat on his head, and stepped out of the cabins onto the deck. A few members of the crew were gambling, playing cards, whilst others worked. Two or three were asleep by the edge, and Axel swore if he hadn't needed all the people he could get, he's have pushed them overboard.

As he walked around the deck, inspecting several of the pieces of the major equipment, Axel continually tried to push the memories out of his head. He focused on other things-yelled at the crew, noticed that today was a very easy-going day, yelled at the crew some more, stared at the ocean.

In fact, it was a very nice day. The sun was shining, wind was blowing, the water was somewhat calm. The crew didn't have much to work on, and for a change, Axel decided enough was enough. With a quick call to his men, saying that if the weather changed he was to be informed immediately, and retired to his cabin.


Axel paced. He always did this when there was a lot on his mind and nothing to do. After minutes upon minutes, Axel stumbled and fell right on his butt. His head slammed into the mirror, hanging on one of the walls, with a loud crash/cracking sound to follow. The hit was hard, glass shattering around him as proof. The red-head pulled his fingers through his hair, feeling for blood.

Luckily, as he has been to have survived this long in life, there was none. The prince of pirates stood, shakily, and walked across the room. He sat on his bed, resting his sore head on a propped pillow against the headboard.

"Oww..." he moaned softly to himself.

Squinting, he looked at the cracked mirror. Seven years of bad luck, Reno'd say. Two more, because we're pirates.

It was never 'you' or 'I' with Reno, it was all 'we'. Whatever Axel had been a part of, reno had always been too. Axel liked it that way, he hated the lonliness.

The memories of his Reno streamed through his mind as he brushed his hand through his lengthy red hair. Why did reno have to disappear?

Reno was the only one Axel had ever trusted. Reno was the only one he'd ever relied on completely. Reno was the only one he'd ever told his secrets to..

Secrets...

The memory that he'd been trying so hard to supress came flooding back. Unable to stop it, Axel closed his eyes, and remembered.

Axel had been sixteen, Reno nineteen, a year since they'd join the pirate crew. Reno was Captain Shinra's favorite, he'd remembered that all too well. The reason Shinra had been able to be captain was because everyone was afraid of him- everyone except Reno. Reno respected him honestly- and that's what Reno was. Honest. Everyone admired that about him...


"Hey Reno, can..can I talk to you?" Axel had asked, timidly.

The elder red-head dropped the now empty fishing nets, and smiled at his friend. Reno had always had a great smile, it could make anyone feel at peace. That's the reason everyone had suspected Captain Rufus Shinra liked him so much.

"Of course, Ax, what's up? Shark got your tonggue?" Reno replied, laughing.

"No, no." Axel told him blushing somewhat. "It's just... have you ever thought..I dunno. Nevermind. It's not important."

Axel began walking away, but was stopped by Reno's hand on his shoulder. Axel turned back to see a worried expression on his friend's face.

"Awe, Axel. Don't be that way, you can tell me anything."

"Well...have you ever had a..a crush?" Axel spilled, driving his green eyes into Reno's blue ones.

"A crush? Yeah lots of em'. Awe Ax, you got a crush?"

Reno laughed, scruffing his younger's hair. That was until he remembered they were on a ship entirely made of men.

"You see Reno..." Axel began, "I think that...that maybe I'm attracted to another man right now."

Axel looked away, shameful. Lots of people back home told him it was a sin- but he couldn't help it. He'd lied, he'd known that he was fully attracted to his specific 'crush', for lack of a better word.

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Reno told him, pulling Axel into a hug. "Now, tell your best friend who you've fallen for."

"..It's..."


OH. CLIFFHANGER. :D Review? -hearts for everyone-