CH 3 : TRUST

The two walked back to Axel's tree after they sparred a little more, this time without weapons.

"Gee, Xion." Axel said as he rubbed his recently damaged abdomen. "You're strong." He wheezed.

She shyly scratched her cheek. "Aw, I'm not that strong..."

"Come on! No girl could punch a guy like that!" Axel said.

"Oh, well," Xion started. "You were quite strong, too."

"Nah, you're just being polite." He glanced her way. "Hey... why didn't you just fight those guards when they were after you? You could have beaten them if you're this strong."

"I did." Xion said quietly. "But there were too many of them. I've already fought quite a few by the time I was running from those two. I was getting tired. If I fought those two in that state, I might have lost."

Axel nodded. "True enough." Then he tried changing the subject. "Say, how about we spar again tomorrow?"

Xion turned to face him and beamed up. "That's a great idea! Let's do!"

Axel felt his heart skip a beat. But he did his best to mask it. He gave her a thumb's up and grinned. "Sure thing."

--

A few weeks had past since they met. One day, they were having a meal near the river, when suddenly, Axel turned around, narrowing his eyes at the woods behind them.

"What is it?" Xion asked, turning around as well.

"I feel like we're being… watched." Axel said quietly.

"Being watched?" Xion glanced at him.

He nodded. "To tell the truth, I've been sensing a presence for some time now."

They both stood up and stared at the woods. But all they saw were just a few animals walking by. Axel glared at the trees. He was sure he sensed someone. He knew it. He stepped closer to the trees and looked through them carefully. If someone was around there he should be able to know where. But the presence that he had been sensing had suddenly disappeared.

Finally, he gave the trees one last glare and reluctantly turned back. "Let's… just be careful."

Xion nodded.

They arrived back at Axel's tree about a few minutes later. Axel moved the rock and the two of them quickly went in, then he closed the entrance again. They climbed up to the platform above.

"Whew…" Axel let out a relieved sigh as he sat down on the edge of the platform, one leg propped up as he let the other dangle from the ledge. He faced the setting sun and smiled lightly. "I can never get bored of this sight."

Xion sat down next to him. "Me neither."

They sat quietly for a while, until Xion broke the silence with a question that had been bothering her for some time now.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Hm?"

"I've been wondering," She started. "If someone came to arrest you, even though you didn't do anything wrong like you said, what would you do?"

Axel thought for a while. Then he smiled sadly. "If that happens, then maybe I would just have to face it." He took a deep breath and stared at the sky. "I'm running from my problem instead of dealing with it. So when the time comes, I would eventually have to deal with it... whether I like it or not."

Xion glanced at him. He was smiling, but she could see the hurt and the fear that he was trying to hide. She guessed that deep inside, he must be suffering more than he's letting on. But in spite of that, he was still smiling. She sighed and stared blankly at the sky.

"I wish I had the courage to do that…" She silently said to herself.

--

They climbed down to the room underground. Axel sat down, leaning against one wall as he reached for a pear from one of the boxes.

"You want one?" Axel lifted the pear.

Xion shook her head. "I'll eat later."

Axel shrugged and started eating the pear. Xion sat down across from him and hugged her knees, feeling a bit down because of some reason she herself didn't understand.

"You know," Axel said after he ate half of the fruit. "I haven't felt like I could trust anyone for a very long time. This might sound strange because we just knew each other for not long but... I feel like if it's you, I can start to trust again."

Xion glanced up at him, confused.

Axel glanced back at her, smiling teasingly. "But of course, it may not be the same for you. You might be afraid that I would turn you in and stuff. So... if you're ready to trust me, just let me know."

Xion stared at him for a second. Then she laughed miserably and glanced sideways at the floor. "Sorry... but it's just hard to trust someone. I trust you, but only as the person who took me in when I had no place to go. I'm thankful of course, but I don't think I can trust you as a friend yet."

Axel paused for a few moments, then he nodded and smiled. "That's okay, I understand. Trusting someone means you believe that person won't abandon or betray you." Axel finished his pear. "I kind of understand what it's like to feel like not trusting anyone."

Xion nodded lightly. Then she buried her face into her hugged knees.

--

Not so far from their hiding place, a dark figure of a man was peeking from the top of another tree. He saw the two go inside the tree a while ago.

"She's with that Outlaw, huh?" The man smirked. "What a strange twist in the story..."