A/N: Here's chapter 3! Hopefully it won't take me forever to complete it this time, hehe. Also, I realize I didn't mention the season, but it was autumn when Roxas and Night were found by Axel. And one last thing, thanks to everyone who faved and added this story to their alerts! It makes me feel good inside!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story and Night.

Neko Love

Chapter 3

The several weeks passed by quickly, and soon enough, it was winter. The frost came every morning, and it seemed like Axel and I were constantly being called to most of the huts to help with lighting fires to warm homes. It was pretty crazy with the chaos of trying to finish last minute preparations for the winter. According to Axel, some days we could be snowed in, so that was why everyone was so frantic and desperate for food and such to stock up on. The nice part about controlling fire, though? We didn't have to worry about gathering flint rocks and such to light fires with. We were only concerned with gathering enough food for the cold season. After a few days, though, we had enough food and other supplies to last us about a month. It was nice having enough stocked up supplies because now, instead of hunting for more than was needed, we just had to hunt for what we needed. It was great being fully set.

Sure enough, though, one night, there was a blizzard that fell over the village. Reno and I did our best to deflect the ice as best as we could to protect it from damage, but we couldn't stay out there forever. In the end, I had to cast an ice barrier around the village, but even that wouldn't last for that long. It would only stay intact for a few hours, and then it would fade. It faded, like I predicted, a few hours after we went inside, and then we were snowed in. Poor Roxas was shivering under the thin blanket that covered him, and when Axel noticed this, he quickly darted to the young neko's side. He wrapped his thick-furred, warm, bushy tail around the blonde, and soon after that Roxas's shivers calmed. Roxas sighed with content and rested his head on Axel's shoulder, closing his eyes with a small, satisfied smile on his face.

The pair had grown a lot closer over the past several weeks, and had even started to kiss quite often. Everyone considered them to be mates, even though they would actually have to mate for that to happen, according to Ansem. I smiled to myself from in front of the fire at this thought, but then frowned as I remembered about Roxas's heat. He would go into heat a few times each season, about once a month. He and I both knew the only way to stop it was to either wait it out or for him to mate with someone successfully, but he always ended up waiting it out because neither of us knew any other dobutsu at those times. Roxas had just been fortunate that he hadn't seemed to have made his heat noticeable to Axel, or else who knows what would've happened? I didn't really like to think like that about my friends, but I knew it would have to happen sometime. I was snapped out of my musings by Axel's voice.

"Roxas, are you sick or something? Because you're really warm," he told the neko. I stiffened, realizing it was around that time for Roxas to go into heat. I knew that the pair loved each other, but I didn't think I could handle being in the same area when this happened. I was surprised that Axel couldn't seem to detect Roxas's scent right now, seeing as it was very strong to me. Then again, it was crisp, cool, winter air in here, and I have a much better sense of smell than the others here. I looked at Roxas's face when Axel said that, and noticed the blonde looked both nervous and eager. I could tell he was nervous both about Axel finding out about his heat and mating with said redhead, but also eager to get rid of it by mating. I got up from the rug in front of the fire, where I had been staring into the flames, and joined them. My armor was nice and toasty from resting there, so I wrapped myself around Roxas and decided to distract Axel for a moment.

"Axel, don't worry too much," I assured him. "If he's sick, though, would you mind making some of your herbal tea?"

"No problem, I'll be right back," he said, casting the blonde another worried look. As soon as he was out of hearing range, I spoke to Roxas.

"You know you're gonna have to tell him before it gets any worse," I whispered. "It's not fair to him to make him worry about you like that, and besides, I'm sure he'd be glad to help you get rid of it."

"I know, I know…I just don't know how to tell him," he breathed.

"Just tell him straight out," I suggested quietly. "Remember, both male and female dobutsu can give birth, and I know that he's the one for you. That much is obvious."

"…All right, I'll tell him when he gets back in here," he murmured. A few seconds later, Axel came back into the living room and swapped me places. I took back my spot by the fire and stared into its depths as Roxas thanked his lover for the tea. I waited patiently, flicking the tip of my tail occasionally. Finally, Roxas spoke up. "Axel…you love me, right?"

"Of course, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me," he assured the blonde neko lovingly. "Why do you ask?"

"Well…does anyone here ever have a heat?" he asked quietly. Axel watched his neko lover as he answered.

"Yes, but no one has ever had any children here," the redhead answered. "Everyone here was found or found the village, and it doesn't happen often. Why?"

"It's just…I'm…in heat…right now," Roxas admitted almost too quiet for us to hear. Axel's fox ears pricked up at that and his expression became concerned for the blonde.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Axel asked worriedly, wrapping his arms around the little neko.

"I wasn't sure how you'd take it, and I usually just wait it out," Roxas explained. "Night had me tell you, and I know it's not fair to you if you were to catch my scent when I'm like this."

"Roxas, all you had to do was ask me, and I'd be happy to help," the redhead breathed into Roxas's ear. He then looked at me and said, "Thank you for having him tell me, Night. I don't want him miserable."

"It's no big deal," I assured him. "It usually happens about once a month."

"Well, still," Axel said stubbornly. "I want to be his mate officially, and I can't be that for him unless we do mate." He looked to Roxas. "Are you sure you're ready for this? Once we mate, you can't take it back." Sapphire orbs locked onto emerald ones.

"I'm very sure," the blonde murmured. "If it was anyone else, then never. But I trust you." I quietly got up and left the room as the pair kissed deeply and they began to moan right before I closed the door. I fell into a fitful sleep thanks to the sounds of moaning, groaning, and breathy cries from the living room.

X*X*X*X

I woke up later on my own, raising my head wearily and looking around. I realized I had slept in our shared room. The next thing I realized was that I couldn't hear anything from the living room. I heaved myself to my feet with a groan, and then opened the door and crept into the living room. I was greeted by the sight of my friends lying on the couch, naked, cuddled in each other's arms. They were uncovered, so I was surprised that neither was shivering. I brought a warm blanket out from the bedroom and carefully covered them with it, causing both of their tails to twitch slightly from the feeling of warmth. I was about to leave the room again for a squirrel that we had saved as part of our stock, when there was a small groan and a creak from the couch. It sounded like they were awake. I got my squirrel like I was originally going to, and then walked to the fire that was starting to reduce to embers. I tossed some more wood in and blew some fire on the leaves I had added to easily catch flame, and then the fire was merrily dancing again, providing the room with warmth. I looked over to the couch after I set down my squirrel, and saw that it was Axel that was awake. He had his emerald fox eyes gazing softly at Roxas as he stroked the blonde neko's spikes gently. I joined him by the couch as I ate my squirrel quietly. It was just a good, peaceful, comfortable silence.

"So Night," Axel began quietly, breaking the silence as I finished eating. I scraped the last of the meat from my teeth with a bone from the squirrel, and then looked at him. "How did you meet Roxas?" I sighed; I should've known he would ask that at some point.

"I actually was the one who helped to raise him," I started. "I was meant to be Roxas's 'dragon partner' I guess you could say. I had dreams about him back in my homeland, back before he was even born, obviously, and when I finally decided to come here and find him, it was 20 years ago. I searched high and low; everywhere I could, until I found him, orphaned and alone.

"I had made a good friend by the time I found him, a kind woman by the name of Aerith. She was human through and through, but she had no prejudices or stereotypes against any dobutsu. She was good to us, and helped me in raising Roxas because I couldn't raise him like I did my nieces and nephews. After all, a neko is different from a dragon, you know." Axel chuckled a bit at this, but I continued. "Anyway, it was later on, when he was about 8 years old that we discovered he could control light. We were all three quite surprised, but it was a good sign, Aerith had told us. We didn't know what she meant until we came here, and that was that light is a rare element to have control over.

"It was 10 years later that we had to run. The reason that we were fleeing that night when we met you, though, Axel, was because Aerith had been caught providing refuge for us when no dobutsu were allowed to live in the village. Any creature that wasn't completely human was seen as a freak, and therefore shouldn't live. Aerith was taken into custody by the guards and executed by a cruel monster of a man named Sephiroth. Roxas and I gathered our belongings when we weren't discovered and fled that same night after Aerith was captured. She had ordered us to do so, and told me to protect Roxas with my life. I already was, seeing as I'm his dragon partner, but I understood what she meant. We lost our things as we ran, and then we found you."

Axel was stunned by my story, and he stared at me with wide fox eyes. Finally, he spoke up. "I'm so sorry to hear that," he mumbled, looking at Roxas with sympathy. "I know how it feels to not have your family anymore, but not to be without family for almost your whole life."

"He had his family in Aerith and me," I corrected. "It was just hard on him when he realized he was different from everyone else. I comforted him when he was upset, but I knew he felt lonely. I think he's actually been thriving here since we arrived, rather than suffering from the loss of the only mother figure he had. I'm just happy that he now has you as a mate." Axel's face flushed a dark red at my last sentence, and I chuckled softly. "Don't worry; I won't poke fun at you guys."

"Thanks," the redheaded kitsune said gratefully. I nodded in acknowledgement, and he tactfully changed the subject to something related to what we had been talking about. "So…how did you resist Roxas when he would go into heat all those times before?"

"I'm not gonna jump my best friend and partner who isn't even my species," I huffed. "Besides, dragons of my kind don't exactly mate to have children. It's more wish-based, I guess. It's really hard to explain."

"Try me," Axel said cockily, and I sighed heavily.

"Basically, we can't mate with physical love," I began. "The whole thing begins with a male and female dragon becoming mates through both mutual feelings and a ritual. Once mated, a female can choose to have one…litter, I guess you could call it. She can have children only once in her life, and that's it. If she chooses to have them, she will, even without asking her mate if he wants children, too. That's what happened with my brother and his mate, but they were both equally overjoyed when they had their four children, my two nieces and two nephews. But in the end, it's up for the female to decide if she wants to have young." Axel let out a low, quiet, and impressed whistle.

"That must be hard, to only have them once," he murmured. "Especially if you want more than what you ended up having."

"Well, typically, the females end up with however many they want, as long as they know they're physically and mentally capable of keeping up and handling the young," I told him. I tactfully changed the subject at that moment to something serious. "Axel, what if Roxas ends up pregnant? I need to know you'd be ready for that if it happens." The redheaded kitsune's eyes widened in realization.

"I'll be there for him, no matter what," he told me, a blaze of determination in his green eyes. "I'll support him all the way, even through the birth of our children." As he spoke, I had noticed Roxas's breathing had changed and his ears twitched slightly, so I knew he was awake, but I pretended he was still sleeping. I knew he was listening in.

"That's what I wanted to hear from you," I told him truthfully. "And I'm sure Roxas wants that, too. I won't speak for him, though. I'll let him tell you how he feels when he wakes up." Axel seemed to remember that Roxas was still lying on top of him, and he blushed a dark crimson with embarrassment. At that moment, Roxas chose to 'wake up.' He groaned quietly as he stretched his body like a cat, and I heard his back pop in three places. Poor guy must've been pretty stiff.

"Morning," he said softly as he opened his eyes again. He smiled at Axel, who grinned back. "How's it looking outside?" he asked me.

"Let me check really quickly," I told him, and trotted over to the window where I peeked outside. There was still about a foot of snow on the ground, but we weren't completely snowed in anymore. I relayed this information back to the mated pair on the couch, and they nodded in understanding.

"Well, we should probably hunt, then," Roxas suggested, sitting up as he said it. When Axel and I agreed with him, he climbed down off from Axel's chest and pulled his pants and shirt back on. The redhead waited until his blonde was dressed, and then pulled on his own clothes. I looked away as they dressed, just as a common courtesy. Once we were ready, we shoved the door open, piling the snow up next to it, and I used some of my ice magic to move the piled-up snow out of the way. We left for the snow-covered forest, hunting anything we could, and we were lucky to catch a large elk. Since it was our biggest catch, we stopped for the day and went back home, spending the rest of the day inside with blankets piled on us and drinking steaming hot mugs of tea to warm us up. As it turned out, this was how we spent the next few days due to the cold and snow outside.

A/N: Here's chapter 3, finished! I hope you liked this, because that's about as close to a lemon or lime that I'll probably ever get. I'll be posting other chapters for a bit now, because I need to take a break from this one and catch up on others. Enjoy, R&R!