Insert standard disclaimer here.

Chapter 2

If there was one thing Axel hated, it was cold weather. Well, all right, he hated a lot of things. Stupid people, dogs smaller then a breadbox, hanging out in the throne room, amongst other things. But cold was really high up there on the list. Being a fire wielder made him naturally more susceptible to cold air. It would be just his luck that the one place that was strictly a peace zone had its winter season for more then three-quarters of the year.

They had arrived at the palace of Nocoraz'on the night before, frozen solid and greatly annoyed. King Mickey, a short mousy-looking fellow, had shown them great hospitality. Axel had been just about ready to kiss the man when he showed them to the hot springs. The prince spent half the night thawing out in the heat of the water. He'd even used some of his own magic to prompt the place a bit hotter. He'd felt somewhat bad about it when it had ended up boiling, too hot for anyone else to use without hurting themselves. They'd called Vexen, an ice user, in to cool down the water after Axel had gotten out, though, so he didn't feel quite so bad.

Now, though, he stood in one of the guard towers, watching the approaching party that he knew must contain Prince Roxas. Axel was antsy. Almost nervous. This would be his first act as king, even if the title wasn't yet his. This could make or break his entire kingdom. No matter what the outcome, everything would fall on his shoulders. He left the tower, starting down toward the throne room. That was where the meeting was to take place, with King Mickey as the mediator.

His father was already waiting for him there, along with Demyx. They had brought him as a sort of proof. Marluxia, commonly known as Marly and Axel's personal guard, was there as well. He was deemed almost useless on neutral ground and he wasn't reacting to that very well.

"Axel? Are you all right?" he asked, brow furrowing.

Axel nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. A bit…anxious, I guess."

Reno nodded. "Perfectly understandable. It's a lot of pressure…"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Thanks dad. Way to make me feel better."

Reno shrugged, shooting him a grin. "I'm not here to make you feel better."

The doors to the throne room opened and King Mickey led a crew of men in. There was a large blonde man, looking about the same age as Axel's dad. Flanking him on either side were two teenagers, one brunet with a pleasant smile on his face, the other a blonde with a slight scowl, one that looked like it was his default expression. They had the most brilliant blue eyes that Axel had ever seen. Behind them were two people who were obviously guards. One was tall and muscular with long silver hair and narrowed, distrusting turquoise eyes. The other was a female, just about the same height as her charge. She had blonde hair with antenna-like pieces slicked back and stormy gray eyes, sweeping the room to search for any danger. Both were armed to the hilt, but Axel knew that wasn't the most dangerous part about them. No doubt their magic was a force to be reckoned with. One didn't make it into a royal guard unless they had great power. At least, not in Ne'erwas.

There was a tense silence all around as the two royal families stared at each other. No doubt it was the first time in two hundred years that their people resided in the same room and weren't trying to kill each other. Yet. The silver-haired guard looked quite like he wanted to shank someone with that wicked-looking blade of his. The silence stretched on until Axel was ready to start fidgeting. Before he could stop himself-or rather before his father could shut him up-he blurted out, "Which one of you is Prince Roxas?"

They stared at him for a long moment before the scowling blonde raised a hand, giving a sarcastic little wave.

"Prince Axel, I presume?" he responded. His voice was dripping in sarcasm and Axel had to choke back a laugh. He managed to do so quite well, if he did say so himself.

"That would be correct. How'd you guess? It was my dazzling good looks, wasn't it?" he responded. Roxas smirked at him but the rest of the room remained silent. The blonde female's eye twitched.

"That or the arrogant manner in which you addressed me," Roxas snorted, though Axel could tell that he was joking. Marly, though, let out a small snarl and took a step forward. The turquoise-eyed guard reacted in kind, moving forward to shield the brunet's body. The blonde woman growled and touched Roxas' arm, as if asking for permission. He shook his head, waving a dismissive hand at her.

"It's all right, Larxene," he assured her.

"Yeah," Axel spoke up. "Down, Marly. Words don't hurt. Besides, he's just teasing…"

"They're fucking Light-throwers! They can't be trusted! You're crazy for doing this, Axel…!"

"Quiet!" Axel snapped.

"Axel…"

"Keep it up, Marluxia!" Axel warned, fire engulfing his hands. The guard's brown eyes narrowed, but he kept quiet.

"Sorry, highness," he muttered petulantly.

"You're dismissed," Axel said quietly. Looking very much like he wanted to protest, Marluxia stomped from the room, casting a glare at the other royals as he went.

"I apologize for him," Axel amended, hoping Marluxia's temper tantrum wouldn't ruin everything he had planned.

"Did you draw us out here to threaten us?" the silver-haired guard demanded angrily.

"Riku," the brunet spoke up, resting a soft hand on his arm. Axel could sense there was something between them, but he felt it might be unwise to comment on it.

"I'm not here to offer tension. I want…I want peace between our kingdoms. We're fighting an endlessly pointless war and it will get us nowhere. I know that you feel the same, Prince Roxas. I know…because of Demyx."

The blonde furrowed his brow, looking confused. Demyx waved uncertainly.

"Uh…hi." Roxas' eyes came to focus on Demyx, who he stared at blankly for a long moment before dawning took over his features. His mouth popped open in a small 'o'.

"Roxas?" the older blonde, undoubtedly the king, asked, brow furrowing.

"I…well, I guess I have a story to tell," Roxas sighed. "I hadn't honestly intended you to run off and tell your king."

"Sorry, highness," Demyx answered uncertainly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Roxas waved a dismissive hand and began to tell his story. Axel was amused, watching the expressions of the blonde's family. The brunet, who Axel guessed could only be Prince Sora, looked vaguely proud. The king looked blank, almost as if he were trying to hide his thoughts from his face. As Roxas finished his tale, his eyes swept over and met Axel's. They were intense, conveying his message clearly. They were asking him what his intentions were, if he was honestly serious about peace.

"How, exactly," Roxas spoke. "Do you suggest we go about proclaiming peace between our kingdoms? It most certainly won't be easy. We've been fighting for hundreds of years and suddenly we just call it all off?"

Axel nodded, noticing that his father was watching him closely. Apparently the way he handled things here would be a test as well.

"It won't be easy, I admit that, but I think its necessary. I've lost…a lot of friends, family, people that I love, to this stupid, pointless war. What are we even fighting about?"

Roxas opened his mouth the answer before snapping his mouth closed again.

"I…I have no idea," he answered softly. He spun to look at his father. "Do you know? Do you know the reason for this war?" The blonde king shook his head sadly.

"I haven't any idea," he answered. "I guess…I just did as I was told and never asked any questions." Roxas' face slipped into a scowl again. It was then that it all clicked into place.

They used masks to keep their emotions from showing. Sora was constantly dazedly happy, Roxas scowling, the king blank. They were hiding their emotions from everyone else. Why, how, could they do that? Axel had such a hard time controlling his emotions, especially his anger. Why would they hide like that? He didn't understand it.

"I think…that if anyone can make this peace thing work, it will be you two," the blonde king spoke up. "New blood, determination…questioning the system. It's all good characteristics for revolutionaries." Axel's father nodded.

"All right, then," King Mickey spoke up, obviously pleased that he didn't have to keep them from each other's throats. "Let's start working on a peace treaty, shall we?"

The peace treaty they had composed was not taking root very well. Fights had broken out all over the place, in both kingdoms. Many people were very supportive of the peace, glad to finally be able to sleep at night without worry. A small few, though, were throwing revolts all around the place. Larxene was a nervous wreck on guard duty, absolutely convinced that someone was going to try and assassinate Roxas. She claimed that, before the treaty, she could have cut down any person who looked too shady. Now that flimsy peace was in place, she had to be careful with her actions. Any wrong move could incite the cry of war again. There was the idea of peace, but no one really believed in it. They had to do something that would make it stick, something that people wouldn't be able to deny or doubt. That was why, two days before Roxas' coronation, the blonde prince entered the Ne'erwas castle town with an agenda. He had to speak to Prince Axel and arrange something, anything that would unite their kingdoms. Because that was what they needed. Not a peace treaty, but unity. He was hardly recognized as he rode through the streets toward the castle. There were no gates, nothing to protect from the people outside. Almost as if the royals and the commoners lived amongst each other equally. Roxas couldn't imagine such a thing.

As he reached the large front doors to the castle, he dismounted, only to be met by a burly man. Roxas extended his hand, letting the light dance across his palm, a standard greeting for strangers. Apparently not. As soon as he did so, the man let out a bark of orders and a pain shattered across the back of his head. He hit his knees, eyes going wide. A pair of hands jerked his arms together behind his back and jerked him back to his feet.

"Dammit!" the original man howled. "You damn renegades, why can't you just let it go!"

Roxas tried to protest, tried to explain, but merely received a smart punch to the mouth. He could taste blood now and he just about lost his patience. He was about to throw all caution to the wind, when a loud shout was heard about the din.

"What are you doing? Release him, that is no way to treat visitors…"

Axel was rushing across the courtyard toward them, eyes blazing angrily.

"Prince Axel!" the man protested. "He threatened me with magic!"

The redhead slowed, coming to a stop in front of them, eyebrows shooting up.

"Is that true?" he asked.

"No!" Roxas growled. "Release me, dammit!" Axel nodded and motioned for them to let go.

"But Prince Axel…"

"Do you know who it is you're detaining?" Axel demanded. "This is Prince Roxas of Hartz." The blonde was instantly let free. He took a few safe steps away from the men who had held him, sending them glares as he went.

"He did brandish his magic at me, sir, I'm not lying about that!" the guard defended, obviously realizing that he'd made a mistake somewhere.

"I wasn't trying to threaten you!" Roxas exclaimed. "It's a standard greeting in Hartz, to present a stranger with your magic. It helps people to place your family line and it shows a degree of trust. I didn't even consider that you might take it as a threat. For that, I apologize." The man nodded warily. "I apologize as well. I reacted rashly." After Roxas accepted the apology, Axel had someone take his horse and led him inside the palace. Axel took him to a library of sorts, throwing himself down in a chair and gesturing for Roxas to do the same.

"So…what brings you all the way out here, prin-?"

"You can just call me Roxas," the blonde offered.

"Then call me Axel."

"All right, Axel. I came because I'm concerned about the treaty."

The redhead raised his eyebrows again, emotion showing clearly on his face. Roxas couldn't believe that he showed his feelings so clearly on his face. In Hartz, that would be considered weakness. He realized that he knew none of these foreign customs.

"Is there something wrong with it on your end? We both agreed to terms and studied it for days…"

"Yes, yes I know. I think, though, that we have been a bit naïve. We just expected things to fall into place and be accepted as easily as we did…but that certainly isn't the case."

The redheaded prince focused on his twisting fingers.

"You mean the rebellions? I've been controlling them as well as I can from my end…"

"That is what I mean, in part. But mostly…I think we need a way to make this concrete. A way to prove that we're serious about this and that it won't just fall apart from under our feet."

Axel nodded. "Yeah, I see what you mean. How do you suggest we go about this, then?"

Roxas shrugged. "I was hoping you might have an idea. I'm fairly new at this whole…king thing and I haven't really been crowned yet…"

Axel snorted. "You're not the only one. The most traditional way would be a marriage between our families, but…my sister is only ten years old. You could see how that might be problematic…"

Roxas nodded, trying to focus and think of a way. After a few minutes of silence it seemed to hit him like a bolt of lightning.

"What about us?" he asked. Axel looked supremely shocked for a moment. "You can't be serious," he intoned. Roxas looked away, eyes focusing on the floor.

"Well…I mean…I've never really been all that interested in girls, so my subjects won't question anything. If you're one of those people who wants to marry for love, we can come up with something else…"

"Yeah," Axel snorted sarcastically. "Marrying for love, what a ridiculous notion."

"You know as well as I do that love is hardly involved in the marriage of royals. A marriage would form the unity we need. Whatever, I've made my offer. You decide what to do with it." He stood and made his way toward the door.

"You would honestly spend the rest of your life with someone you hardly know, someone you don't love, just to promote peace?" Axel spoke up as Roxas' fingers touched the doorknob. Letting his hand drop back to his side, Roxas turned to look the redhead straight in the eyes.

"I would do anything for my people," he declared solemnly. "If this is what it takes, then it's what I'll do." Axel let out a long sigh before he nodded.

"Yeah, all right. I'll do it, then." Roxas blinked in shock for a moment before asking, "Seriously?" He half expected the redhead to exclaim it had only been a joke, but he just nodded in earnest.

"Honestly and truly. I could do worse then you."

"Thanks a lot," Roxas snorted. "You'll have to come back to Hartz with me. My coronation is in two days, I'll have to present you before my subjects, and you have a lot to learn about life at my court."