Three years later...
"I don't want to go! You can't make me!" Several servants were attached to the prince's legs, trying to drag him out of bed. But Roxas clung to the bedpost like a lifeline, refusing to move at all.
King Lucas came in then, sighing and shaking his head. "Roxas, we have to get going! The boat will be leaving soon, and we don't want to keep Ella and Axel waiting!"
"Father! I'm sick and tired of this! I don't want to marry Axel! Ever! Besides, I haven't even packed yet, and you know I get seasick!"
"Roxas, please don't do this today. Just behave and go along with it. For me?" He gave his son a pleading look, batting his blue eyes slightly for good measure.
The little blonde sighed. He supposed he shouldn't wonder how he'd always been so good at getting what he wanted. That look his father gave him was enough to make him cave every time!
He stumbled out of bed and tossed his suitcase onto it, throwing in whatever clothes and things he could find on the floor of his messy room.
"Fine. But you're going to owe me a lot of ice cream when this is over, got it?"
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"You almost ready, Ax?"
The redhead looked back at him, panting a little as he struggled with his load. "Yeah, Demyx. Just go easy on the goods, will you?"
The sandy blond grinned back. "Sure, no problem." He hoisted the bag over his shoulder and snuck back behind the wall, while Axel followed at a much slower pace, carrying a large heavy box in his arms.
Damn, this stuff is really heavy! But what they had planned was going to be fun, he just knew it. Roxas would be here in less than a half and hour, and boy, would he be getting the biggest surprise of his life!
After some struggling and hard work, the two teens were able to haul their burdens up into the treehouse, and they waited patiently for the golden moment to arrive, snickering to themselves and nibbling on sea salt ice cream.
"Man, this is gonna be sweet! You, my friend, are a mad genius for thinking this up!" Axel patted Demyx on the back hard, causing the other boy to choke a little before he managed a grin back.
"I know, right? Where would you ever be without me?"
They sat in silence for a little while, enjoying the sounds of chirping birds and soldiers fighting in the yard a few yards away. Axel smirked wider. I can't wait to see the look on his face! it'll be so priceless!
"Hey, Ax? I've got a question for you. It's been bugging me a little for a while now..."
The redhead looked back at his friend, confused.
"Sure, Dem. Shoot. What's on your mind?"
The sandy blonde looked back at him awkwardly, rubbing his head absently and mulling over his words carefully. This was always a bit of a weird subject for the redheaded prince...
"It's not that I don't have fun tormenting the kid as much as you do, Ax. He really can be a pain sometimes. But I feel like you focus on him a lot for him just being a little brat that annoys you."
There was a long moment of silence between them, and Demyx noted with no shortage of nervousness that one of Axel's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"What do you mean?" He asked, still sounding neutral even though he was gritting his teeth a little.
Demyx sighed. It had to be blunt then.
"What I'm trying to ask is...well, Axel...do you like him?"
Axel's eyes widened, and he choked and spit out the popsicle he'd grabbed, hitting his chest with a fist to make sure everything went down okay. He rounded on the other boy, shooting a cross between a glare and incredulous stare his way.
"What? You think I...Wha...Where'd you get an idea like that?"
Demyx raised an eyebrow at him.
"N-No! No, I don't like that brat! Why would I?"
"Well, sometimes you kinda sound like you're a little obsessed with him. Like this whole plan you wanted me to come up with. Why do you care so much?"
The redhead blushed. "I'm just sick of watching him all the time! He's old enough to take care of himself now! Shouldn't I be have rights to pick on him for all the shit he's put me through?"
But the sandy blond-haired boy wasn't buying it.
"I think you do like him! So fess up!" Demyx looked at him intently, gauging his every reaction.
"No, for the last time, I. do. not. like. him!" By now, the redhead was throughly exasperated. He full-out glared at his best friend, daring him to press the matter.
After another pause, Demyx sighed. "Well...you might consider giving it a try then, Axel. I mean, you two are betrothed, so you should probably at least try to like him. I get the feeling he likes you..." The last part he added with a grin, poking his friend to emphasize.
Axel huffed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "No way in hell am I giving into my mom's silly little games that easily! Maybe I'd like the brat better if he'd stop beating me at chess and cards."
Demyx grinned. "And archery and fencing and tennis and-"
"Okay! Okay! I get the fricken point, Dem! And I thought we both agreed that was just beginner's luck!"
Despite his friend's growling, he smiled wider. He may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, no, not by a long shot! But he sure wasn't fooled by the prince's act.
"Sure, Ax, sure..."
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"Presenting their royal highnesses, King Lucas and Prince Roxas of Kisyria!" The sergeant stood at attention as his men helped the old king and his son out of the carriage. The young blonde looked like he would rather be anywhere but here, as usual, but King Lucas smiled graciously at his host. As they approached, he took her hand and kissed it gently.
"My dear Ella, you look lovely today. I trust you and Axel have been well this past year?"
The plump redhead chuckled softly, nodding in affirmation. "Of course, Lucas. Things have been absolutely marvelous." She looked down at Roxas, patting him softly on the head as her typically greeting. She chuckled again as he brushed the hand away, smoothing down all the unruly spikes that had been turned up in her wake.
"Roxas, dear, why don't you run along and play with Axel. Demyx is here today, but he should be going home soon so you two can spend some quality time together." She smiled wider and winked, ignoring as Roxas pretended to gag. King Lucas gave him a small reprimanding tap on his head, before pointing to the queen sternly. Roxas grimaced a little and bowed low.
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you..." He left then to find Axel, though there was no skip at all in his steps. He slumped instead, walking like he was off to face a hanging, rather than spend time with a friend...
Once he was gone, King Lucas and Queen Ella laughed together, moving to retire to the tea room as the guards were dismissed.
"Is he alright, Lucas? He seems a little down today."
The kind smiled softly, laughing it off.
"He's just a little moody lately. Typical habits of teenagers, as I remember. What, hasn't Axel ever had mood swings?"
The queen laughed back, taking a sip of the tea. "Oh, he has, and I'm not sure he'll ever get through them!" She sighed a little. "Boys...They're still so young and silly at this age...But I think our plan is working perfectly, don't you think?"
"Well, I can't speak for your son, but I've seen Roxas blush, even only a little, when someone mentions Axel's name. He's also putting up much less of a fight than he used to when he knows he has to spend the summer with all of us. Whether or not he chooses to admit it, I do believe the boy has the makings of a crush on your little Axel..."
Queen Ella instantly clapped and laughed, feeling very giddy at this news.
"Oh, wonderful! Axel seems to look forward to their visits much more than he used to. I really think they are starting to see the light!"
Lucas smiled, taking a sip of his own tea. "One would hope so. They're both stubborn enough for each other, I would wager."
"Oh, indeed! They make a perfect couple! I just hope my dear, little Axel won't wait too long in proposing!"
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"There he is, Axel! Do you have your amo ready?"
"Roger, Demyx! We just have to wait until he's at just the right spot."
Both boys peeked out stealthily from the window of the treehouse as their little blonde target came wandering up to the tree. His face was hidden slightly by the shade, but it was clear that he was unsuspecting. Perfect...
"Axel? Are you up there? Can you let down the ladder?"
The redhead snickered, casually tossing the balloon in his hand as he waited for the perfect moment. He glanced briefly at Demyx, who nodded, and both boys raised their arms high.
"Axel? Please! Are you up there? I just- ACK!"
Suddenly, a storm of colored balloons rained down on him from above, pelting him mercilously all around. Roxas yelped and instinctively raised his arms above his head protectively, backing away slightly as he swayed under the force of the attack.
"H-Hey! W-What the- Ow! Axel! S-Stop!"
Bad smelling red liquid splattered him everywhere, and by the time the attack had stopped his clothes were completely filthy beyond all recognition. Roxas looked at himself in disgust before he looked to the snickering boys above.
Axel and Demyx had both burst out laughing, finally coming into view. The redhead actually had to grip his sides to steady himself, as his stomach threatened to explode.
"You should have seen the look on your face, Roxas! That was totally perfect!"
"Yeah, we really got him good, didn't we Axel?"
They both just cracked up furiously, only stopping when they heard a small, choked sob below them.
Finally getting a good enough look at his face, Axel's eyes widened when he realized Roxas was crying. His blue eyes held fury and hurt swirling together in their depths, and pools of tears stained his splattered, blushing face. He didn't say anything, his jaw now tightly clenched, but instead just stood tall and firm as his hands curled into shaking fists at his sides. He looked really upset.
A second later, Roxas turned and ran back through the trees to the castle, leaving both boys above stunned in a guilty silence.
The older prince was silent for a while. He'd been expecting the younger boy to be angry; actually, he'd been looking forward to it. He could no longer deny that he found Roxas's pout to be absolutely adorable, and he thought it'd be funny to see it after a little good, old-fashioned revenge. Same as always, really...
But Roxas's outburst, or lack thereof in this case, bothered him, and he felt horrible as that look flashed before his eyes again and again, eating away at him.
"I think we really hurt his feelings this time, Axel." Demyx looked over at him a little sadly. Axel felt even worse that he had dragged his friend into this. The sandy blond boy was a very kind person; he just followed along with his friend's antics all the time. He wasn't the type to be nasty and mean, and he never dealt very well with guilt and depression.
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Axel glared back, crossing his arms defensively. "I thought the plan went perfectly!"
Demyx sighed, shaking his head a little as he grabbed his bag. He didn't look at Axel at all as he gathered up his things, ignoring the redhead's "what?"s until he reached the hole in the floor where the ladder usually hung.
"I have to go home now, Axel; I told my parents I'd be back soon. But I'm going to apologize to him when I come back, and I really think you should too. Joking around is all well and good, but I know you don't hate him that much to hurt him like that."
Axel sighed back in frustration, but he knew Demyx was right. The other boy passed him the rope and he made a quick dive out through the opening in the floor, swinging effortlessly to the base of the trunk and taking off running after Roxas. Me and my damn bleeding heart...
Demyx watched him go with a small smile, as he made ready to climb down the tree himself. "Good job, Ax..."
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Axel knew exactly where the little blonde had run off to; his favorite spot was the old swan fountain in the courtyard. It was part of a set, virtually identical to the one in Kysiria (except that Raza's stone swan had emerald eyes), and Roxas often took to hiding behind it when he didn't want to be found, gazing into the pool for hours on end. Axel knew it was the one place in Raza where he felt a little less homesick, and so he made his way there with no detours.
Sure enough, as the redhead approached the old cracking fountain, he could hear a soft sound coming from behind it. Roxas sat with his back against the stone, crying into his knees and still covered in the foul-smelling vegetable juice. He looked up briefly when Axel approached, but he quickly turned his eyes away, scooting back further as the older boy sat down beside him.
"Roxas...look, I'm sorry, okay? I...didn't mean to make you cry..."
The younger boy looked back up at him, the red juice smearing now as his tears spilled out and down over his cheeks.
"Then why, Axel? Why are you always picking on me all the time? Do you really hate me that much?" His stare was a little angry, but mostly it looked desperate and sad.
Axel sighed, taking hold of his hand. "No, Rox. I don't hate you."
But the blond wasn't satisfied. He pulled away and glared weakly.
"You said so the first day you met me! I didn't even do anything to you, and all you've ever done is be mean to me!" Roxas choked out another sob and buried his head back down against his knees. "What's wrong with me?"
The redhead reached out slowly and tilted the boy's chin so that he would look at him. He searched those brilliant blue eyes softly, and scrapped some of the caked dirt and grime off the boy's cheek with his thumb.
"Nothing is wrong with you, Roxas. I'm just...weird, okay?" Axel sighed, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the boy's cheek even when there was nothing there.
"I've never really hated you, I was just tired and lazy and always had to look out for you even when I didn't want to. I was also bitter about our parents forcing us together without even asking me first..." He smiled reassuringly, ruffling Roxas's hair a little. The blond seemed to understand, but he still sniffed and rubbed his eyes, looking sad and pitiful. Axel sighed as he leaned in and hugged him close, patting Roxas on the back soothingly.
"I'm sorry, kid...I really am..."
Roxas tensed a little as he was pulled into the redhead's arms, but he found the warmth comforting, and chose not to complain. Slowly, he hugged back, blushing a little when the redhead grinned at him.
"I know you're not any happier about this whole engagement thing than I am, but let's not get mad at each other over it." Axel stood up as he spoke, pulling Roxas to his feet as well. "Let's at least be civil to each other from now on, okay? Friends?" He reached out his hand, smiling a little more.
Roxas looked at his hand for a moment, a little uncertain, but he looked back into Axel's kind green eyes and found them to be telling the truth. He smiled softly, reaching out and grabbed the hand to give it a firm shake.
"Okay...But you have to promise to stop picking on me so much, okay?"
Axel felt his heart warm a little at that smile, but thought nothing of it then. "Sure, Roxy. Now, let's get you cleaned up..."
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From one of the high tower windows, the king and queen looked out on their two children below and smiled. The queen jumped up and down excitedly, despite her age, and the king gazed lovingly down at the boys as Axel led Roxas back into the castle, holding hands and earnestly smiling at each other for the first time in a long time.
Something new began that day, as the boys stopped acing so immaturely and played more naturally together. They still weren't really 'in love,' but the step had been made, at least as far as Queen Ella could see. To her, love was surely on the horizon, and the more King Lucas watched his son smiling shyly at Axel, the more he began to see it too.