Chapter 4

"So do you really think you'll be alright, Roxas?" Sora said, closing his locker and hefting a bundle of books into his book bag.

Roxas shrugged, "I'm not sure. I've never really forced myself out of my comfort zone before. It's been all too easy to stay in the lap of luxury and lets things slide past without so much as a second glance. Namine is more excited than I am."

"Why is she even going anyway? You said she was trying to get that guy to be your friend, not the other way around."

"Well that would be a little selfish wouldn't you say? There isn't a law against siblings sharing friends, is there?"

"Well, I only just hope it doesn't turn into another Riku incident."

Roxas shuddered visibly at the memories. He had come home from his lessons a little over a year ago and found his sister and her new 'friend' having sex in his bed; they were both horrendously drunk and ended up passing out for the remainder of the evening in his room, Roxas ended up sleeping in a guest bed. He had replaced almost his entire bed the next day. "Perish the thought," he said, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands to will the sight away.

"Just keep an eye out for any signs. My doors are always open for you, if you need them."

"I appreciate the gesture, I may need too if Axel doesn't stop sticking to her like they're Siamese twins."

"Well the best way to change that would to be more sociable towards him, wouldn't you agree? Namine is the most approachable one in your family by far. Your mother scares me to death, and it took me weeks to get used to you," Sora said with a light smile, hoping to not offend his schoolmate.

Roxas gave him a sideways glare and Sora smiled wider. "Yes yes, I know."

"I'm only saying this for your own good, Roxas. You need to make at least a couple friends outside of this Academy before we graduate. I'm shipping off to New York to work for my father's company and to go to University if you recall, I won't be here to be your social crutch," the brunette said flatly, giving his friend a hard stare to show he was being serious. The two boys started walking towards the entrance of the school building, Sora waved to a few passerby's with a bright smile and a couple 'see you laters' and Roxas walked silently with his eyes to the floor as usual, his back slumped a bit.

Roxas let out a surprised yelp as he felt a hand press on his back suddenly, straightening his posture and he turned to see a very serious looking female teacher boring a hole into his face with her piercing gaze. "Posture, Mr. Meadows," she reminded him. He nodded.

"Yes ma'am," he said spiritlessly.

Sora smiled after they were a few feet away from the schoolmarm and nudged Roxas with his elbow. "Haven't had one of those for a while, yeah?" he laughed a little when Roxas glared at him.

The sun was still bright but lowering behind the tree line when the pair emerged from the building. Winter was coming, Roxas noted, the days were becoming shorter. Selphie was waving wildly for her brother as she stood next to the family car and Sora waved to her before saying his goodbyes to Roxas and heading off. The blonde surveyed the crowd for Xigbar's distinct salt and pepper hair before he realized the older man was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in their usual parking spot he saw his sister standing by her cherry colored Mercedes Roadster, the top was down.

"Really, we're going to show up in this?" Roxas questioned as he approached, "don't you think it's a bit much?"

"What? I like my car. What's wrong with it?" Namine asked, giving her convertible the once-over. Roxas sighed.

"You're going to give him a nosebleed."

Namine giggled, "you think so? Should we go back and get yours?"

"We would be late if we did that. Axel said dinner was at five," he glanced at his watch. "Though it is only a little after four…"

"What? You're serious? Oh come on Roxxy!" she pleaded, "let me brag a little. I love my baby." Namine ran a hand over the door before bending down and giving the vehicle a light hug. "I know Axel would love her too. Do you really want to deny their love and possible Axel-car hybrid babies?"

Roxas gave his sister a disgruntled look, his head was swimming with the weird visions that last statement had given him. He sighed and shook his head. "Fine."

He moved around to the passenger seat and tossed his book bag in front before opening the door and plopping himself down. He tried his best to scrunch himself down in the seat so the wind wouldn't give him whiplash like he was expecting from the open top. He was a little thankful the weather was nice enough to drive like thing, he had a feeling his sister would insist on taking her car even if it was hailing.

They drove in relative silence, the quiet only being broken by Namine fussing at Roxas' posture, complaining that he looked like he was an uptight old man with the sour look on his face. It wasn't long before they were pulling into Axel's driveway, at a quarter to four. The door opened and Axel stepped out with a dish and a towel in his hand, drying it absently before going wide-eyed once he caught sight of the car.

"Do you love it!?" Namine squealed, jogging up the front pathway to the base of the porch steps, her stiletto heels clicking along loudly. Roxas was left to his own devices in the front seat, he was pulling his sweater pullover off and taking off his tie and school brooch and stuffing them into the book bag. Undoing the top button of his button down white shirt, he stepped out of the car and closed the door quietly.

"Baby? Are your friends here? Good lord—" Axel's mother had come through the front door and was gawking at the car along with her son. "What a beautiful car!" she said gleefully, stepping past Axel and down the stairs to meet Namine. They shook hands before Namine made a face and threw her arms around the woman, hugging her tightly.

"Hello Axel's Mom," Namine said with a grin.

"You can call me Gloria, sweetie. I can only guess that you're Namine and so that must be Roxas," she said, pointing towards the blonde who was walking towards them.

"Yes ma'am I am," Roxas said simply, "pleased to meet you." He gave Gloria a pleasant smile before reaching for her hand and planting a light kiss on the backs of her fingers. Gloria laughed before pulling Roxas into a giant bear hug. Roxas let out a surprised grunt, unable to hug her back with his trapped arms. Namine giggled.

"You're such a polite young man! I can't help but want to hug you. Both of you please! Come in!" the mother said, turning before realizing that Axel had disappeared. He reemerged from the house, idly wiping at his nose with a tissue. When he stopped he gave the group a sheepish grin, the tissue coming away with specks of blood.

"Sorry about that you guys," he said. Namine smiled at him.

"You think she's hot right? I like her too."

"Yeah, it isn't what I expected that's for sure. I believe you now when you say you know how to drive."

The group stopped in the small entryway of the bungalow and Namine cooed over how dainty and cozy the house was, Roxas simply stood next to her looking around. Gloria had disappeared into the kitchen and there was a light clinking and clacking of dishes to be heard shortly thereafter.

"Well, this is my house," Axel said simply with a light shrug.

"I like it, it actually looks like people live here," Namine said with a warm smile. Axel smiled back and looked at Roxas.

"You okay?"

Roxas looked like he was in a daze before blinking a few times and turning his attention away from the pictures on the buttery walls. "Hm? Oh yes, I'm fine. I was just admiring the photos."

Axel rubbed the back of his head and chuckled lightly before they trio moved to face the wall head on. In simple frames there was a small montage of photos spread out in an asymmetrical way on the yellow wall. A family photo of Axel and his parents was the largest and in the middle of a grouping that consisted of a couple wedding photos and photos of Axel in varying stages of his childhood. The most bright and prominent of them was a photo of Axel when he was maybe a year old, sitting in front of a premade studio back drop in overalls and a t-shirt, his fiery tuft of hair standing up perfectly straight before flopping to one said lazily. Namine squealed when she saw it.

"That one's my favorite!" she said pointing to it.

"Mom says I was pretty much bald for the first four years of my life. So whenever I grew hair, they just let it go and do whatever it wanted."

Namine laughed lightly, Roxas was silent with a blank look, staring at the montage. Namine and Axel shrugged at each other before they all headed off for the tour of the tiny abode, Namine making weird noises at anything she thought was cute or special and Roxas following a short distance behind him, hands crossed behind his back with a placid face.

"And down the stairs here is my room," Axel said as they wandered down a set of narrow steps into the basement. The ceiling was lower than the rest of the house, about only six and a half feet versus the standard eight but to its credit it was a nicely finished basement with a small bathroom with a shower. The only major downfall down here, Axel made a point of saying, was that the laundry was also down here so a couple days a week he had limited privacy. The advantage was, though, that the ceiling was soundproofed so his mother didn't have to listen to his video games, movies or music. Namine decided she saw something interesting across the way and waved her way to a large aquarium and put her face so close to the glass that Axel thought he might have to break out the Windex to get her face-print off.

She made a curious noise as she watched the various colorful but non-tropical fish swim about in and out of their plastic rocks and plants. At the top of the waterline, an oversized goldfish was bobbing up and down, occasionally burping out a few bubbles.

"That's Gerard," Axel said simply, which garnered a laugh from Namine.

"Nice name."

"I know, he was only supposed to live a couple years but he's been around for almost five. They must be feeding the fish steroids or something at the pet store."

"And who are they?" Roxas piped at an opposite wall, looking into another aquarium that carried a few hermit crabs in it. Namine and Axel turned to face him and Namine immediately blew past the redhead to join her brother.

"Oh well, the one in the greenish shell is MacArthur, the one with Spiderman painted on it is General Patton and the one in the redish speckled shell in the corner there is Robert E. Lee."

"Wow, very… historical," Namine said giggling at little, Axel smiled. The terrarium was mostly open space lined with coconut fiber for the crabs to scuttle around on, they had a couple of chunks of wood to climb if they cared too, a plastic cave to sleep in, a water and food dish and a few extra shells tossed around. There was also a plastic tank settled in the corner of which Robert E. Lee was settled on.

"You don't have any other pets?" Roxas asked.

"No, my mom's allergic to most things with fur."

"That's a good reason."

"Yeah."

Axel's mother called them up for dinner. The four of them sat around the small dining table just outside the kitchen and talked idle chit-chat about nothing in particular. Axel had to nudge his mom with his leg a couple times under the table when he caught her staring at Roxas' eating habits. She blushed, a little embarrassed with herself though Axel couldn't blame her. He had done the same thing.

"So, did Axel tell you two that I knew your mother in elementary school?"

Namine and Roxas both stopped eating and looked at her with surprise. "No," they said in sync.

"Oh yeah, Larxene and I go way back, though I doubt she remembers me at this point, we fell out of touch around eighth grade when she transferred to Trinity."

"Small world yeah?" Namine quipped.

"It certainly is," Roxas added.

***

Axel was sitting on the front stoop, lighting a smoke when he heard the door open behind him. A pair of shiny white loafers appeared next to him. He could hear the distant chatting of the women inside fade away as the door closed.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Roxas asked. Axel nodded and Roxas took a seat next to him. "Your mother is a very kind woman. Thank you for inviting us over."

"No problem. I figured it was the least I could do for you guys. You all were so hospitable," he flicked some ash in front of him.

"You're welcome back any time; hopefully soon," Roxas said and Axel glanced at him out the corner of his eye. Roxas cleared his throat and swallowed. Nervousness? Roxas?

"Well this weekend is open for me…"

"Namine is busy this weekend."

"Well there isn't any rule saying we couldn't hang out together is there?" Axel surprised himself, wondering why he was offering the exact situations that made him flip out so easily.

"I suppose not. I'm afraid I'm fairly bland company though."

"No you're not."

"You don't have to lie."

"I'm serious."

Roxas gave the redhead a sideways glance. "If you insist. What did you have in mind for us?"

"Good question. We could go to the park, or see a movie. The batting cages are still open if you want to smack a ball or two around," he turned to snuff the cigarette out on the concrete step.

"I like baseball," Roxas said, the end of the sentence trailing off a little.

"Well, we could do that. I don't mind."

"I would need to ask Xaldin before I do anything physical like that; twisting my leg to swing may not be a good idea."

"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that. How's your leg feeling anyway? Better? Not so good?"

"I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday and he took a few x-rays. A pin is indeed slipping though only slightly. If it gets any worse he may have to go back in and tighten things up, which would set my physical therapy back substantially."

"Oh man, that sucks."

"I agree."

"Well look at it this way, soon, you'll get better, and then eventually we'll be able to play a legitimate game. I'm sure of it."

"I'd like that, Axel."

"Good, me too."

The door opened behind them and the boys turned to see Axel's mother with a wide smile on her face, her eyes glistening and Namine with a grin.

"We should get going Roxas," Namine said. "You have to study still and have school in the morning."

"Right."

"Aw, well I'm glad I got to meet both of you, and when you see your mother again, let her know I said hello," Axel's mother said, giving each sibling a hug before she stood next to Axel waving as they pulled away in Namine's cherry Roadster.

After the pair had sped away, the mother looked to the son before tears of joy sprang fourth and she wrapped him in a bear hug, Axel only being able to utter a grunt as the oxygen left him in a rush.

After a minute of squeezing, they both went back into the house. They cleaned the dishes in silence, though his mother had a grin on her face the entire time and he knew what she was thinking. He was happy for himself too. After the dishes, he kissed his mother on the cheek and descended into his room and plopped onto his bed to flip through the latest issue of his favorite car magazine that had come in the mail that morning. His eyelids became heavier and heavier after a while until he finally succumbed to the darkness.

It wasn't long before Axel was jolted awake by the shrill ringing of their home telephone. He groaned to himself and let his mother pick it up. He was about to drift off again when he heard a crash from upstairs and jumped out his bed still only half-awake and sprinted upstairs to find his mother had fallen backwards out of the small chair they kept next to the telephone, the receiver itself was hanging freely from the wall. His mother had a look of sheer terror on her face before she slowly started to break down and sob. She held her face in her hands and half-shrieked half-cried. Axel went to her side, utterly confused.

"Ma! Whats wrong!?" he said, taking his broken mother in his arms, starting to panic, she buried her face in his chest and clung to his shirt for a minute, unable to talk though her terrified tears.

"Th-they called back, baby."

***

"You alright Rox?" Xaldin called as Roxas took his first swing effectively cracking the bat against an oncoming baseball, sending it flying. The blonde turned and nodded at him. Axel was in another cage on the other side of Roxas, waiting for his machine to toss one his way. Apparently he got the gimpy one and it was having technical difficulties. He saw a thumbs up appear over the machine from the technician and a green light blinked on, telling Axel it was ready.

It was a brisk Saturday and the boys were both wearing long sleeves and jeans under their windbreakers, Axel found it to be a little too stifling to swing a bat dressed like this but was thankful for it all when the wind picked up and turned the tops of his ears a light rose. After smacking a couple balls out of the cage, he heard another crack from his neighbor's cage followed by a pained hiss as Roxas dropped his bat and trotted around in a little circle trying to walk off the pain in his leg.

Axel stopped and pressed the shutoff button behind him and the green light of his machine went off. He stuck his fingers through the chain link between them giving Roxas a concerned look.

"Are you okay?"

Roxas panted a second before responding, "I just had a very rough pinch, I'm fine, I'm fine," he insisted as a ball flew past the pair and Roxas jumped a little in surprise as it smacked into the back of his cage. He reached up and hit the shutoff button. Xaldin was next to him, looking concerned, and started to usher the blonde over to the car.

"Same place?" Xaldin asked with his arm up Roxas' pant leg feeling the boy's calf. Axel leaned up against the car and lit up a cigarette, waiting patiently and feeling partly responsible.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have offered," he said after a few minutes.

"Don't feel bad, I thought it would've been fine too," Xaldin said, Roxas nodded in agreement. "We should head back for today, though. Hop in," he instructed.

Axel tossed his cigarette and sat quietly in the back of the Lincoln with Roxas, neither boy really having any idea of what to say. Axel's mind stared to drift. He thought back to the night a few days ago, having to hold his mother in his arms for nearly forty five minutes before she would stand and go to bed. She didn't have the energy to explain to him who had called and she didn't seem to be upset in the morning so Axel didn't push it on her, but man was he curious. He furrowed his brows before sighing heavily and rubbed at them with his thumb and forefinger.

"We can go back and you can finish your session if it upsets you so much, Axel," Roxas piped from a seat away. Axel looked at him.

"Oh no, sorry, that's not the problem. I was thinking about something else."

"I see," Roxas didn't pry any farther. Axel fidgeted in his seat after a few more minutes of drowning silence, begging Xaldin mentally to turn on the radio or something.

He sighed again, exhausted with his internal conflict before blurting out without hardly a space between words. "After you left on Wednesday my mom got a call from someone that made her fall to the ground and start crying, I held her and held her for like forever and then she went to bed but in the morning she acted like nothing happened and now I'm worried as hell and I'm sorry but I just had to say it because I'm lost and have no idea how to deal with it or what to do."

Roxas looked at him, mildly surprised by his outburst. "You seem to have a problem then. Is there anything I can do?"

"I can't think of anything," Axel replied, holding his face in his hands before rubbing his eyes again. "It reminds me of the time before my dad died. About three months before, we were getting a lot of phone calls and my mom always seemed upset she never cried like Wednesday but she was still upset. I didn't understand what was going on because I was only about eleven or so."

Roxas sat silent for a few minutes waiting for Axel to continue. When he didn't he asked, "but you understand the phone calls now?"

"Yeah… I didn't understand until a few years after he was gone but my mom told me. He ah… he had a gambling problem and borrowed too much money from the wrong people. They were calling to collect the debt apparently, but he never got to pay them back before he died."

"I see."

"I don't want to, but I think those people were calling back again on Wednesday."

"Report them to the police or block the number. There is a plethora of ways to stop harassment."

"Yeah."

"Do you wish to stay at the manor until it all blows over?"

"Maybe, but I'd be worried about my mom."

Roxas nodded thoughtfully. "She could stay with us as well. I believe we have enough space."

"You mean that? I'll have to ask her," a black and white cell phone appeared in front of his face attached to Roxas' pale hand. Axel smiled a bit and took it from him, dialing his number and smiled wider when the ID automatically recognized the number as 'Axel.'

It rang, and rang, and rang some more before the answering machine picked up. Axel turned off the phone before he bothered leaving a message. He tried to remember if his mother had to work this evening or if she had plans with her girlfriends. He couldn't recall anything significant so he decided to let it go. He handed the phone back to Roxas but he couldn't shake the hard feeling in the pit of his stomach.

***

"You're back awful early," Xigbar said as the trio entered the front door of Roxas' house. His eyes grew wide when he saw Roxas limping slightly and threw a questioning look to Xaldin who shrugged.

"No one saw it coming; he's still got a pinch," Xaldin said, settling the blonde onto a chaise lounge not far from the entryway.

Xigbar's index finger appeared in Axel's line of sight in an accusing manner. "And you look like you got hit by a train. Whats up?"

Axel replayed the scenario for him, and after a minute of thoughtful rubbing on his stubble filled chin, Xigbar nodded to himself.

"I think I should take you to your house. You seem to have a gut feeling about this and they're usually right. Let's hurry, just to be safe," the older man said and Axel looked to Roxas then back to Xigbar. "Roxas should probably stay here, we'll come back once we make sure everything is okay," and Axel nodded.

***

The outside of Axel's home looked normal except for one trifling detail. The front door was wide open. Something wasn't right. Axel didn't move from his stance on the tree lawn and Xigbar questioned him.

"Mom never leaves the door open in this kind of weather," he stated flatly, a lump forming in his throat.

"Wait there kid let me grab something," Xigbar ducked back into the Lincoln, and rifled through the glove compartment and stood again, shoving something in the back of his pants. Axel was halfway to the door, obviously not able to follow Xigbar's request.

"Whoa! Axel!" Xigbar cried as a man in a black suit appeared in the front doorway, a pistol focused on Axel's chest. The man grinned a wildly crooked grin from behind large framed sunglasses before a shot rang out. Axel fell to the ground.

From between chunks of his hair, Axel could see only the soles of the man's shoes peeking out from above the top of the porch staircase. He could hear heavy footsteps before he was being hauled up from his fetal position and Xigbar's scar was the only thing he could see.

"You okay kid?" Xigbar questioned his eyes wide with concern.

Axel blinked away the mental fog a few times before feeling his chest and around his face. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"You wait in the car and call the police, kid. I'll see if anyone's left," Xigbar shoved his Blackberry into Axel's hands and the redhead dialed nine one one with shaking hands. Xigbar trotted to the front door and hugged the wall with his back before taking a peek around the corner and heading inside.

Axel was talking to the dispatcher when Xigbar reemerged from the house, closing the door behind him. Axel hung up when he finished and handed the device back to Xigbar who took it quickly but not quickly enough and Axel noticed he had blood smeared on his fingertips. The redhead shot him a worried look, and Xigbar noticed.

"Look, kid… h-hey! Wait!"

Axel was sprinting up the stairs and over the incapacitated man on his porch and flinging the door open before Xigbar had a chance to grab him. When he looked inside, his mother's house was completely torn apart. Lamps were tossed around, an end table was turned over and papers and books were strewn all over, Axel started to panic as he went from room to room looking for his mother.

From the top of the staircase Axel could see a large puddle of water and that his room wasn't the way he left it. He was pulled backwards by large hands and he started to struggle against them. He wrestled and wrestled with the arms as they encircled his thin waist as he fought and fought for the staircase. Without realizing what he was doing, he twirled around, bringing his elbow in contact with Xigbar's nose. The larger man let out a sneer and his grip loosened enough for Axel to break free and half-fell half-sprinted his way into his room.

His fish tank was obliterated, the fish having long since suffocated in the open air. His bookshelf was overturned and his laundry was askew more than it usually was. His mother lay on his bed, spread eagle, her long skirt was shoved high on her waist and panties ripped away leaving herself exposed to her son. Not that it mattered anyway because all Axel was concerned with was the fact that her neck had been sliced open and she lay in a pool of her own blood. Suddenly there were hands covering his eyes and he was being shoved back up the stairs.

He was being shoved out the front door when he grabbed instinctively for the railing leading down the front steps and pulled himself over it, vomiting into the flowers.

"Axel…" Xigbar said quietly as they sat on the back of an ambulance. The paramedics had finished looking them both over, making sure no one had any extra holes or anything missing before going to address the man on the porch. Axel didn't look at the man; instead he pulled out his cigarettes and lit two up before passing one to the man. Xigbar took it in silence, not minding the pseudo-backwash on the filter.

"Do you have anywhere to stay, son?" a plump investigator asked when he approached the pair. Xigbar put a hand on the redhead's shoulder and said.

"Yeah, he does. Thanks."

"We can't let you take anything out of the house but we'll call you when we're through so you can come get some clothes, it's going to be a few hours before then," Axel nodded in recognition and the investigator left.

Axel watched as the man on the porch was being zipped into a black full length bag. He didn't feel any animosity yet; he didn't really feel at all. He knew he should be angry at the man for raping and killing his mother, but it hadn't really sunk in yet so he only watched as his body was rolled away. He looked to Xigbar, noticing his nose was starting to turn purple, and there were drops of blood on his shirt.

"Sorry for clobbering you," he said blandly.

"Nah, I understand. You got me good though, I'll admit," he replied with a weak smile. "Let me know when you want to get going."

"Anytime is fine. There isn't anything I can do today."

After giving the investigators their contact information, Xigbar and Axel drove back to the manor in silence. Axel wandered inside in a daze, and up the stairs in a daze and into the room he had stayed in before. He looked around and tried to blink away the fog in his head before giving up and letting himself fall face first into the plush king size bed. He lay there a good twenty minutes thinking about nothing when he heard a gentle knock on the door.

"Axel…?" It was Roxas. Axel muttered a 'come in,' his mouth still full of the comforter. He heard an opening and a gentle closing of the door and felt the bed dip as Roxas sat next to him, placing a timid hand on his back.

Axel turned his head to look up at the blonde before he swallowed heavily, his eyes starting to water. He saw Roxas' blank face give way to pity as Axel started to sob quietly, wrapping his face in his arms. Roxas moved closer, pulling Axel towards him and let the redhead bury his face into the side of his thigh, grabbing a fist of the blonde's jeans for added comfort. They stayed in this position until Axel pulled himself away from Roxas, wiping at his eyes and sitting up, sniffling. Roxas stood quietly and went into the bathroom and came back with a box of tissues, handing it to Axel. The redhead wiped his nose with one before giving it a quick blow, he sniffled some more.

"How's your leg?" Axel asked before too long.

"I'll be fine, thank you. Would you like a drink of water or something?"

"Actually, yeah, that would be nice."

Roxas lead Axel out the room and down into the foyer, Xigbar was surrounded by all the various employees; some dressed like they just came in from regular society and some in their regular slacks and dress shirts they worked in, talking in hushed tones. When the pair reached about mid-staircase the entire group turned to look at them, Xigbar said something to them that only they could hear and the group dissipated. Demyx and Marluxia passed the pair heading their way up the staircase and turning down the hall in silence and the rest went about their business. Xigbar approached the boys when they reached the bottom.

"What should I do?" he asked Roxas.

"Axel just wants a glass of water, if you could help Demyx and Marluxia that would be fine, if he's hungry, I'll cook."

Xigbar nodded and went up the stairs, and Axel looked to Roxas.

"I didn't know you could cook," he stated.

They continued walking, "part of my training at the Academy is to teach me to be a self sufficient, and capable person as well as the proper etiquette and all those other boring things. What kind of man would I be if I was completely dependant on my help?" Axel noted on how Roxas always referred to the other men as 'help' versus 'servants' or 'butlers.'

In the kitchen, which was extravagant, the pair sat in silence on a couple of stools that were pulled up to a prep space on a center island. Roxas had given Axel a glass of spring water before filling a kettle and placing it on a burner to boil. He dug around in the cabinets and pulled out two mugs, and two tea bags, setting them aside and waiting for the kettle to perk.

"I should call my work…" Axel thought aloud.

"I think that could wait, yes?"

"No, I'm supposed to work in the morning, I don't think I can go," Roxas nodded and handed Axel his cell phone. After the call, Axel's eyes were watering again and he was rubbing his nose. The kettle started to whistle and Roxas moved to pour the boiling water into the mugs, handing Axel the handkerchief he kept in his pocket with his free hand. Axel looked at the piece of cloth before dabbing at his eyes, he noted the monogrammed 'R' at the corner with a withering smile.

Another twenty minutes of silence passed with the boys sitting in each others company, sipping at their tea placidly. Axel's mind eventually started to defog and his thoughts wandered. He set his mug down before folding his arms in front of himself on the counter and lying is face in them. He sighed heavily. How was he going to pay for a funeral? He didn't have much saved and he had no idea what his mothers financial situation was like outside of he knew they had enough to pay the bills and buy food. Then again, they weren't religious so he didn't need a service, and they had no other family. His mom had friends though. He figured it wouldn't be too horrible in the long run, financially.

"Don't worry about the finances, I can handle that," Roxas said.

"Shit, I said that out loud? I'm sorry; you don't have to do that…"

"I want to," Roxas said matter-of-factly.

"I can't really argue, but thanks, it means a lot to me. I'll pay it back eventually, I promise."

The kitchen door creaked open and closed quietly behind the boys and clicking heels were heard before pale, warm arms wrapped around Axel's waist in a light hug, Namine resting her head on the redheads back. They both sighed before Axel's breathing became more ragged between breaths and he started to sob quietly again, his shoulders shaking with the effort. He rubbed his forehead back and forth on his folded forearms before letting out an anguished moan, startling the siblings with the abrupt noise.

Namine's arms tightened around Axel's waist and the redhead could feel a wet spot form through his t-shirt. They sat in wallowing sorrow for as long as they could stand it. Roxas eventually had had enough and slammed a clenched fist on the countertop before standing abruptly and storming out of the kitchen without a word. Namine and Axel had stopped crying and were looking at each other, puzzled. They wiped at their faces before following Roxas' path of rage, Axel stuffing the blonde's handkerchief in his pocket.

***

"Get that insufferable woman on the phone this instant!" Roxas bellowed from somewhere in the manor. Namine and Axel had made it to the foyer when they heard the outcry; the echo was so much so that they couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. Namine had a thought and took Axel's hand leading him towards the back of the manor and down a hall, into an oversized library.

The room had to have at least twenty foot ceilings, Axel wagered, and the walls were floor to ceiling redwood bookshelves with a rail running the perimeter of the room. Several library grade ladders with wheels were attached to the rails and one was moving in the distance as a hand with a duster moved along the shelves. No shelf was empty; they were all filled to the brim with books. In the center of the room, in front of an oversized bay window with floor to ceiling curtains was Roxas' small frame, hunched over an oak desk. He was flipping though a stack of papers, a phone receiver tucked between his ear and shoulder. He looked pissed.

"I already heard you, I don't care what she says tell her that her home has burned to the ground for all I care, just get her on this phone now!" Roxas ordered into the receiver. He stopped flipping though the papers, turning to type wildly on a keyboard and clicking around on his computer.

Namine nudged Axel, still sounding a little watery as she spoke "Roxas doesn't get sad very often, he gets angry. I don't think we should go near him. Let's just pretend we're looking for a book for now until he's finished."

The pair wandered around the library quietly, Axel being able to see Zexion high on a ladder in the distance, a florescent green fiber duster, dancing along the shelves. Roxas was sounding more and more furious as his conversation went on and on with whomever was on the other end. The blonde boy was silent for a brief moment before he pushed his glasses up his nose again and barked into the phone.

"Mother! Could they not tear you away from the bar to speak to your own son? Did I really need to wait this long?" another moment of silence passed as Roxas listened to the phone. He tapped his finger on his mouse impatiently.

"Oh is he really now?"

Silence.

"Well I wish we could all take three week vacations like you."

Silence.

"You really believe that do you?"

Silence again.

"Right right."

Silence again, but this time Roxas was typing away at his computer again.

"Just don't forget about the transfer and overdraw your account again, and no… no you don't. You only tell me you do when you're drunk."

Silence.

"She probably loves you too Mother, goodbye," he hung up the phone with a sigh. Taking his glasses from his face, he rubbed his brows tiredly before going to type away at the computer again, replacing his frames on his nose.

"How's mom?" Namine asked, moving to sit in one of the two wingback chairs settled in front of her brother's desk.

"Insufferable."

"So we heard you say."

"I apologize. She's just too difficult to deal with without getting angry," Roxas wasn't looking at his sister; he was focusing on whatever was on his screen. Axel eventually made his way over to the desk, looking back and forth between the two curiously. When he sat, Roxas stopped typing to look at him over the rims of his glasses.

"I'm sorry you had to hear me act like that, Axel."

"No problem."

"I am writing an e-mail to call in a favor someone owes me. You should think about what you want to do as far as the practical things go. You're welcome to stay here with us for however long you want or you can try to make it on your own," he was typing again, staring intently at the screen, "it's your choice. I would suggest staying here, simply because it would be easier."

"I... I can't even think about anything right now. I'm a little fried."

"I can understand that. I apologize for pushing you, I turn very business-like when I'm under stress and I tend to become more like a machine than a person, or so I've been told," he looked at Namine out the corner of his eye, she giggled a little under her breath.

"Well it's true, if you could see yourself now…" she trailed off. The small blonde did indeed look like he was a professional business man, sitting at his corporate desk, typing away at some sort of proposal that was set to be due in a few hours. Though, the oversized leather desk chair dwarfed him so much, that Axel half expected to see Roxas sitting on a phonebook or something so it was all very surreal. After a minute of typing, Roxas stopped and turned to the phone, dialing a short burst of numbers before bringing the receiver to his ear.

"Xigbar. I've created an account for Axel. Yes. Yes. Exactly, you were always good about being able to read my mind, thank you," he hung up. He took off his glasses again, folding them closed and placing them on his desk, "get some sleep Axel. We have much to talk about in the morning."