A/N: Time for Roxas to speak with Axel! Damn…I got chills just from thinking about it! Sheesh! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.

Darkness Finds Light

Chapter 4

"Roxas?"

I had been waiting at the park near school for eight minutes before hearing Axel's voice call my name. It gave me a slight shiver when he spoke my name, but I held it back. Turning to him, I saw how he winced when he saw how shitty I must've looked.

"Yeah. You made me feel like shit, and now I physically match the feeling, Axel," I said with a slight glare. He flinched as he lowered his head, his ears folding back, and I pulled my hood up over my head to hide my face.

"Roxas, I want to apologize for how I reacted before," he mumbled, his head still lowered so I couldn't see his face.

"Yes, I know that," I replied a bit impatiently. "What else?"

"I want to know what exactly happened to you. I want to hear your story," he answered.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked. "No one else has ever asked before, so why you? Why now?"

"Maybe it just takes the right person who actually cares," Axel murmured. My eyes widened at this, and I sighed.

"All right. I'll tell you," I said softly. He looked up at me suddenly, surprise evident in his expression. I sat down on one of the swings. Looking up at the darkening sky, I realized it was almost dusk. Axel sat next to me on another swing.

"It all started four years ago," I began, my eyes starting to glaze over. "I met Saix around that time, and he wanted to start off as just friends. We became good friends during the first year, and we were very close. I confided to him with all of my issues, and he did the same with me. Or so I thought. What he didn't tell me was what he really wanted from me.

"Seven days before my 14th birthday, Saix told me he wanted to take me somewhere special. My dads, trusting him with me completely, allowed me to, not knowing his ulterior motives. What I didn't know was that he was going to take me somewhere that no one should have found us. None of us knew. I was just lucky to have my cell phone.

"Saix…tortured me," I whispered, feeling the familiar sting of oncoming tears. I blinked them back and forced myself to continue. "He whipped me, burned me, cut me, stabbed me, beat me, and put me through physical and mental torture. I still have scars on my back from the lashings, burns, and stabbings. It was only after thirteen days of being kept in his lair that I was found. He starved me, barely gave me water, and kept me chained to the steel wall during that entire time. He was going to rape me, but I was found the day he planned to.

"My dads were able to track me down using a GPS chip in my cell phone they had placed a couple of years before when they got it for me. When they found me, Zack dragged Saix out and called the police while Cloud broke my chains. He immediately began to comfort me as I broke down in his arms. When the police arrived, they saw everything, took pictures, and collected evidence while I was getting medical attention, and then they questioned me on what had happened.

"When they finished, I was taken to the hospital for further assessment and treatment for starvation, dehydration, and my injuries. They were all shocked I had held out that long and that I was even still alive. I was just determined to somehow get home and back to my dads and Ven. I didn't want to die, anyway. I've never been a suicidal person because death scares me too much, and I refused to give up.

"During the trial, Saix was completely honest about what he did, and confessed to everything. He still pleaded not guilty because he felt that what he did wasn't wrong in his sick and twisted mind. I still remember that malicious look he gave me as he was led out of the courtroom and to the prison. He's being held far away from here, in a place called, 'The Prison That Never Was'. I'm glad he's out of my life, and will never get out, but the memories still haunt me…" I took a deep breath when I finished, tears pricking at my eyes, and I let them flow.

Axel was silent for a long time, not saying anything. I couldn't tell what was going through his head, and then he spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Roxas…I know there's nothing I can do to change what happened, but I want to help rebuild your trust," the redhead told me, his voice rough. I glanced over to see that he was crying as well, his ears folded back far enough to hide themselves amongst his hair.

"Why do you want to help? Because I'm something to be pitied? To make yourself feel better? 'Cause if that's the case, then don't bother—"

"No, Roxas, I truly want to be there for you. I want to be your friend, but more than that, I want to be…" he trailed off, and my eyes widened when I realized what he meant.

"You…want to be my boyfriend?" I whispered, stunned. He nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. He had a faint blush on his face to add to the effect. When I didn't say anything, though, he took it the wrong way.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…" he mumbled, but then I got up and hugged him tightly. He hugged me back hesitantly, but firmly. "Roxas?"

"I've never had a boyfriend before, and you would be my first one," I murmured. He stood up, creating that height difference again, but still hugged me.

"You really want to trust me like that?" he asked softly into my hair.

"I trusted you enough to tell you my story, so why not?" I answered back. "Why? I thought you wanted to be my boyfriend, anyway~" I teased.

"Of course, I just wanted to make sure this is really what you want," Axel assured me. I nodded when I pulled away.

"Normally I don't trust anyone this easily, but you're different, Axel," I told him. "And what I mean by that is that whenever I think about you, hear you, or am around you, something inside me reacts. After yesterday, my heart clenched painfully every time I thought about you not believing me. And now…now I'm fine."

"Good to hear," the redheaded neko murmured. He then looked me right in the eyes. "Can I kiss you?" I got close to him, as close as I could considering our damned height difference.

"Yes," I whispered, and he closed the gap between us as he kissed me softly. I kissed him back, allowing him to lead me through it because I was inexperienced. It was the most amazing sensation I had ever experienced.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder ripped the sky open, and rain began to drench us both. We broke apart a second after, breathing heavily.

"Let's go back to my house, and I'll explain to Ven and my dads there," I said. "If the rain gets worse, I'll see if you can spend the night."

"All right," Axel agreed, and we ran back to my house through the rain. As we ran, he said, "And if I fuck up, Roxas, I give you permission to kill me or do as you see fit."

"We'll see about that," I laughed. When we got to my house, I unlocked the door and was immediately pounced on by a very hyper and worried Ventus.

"Roxas!" he cried happily as he wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. It was when he noticed Axel standing behind me, though, that he let go of me and glared at the redhead. "What's he doing here?"

"Ven, it's cool, I promise," I assured him with a small roll of my eyes. "I told him everything, and actually…" I blushed slightly before saying, "We're dating now."

"What?!" he shrieked, shocked beyond belief.

"Yeah, he admitted that he wanted to be my boyfriend, so I'm giving him a chance," I told my twin. Ven stared at us, gaping, until I closed his mouth with a small push of my finger under his chin. "Don't gape; you don't know what'll go in your mouth," I chuckled. At that moment, Cloud and Zack came into the entry hall, curious about all the noise.

"Ven? What's going on?" Cloud asked, but then he and Zack noticed Axel standing next to me.

"I'm assuming you're Axel?" Zack demanded angrily. The redhead nodded and I stood in front of him in a protective stance.

"Dad, he's not going to hurt me anymore, I swear!" I growled, narrowing my eyes to slits. "I've already told him what happened between Saix and me, and he's not doing it for his own benefit, I promise! He already swore to me and gave me permission to kill him if he fucks up." My parents and I had an intense stare-down for a few minutes before they visibly relaxed.

"Roxas, we trust your judgment, and as long as he doesn't hurt you again and makes you happy, that's what matters," Cloud told me honestly, nodding in approval. Zack still seemed upset, but I looked him in the eyes and spoke.

"Dad, I know you don't like him, but this will be good for me. I like him, and I trust him," I said softly. His gaze softened considerably at my words, and he nodded as well.

"Okay, Rox. I'll listen to you," he agreed. He then fixed Axel with a deadly look. "If you ever hurt my son in any way, I'll fucking kill you before he can." I rolled my eyes.

"I highly doubt you could beat him before me, Dad," I scoffed with a smirk. He chuckled before ruffling my hair and ears playfully. "Also, can Axel spend the night? I'd rather he not walk out in that storm."

"Sure, but only if he sleeps on the floor in your room, Rox," Cloud answered. I nodded.

"Reasonable enough for me," I shrugged. I dragged Axel to my room where I shut the door and locked it. Turning to Axel, I couldn't read his expression, so I asked, "What's going through your mind, Axel?"

"I'm just happy that your dads are okay with me now, but I'm just kinda worried about Vanitas now," he said.

"I'm sure Ven will talk to him soon. We can try to convince him to talk to Vanitas after dinner," I suggested. Axel nodded, and we just stayed up in my room, cuddling and occasionally kissing until dinner was ready. After eating, Axel and I approached Ventus to talk to him.

"Hey, Ven?" I said, and he looked up from his game of Sly 2: Band Of Thieves.

"Hiya Rox! Hey Axel," he greeted. "What's up?"

"We just wanted to talk to you about giving Vanitas another chance," I told him. His eyes narrowed at me. "Don't look at me like that. Think about it, Ven; if he hadn't done what he did, things wouldn't have turned out this way. It's for the best, so try to talk to him tomorrow, okay?"

"…Fine…" he grumbled. "I'll talk to him tomorrow morning before first period."

"Good boy," I praised teasingly as I patted his head. He swatted my hands away, annoyed.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now, Rox!" he warned, and pounced on me. I yelped as I fell back, Ven straddling me, but I shoved him off and pinned him, holding his wrists with my hands and keeping his legs still with my own.

"HA! Pinned ya again," I crowed, and he couldn't help but join in. Axel even started laughing, too.

"Let me up, I know when I'm beat," my twin muttered good-naturedly. "You guys wanna play something on here?"

"Sure, I'm game," I shrugged.

"All right, sounds good to me," Axel agreed. We sat down and played Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the rest of the evening, and then went to bed. Once I was in my room with Axel, I threw on a grey t-shirt and black sleep pants while Axel put on some sleep clothes Cloud had left for him. As I started to curl up under the covers of my bed, I started to feel cold, like something was missing.

"Axel?"

"Yeah?

"Would you mind sleeping in my bed tonight?" I asked softly with a slight blush. I saw his smirk before he answered.

"Sure, Rox," he said, and locked my door before crawling into bed with me. "G'night, Rox."

"Night, Axel," I murmured back before cuddling into his side and falling asleep.

A/N: Well, that was a good, but emotional, chapter for me to write. I hope you guys liked it, and I hope this was a good look into why Roxas is how he is in this fic. R&R, peeps!