This fic is coauthored with Kari
He waited until he heard the corridor whisper closed behind him and then Axel gave DiZ a long, feline grin.
"Well now," he said, keeping one of his weapons leveled at DiZ's throat, "I think it's time we had a little chat."
DiZ's eyes narrowed dangerously and his grip around the edge of his cloak tightened. "I do not owe you any sort of explanation, Nobody," he spat. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Without Naminé I have no hope of awakening Sora and his friends."
"Cry me a river," Axel replied with a roll of his eyes. "Sorry, I'm fresh out of sympathy." His grin widened a bit. "But I guess you already knew that, didn't you?"
"And I suppose the safety of the worlds means nothing to you?" DiZ retorted furiously. "The damage the Organization could cause if left unchecked as they have been is unprecedented. But then again, I suppose you would not trouble yourself with such thoughts, being among their number."
Axel gave DiZ a slightly incredulous look. Was this old coot for real?
"In case you hadn't noticed, gramps, I wasn't here for the Organization's benefit," he said tersely. "I prefer to keep my social life separate from work, thanks; Xion's my friend before she's my coworker." Sure, it hadn't started out that way, but things changed, and boy had they. "The fact that the Organization wants her for its own purposes has nothing to do with me; I'm not here on orders."
His words seemed to have little effect beyond maybe making DiZ bristle a bit more than he was already. "Be that as it may, that boy is the only hope of stopping the Organization for good and halting the damage they have wrought among the worlds and the residents of them. And you would disregard that for those who have no right to exist!"
Now it was Axel's turn to bristle, squaring his shoulders and lowering his chakrams to his sides before dismissing them.
"You know, you're really starting to get on my nerves," he said, his voice low and steely. "Who do you think you are, anyway? Who are you to decide who does and does not have the right to exist?"
DiZ drew himself up to his full height. "I am a servant of the worlds, nothing more, nothing less. Which is more than can be said about you and your so-called 'friends.' As if a Nobody could feel the emotions involved in such attachments."
"A servant?" Axel laughed derisively through his nose. Seriously, was this guy for real? "You don't say~? And precisely what purpose do you serve, then?"
Before DiZ could respond, Axel closed the distance between them, almost too fast for the eye to follow and surely too fast for DiZ to properly react. Tangling one hand in the scarf around DiZ's neck, he gave it a pointed tug, bringing their faces a bit closer. He narrowed his eyes pointedly, but didn't raise his other hand. He didn't need to strike him; DiZ wasn't worth that.
"What if I think you're the one without the right to exist?" he posited. "You think you're better than me, but I'm not the one using a bunch of kids for his own self-righteous delusions of grandeur. You really think you can save the worlds?"
He released the scarf quickly, shoving DiZ backward with enough force to nudge him off-balance, but not enough to knock him down. Axel had his share of arrogance, but this guy's hubris was enough to make him look humble.
He sneered then, lifting his chin defiantly.
"You talk about emotion, compassion, friendship, like I'm the one who can't possibly understand it," he said, "but you're the heartless one, in my book. You're no better than Xemnas."
DiZ's eyes widened and for a moment he looked utterly livid. At last he spat out, "This is not the end of this matter, Nobody. I assure you." And then, as if to make a point, there was a swirl of shadow at his feet, one that Axel recognized easily enough. So this guy had control over darkness corridors too?
He wasn't getting away that easily, though, not yet. Axel wasn't sure just how adept DiZ might have been with the corridors, and he wanted to make damn sure the kids had time to get to Wonderland and hide.
"Not so fast, DiZ," he said, snapping a hand out to snag the tail of his stupid scarf and giving it a sharp tug. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Really, old man, you should rethink your costume if you're going to agitate a trained assassin." Giving the scarf another tug, more forceful this time, Axel grinned when DiZ gasped in alarm as he was pulled off-balance and stumbled backward. "All those extra bits of fabric flapping about, why you're just crying to get tangled up in something unpleasant. Come on, be a little more aware of your potential wardrobe malfunctions," he chided, winding the scarf around his hand and reeling DiZ in like a fish. He was probably having a little more fun with this than was entirely necessary, but Axel hadn't really had a chance to pick on anyone in a while. "Tell me something," he said then, tightening his fist in the fabric when DiZ was a mere 18 inches away from him, craning his neck to peer indignantly at Axel over his shoulder. Axel grinned predatorily. "How exactly do you know so much about Roxas and Xion anyway? Have you been spying on us at the Organization?"
He knew the original imposter had been Riku, of course, but they hadn't actually considered the possibility of a second. He certainly wasn't going to bring the kids back to HQ, but if he could bring back a red herring instead it would certainly look good in his file.
DiZ scoffed—at least as well as he could with Axel having a tight hold of the scarf wound about his neck, "Do you really think I would disclose such information?"
"I dunno, you've done a fairly good job of convincing me you're a narrow-minded idiot so far," Axel said, his fingers still tangled in the scarf. "I was hoping you might prove it."
At this point it was more just to aggravate DiZ than anything else; stopping him from following the kids was certainly a priority, but doing it this way was more for his own entertainment than efficiency: what good was it if he couldn't make DiZ squirm a bit?
He gave the scarf another pointed tug. "Tell me one thing, DiZ—the heck kind of name is that, anyway?—but what exactly did you think you were going to do with Roxas and Xion, hm?"
Axel didn't expect a straight answer, but DiZ was pretty uncomfortable right now, and in Axel's experience uncomfortable people tended to let things slip unintentionally.
"I know you're looking to wake up Mr. Save-The-Worlds, but it's not like you can just mash the kids together and hope Sora takes on the properties of a sponge, you know?"
"I highly doubt you would understand the details," DiZ replied coldly. "The connection between data and memories is no simple matter."
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Data? What the hell did that have to do with anything? Roxas wasn't a damn computer program, and while Xion's very existence was incumbent on Sora's memories it wasn't like they could just put them on a boot-disc for her or something.
"The hell are you on about?" he asked carefully, admittedly curious now. "I know the brain isn't that unlike a computer, but it's not as simple as making a backup copy of your memories; it doesn't work like that."
"If making copies of memories were so simple a matter, I would hardly need to spare the effort." DiZ's reply was condescending. "The fact of the matter is that they hold half of Sora's power and a significant portion of his memories between them, and as you yourself noted, they cannot return to Sora in the form they are now."
Axel released DiZ's scarf then, giving the man a bit of a shove. He didn't like the sound of this, not at all, but he didn't have the patience to deal with the doubletalk. Normally Axel would have loved to actually have a chat with someone who spoke sidewinder as well as he did, but everything about this DiZ fellow was getting on his nerves.
The last thing he wanted to do was let DiZ know he was getting under his skin.
"Keep your arrogance and righteousness to yourself, old man," he spat, "and keep your hands off my friends. I don't care how little you think they're worth without Sora, but their lives aren't yours to decide what to do with."
DiZ rapidly backed away, until he and scarf were both out of Axel's reach. It was there that he raised his chin arrogantly, "I do not take orders from you, Nobody."
Darkness formed at his feet again, rising up slowly to encompass his entire form, then vanishing into empty air. He was gone.
Axel just rolled his eyes as the corridor closed.
"I do not take orders from you, Nobody, mrr mrr mrr," he echoed mockingly, making a flapping motion in the air with his hands. "Bah, go on, run away, you old coward. Touch those kids again and you'll regret it."
Of course he knew DiZ couldn't hear him now, but he wasn't about to actually let him have the last word, whether he knew it or not. Putting his hands on his hips and gazing around the now-empty room a moment, a splash of color on the plain white walls caught Axel's eye. Furrowing his brow a little, he crossed the room to peer at some of Naminé's sketches, taped to the wall, adding a vein of brightness to the drab, eerily white room. There weren't many, less than a dozen, but they brought a sort of cheer to the corner of the room.
One image in particular made something twinge behind Axel's sternum: it was a simple scene of three figures, one with red hair, one with gold, and one with a familiar black hood raised over their head. It was fairly obvious who it was supposed to represent, and Axel lifted a hand to lightly brush his fingertips over the two smaller figures.
Yes, this was the way it was supposed to be. The three of them weren't meant to be separated, and Axel was going to do whatever it took to keep them together.
Pivoting, he opened up a corridor and stepped through. He would have to make a report to Saïx before he could rendezvous with the kids, unfortunately. Roxas was no fool, for all his inexperience with this sort of thing, and he knew Wonderland well enough, but he knew Xion was in no state to be rational right now, and Naminé had spent most of her existence locked up in whatever cage her captors felt suited the needs of the operation. He wasn't so sure Roxas was prepared to deal with this much all at once, but he was going to have to put his faith in the kid for the time being. He only hoped they would be all right until he could find them.
"And you are certain you did everything within your power?"
Axel was starting to get really tired of Saïx's voice. His first stop had been back to the castle to report in—best to play the good soldier, after all—but suddenly running away to Wonderland was looking better and better.
"Yes I did everything in my power," he said sharply, glowering at him and flapping his arms helplessly at his sides. "You know I know as well as you do what will happen to them if they don't come back—what makes you think I wouldn't try?"
Saïx scrutinized him a moment, and Axel was suddenly glad he'd made the effort to stop off in Agrabah to take out a few dozen Heartless. As much as he hated how gross he felt right now, the sheen of sweat on his brow and the general look of dishevelment made the story more believable. Roxas was no pushover—even Saïx had firsthand experience with that—and Axel knew he couldn't call him weak or inept for failing to retrieve him without inflicting the same accusations upon himself. Saïx would never call himself weak or inept, of course, so Axel would be in the clear for the time being.
Saïx's gold eyes shifted away from Axel then and back to his clipboard where he made a note. Axel would have loved to get a good look at his old friend's notes sometime; it might have been nice to know how Saïx actually felt about him.
Oh, wait, Saïx didn't feel anything. None of them did.
"Very well," Saïx said after a moment. "Go clean up, I suppose. We can try again tomorrow."
"We?"
Saïx gave him a long-suffering look. "By 'we' I mean 'you', of course," he said dryly. "If anyone has any chance of retrieving Roxas in one piece, it's you."
"And Xion?" Axel asked, his eyes narrow. "What of her?"
"I care not what you do with the broken puppet," he said. "Xemnas has no need of damaged goods. However, should your efforts to bring Roxas back fail, the replica would be an acceptable consolation prize."
Axel clenched his jaw to keep from saying what he really wanted to say. He couldn't dig this grave yet, as much as he honestly would have liked to. Little would have pleased him so much as punching Saïx right in the kisser in that instant.
No, he couldn't do that. Not yet. The kids were counting on him; he couldn't blow their cover. So long as the Organization thought he was looking for them the pursuit would be his alone.
"Go shower," Saïx said tersely; "I don't need to be able to feel to be able to smell."
The cinders of Axel's temper flared brightly and his eyes flashed. "Yeah you smell like a dozen friggin' roses," Axel snapped. "You always do."
And with that he brushed roughly past him and headed down the hall.
It had been foolish of him, perhaps, to think that there was any shadow of Isa left within the cold, empty husk that was Saïx. Axel had done Roxas and Xion more than his share of unkindnesses, for all he had done it with their safety in mind, but being around Saïx was a constant kick in the side these days. Perhaps the constant sting of knowing his oldest friend was standing in front of him, but at the same time couldn't have been further away, was penance enough for his crimes.
The corridor whispered open and Axel stepped out into the Lotus Forest of Wonderland. This place had always been a bit creepy to him, in that way amusement parks and clowns were creepy. Wonderland wasn't supposed to be a scary place, all things considered, but something about the dissonance of bright, cheerful colors with the dark, eerie defiance of simple physics always kind of gave him the heebie jeebies.
It made for a great hiding place, though, and that was the important part. Now all he had to do was find them. He was suddenly kicking himself for not coming up with some sort of password or something so the kids would know it was safe and all clear, but he didn't figure Roxas would think to suspect he'd been sent here as part of a trap or anything. Axel was far too clever for that, right?
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Axel ambled forward through the forest, past the gargantuan flowers and too-tall grass. Scrabbling up onto an oversized mushroom he climbed up the spiral of toadstools and shaded his eyes to squint out over the wood.
Great, it would take all evening to search this place, and he knew Roxas would have taken pains to hide the girls well. Nothing less from Roxas, after all. Sitting on the edge of the toadstool Axel gripped his chin in thought. Pity he hadn't kept a couple of those walkie-talkies from Castle Oblivion; they would have come in awful handy right about then.
Thankfully it seemed Roxas had been keeping a vigilant lookout, because not two minutes after clambering up to his vantage point atop the mushrooms did Axel spot the kid waving his arms from beyond a patch of the tall grass. Oh, lovely, that was certainly much easier than having to hunt for them. Hopping down from the toadstools Axel jogged toward the wall of grass.
It took some struggling to push through it, and he let out an indignant unbecoming squawk as the last line of grassy defense finally gave way and sent him sprawling into the little clearing beyond it.
"Ugh, next time remind me to bring a weed-whacker," he grumbled, rubbing his head where he had been spilled unceremoniously onto the ground.
Normally Roxas might have laughed or teased him. No such luck now; apparently it was still a little too soon for that. Instead, Roxas gave him a look that teetered on irritation but was mostly comprised of relief.
"What took you so long?!" he asked, apparently a little flustered. "I dunno what else I'm supposed to do to fix it."
"Fix what?" Axel asked, frowning. He'd thought they would be okay—had something happened?
Roxas grabbed his arm impatiently and tugged. "C'mon, this way."
The area Roxas had picked to hide in was fairly secluded, with leaves overhead shielding most of it from view. It was still small enough that what Roxas was talking about became readily apparent once they got inside it, however. Naminé sat on one side, her knees tucked neatly beneath her and a look of relief on her face as the two of them came into view, but what really caught his attention was Xion. She was curled up in a corner of the grass, shoulders shaking a little as she blinked up at him with a tear-streaked face and puffy eyes.
Now, Axel was far from the sensitive sentimental type, but even he was not immune to the effects of small sad girl. His expression drew up in concern and he cast a questioning glance at Naminé before taking to a knee in front of Xion.
"Hey, what happened?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Roxas. "Were you guys attacked? I didn't see any Heartless when I arrived..." That didn't mean Roxas hadn't taken care of them all before he arrived, though. "Is anybody hurt?"
He might have sucked at restorative magic, but that didn't mean he was just going to leave them battered without at least having a go at it.
Roxas shook his head. "There wasn't anything big. We were sitting here for a while and she just... started crying," he said, some of his impatience gave way to helplessness.
"I think," Naminé ventured quietly, "she finally got the chance to think about what happened earlier."
Xion, for her part, blinked at him for a couple seconds, her breath hitching, before ducking her head down into her knees.
Oh. That made sense. The gravity of everything hadn't really even hit Axel yet, but mostly because he'd been otherwise occupied. Xion had nearly settled to having herself destroyed, though, and it was really no wonder she was crumpling under the weight of that on her little shoulders.
No one was physically hurt, but it seemed there was plenty of psychological damage to go around. Admittedly, Axel wasn't sure what he could to do fix that either, but Roxas was looking at him expectantly, so he had to at least have a go at it.
He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I see," he said quietly, and then reached out to put a hand carefully atop Xion's head. "Hey, you, it's okay now, okay? You can cry if you wanna cry, but... well, we're gonna figure something out." He hesitated, then sighed softly when she didn't move. His hand tightened a little and he sort of scrunched his fingers against her hair. "I know it seems hopeless right now," he said, "and I know we've got a lot of work to do before things are fixed and back to normal, but..."
There was a beat of silence and she sniffled loudly before lifting her head ever so slightly. He met her eye when she peeked up out of her little cocoon of arms and self-loathing and he ventured a small smile.
"I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say I'd rather have you here and crying and kinda broken than not have you at all; commit it to memory."
Xion's eyes welled up with fresh tears for a moment, and she half-sobbed. Then she leaned forward, ducking her head against his shoulder with one hand fisting tightly into the fabric of his coat.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry," she choked out, her voice thick and almost difficult to understand. "I-I'm so s-so sorry..."
"Er—"
Axel sort of jumped at the sudden movement and proximity, but forbade himself to pull away. It was less that he was averse to being in physical contact with someone and more that there were so few people he was comfortable enough with to do so that it was just kneejerk to be on-guard. He never really knew what to do with something like this, though; adept as Axel was at talking himself out of trouble and confident as he was with himself, he really had no idea how to comfort someone. Words, weapons, and fire were the only thing he really excelled at, and he had a feeling none of them were really going to do much good here.
So Axel glanced up at Naminé, as if asking what he was supposed to do with this, and she just delicately hid a smile behind one hand. He supposed he knew what that meant. Lifting his other hand to Xion's shoulder, he patted it awkwardly and then ruffled her hair.
"H-hey, come on, when I said I was going to scold you later I wasn't really being serious," he said. "Oi, Xion..." Another sigh and he reached down to take her chin in one hand, tilting her head up to look at him. "Hey. Seriously, what were you thinking?" he asked, his voice more sad than accusatory. "Did you really think your two best friends were just gonna sit around and let you destroy yourself? What do you take us for?"
Xion hiccuped, eyes closing tight as a few more tears leaked out the corners. "I-I didn't... didn't really think..." She took a shuddering breath "I... I didn't wanna to lose y-you guys. D-didn't want you get h-h-hurt because of me."
Oh boy he was really not cut out for dealing with this sort of thing. He looked up to Roxas.
"Little help here?" he asked, but the other boy was already kneeling impatiently next to them.
"We don't—!" He cut himself off frustratedly, before starting over, "We don't want anything bad to happen to you either."
Axel nodded. He understood where she was coming from—really he did! But why couldn't she understand that losing her would have hurt them as well?
"You should've come to us first," he scolded gently, giving her a stern look. Then he facefaulted. "Er... well, one of us at a time, I guess, since I know we... kinda weren't really on speaking terms for a while there."
Right, he still needed to mend things with Roxas. This situation with Xion took precedence right now, but Axel wasn't keen on losing his friends ever again. He had been through it more than enough times already and certainly wasn't going to allow it to happen again because of his own stubbornness, good intentions notwithstanding.
His knees were starting to ache and so he shifted a bit to sit on his rump, Xion sort of listing bonelessly against him and half-tumbling into his lap. With a wordless startled noise he fumbled to catch her and then took both her shoulders in his hands.
"Dying like that is a copout," he said, frowning. "Never just throw your existence away when there's the slightest chance of a way to live; got it memorized?" His eyes were bright and determined. "Roxas wouldn't want you to die so he could live." He lifted his eyes to the boy then, his brows raised in inquiry. "Right?"
He knew the answer without asking, but figured Xion needed to hear it.
"Of course not!" Roxas' reply was almost incredulous. "I can't eat ice cream by myself. It's not the same. The ice cream's all salty, and my hands get sticky. It's not..." He shook his head. "It's like it's not worth it without someone to share it with." He paused, and then swallowed heavily. "Without people to share it with."
Well that... wasn't the way he'd expected to patch things up with him, and he suspected that Roxas would still want to talk to him later, but for now, he'd take it.
Xion, meanwhile, had opened her eyes finally as she looked from one to the other. At last, she nodded slowly, sniffling as her eyes drifted halfway closed.
"I really am sorry," she mumbled, as she sagged a little in his grip. Now that the worst seemed to be over with, she seemed utterly exhausted.
He supposed that was reasonable—given the way the past week had gone he didn't figure she'd gotten much sleep. He knew he hadn't, but that was neither here nor there. Axel had learned to function on cripplingly small amounts of sleep, but he certainly didn't expect the kids to do the same.
He gave Xion a nudge and sort of arranged her to sit on her knees in front of him, where Roxas quickly dropped to a seat to allow her to lean against him. Lifting his eyes he gave Naminé a beckoning look and she meekly joined the little pow wow, looking uncertain.
It was time to figure out a plan.
Planting his palms on his thighs and giving the kids a serious look Axel blew out a sigh.
"Well... you two are officially deserters now," he said mildly to Roxas and Xion, and then his gaze swung to Naminé. "I'm not sure Xemnas knows you're even still alive, Naminé, so you're more in the clear, but you two..." He furrowed his brow and turned his eyes back to Roxas and Xion. "You're gonna need to lay low for a while, stay under the radar."
Roxas shook his head. "Wait, aren't you coming with us?" He sounded crestfallen. For all the arguing they'd done, the idea of splitting up seemed to genuinely upset him.
Axel made a mental note to explain the concept of Tough Love one of these days.
"I can't," he said, and then made a sharp noise of protest when Roxas opened his mouth to rebut. "Let me finish," he said then, wagging a finger. "I can't come with you just yet. Believe me, if I thought I could tell the Organization to get bent and just disappear with you I would, but it's not that easy."
Axel knew what he needed to do, but knowing that it was the only way to really protect them didn't make it any easier a task.
"I've got to go back," he said, and all three of them looked a bit dismayed by this announcement. "I was sent to retrieve you guys, and I... well, failed to do that. On purpose, obviously, but Saïx hasn't figured that out yet."
He had no illusions of being able to pull the wool over his old friend's eyes forever, but he would take what he could get.
"So long as I keep up the charade of tracking you, you guys will be safe from further pursuit," he said. "They know I'll have a better chance of finding and persuading you to return than anyone else, so as long as I can keep them in the dark about this you guys should be safe."
"But... what about you?" Xion asked softly, her voice still thick. "If they figure out what you're up to..."
Axel grinned. "Hey, I'm not only the best tracker they've got, I'm also the best at running away," he snorted, and then rubbed his chin. "Well, maybe second-best."
Roxas actually laughed. "Yeah, I think Demyx might have you beat there."
Even Xion leaned her head forward, though not quite fast enough to hide the small smile on her face. Once the moment of amusement had died down, though, Roxas frowned. "What're we supposed to do though? Do we stay here?"
"We can, or we can move around," Xion mumbled. "Someone else might see us if we stay here. Even if they aren't looking. Last time... I didn't stay anywhere too long."
Right. Unlike Roxas and Naminé, Xion had actually been on the run from the Organization before. It was a point in their favor, at least. Then again, Xemnas had forbidden them from looking for Xion last time, so her ability to stay out of sight might have only been proportional to the degree of pursuit involved.
Their being on the move also presented its own problems, though. "We'll need some way to meet up every once in awhile at least." They'd need to figure out times and places, ideally when there weren't any other members in a particular world... "This place makes for a good hiding spot, but it's not exactly ideal for extended vacations," Axel noted. "I forgot my camping set, you know?"
"And I'm afraid Twilight Town is probably out of the question," Naminé said, something like apology in her voice. "With DiZ headquartered there, I worry he would find us somehow."
"Right," Axel agreed, "and I don't want you back in his custody any more than I went these two in Xemnas', so it looks like Twilight Town's out too."
He leaned back on his hands and pressed his lips together. This was where their diverse mission repertoire would come in handy, at least. They couldn't stay here, not now, not in the state they were in. Xion was exhausted, for one thing, and if they were going to have any hope of staying out of the Organization's reach they were all going to need to be on the ball at all times.
"Roxas, can you think of any worlds you know well enough to navigate yourself and the girls to an inn of sorts?" he asked. "I can help you guys out this time, but you're gonna have to be prepared to pack up and relocate at a moment's notice if the Organization catches wind of where you are."
"I'm not—" he began, then cut himself off, looking thoughtful. "Actually... I think I might know someone who would be able to help us out." When Axel raised an eyebrow in silent request for elaboration, Roxas continued, "There's this world I was sent to a couple of times and ended up getting trained there by this guy named Phil. I think he could help."
"Trained?" Axel couldn't help the grain of sadness in his voice and quickly attempted to blow the blunder off with exaggerated indignation instead. "Roxas, are you cheating on me? Getting trained by other people, just 'cuz I was acting like a jerk, sheesh."
Really, he shouldn't have been stung by the idea. He wasn't the only one Roxas could learn things from, after all. Quashing the inexplicable feeling of loneliness this stirred within him Axel shook his head quickly to clear it and met Roxas' eye.
"Phil, huh?" He frowned a bit. "You think you can trust him? I mean, this is pretty important." Frankly Axel wasn't prepared to trust anyone but the three Nobodies in front of him, but... well, he supposed he trusted Roxas, and if Roxas trusted this Phil person...
Roxas hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I think so." There was a sudden, quiet gasp from Naminé. All three of them looked in her direction, confused.
"Did the world have... tall pillars? A coliseum?" she asked.
Roxas nodded, "Yeah, why?"
"I know Phil—or... rather, Sora does," she explained.
Axel squinted. Right, if she was trying to fix Sora's memories she'd be able to see what he had, at least indirectly.
Roxas meanwhile, was making a face, apparently none too pleased at this development. "Oh," he said, a little surly, like somehow his speaking for Phil had been diminished by the idea that Sora had already met him.
"I think you're right though, that we can trust him," Naminé said.
"Well then," Axel said, pushing himself to his feet and dusting himself off, "I guess that's good enough for me." His gaze slid to Naminé then. "So I guess the biggest question left, then, is... will this be safe?"
Her eyebrows arched. "Safe? I... wouldn't call being fugitives safe, really..."
Axel waved a hand. "No, no, not that," he said. "You let me worry about your criminal records, I mean these two." He gestured at Roxas and Xion then. "As much as I'm not willing to let Xion remove herself from the equation, I don't want to exacerbate Roxas getting any weaker either."
Roxas had seemed fine so far, but Axel honestly had no idea how the whole absorption deal really worked. He sort of understood it in theory, but... well, he understood how Demyx's hairstyle was accomplished in theory as well. That didn't mean it actually made any sense to him.
There was a moment's silence as Naminé folded her hands in her lap before she spoke. "I've been thinking ever since we left, and I think I have an idea that might work for the time being. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, and I'm not sure how permanent it will be, but I can start on it as soon as we get there." She hesitated, then added, "You might want to see if there's any other way to stop the process when you go back though. Just in case."
Axel half-shrugged. "Hey, if you think it'll work then I'll believe you," he said. He didn't have to know Naminé well to know she would have done just about anything to make sure the people around her weren't hurting. Whatever her temporary solution was, Axel was willing to trust her with it. "I'll poke around Vexen's lab again and see if I can't find anything useful. Unfortunately, thorough though he may have been, somehow I can't imagine Vexen left instructions on how to undo the entire purpose he'd created Xion for."
This was said with a grain of facetiousness; he had meant what he'd said when he had told Xion she was no puppet to him.
Rolling one shoulder back he reached down to offer Xion a helping hand up and she took it gingerly. Hauling her to her feet he squeezed her hand before releasing it and then looked at Roxas.
"I dunno about you guys, but Xion looks ready to drop," he said, "and unlike you three I do need to get back to the castle eventually. If I'm gone too long they'll start wondering."
He met Roxas' eye a moment, reading a fair bit of anxiety therein, and offered the boy a smile. "You'll be okay," he said with more confidence in his voice than he had in the hollow where his heart would have been. No, he couldn't afford to worry about this—they would be okay, and he had to believe it too, or else he would give himself away. Axel was a top-notch liar, but he had to make sure the mask stayed in place, no matter how preoccupied he was going to be with the kids' safety. Squaring his shoulders he nodded. "Roxas, you're in charge," he said, a little more assured now, plunking a hand down on Xion's head. "Take care of them—and yourself—and I'll come find you as soon as I'm able. I might have to wait a few days to make sure Saïx doesn't suspect, but I'll come touch base with you three within a week, all right?"
Roxas nodded hesitantly, looking a bit like he wasn't sure how to shoulder this sudden mantle of responsibility. Axel ventured a wan smile.
"I know you still want to yell at me," he said contritely, "and I'll make sure to pencil you in soon, but right now you'll have to settle for a rain check. If I don't get back to the castle it's gonna look bad." He was going to have to be meticulous around Saïx; the other Nobody knew him better than most and would be quick to pick up on things the rest would likely miss. So much for sleeping again anytime soon.
Apologies for the slowdown. Both of us have been pretty swamped lately.
Thank you for reading and any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!
