Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts isn't mine. Too bad for meee.

Hours melted into minutes within Axel's warm arms. A comfortable silence remained constant between the two. It was all that was needed: their embrace screamed louder than words ever could. With the natural heat that radiated from Axel's body, and the newfound heat within his chest, Roxas had no complaints. However, if Roxas learned anything during his short life, it was that all good things had to come to an end.

"I bet Demyx is gone. Let's head back to the cabin" Axel hummed softly. Roxas let out a soft sigh before he nodded against Axel's warm chest, and then rose. He pulled up his shorts before he helped Axel up. Axel pulled up his own shorts before his hand lit ablaze and the two walked toward the entrance of the cave.

Night had fallen upon the destiny islands, which not only provided a veil of cover, but a unique serenity to the island. The island held a mellow lull that Roxas never expected to find after experiencing the warm day.

As they tread along the soft sands, Roxas gazed over at Axel. Between the moonlight and the flame in his hand, Axel owned a gorgeous silhouette. Roxas smiled softly at him as he gazed forward. He wasn't sure what they were anymore. He questioned if they were friends, or something more. Roxas often saw people in other worlds gaze at each other like they meant the world to one another. Roxas risked his life to free Axel and flee with him. Axel meant more to him than all of the worlds and the Organization itself, so maybe they were something more. If not, they must've been making steps toward it.

Roxas gazed down at Axel's free hand. Those same people often hugged, kissed, and held hands. Roxas couldn't help but find curiosity in the act. Why did people do it? Roxas slid his hand into Axel's and laced his fingers with Axel's. He could see why. He didn't know exactly what the gesture meant, whether it was a sign of friendship or more, but he did know one thing. It felt comfortable to feel Axel's hand comforting grasp. It felt. . . right.

As they arrived at the cabin, they found something they didn't expect. Standing in the center of the room, holding their trench coats and observing them, was Demyx. Roxas felt the warmth in his chest sink into his stomach. They should've thought about their trench coats before they left. Demyx had been waiting for them.

The golden-haired male looked at the two before he dropped the trench coats and allowed his hands to fall to his sides. "There you guys are. Xemnas is sending everyone out to find you guys" Demyx casually hummed as he pulled a white piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. "He orders are 'Bring Roxas and Axel back, dead or alive.' Now you guys know I don't wanna fight, so please just come and make this easy for me" Demyx asked as he folded the paper back up and slid it back into his pocket.

Axel released Roxas' hand and held his hands out. A crimson flash appeared in his hands before two bladed wheels appeared. Trails of flames traveled along the steel of Axel's chakrams before dissipating.

"No way. Leave now, Demyx. We're not comin' back" Axel growled defensively as he stepped before Roxas slightly. Roxas couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation in his chest. Axel was the only person who ever tried to protect him. Everyone else let Roxas fend for himself. Roxas had gone so long fighting his own battles, that it was odd to have someone else step in to join him.

"Axel-" Roxas began to talk, before Demyx's voice cut him off.

"I was afraid of that" Demyx sighed as a sapphire glitter appeared before him, and then his oceanic sitar appeared in his hands. "Saix!"

A grunt quickly drew Roxas' sight as a large, dark figure emerged from the side of the cabin to their right. A large, oddly-shaped sword-like weapon was clutched dangerously in his powerful hand.

"See ya, traitors!"Demyx shouted as he strummed his sitar. A ball of water appeared before the slender blond before a stream erupted from it, aimed straight at the duo. Roxas jumped to the left while Axel leaped onto the roof. However, with the Organization such an evasion wasn't so simple. Saix charged through the stream of water with his claymore clutched menacingly. As Saix swung the heavy blade, two outlines of weapons appeared in Roxas' hands before a light and dark keyblade appeared in each hand. Roxas tried to bring his Twilight and Oblivion keyblades up to parry the attack; however, he didn't have the time or strength needed for such a defense. The blade slammed into Roxas' side and sent him flying fifteen feet away from the front door of the cabin, tumbling along the sand.

Roxas wasn't disarmed; however, he was winded. He gasped for air before he coughed violently. Roxas had struggled to keep himself on all fours. Unfortunately, his incapacitation didn't hinder his opponent or draw any form of mercy. Saix rushed toward Roxas once again, and Roxas felt his whole being sink as he watched in horror as Saix's onslaught continued.

Fortunately, a fiery chakram crashed into Saix's back and drew a large grunt of pain from the azure-haired male as he fell to one knee. Roxas managed to gather the time to recover as Saix did, and stood before him. Roxas wasn't about to allow himself to be put into the same situation again.

"You okay Rox?" Roxas heard as he noticed Axel land onto the sands between the hut and Saix.

"Y-Yeah. . ." Roxas stuttered between a cough as Demyx emerged from the cabin. With a strum of his sitar, several watery clones of Demyx began to appear. Immediately, Roxas charged toward Saix, and once he was close enough, he leaped over the powerful man. Roxas commenced an onslaught of his own as he wildly flailed his keyblades at the water-born clones. Roxas knew they only had a short amount of time before a massive wave would've consumed them. After grabbing a clone and swinging it around before flinging it at Saix, Roxas watched as Axel held his chakrams out to the side and growled dangerously. Fire's trailed along his arms and burned proudly on his chakrams before a wall of flames surrounded the four. The wall would limit Demyx's clones.

The pair fought hard against the clones and avoided Saix's charges and Demyx's pillars of water. Although it was overwhelming, the two were successful. Well, successful until Axel was launched up into the air by one of Demyx's geysers of water that erupted from the ground.

"Axel!" Roxas gasped as he watched his friend being flung up into the air. Roxas felt a searing discomfort squeeze at his chest: he knew that was a hard hit. Axel was vulnerable to ice magic, and Demyx was vulnerable to fire magic. Any attacks they landed on each other would've been painful.

In his distraction, Roxas felt another hard claymore strike send him skidding across the fiery arena. Roxas struggled to breathe, and felt a great weakness begin to claim his body. Air was difficult to claim and his vision became blurred and tunneled. Roxas was so preoccupied with his injuries, that he barely realized that he was right next to the wall of fire. With the clones building up and Saix preparing one last charge to finish Roxas, things weren't looking too great.

"Roxas, jump!" Axel called as he landed on the ground, and then leaped back into the flames that surrounded everyone. Roxas struggled to shift into a crouch, and then leaped high up into the air just before the ground turned into molten rock. All of the clones dissipated and Demyx let out a wince as he jumped up.

"I knew they sent the wrong guy for the job. I can't fight Axel" Demyx whined before he let out a gasp as he caught sight of a fiery figure rushing toward him. The figure slammed into him, and sent him flying against the outer wall of the cabin before it disappeared into the flames once again.

Unlike Demyx, Saix didn't flinch from the hazardous ground. Saix rushed toward Roxas like an angry rhino, and Roxas had just barely time to land and jump once again toward the center of the arena to avoid the strike.

As Roxas landed, he let out a sharp gasp as he was scooped up by a powerful force, and sent him toward the wall of flames. Roxas brought his keyblades up to his face to guard himself from the flames; however, he wasn't harmed. No burns, no pain, no damage to his clothing. When he looked back, he found himself in Axel's arms. Roxas felt himself rise in confidence as his keyblades disappeared, as did Axel's chakrams.

"The fire will go down in a bit. Let's go Rox!" Axel informed him as a portal appeared before them. Roxas nodded as he laced his fingers with Axel and rushed through the portal. It closed behind them and the flames disappeared.

The two stepped into a lush, green meadow as they emerged from the portal. The two heaved heavy breaths as they stopped, and Axel looked at Roxas with concerned eyes. "You okay, Rox?" He asked as he caught his breath.

"Y-Yeah. . ." Roxas panted between heavy breaths as he nodded faintly with a soft grin. However, he was unable to shake off the weariness that collected in his body. His sides were radiating with pain, and he was struggling to breathe. It only took another moment before his body finally succumbed to his weakness, and he collapsed with weary eyes. Axel barely had the time to catch Roxas and gently lower their bodies to the ground.

"Roxas. . . Roxas?!" Axel asked with great concern as he shook Roxas' limp body lightly. To Axel's dismay, he didn't get a reply. Roxas was out cold.

Thanks for reading the chapter guys, and I hope you enjoyed it. Leave some reviews and let me know what you think so far.