Axel let out a deep sigh as he walked through the halls. How was he going to break this to Roxas? He had no idea how, but he knew that he would have to do it. And soon. He knew that he had promised himself that he would always stay near Roxas, but he couldn't. Not with this mission. Besides, that was three months ago.
Finally, the redhead gathered up some strength and walked to the room with the roman numeral XIII nailed onto it. He knocked softly before entering to find the blonde at his desk, writing something on a piece of paper. "Hey, Rox. I need to talk to you," he said softly, making his way over to the bed. He sat down on it, realizing that he had gained Roxas' complete attention. "I… have to leave for another castle," he told the blonde.
Roxas didn't say anything for a moment. He just stared at Axel with a questioning gaze. "How long?" the boy questioned.
"I don't know for sure. I could be gone for a year, I could be gone for a week. I have to keep an eye on some of the members. They've been acting strangely. Xemnas thinks that they're planning on betraying the Organization."
Roxas' eyes narrowed at Axel and he stood up. "You said you wouldn't leave me!" he yelled, looking up at the redhead.
Axel cringed at these words, but continued to the door. "I'm sorry, Rox, but I have to go. We're leaving today. I'll make it up to you. I promise." He left the room, ignoring the yells for him to come back and explain everything.
---
The young blonde stared out the window, up at the heart-shaped moon. He sat on his bed, his elbow propped up on a window to hold his head up. He couldn't sleep. Not tonight, at least. He let out a sigh then finally moved away from the window, crawling off the bed. The silvery rays that filtered through his window were all the light he needed as he looked around his almost empty room. His eyes lingered particularly on a picture of Axel and Roxas that was taken in Twilight Town.
The Nobody shook his head as he placed the picture face-down on the dresser. "You idiot… You haven't come back…" he muttered before walking out of his room. It had been six months since Roxas had seen Axel, but he still hadn't come back. Roxas had considered many times on leaving the Organization just because of that. He had no reason to stay. Not anymore. Even Demyx didn't hang out with him like he would after Axel left.
It sickened Roxas. It seemed that all the members had someone to turn to. Everyone but him. Xemnas had Saïx, Xigbar had Xaldin, Luxord had Xigbar. And Demyx? Hell, he had everybody wrapped around his finger. The blonde sneered and quickened his pace before opening a corridor of darkness and appearing in the kitchen. He opened up the freezer and pulled out a sea-salt ice-cream. He was just about to eat it when he heard a voice behind him. "There you are. I thought you would be in your room or at the clock tower."
Roxas dropped the ice-cream to the floor, no longer caring for it. That voice… That voice was so familiar. The blonde whirled around to see a redhead leaning against the wall in the dining room, a smirk on his face. Tears formed in Roxas' eyes. He ran towards Axel and wrapped his arms around the other's waist, his head buried into the cloak. "You idiot! You left me here! You didn't come back for six months!" he yelled, his voice slightly muffled by the cloak. He stood on his tiptoes and tilted his head up to press his lips against Axel's, but he was stopped by a finger. He gave Axel a confused look before letting go and backing away.
"Not right now, Roxas." No… Axel never used that name… Not ever since they had kissed for the first time… It had always been 'Roxy'; not 'Roxas'. "I still have some things to do. I have to report to Xemnas about the incidents at Castle Oblivion." The redhead disappeared within darkness, leaving a confused and hurt Roxas behind.
The blonde looked towards the ground. "He just wants to get it out of the way… That's all…" he told himself softly.
But months passed and Axel still avoided Roxas and said that he had things to do. Roxas became even more and more distant from Axel. He found himself sitting at the clock tower often, waiting for Axel to come. But he never came. He always claimed that he had a mission when there clearly wasn't any. Even on the days that Axel said he would devote to Roxas (which were Saturdays, when the Organization had no missions whatsoever), Axel would still avoid Roxas and go off by himself.
The blonde let out yet another sigh as he leaned his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes, tilting his head up towards the ceiling of the dark room as he sat on the bed. His legs were folded so that his feet lay flat against the bed, his arms crossed over them. He opened his eyes about halfway, tears running down his cheeks. "I should have never trusted you…" he whispered softly, as if talking to the pyro who never came for him.
Roxas reached up and placed a hand on his chest. The space felt empty, but it ached. It felt… broken. Broken into a million pieces that could never be mended back to together, no matter how hard he would try. He closed his hand into a fist as his shoulders shook due to the amount of tears that now fell. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face into his knees as he let the tears just rain down. It was then that the blonde decided. He would leave the Organization.
---
A week later, Roxas found himself walking down a dark road in The World That Never Was. He spotted Axel leaning against one of the buildings, watching him, but he paid no attention to the redhead who had broken him. He continued, not even glancing at him. He kept his eyes dead ahead with a determined look on his face, although he was screaming to turn back on the inside. He stopped when the redhead spoke. "You're mind's made up?"
Roxas turned his head to look over his shoulder so that he could see Axel. "Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know," was his reply. Sure, it wasn't the entire truth, but he had decided that it was best to use that excuse. The question was nagging at him, after all.
"You can't turn on the Organization!" Axel yelled, pushing himself off the wall to emphasize his point. Pointless, he knew, but he hoped that it would make the blonde stay. He watched as the blonde turned and was about to leave. "You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"
"No one would miss me," Roxas said over his shoulder before walking forward again, intent on leaving Axel and all his memories behind. He didn't care if the Organization wanted him dead. It didn't matter to him. The only thing that mattered to him was Axel. And clearly, the redhead didn't care about him anymore. It was no use staying here or even living anymore; not if it meant that the blonde had to live, watching as the pyro grew even more distant.
He felt a pang as the redhead said the next words, but completely ignored him. "That's not true… I would." He continued walking, leaving Axel behind.
Roxas continued his journey to find Sora. He knew that if he were to meet him, he would most likely not exist anymore. And he could forget about Axel and everything else. But many obstacles stood in the way. First Riku fought him, then he was put in a virtual Twilight Town with friends he had never met, then Axel came back into his life. When he remembered everything about Axel, he only hated him more. "He shouldn't have come," he kept telling himself when he thought nobody was listening.
Finally, Roxas was able to meet Sora, his other. But the brunette was asleep. As the blonde looked up at the other, he knew that he would never see Axel again. "You're lucky… Looks like my summer vacation is… over," he said. He watched from behind the eyes of Sora as he encountered the Organization members, including Axel. But he no longer cared for the redhead. The blonde wasn't even Roxas anymore. He was Sora. He was whole. And yet, he still remembered everything. He lived inside Sora, trapped inside the body without a will of his own, watching from the eyes of his other, the one who trapped him.
He wanted to scream for Axel not to do that attack, but he couldn't. He wanted to hold Axel one more time before he faded, but he wasn't able to. He wanted to get out of Sora to tell Axel "I love you" one last time, but Sora kept him trapped. Like a ghost, he watched in the background as the scenery shifted. Finally, he was able to get out, but he only fought Sora. He was then trapped inside the other once more. For years, he watched his life go by. No… Not his life. Sora's life. Even after all those years, the blonde still remembered the words the redhead had said.
Let's meet again in the next life.
He still repeated those same words, although he knew nobody could hear it, not even Sora. "Yeah. I'll be waiting."
---
Spiky blonde locks bounced as the young boy, 15 of age, walked down the sidewalk where cars passed right beside him on the road. With a backpack slung on one shoulder, he continued through the heat of summer. He hated summer school. He hated it and always will. Just because he had failed French, he had to take summer school. He stopped at a crosswalk, but noticed that something was tugging him in a different direction. The urge to just turn the corner and walk in the direction he was being drawn to grew stronger and stronger until he could bear it no longer. Finally, the boy gave up and he followed the urge. He walked alongside the rock wall that separated the park from the sidewalk until he got to the opening. He was curious as to why the urge led him here, but right when he stepped into the park, he spotted exactly what he was drawn to.
He felt his heart stop as he stared at the man leaning against the tree and he couldn't help but notice that the other was playing with a lighter and looked as if he was waiting for someone. Images he had never seen before flooded into his head. And most of them consisted of the redhead he was staring at just now. He dropped his bag and sprinted towards the redhead, tears in his yes.
"Axel!" he called. Once he was close enough, he latched onto the redhead and buried his face within the fabric of the other's shirt. He felt strong arms wrap around him like they used to back then. Back when he didn't have this life. His shoulders shook as he cried even more, his blue eyes closed tightly.
"Shh. It's ok, Rox. I got ya. I'm right here. Don't cry," the redhead said soothingly as he stroked the blonde's hair. He then leaned down just as Roxas stood on his tiptoes. He felt lips against his own and knew that he had been wrong. He did have a next life. And he did see Roxas again.
