Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts/ Final Fantasy or any of the other refrences in this story. I only own the plot.


Chapter 8: Roxas

I laid in my bed for about an hour, staring up and the ceiling. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. I sat up in my bed, in the dark moonlit room and opened the window right next to me, the storm had died down, but it was still raining. I loved the smell of rain. I inhaled and sighed. I felt for the keyblade charm around my neck and squeezed it. Just then, there was a light knock at the door.

"Come in." I said in a whisper, glancing at the digital clock on my bed side table that read 11:56 pm. A tall skinny red headed figure entered the room.

"Hey… I couldn't sleep. The couch was too lonely." Axel said with a joking tone. I slid over in the double bed and pat the spot next to me, inviting him over. He laid down and took a large breath.

"The rain smells good." He said.

"Yeah I know, it's so… I dunno… pure smelling." I agreed. I turned onto my side to face my best friend. Axel looked so beautiful, lying next to me, moonlight and shadows of raindrops hitting his face. They were blending in with his tattoos.

"Axel? Why do you have tattoos on your face?" I asked softly.

"Dude, they're not tattoos." Axel laughed, turning onto his side to face me as well. "They're birth marks. I've had them ever since I was born." He explained. I ran my fingers gently over the upside down tear drops marked on the red head's face.

"Huh... That's weird. But kinda cool. I never knew that." I said, surprised about this fun fact. My fingers lingered on Axel's face. He took my hand in his.

"Your hands are so cold, Rox." sighed Axel, the corners of his mouth turning down.

"They're always like that. It's no big deal." I said. Axel stared at my hands, disapprovingly. His were really warm, almost too warm. There was a bit of silence where all I could hear was our steady, in sync breathing. I studied my friend as he was looking down. He was so slender, I felt bad for him. It obviously wasn't natural. His perfect spiky red hair suited him perfectly. It was like fire, dancing around his handsome, unusual face. All the time I was feeling more and more attracted to Axel. I wondered if it would ruin our friendship if I ever asked for more than that. All of a sudden, his emerald eyes locked on mine, catching me in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" he murmured. He was still clutching my hands.

"Uhh… nothin'." I blushed, hoping he wouldn't see.

"Hey… I want you to know something." He said, taking on a serious tone.

"What?"

"I just want you to know…" His eyes darted down for a second and back to mine. His grasp on my hands became slightly tighter. "That I'm always going to be here to protect you." He finished. I groaned. This mysterious stuff again. What the fuck was wrong with everyone today?

"Axel… I don't even know why you need to protect me. I know Riku's not going to explain what you guys are hiding but I know that you know. Spill it." I tried to make my gaze harder, more serious. People rarely took me seriously, only because I was the youngest out of everyone. Cloud was 21, Riku and Axel were 17, Sora was 16 and I was 15. I doubted Sora knew what was going on, though. Axel sighed.

"I'm just protecting you from whatever life has to throw at you." he said.

"Bullshit. I'm tired of everyone being so freaky today! Why can't I know?" I said, raising my voice.

"You will know soon, dude, I promise." He said, sincerity laced in his words. He paused. "But I will let you know this. Do you believe in Destiny?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. All we learned in school was the theory of Destiny. It was a load of crap if you ask me.

"Sure, dude, sure." I said, rolling my eyes. Axel ignored the sarcasm in my voice.

"Well my Destiny is to protect you. I was told that, before I even met you, Rox. My brothers got their own Destinies too." He concluded. He was feeding me a bunch of bull crap. Destiny wasn't real. It was a myth. A legend. A-

Wait a second.

Did he say brothers? Like plural?

"Ax… You said you only had one brother… Demyx?" I was holding his gaze. He couldn't escape this. I had a lead. Axel let go of my hand. He started shaking a little bit, and shook his head. He knew there was no way out now.

"Yeah. I have another brother that I guess I never told you about. His name is Reno. He's my twin brother." He said, making it sound like no big deal.

"Twin? You have a twin?" I couldn't believe it. In all the years I had known Axel, never had I once heard about his twin. I was flabbergasted.

"Yep. I haven't seen him in a couple years though. He uh... He doesn't really live here. He finished school early." Axel sounded like he was in pain. I could tell there was a reason he didn't want to be talking about this.

"Finished school early? How?" I asked. Axel's angelic face was paler than normal, against his crazy hair that looked like it might engulf him.

"Its all Destiny, Rox. You'll learn everything soon. And maybe one day you'll even meet Reno." He said. I could tell that I should drop the conversation by the sadness in Axel's voice. Just for now at least. I accomplished getting some new info out of Axel, and that was a all I needed. I knew now that I wasn't crazy for thinking something was going on. This Reno guy must also be related to the whole weirdness going on around here.. Axel closed his eyes. He looked so peaceful. He took my hand again, and held it up to his heart. It was warm, fast beating. I felt like I wanted to kiss Axel's lips, to apologize for me pressing him so much, but I also didn't. Part of me said that'd be totally weird,liking your best friend like that. And part of me said it wouldn't. I tried to stop thinking, and slowly fell asleep to the feeling of Axel's heart beat.


This is to all my Akoroku fans!! Hahah I love themmm. lol. Roxas is so cute and naiive and Axel definatly knows whats goin on. Yay for our spiky haired red head friend!!! wOOt! REVIEW NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.