Insert standard disclaimer here.

Chapter 8

It was another day and a half before Axel was well enough to leave his bed. The two royals spent that time going over the ins and outs of Axel's court. Roxas found that it was infinitely easier to handle then his own. Basically, all he had to do was treat everyone as equal until it came time for him to lead, and only then should he act like a king. It was odd, but Roxas understood it well enough.

Axel's form of revenge had left Roxas unable to look anyone in the eyes for almost three hours. He'd basically gathered people-including a rather enthusiastic Demyx-to hug him. No joke. For nearly four hours, person after person just bear hugged him tightly for nearly five minutes and then kept touching him casually. At first, Roxas had declared the redhead insane, but he had to admit, it had its affect. By the time Axel had called it all off, Roxas wasn't nearly as stiff as he had been.

Sora and Riku had come during the time he was unconscious. Apparently Larxene had sent the message that Roxas was in danger and the rest of the platoon had come shortly after, expecting bloodshed. When they found out that Roxas' injuries were self-inflicted, they didn't quite know what to do with themselves. Sora decided that he was going to stay until Roxas came to, though, so Riku stayed as well.

Life had continued on as usual for the rest of the kingdom, as the reports of Axel's injury had been kept firmly under wraps. Axel's coronation had sped up on them, looming in just a few hours. Several people had fretted over whether he'd be able to handle what they called the 'transfer of power' in his current state, but the doctors had assured them he'd be okay. One man in particular had commented on how lucky Axel had been that Roxas had taken action so quickly. Roxas couldn't figure out how a coronation could take so much out of a person, but apparently it could. Even Axel was wondering if he could take it, though he didn't say anything to anyone but Roxas.

The castle was in a bustle, as all the plans were being thrown together last minute. No one had expected Axel to be in the condition to leave his bed so quickly. Every time someone would say that, Axel would grin, rustle Roxas' hair, and talk loudly about what a hero his 'little Roxy' was. Roxas couldn't help but wonder if it was an act or the real thing.

The blonde was psyching himself up for an afternoon of touching. In public. He still shuddered at the thought, wondering what his mother would think if she saw him. He was glad that she wasn't there, though Axel's mom was almost as bad. Roxas had a sneaking suspicion that she'd get on very well with Aeris.

Tifa was a short, slightly brusque woman with a big heart. As soon as she found out that Roxas was awake, she'd come to introduce herself and brought him some food. He'd been grateful for that and he found that he liked the woman very much. She'd gushed about how they'd be family and to call her Tifa because formalities didn't exist between family.

Finally, though, Roxas was waiting for Axel to be coroneted. He stood to the side of a podium with Tifa at his side. Reno stood on the podium, dressed quite peculiarly, in Roxas' opinion. He was wearing only a pair of pants that looked to be made of snakeskin, though Axel had told him that it was dragon hide.

"They're fire-resistant," he'd explained.

Across the skin of his chest were flame tattoos, all in black ink. They stretched over his abdomen and up over his chest, jumping across the gap to circle around his arms. The flame wound down his arms until it reached his wrists, where it then became a single trail down the center of the back of his hand, forming a circle around his middle finger. This was identical on both sides. On his back was a picture of a flaming crown with a single eye set in the center. Tifa had whispered to him that it was the family crest. Other then this, Reno was wearing nothing, even his ponytail holder had been pulled out, leaving his long hair free to fall around his shoulders.

Axel entered from the opposite side of the room and instantly every eye was on him. He looked, for once in his life, completely serious. He was dressed exactly the same as his father, though without the tattoos. Roxas watched in interest as he approached the dais and Reno stretched out his hands. Axel took a deep breath and grabbed the offered hands. They stared at each other for a long moment and Axel gave a slight nod. It was hardly a second before he hit his knees, screaming in what sounded like complete agony. Both of them burst into flame a moment later, the harsh element dancing along their skin, one particularly bright flame dancing in design across Axel's arms. Roxas made to move forward, but Tifa grabbed his arm, restraining him.

"What is he doing to him?" Roxas demanded, turning to stare at the woman as she watched her only son burn.

"Axel knew what was coming," Tifa said quietly. "He knew it would hurt. Reno is transferring the family's magic into Axel. The magic is held in the lines of those tattoos and the only way to get it is through ultimate suffering."

"Will…will he be okay?" Roxas stammered.

"If he is meant to be king, yes," Tifa answered.

Roxas stared at her for a long moment, not liking the way she said that.

"And if he's not meant to be king?" Roxas demanded. She looked at him, her deep red eyes a little sad.

"If he's not meant to be king, the stress will kill him." Roxas felt his stomach plummet down to his feet. He felt like he might be sick.

"That's…that's so wrong!" he hissed. "How could you do that to your own son?"

"This is how we do things," Tifa explained. "If he's not strong enough to withstand the power of the family, he's not strong enough to lead."

Axel's tortured screams had died away and he was almost limp where he knelt. Roxas could tell that he was still alive by the way he twitched every once in a while, though.

"How long does it take?" Roxas asked, aghast. He couldn't believe a mother could watch her son get tortured and do nothing about it.

"It should be over soon," she answered. Surely enough, a moment later, the fire died away and Axel was left panting for breath on the ground. Reno's skin was free of tattoos and Axel's once perfect flesh marred with the ink.

"You have to wait," Tifa hissed as Roxas made to move again. "He has to stand up on his own and speak the vows. Then you may go to him." Very slowly, Axel staggered to his feet and turned to face the assembled crowd. He looked exhausted, but extremely pleased with himself at the same time.

"I will wield the power of my family to protect you, my people, over all else." His voice sounded strong and concise as he spoke, something that greatly surprised Roxas. "I have faced ultimate suffering for you, my people, and I would face worse if you ever were in need of my aid. This, alone, is my role as king."

Cheers filled the room, and Tifa nudged Roxas in the side.

"You can go now," she said quietly. Roxas hadn't even waited for her to finish her sentence before he was rushing towards Axel. He slipped his arm around Axel's waist and the redhead instantly shifted most of his weight onto Roxas. It was subtle so no one could tell but the two of them. Roxas couldn't imagine how much energy that little spectacle had taken out of him.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" he hissed to the redhead as Tifa ushered them out of the room. "How could you have let me walk into that unprepared?"

"What would you have done if I told you?" Axel asked. "You couldn't have changed it. I knew what I had to do and nothing could have stopped me, so I didn't see the point."

"You could have let me have time prepare myself for watching it!" Roxas snapped. "I didn't feel any pain myself, but god, I thought I was going to be sick. Those screams were terrible." Axel smiled grimly.

"You have to have seen worse then that, Roxy." Roxas shook his head.

"I've seen war, sure, but I've never seen someone I care about be tortured. That was so much worse." Roxas helped Axel to a couch, the redhead instantly slumping in his seat, his body mostly going limp. He smiled at Roxas, though, a nice smile that made the blonde's stomach flip.

"What?" the blonde king demanded. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You said you care about me," Axel grinned. "That makes me happier then you could know."

Roxas smiled hesitantly at him, chewing on his lip uncertainly.

Tifa approached with a glass filled with a frothing purple liquid.

"Drink this," she instructed. "It should pick you up real fast. It will get you through the rest of tonight, but be prepared to crash later."

Axel nodded and took the glass. He took a tentative sip and pulled a disgusted face, staring at his mother as if to say, 'you can't be serious'.

Tifa just shrugged.

"I didn't say it would taste good. It will make you feel better, though, so drink up. I recommend getting it all down as fast as you can without throwing it back up."

"Wow, mom, you're such a comfort. Thanks a lot," he sighed.

"You're a king now, you don't need your mommy holding your hand," she retorted. "When you feel up to it, get back out there and we'll present Roxas to the court." She left the two of them alone then. Axel stared at the drink in distaste for a long moment.

"All right…I guess there's no other way around it," he sighed. He took a deep breath as if preparing to jump into a lake and raised the glass to his lips. He didn't pull it away until all the liquid was gone. He slammed the glass on the table and pulled several faces while coughing his lungs up.

"Oh my god, that was disgusting!" he howled, making a show of pretending to be poisoned.

"You're an idiot," Roxas snorted affectionately. Axel grinned and nodded.

"Well, I've got to give her that," Axel said. "I do feel a lot better. Let me change real quick and then we can head back out."

Roxas nodded and waited as Axel found a previously stashed shirt. It was white and buttoned up the front, though he left the top three buttons undone and rolled up the sleeves to his elbow to show his new tattoos.

"Well, are you ready?" Axel asked.

Roxas nodded the affirmative, allowing Axel to pull him to his feet. Just as he reached for the doorknob, Roxas rose on his tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on the redhead's cheek.

"I'm glad you're all right," he said quickly before exiting the room, leaving the newly crowned king to follow him.