Oh, but I'd like to thank my loyal reviewers! You guys are really making finishing this story easier with your support! Thank you so much!
/Kairi/
Kairi glowered at her feet as she walked out of the school building and to Axel's car. How was she supposed to tell him about Roxas ditching them? She sighed when she looked up and saw her brother staring, confused, at her. " Where's Roxas?" He asked, and Kairi shook her head. " He left to go to the mall. He said he had to get some clothes, or something like that." She said, and Axel frowned. " He just ditched us like that?" He mumbled, then shrugged and got in the car. " Oh well, that just means I won't have to pay for his ice cream." The redhead said, and Kairi got in the passengers seat.
They drove to the ice cream shoppe and got their ice cream, then went up to the clock tower. They sat on the same side they always sat on. The side that shows the distant mountains full of trees, and the beautiful sunset. The other side showed the rest of the town. Kairi sighed and stared at the scene before her. Somehow.. it didn't seem the same now that Roxas had been up there with them so many times.
/Roxas/
Roxas smiled at Sora's blush as Riku grabbed his hand. They were at the mall, just walking inside. Namine giggled at their display, and Sora blushed deeper. " C'mon guys, stop! I'm allowed to blush!" He whined, and Roxas nodded. " Yeah, but you aren't supposed to act like such a uke, Sora." He said, and Sora immediately pulled his hand from Riku's and took a playful swipe at Roxas's head. Roxas ducked in time to not get hit, and Riku chuckled and grabbed Sora by the waist. " Calm down, short stack." The silver haired boy (A/N: Boy... man... guy? o_o I have no idea...) said. " Hey, I'm not short, everyone else is just taller than normal human beings." The brunette raplied, and Namine cut in. " Oh yeah, like YOU'RE normal?" She said, and Sora sighed and gave up on fighting anymore.
Everyone laughed at Sora's defeat, then continued walking to the food court. They sat down at a booth once they got there and ordered some drinks from the waitress. " So, what do you guys usually do besides just hang out at the food court at the mall?" Roxas asked, taking a sip of his pepsi when the waitress sat it in front of him. Riku shrugged. " I guess we don't really do anything special, just come here and eat, then go down to the movie theatre if there are any new movies out. Which, right now, That vampire shit is there, so Sora and I aren't getting anywhere NEAR it." At this, Riku visibly shivered, and Namine gasped. " HEY! Twilight is great!" She repiled, and Sora rolled his eyes.
" Yeah, the typical ' fall in love with an immortal even though it's forbidden, almost get killed a couple of times and then have it all end happily' crap." He said, even though he was still smiling. Namine glowered into her sierra mist. " I kinda agree with Sora and Riku..." All eyes were on Xion. The black haired girl was actually looking up, though she had a blush on her face that deepened when four sets of eyes landed on her. " I-I mean, it's not original... It's the oldest type of romance in the b-book..." She studdered, and Sora nodded and smiled smugly.
" Yeah, now THAT'S what I'm talking about!" He said, and Riku and Roxas rolled their eyes. Roxas looked at his phone. " Hey guys, I think I should be going." At this, Namine, Sora and Riku groaned. " Aww, ya gotta leave so early, Rox?" Sora asked, and the blonde nodded. " Yeah, I should probably be getting home. Thanks for bringing me here, guys." He said, standing up. " Wait, we drove you, how will you get home?" Namine asked, and RIku said, " I can drive you, if you'd like."
Roxas shook his head. " Nah, I can walk, but thanks anyway, Riku. My house isn't that far from here. Bye guys, see you tomorrow!" Roxas called, running off. He was out of the mall before the others could even blink. Roxas looked up. The sun was just starting to set. Maybe he could get home before-
Just then, he remembered Kairi's offer. 'Alright then, but if you decide to come get ice cream after, me and Axel will be at the clock tower until at least sunset.' Roxas smiled hopefully. Maybe he could catch them before they left, and maybe even get to have ice cream after all, if he got there in time. The blonde started toward the clock tower, fully intent on getting there in under five minutes.
He had almost reached the clock tower when he heard footsteps behind him. Roxas turned around, expecting to see Riku or Sora coming to ask him why he wasn't heading home, but saw no one. He continued to stare at the empty space, then turned back around and continued to the clock tower, and up to the top. When he was about halfway up, there were footsteps again, and he turned again. Still, there wasn't anyone behind him. ' Calm down, Rox, you're being paranoid for absolutely no reason. Theres hardly ever any crime in Twilight Town.' He reassured himself, then continued to the top of the clock tower.
Once he got there, Axel and Kairi looked back at him and smiled. " Oh hey, so you made it after all!" Kairi said, and Axel shook his head. " Ditching us for clothes, Roxas? Really?" He said, then laughed at Roxas's distraught face. " It's okay, no hard feelings. So, why don't you-"
" I don't think he's gonna get the chance to do anything with you, Axel Flynn."
/Axel/
Axel's eyes widened as three figures stepped out from the shadows. The tallest was a boy with brown hair. He was wearing a weird looking brown top and cream colored pants with black boots. The second was a girl with bluish hair, paler than Saix's yet a deeper blue. She was wearing the exact same top, only blue, with gray pants and black boots. Then, when his eyes traveled to the last one, the one who had spoke, Axel's eyes nearly popped out of his head and rolled over the edge of the clock tower.
Ventus. It was the same Ventus who had laughed and frowned and yelled and cried with he and Kairi for so many years... and the same Ventus who had broke his heart. So... why was he back now, after all that time of being gone?
" Axel. After being gone for so long, I decided to pay you and Kairi a visit. This is Terra and Aqua, my new friends." Ventus gestured to the boy and the girl. " How have you been, Kairi?" Ventus asked, his eyes still locked onto Axel's. Kairi stayed silent, not knowing whether to hug Ventus and cry or punch him and scream. Roxas was looking on with wide eyes, not knowing at all what was going on, or who these newcomers were, except that the one talking looked almost exactly like him. Well, except that the other boy was taller and had brown highlight in his otherwise golden hair.
Axel felt anger building up in his chest. After all that time, after everything he'd put him through, Ventus had the nerve to come back and act as if nothing had happened!? " Axel..." Kairi whispered, laying a hand on her brother's shoulder to try and calm him down, sensing that he was about to go on a rampage. " What...?" Axel ground out, staring into Ventus's unwavering blue eyes. The redhead noticed that Roxas's eyes were much brighter than his. A prettier blue. Ventus chuckled. " What do you mean, what?" He asked, a sort of superior air about him.
That was all it took for Axel to let it all out. " You honestly think I'm just gonna stand here and small talk with you after what you did to me!? You really think that I wanted to see your face again? You had been there for me and Kairi since we were born, Ventus! You were always so sweet, fun, playful, even when you were being mean you didn't mean any harm! You and I practically raised Kairi when she was little! We did everything together, Ven! Then I realize how I truly felt about you, and you go and do what you did!?" Axel said, hsi voice getting louder with each word until he was screaming his lungs out.
Kairi stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders to keep him from going after the slightly shorter blonde. She didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell down her cheek. " What did I do, exactly? I don't remember, maybe you should refresh my memory, hmm?" Ventus said, that smug smile still stretched across his face. Terra looked... eerily pleased. Aqua looked slightly taken aback, as if she had no idea this was going to happen.
Axel tried to hold back his own tears to preserve his pride, but he just couldn't do it as he yelled out, " You broke my heart, Ventus!" Ventus's dark blue eyes were unfased. " You told me I was disgusting and pathetic! You said I should be locked away from the world because 'my kind' were a disgrace to society!" Then, Kairi gasped as her hands were jerked from Axel's shoulders when he lunged forward. " Axel, NO!" She screamed, but it did no good. Axel raised his fist, about to sock Ventus right in his prissy little mouth, when there was a cold hard CRACK on the back of his head.
" AXEL!?" Both Roxas and Kairi screamed, as Axel's body fell to the ground, and Terra, holding a led pipe, started practically beating the hell out of him. Ventus joined in with his fists, and The other three were left speechless for about a second before rushing in to stop the fight. Aqua grabbed the led pipe from Terra's hands and threw it off the edge of the clock tower, silently hoping it would miss any innocent bypassers. She grabbed Terra's fist when he went to hit the redhead, stopping him. Kairi was screaming and crying for Ventus to stop hurting Axel, weakly punching his back and trying to drag him off of her brother.
/Roxas/
" Ventus, STOP!" It was Roxas. He sucked in his fear and grabbed the hair on Ventus's head, jerking it back and giving him a hard punch right in the nose. Ventus gasped and cursed as blood started pouring out of his nose, then turned to Roxas. Roxas backed up slightly, realizing just how intimidating the other blonde was. He was taller than Roxas, but not as tall as Axel was. He gave off a seemingly tense and angry aura. Roxas was about to say something when Aqua cut him off. " Ventus, this is NOT what you told us was going to happen. Now lets get out of here, I don;t want to get in trouble when the police get here." She said, and Ventus sneered down at Roxas, then turned and stalked away.
" Lets go guys, we're done here." He said, and the three of them disappeared. Kairi was hunched over Axel, crying. Roxas ran over and crouched down. Axel was awake and alive, but limp and bloody. " Axel..." Roxas whispered, " How bad are you hurt?" Axel looked at Roxas. " S'not that bad... a few broken ribs and a sphlit liff." He said, and Roxas looked confused about that last part, until he saw that Axel's bottom lip was swollen and split open. Then he noticed all the blood pooling around Axel's head. " Axel, you're head is probably split open, too..." Roxas whispered, his eyes starting to water. Kairi was too busy crying with her head on Axel's stomach to notice what was happening around her.
" Yeah, I can feel the blood..." Axel whispered, " Maybe you should call 911 now." Roxas nodded, than pulled out his phone and dialled the number. " Hello...? Yes, we need an ambulance... my friend's head is split open and we're pretty sure he's got some crushed ribs and- yeah... the clock tower... okay, we'll be waiting... no ma'am, we haven't moved him... alright, thank you." Roxas hung up and smiled sadly at Axel. " They're on their way, Ax'. I'm sorry I didn't stop them sooner, then you wouldn;t be hurt as much - " "Roxas, if you hadn't have shown up when you did, I would be a lot worse than this. So just shut up and - GHACK!" Axel cut himself off when he coughed up a lot of blood. Kairi screamed and... fainted. Great.
" Axel!? Are you okay?" Roxas asked, wiping some of the blood from arounf Axel's mouth. " No." Axel whispered, then closed his eyes. " Axel? Axel! Axel, don't go to sleep! Don't! D-Don't die!" Roxas yelled, his tears finally falling. Axel grunted, then went still, except for the shallow rise and fall of his chest. Just as he did this, the paramedics ran up with a stretcher. Roxas got out of their way, watching as they pulled Axel's limp body onto it and hauling him up, then disappearing down the stairway of the clock tower. Another paramedic walked up to him. " You're the one who called 911, correct?" He asked, his cyan eyes truly concerned.
Roxas sniffled and wiped his eyes. " Y-yes, sir..." He said, and stood up, grabbing Kairi. " She's not hurt, is she?" The man asked, looking cautious. " N-no, she fainted from the sight of so much blood..." Roxas sniffled again and hauled Kairi's body into his arms, following the man down the clock tower. When he got there, a blonde haired man in a white coat took Kairi from him and layed her on another stretcher. " We should take her in to make sure she's not in shock, it's common for that to happen." The man explained, and called for another ambulance.
Roxas nodded. " You're Roxas Strife, right?" The cyan-eyed man asked. Roxas turned to him, surprised. " Y-yes, how do you know my name?" He asked, and the man smiled a little. " You go to school with my son and his boyfriend, Sora Leonhart." He said, and Roxas finally realized just how much this man looked like Riku. " You're Riku's dad?" Roxas asked, and the man nodded. " Yeah. I heard about Axel beating you up, but I didn;t know you were friends-"
He was cut off by a ear-piercing beeping. It was really fast, and Roxas didn't know what it was at first. Until, that is, the beeping evened out into a single continuous note, and one of the paramedics yelled, " He's flatlining! We have to get him to the hospital ASAP!" Roxas watched as everything went blurry, and the ambulance pulled away. Another pulled up, and the man in white loaded Kairi in and closed the doors, then that one sped off after the other one. Roxas and the two men were standing there watching as the ambulances disappeared.
Then it started to rain.
What a perfect time for rain. Roxas fell to his knees, only half aware of what he was doing and what was happening. The blonde man had went to his car and driven away after tha ambulances. Riku's dad was talking to Roxas, but the blonde had no idea what he was saying. His heartbeat was so loud that it drowned out the sounds around him. Distant sirens, the pounding shaaaa of the rain pouring down like a waterfall, some people yelling in the distance, everything was muffled, like Roxas was on the other side of a wall.
" Please don't leave me, Axel." Roxas croaked out, just before his vision went black.
A/N: Oooooooooooooh, cliffy! xD I'm terrible at fight scenes, so sorry if that tiny paragraph didn't pass your fight-scene standards D:
So ja, Riku's dad is a paramedic, IDK, I was running out of adult characters D:
I hope this chapter will keep you wanting more, guys!
Review!