One Wish
Ehehe, my dad made me Roxas' cookie when we were making them the other night.
Chapter 11 – Christmas Eve
xXx
"Hey, Sora. How're you doing?" Roxas tried his hardest not to sound completely worn out as he pulled off the Christmas hat still on his head. His brother stood in the doorway, wrapping his arms around the blonde's neck, pulling him close.
"Roxas! I'm so glad you made it! I was scared for a while. Come on in!" Sora backed up, making room for the elder teen. Roxas stepped his foot into the entryway, eyeing a glaring Riku cautiously.
"Are you sure?"
"It's fine. You're allowed ... This one time."
Roxas thought that the words would never come from the silver-haired boy so he smiled, nodding in consent. "Thank you. And Sora, I'm so sorry that I wasn't here. I had to work ... I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Riku kept me busy today. We did lots of baking. Want some sugar cookies? I made one 'specially for you." Sora moved into the kitchen, beaming, being followed by his best friend and his chilled brother. "Ta-da!" Gesturing at a deformed cookie the size of Roxas' hand, Sora laughed at the blonde's reaction.
"Why does mine look like you just slapped it together at the end?" He really didn't mind. He was just happy that he had been included. "I mean, look at these other ones! Ornaments, Santas, Christmas trees? Why do I get the beast?"
"Because it was just slapped together. That's all the left over dough. We were too lazy to start another tray." Riku smirked, laughing when Sora smacked him in the chest.
"You weren't supposed to tell him."
"It's fine, Sora. Thank you. It means a lot."
"Happy Christmas!"
Roxas gripped his brother in a tight hug, ruffling up his hair. The way they were now, it was hard to be sad. But Roxas knew that it wouldn't last; it never did. They would get onto the subject that had really brought the blonde there, pay their respects and move on for another year.
"So, are you ready to head out?"
He felt bad for asking the question that needed asking, especially when Sora's face fell and Riku glared at him once more. But the youngest teen quickly recovered, pulling a small smile onto his lips. "Yeah ... I guess it's that time, huh?"
"I mean, we don't have to, but-"
"No, no. It's only right. We've gone the last four years, what's so different about tonight?" Sora took in a deep breath, looking over to his best friend. "I'll be back in an hour, alright?" When the elder nodded, Sora followed his brother back to the door, grabbing his jacket, boots and the wreath off the kitchen table. Roxas pulled his hat back on and opened the door.
The trek to the graveyard was a chilly, silent one, sorrow catching in both brothers' throat. They made their way easily to the grave that hadn't been visited for months. Sora kneeled down, his brave smile still present, placing the wreath against the headstone.
"Hey mom. It's us... obviously. Roxas and Riku are taking care of me, so you don't have to worry about me. But you gotta take care of him, okay? I'm worried about him. He's working too hard. And it`s all my fa-" Sora's voice cut off as Roxas' hand rested on his shoulder. Kneeling down himself, the blonde gave his brother a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't worry mom. I've got things under control. I've got us a place to stay now. Don't have to worry about dad. You don't have to worry about anything. No one does."
"Us? What do you mean?"
Roxas' arm slung around his brother's shoulder, pulling him close. "I mean us. Axel's leaving tomorrow, but he's leaving me his apartment. We don't have to worry about a thing."
Sora was quiet for a moment before a tear ran down his cheek, his face breaking from his smile. "Are you serious?"
"Very." Roxas laughed when he found his brother wrapping him up in another hug, knocking him to the freezing ground. "Okay, okay. Just let me up. It's too cold. We did what we came to do. I need to go get warmed up before I get sick. You too. That's just what I would need."
Sora agreed, getting up off his brother, giving him a hand up. "See you next year, mom. We miss you." And the two were heading away, back to Riku's house. Outside the door, Sora stopped, pulling the elder around to meet his gaze. "Riku ... Riku wanted me to ask you to join us tomorrow ... For Christmas dinner. Would you? Please?"
Skepticism crossed Roxas' face. "Riku asked that?"
A blush dusted over Sora's features and he couldn't hide his smile. "It's ... It's his Christmas present to me. He knows that you and I haven't had a Christmas dinner together since mom got sick. So he said that this was the best thing that he could give me this year. I think he's right. So come, please? He promised he would be good."
Roxas pretended to think it over for a moment before nodding, earning yet another hug from his brother. "But that means that I have to head home and pick up your present. I was going to give it to you tonight, but I didn't have time. So I'll see you tomorrow, alright? What time?"
"He said five. But you can come at four!"
"Four it is then."
Sora gave the elder one last, parting hug, vowing that everything would be amazing. Agreeing, Roxas left, feeling warm all over despite the pain growing in his temple, the chill in the air, the thought of Axel leaving. He had only lost a little of that heat as he slipped through his front door unnoticed.
A ghost on the stairs, down the hallway, into the room he had abandoned a month ago, Roxas felt the heat slipping faster and faster as his situation dawned on him. Axel would be gone. In only a few hours, he would be gone. But in a little over twelve hours, he would be having a beautiful Christmas meal. He was torn between feelings of happiness and sorrow, both fighting for dominance.
Of course the best friend that he had allowed himself to make in over five years would leave on the exact night that his mother had died.
"Focus," he had to remind himself. He wasn't there to dilly-dally. He needed to get the present and get out of there.
"Roxas? That you?"
The voice was distant, yet still made him spin on his heel.
"Shit."
xXx
Axel nudged the door open, edging his way into the nearly empty house. He didn't know why he was trying to hide his presence tonight, why he wasn't already in that front room, ringing that bastard's neck, slamming his face into the floor. Maybe the tingling that rippled through his body was what held him back. He knew just who it was he was going after tonight. He wanted nothing more than to get the job finished, make him pay...
"Roxas? That you? Or Sora? Come 'ere, boy!" The voice came from the exact spot that Axel knew the man to be, the spot that he was glaring at already, seeing the chocolate hair of the man he most despised, hated more than his brother.
"I thought you kicked them out. Roxas, at least." Stepping into the living room's light, Axel allowed a lustful smirk to present itself upon his lips, his limbs shivering at the excitement bubbling through him.
"Who're you? How'd you get in?" The man gasped at the intruder in horror, balling his fists to show that he was willing to defend himself. Axel stepped closer, his fingers turning to daggers in the shifting light, growing longer, harder, sharper, preparing for what was to come.
"I'm called a monster, but apparently people haven't associated with the likes of you. How could you hurt a kid like Roxas? Oh, don't look so surprised," Axel snarled, his voice coming out in a growl. "He's told me all about you. And obviously it's the truth or else I wouldn't have to be looking at so much filth right now. How could you hurt a kid like that? Your kid?"
Axel felt sick. The rage from the night prior – the destruction, the gore, the satisfaction – came flooding back to him, making him stronger, even more horrifying. His lip was set in a snarl as his iron grasp shot out, ensnaring his final target of the year. "I'm going to enjoy this. Take my time. Really mess you up. But at the same time, I really have to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I would never have gotten to know your son."
Axel squeezed, earning a gurgle from the man that he tossed effortlessly to the side. The man thudded to the ground, shuddering in fright, his mouth hanging open as he gasped for breath.
"Wh-Wha-"
"Sadly, Roxas is not why I'm here. You messed up thirty years ago and dug your hole deeper. I don't know why you did it –frankly, I don't care- but I know that you will pay. You will pay and wish that you could take it all back. I assure you of that." The words were hissed only an inch from the alcohol-drenched man's cheek, making him cringe away.
"P-Please ..."
"All the same. You humans are so pathetic! How dare you beg after what you've done?" Picking the man up off the floor, Axel slammed him back down, sneering at the resounding echoes that it set off. He balled his fist, striking Roxas' father in the chin as he attempted to get to his feet, sending him crashing back down.
His next strike landed his elongated claws in the man's abdomen, causing him to let out a pained cry, gripping at the monster's wrist.
"Axel?"
The voice came from behind him but he didn't turn to look. He didn't have to. Even in this half-crazed state, he would know that voice.
"Roxas ... get away." His voice was a hissed growl, something nearly animal as he pulled his arm back, readying for another strike. The redhead took in the cry that Roxas let out, felt him coming closer rather than farther away as his hand shot down once more. Forcing another pain-filled yowl from the brunette beneath him, Axel was surprised to feel hands wrap around his arm. Without thinking, he pulled the claws out of their victim, swinging his arm back, flinging his attacker away.
With sick realization, Axel whipped around to see Roxas crumble to the floor. The growl that had been building in his throat started to die as horror and regret flooded him.
"Ass-" The chocolate-haired man's voice was what brought the redhead back to the task at hand. His whole body trembled, unable to wait any longer for the kill. The fact that Roxas was watching on, sobbing against the wall – frozen in shock and fear – didn't deter his fist as it balled once more. Moving as fast as lightening, Axel slammed that fist into the man's face once, twice, three times, four, until finally he was hardly recognizable.
Roxas' screams brought him back.
"Dad? Dad! Axel? What the hell did you do? What the... What did you do?" A pitch of hysteria ringed the blonde's voice when he scuttled over to the heap that had once been his father. Axel pulled back, not able to speak as those blue eyes that had just begun to trust him burned him with hate. The tears streamed down the teen's cheeks as he pulled the body close to him, unable and unwilling to believe what had happened.
"He ... Roxas ... He was on the list... You weren't supposed to see."
"I wasn't supposed to see? How the hell was I not supposed to ... Dad? Oh my god ... Axel ..." The teen seemed to gather up his wits, turning a hard gaze onto the redhead. "Get out. Get out of this fucking house. Never come back. I don't want your stupid apartment. I don't want to see you ever again. Got it? Never! Get out!"
Axel stumbled back with the venom in the blonde's words, feeling them crash into him like a physical pain. Something in his chest ached as he fled.
The thrill of the kill was left behind with the blonde that he had grown so close to, that he had become attached to, that he had ruined everything with.
xXx
To Be Continued
xXx
Now, before you say anything, it's "To be continued" so I don't want to be raged at like I was with the whole Zexion thing in Rookie.
~xbuttonsx~
