The continuation of the previous chapter (finally!) -Note: I went back and added to the previous chapters, so I suggest reading from the beginning again...- (And unfortunately the next chapter will take awhile... I"M SORRY!)

Camp Rock:
Mitchie
Shane
Jason and Nate
All
Mitchie and Shane


"I suppose you could both compete to decide who will perform… the residents can vote."

"Deal."

"This is ridiculous!" Shane bellowed.

"We're in," the girl said.

"Mitchie!"

"Then it's settled. Four hours, then."


The time passed and Roxas sat through Cloud and Axel's fussing for two hours before convincing them that they needed to practice and finally getting them off his case.

"Axel…" Roxas pulled his friend aside moments before they were to go on stage.

"What's wrong?"

"Thank you. For being there for me."

He leaned in close, bending to speak softly into his ear. "Roxas, I lo-" Axel was cut off by a loud voice blasting from the speakers.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS MUSIC BATTLE WILL DETERMINE WHO WILL PERFORM AT THE DANCE OF FALLING STARS! WILL IT BE OUR USUAL FAVORITES, CONNECT 3 AND MITCHIE, CAMP ROCK? OR THE NEW UP-AND-COMING CONTENDERS: KINGDOM HEARTS!"

The crowd burst into cheers. Axel took Roxas by the hand. "That's our cue, Roxy. Are you ready?"

"I… Yeah… I'm ready."


Backup vocals hummed along as the song faded in.

"wonk uoy naht niotceffa erom deen I"

Sora looked up at Roxas and waited for a nod before striking two notes on his guitar, cueing in everyone else.

"Omoidaseba haruka haruka
Mirai wa
doko mademo
kagayaiteta
Kirei na
aozora no shita de
Bokura wa
sukoshi dake
obieteita"

The rest of the band sped up, full-on into the song. Roxas smiled and seized the microphone again.

"Natsukashii iro ni
Mado ga somaru"

"Mae wo muitereba
mata aemasu ka
Mirai wa
doko edemo tsudzuiterunda
Ookina
kanban no shita de
Jidai no
utsuroi wo
miteitai na"

His favorite part came up and his heart fluttered slightly in excitement. Sora played his guitar chords excitedly.

"Hitoshirezu
My heart's a battleground
snoitome owt deen I
wonk uoy naht niotceffa erom deen I
snoitome owt deen I"

Jiminy started playing the watery section that carried over to the coda.

"My fears… my lies…
Aozora no shita..."

The song faded out slowly, a small keyboard piece echoing into silence. Roxas sighed in relief as the crowd burst into cheers.

"THANK YOU! AND THAT WAS KINGDOM HEARTS! NEXT UP WE HAVE OUR USUAL GROUP: CAMP ROCK!"

Shane and Mitchie walked up to the microphones, Nate and Jason standing on either side with their guitars. A drum beat started playing. All of them started singing.

"Cause we rock!
We rock!
We rock on!
We rock!
We rock on!"

Mitchie stepped forward.

"Come as you are,
You're a superstar!"

Nate and Jason continued.

"The world's in your pocket and you know it."

"You can feel that beat,
running through your feet."

Shane entered next.

"Heart's racing fast,
You're rock and rollin'!"

Shane and Mitchie sang together.

"All that you need is the music to take you...
to some other place,
where you know, you belong!"

"Got the music in our souls"

"And it's to sing we want the most!"

"It picks us up when we fall down"

"It turns our world around!"

"Cause we rock!
Camp Rock!
We rock,
We rock on!"

"Everyday and every night!"

"Cause we rock!
Camp rock!
We rock,
We rock on!"

"It's all we wanna do in life!"

"Raise your hands up in the air and scream!
We're finding our voice,
following our dreams."

"Cause we rock!
We rock!
We rock,
We rock on!

"Nobody in the world's gonna bring us down.
The louder we go,
well, the better we sound."

"Cause we rock!
We rock!
We rock,
We rock on!"

"We rock,
We rock,
We rock on!"

Camp Rock!

The song ended and the people cheered again.

"THAT WAS THE END OF ROUND ONE! KINGDOM HEARTS AND CAMP ROCK WILL PERFORM ONE MORE SONG EACH AND THEN WE'LL BREAK FOR LUNCH! WHEN KINGDOM HEARTS IS READY, PLEASE GO AHEAD!"

Roxas peeled his eyes away from Axel, whom he had been watching observe the competition intently. "Axel… I'm not sure about this… They're really good. Her voice is as good as mine… and Shane's voice sounds almost exactly like yours…"

Axel looked down at him, pulling him into an embrace. "Don't say that. You're better than all of them combined, Roxas, trust me."

"No, for once Pop Princess is right, flame-brain."

They looked up at Shane, smugly grinning as he stood over them. Axel growled. "Shut your face, Collect Call."

"Connect Three!"

"Whatever, just shut it."

"Don't try to speak to Shane Gray that way! You'll pay dearly for it… or maybe your little boy-toy will."

Axel lunged at him, shoving Shane against the wall. "Now you listen up, you stupid little a**hole. You lay a single one of your grubby paws on Roxas and I'll bash your skull in."

"Is that a threat?"

"That's a f***ing promise, b*tch."

"Axel!" Cloud grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him away. "Stop that! Everyone else is waiting for you. Go ahead."

The redhead ran off, and Cloud shot a glare at the singer. Shane scoffed. "Don't think I owe you one or anything."

"Fair warning: Axel never breaks a promise. And if you mess with Roxas, you'll regret it. Axel would do anything to protect him, and he wouldn't hesitate to kill you if you hurt our boy."

Shane smirked as Cloud walked off. "Jason. Come here."

The middle brother of Connect 3 walked over to the eldest. "Shane."

"After this round… if things don't appear to be in our favor… you and Nate come and see me right away. I refuse to go down to a bratty princess like Roxas."


"This was an accident, not the kind where sorrow sounds,
Never even noticed were suddenly crumbling.
Tell me how you've never felt delicate or innocent,
Do you still have doubts that us having faith makes any sense?"

"Tell me nothing ever comes rationale or breaking down.
Still somebody loses cause there's no way to turn around,
Staring at your photograph everything now in the past
Never felt so lonely I wish that you could show me love."

"Show me Love, Show me Love, Till you open the door.
Show me Love, Show me Love, Till I'm up off the floor.
Show me Love, Show me Love, Till it's inside my pores.
Show me Love, Show me Love, Till I'm screaming for more."

Roxas felt something tugging at the back of his heart as he sang.

"Show me Love, Show me Love, give me all that I want.
Show me Love, Show me Love, give me all that I want.
Show me Love, Show me Love, give me all that I want.
Show me Love, Show me Love, till I'm screaming for more."

He was in a daze as he left the stage, going to walk down the staircase absentmindedly.

"Roxas!"

He tripped over something and fell into Axel's arms.

"Are you okay?"

Roxas blushed, looking up at his best friend, that tugging feeling in his heart again pulling him closer. "Y-yeah…"

"Your face is red, are you okay? Do you have a fever?"

"Do I…?" he repeated, entranced by this sudden warmth overtaking him. Axel set him down gently and Roxas stood, watching his friend turn to walk back up the stairs. "I… Axel…" he grabbed the cuff of Axel's sleeve and stopped him.

"Roxas…" Axel whispered softly, moving in close to his face and tantalizingly brushing his fingers over the blond's smooth cheek.

An acoustic guitar started playing and Axel wrapped his arm around Roxas. Mitchie's voice started to come strongly and beautifully from the stage behind them.

"I've always been the kind of girl
That hid my face
So afraid to tell the world
What I've got to say
But I have this dream
Right inside of me
I'm gonna let it show, it's time
To let you know
To let you know…"

Axel pulled Roxas in close as the rock drums and guitar came in.

"This is real, this is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me."

As the tempo eased up again, so did Axel's grip on the dazed boy.

"Do you know what it's like
To feel so in the dark
To dream about a life
Where you're the shining star
Even though it seems
Like it's too far away
I have to believe in myself
It's the only way…"

"This is real, This is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me!"

Shane cut into Mitchie's vocals with his own part.

"You're the voice I hear inside my head
The reason that I'm singing
I need to find you, I gotta find you
You're the missing piece I need
The song inside of me—"

Catching on, Mitchie sang with him.

"I need to find you, I gotta find you!"

"This is real, this is me!"

"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be"

"This is me!"

"You're the missing piece I need
The song inside of me"

"This is me!"

"You're the voice I hear inside my head
The reason that I'm singing"

"Now I've found, who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me…"

The song faded out and Axel briefly connected his lips with Roxas' cheek before pulling away.

"Roxas! Axel! Are you two coming to eat or what?" Leon called, raising an eyebrow at Axel's blank expression and Roxas' panicked one. "Food."


"Shane!"

"Well? What's the verdict?"

"Anyone's game right now… we're one for one with Kingdom Hearts."

"Nate, get Jason."

When all three brothers were together, Shane took out a small box from his pocket.

"We're going to take Roxas out. This spot is ours."

"So we slip this in his drink?" Jason guessed, his voice flat.

"Yes. Nate will slip it while Jason distracts everyone."

"Got it."


"Hey."

Everyone looked up at Jason and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Axel replied.

"I like your toy," everything Jason said was always completely monotone.

"Toy?"

"Was just wondering if I could play with it."

"What are you talking about?" Axel was growing irritated. Roxas placed his hands on Axel's upper arm in an attempt to calm his friend.

Jason pointed to Roxas. "You have such a lovely toy, drummer. It'd be a pity if you don't intend to let someone else have a turn."

Realization and fury washed over Axel's features. "You bastard!" he shouted as he leapt out of his seat and collided his fist with Jason's jaw.

"Leon, grab him!" Cloud cried.

The brunette hooked his arms under Axel's and pulled him back, Cloud running over to Jason and smacking him across the face.

"You will not speak about my child that way! You're lucky I didn't just let Axel break every bone in your pathetic body!"

Leon knew better than to correct a furious Cloud. 'Let him live his lie, Leon… Last thing I want is for his rage to be directed towards me… The fate of my crotch relies on keeping him happy…'

Meanwhile, Nate slipped the tablet into Roxas' soda, sneaking away into the shadows and calling Jason's cell phone.

Jason felt the phone vibrate in his pocket and shrugged. "Fine. Don't share."

As he walked away casually, Axel continued to lunge at him, Leon holding him back, but just barely. Leon cast Roxas a glance. "Little help, if you would!"

Roxas hopped up and rushed over, hugging Axel tightly. "It's okay, Axel, he left…" he sniffled. "Please don't do something you'll regret. We've started a new life, don't make us uproot it and start over, Axel, please!"

"Roxas…" Axel felt Leon release him and he slid down to hug Roxas closer. "You're right. I'm sorry. I don't want to make you start over, Roxas, not again. You're so happy here, I'm not going to take that away from you. I'll never take that away… Never."

"Well, I think we've had our share of drama. Are you okay, Roxas?" Naminé walked over, surprising the group yet not surprising them at all with her presence. "Nothing he said was true, okay?"

Roxas nodded, wiping his eyes. Naminé smiled at him.

"There. Now why don't we eat?"

Nate blushed. She was so beautiful…

"Thanks, Naminé."

'Naminé… what a lovely name…'

Roxas took a bite of his sandwich as he watched Axel practically inhale a hotdog. He giggled, coughing a little as he reached for his drink. He drank a few gulps and instantly regretted it.

The soda was like acid mixed with cough syrup in his throat. It went past his mouth and suddenly seemed to bubble and thicken, burning his esophagus and clogging his airways. Roxas began to cough violently, pulling Axel's sleeve.

Axel spun around and saw Roxas choking. "Roxas! Roxas, are you okay? Did you swallow something?"

'No' he shook his head violently. Tears were welling up in his eyes. His throat was on fire. 'It hurts, Axel, it hurts! Make it stop! Help me, please!'

"Cloud, get me a glass of water, Roxas is choking!" Axel called, trying to soothe his friend. "Hang in there, Rox, we're going to help you…"

Naminé shot out of her seat, knocking over Roxas' soda, which burned away the tablecloth. "Oh my god! It was some sort of chemical reaction, it's like acid now!"

"My baby! Axel, here!" Cloud helped Axel force the boy to drink the water.

"Will he make it?" Leon asked Naminé, ignoring Sora clinging to his arm in worry.

"He should, but we need him to throw up."

'Not much of a problem there,' Roxas thought. His stomach was lurching but he was afraid to vomit. Axel squeezed his hand as a trash can was dragged over by Demyx and Marluxia, Donald and Goofy bringing more water as well as mouthwash.

Holding Axel's hand tightly, Roxas puked, tears running down his face as Axel's other hand soothingly rubbed slow circles on his back.

When he had sufficiently hurled his guts out and washed up, Roxas silently cried against Axel's chest, the older male hugging him and rocking him gently from side to side, hushing him reassuringly.

'Naminé… she's so smart and beautiful… I wonder if she would be my date to the dance…?' Nate mused to himself.

"What kind of sick person could ever do such a horrible thing to poor Roxas? He's never hurt anyone in his life!"

Nate felt his heart break. 'I'm a… sick person? Shane never said we were doing something bad… Now Naminé will hate me…'

"Roxas, how do you feel?"

*"M-mah-mah-ee-oh-th-roh-t…" he gasped out, unable to speak. (Note: *[my throat])

Then Sora said the one thing everyone was thinking but no one dared bring up.

"He's not going to be able to sing."


"What are we going to do?"

"Axel can sing."

"I can't sing lead and play drums at the same time. Besides, Roxas sings way better than I do, we'll never stand a chance against that girl they have with them."

"Mitchie…"


"Mitchie!"

"Nate, calm down! What's wrong?"

"Roxas can't sing."

"What? Why?"

He looked away. "He drank an acidic compound…"

"How on Earth did that happen?"

"I'm sorry! Shane told me and Jason to put it in his drink, I didn't know it would hurt him, I didn't think we were doing something really bad!"

"Shane did WHAT? Nate, it's not your fault. Thank you for telling me."

And with that, Mitchie walked toward the stage.

'Naminé hates me… She doesn't want anything to do with me…' he thought. 'I can't let us win this way…' Nate took out his Swiss army knife and cut the first string of his rhythm guitar.


"Shane!"

"Mitchie!" he smiled at her.

"YOU LOUSY JERK! HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?"

"What?"

"DON'T LIE TO ME, SHANE! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, OR RATHER, WHAT YOU MADE THEM DO!"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean."

She lowered her voice to a low hiss. "Listen, you cheating monster, I refuse to sing if Roxas can't. So good luck without me!" she stormed off.

"Fine! We never needed you in the first place!" he called after her, but she simply flipped him off.


"Is he alright?"

Axel looked up. "Mitchie, right? What do you want?"

"If Roxas can't sing, then I won't either. It would be an unfair advantage."

"Really?"

"Really. I want to win this fairly. Good luck, Axel," she kissed his cheek and walked away.

'Thanks, Mitchie…'


"WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, KINGDOM HEARTS!"

Axel stepped to the front of the stage and took the microphone in hand. He was nervous, having never performed singing without Roxas like this. 'I have to do it… For Roxas. And Mitchie, too. She's giving up everything to be fair. You don't meet people like her everyday…' he took a deep breath and focused on his mental image of Roxas, imagining the blond beside him, cheering him on.

([{ For this song: Axel, All(sans Axel), All }])

"Gotta catch'em all, catch'em all
A zne Pokémon, Pokémon!
Gotta catch'em all, catch'em all
Viva i Pokémon, Pokémon"

"Ogni passo mi porterà
Ancora un po' più in là
Giorno e notte mi allenerò
Ma non mi stancherò"

"Girovagando per il mondo
La mia Sfera lancierò
E tutti i Pokémon
Così catturerò!
Oh-oh-oh!"

"Viva i Pokémon!
Tosti e prorompenti,
Tutti differenti
Gotta catch'em all!"

"Ogni Pokémon è il più scoppiettante
Furbo e accattivante, viva i Pokémon!"

There was a break in the singing for a musical interlude. The band and everyone in the audience were having fun. Shane watched in silent fury.

"Solo io so che li catturerò!
Solo io so che poi ci riuscirò
Qui nessuno c'è più in gamba di me
Con la mia Sfera Poké!"

"Viva i Pokémon!
Tosti e prorompenti,
Tutti differenti
Gotta catch'em all!
(catch, catch!)"

"Ogni Pokémon è il più scoppiettante
Furbo e accattivante, viva i Pokémon!"

"Viva i Pokémon!
Sempre più frizzanti,
Magici e sgargianti, gotta catch'em all!
(catch'em all!)"

"Tutti i Pokémon sono straordinari,
Mitici avversari, viva i Pokémon!
Gotta catch'em all!"

The crowd began to cheer loudly, and Axel replaced the microphone on the stand, out of breath. 'We did it… Now we wait to see if them not having Mitchie will make the difference…'

([{ For this song: Shane, Jason, Nate, All, Jason and Nate, Shane and Nate }])

"Turn on that radio
As loud as it can go
Wanna dance until my feet can't feel the ground
Say goodbye to all my fears
One good song may disappear
And nothing in the world can bring me down (bring me down)

"Hand clapping
Hip shaking
Heartbreaking
There's no faking
What you feel when your riding home
Yeah, yeah"

"Music's in my soul
I can hear it everyday, everynight
It's the one thing on my mind
Music's got control
And I'm never letting go, no no
I just want to play my music
Whoa"

The crowd began to boo them.

"Got my six string on my back
Don't need anything but that
Everything I want is here with me
So forget that fancy car
I don't need to go that far
What's driving me is following my dreams, yeah"

"Hand clapping
Earth shaking
Heartbreaking
There's no faking
What you feel when your on a roll
Yeah, yeah"

"Music's in my soul
I can hear it everyday, everynight
It's the one thing on my mind
Music's got control
And I'm never letting go, no no
I just wanna play my music
I just wanna play my music"

"Can't imagine what it'd be like"

"Without the sound of all my hero's singing all my favorite songs"

"So I can sing along"

"Music's in my soul
I can hear it everyday,"

"everynight,"

"It's the one thing on my mind!"

"Music's got control
And I'm never letting go, no no
I just wanna play my music

Music's in my soul
I can hear it everyday, everynight
It's the one thing on my mind
Music's got control
And I'm never letting go, no no
I just wanna play my music"

"All night long"

The crowd was far from impressed. From the back, someone started chanting.

"KINGDOM HEARTS! KINGDOM HEARTS!"

Soon the rest of the audience joined in.

"KINGDOM HEARTS! KINGDOM HEARTS! KINGDOM HEARTS!"

"AND BY A LANDSLIDE, THE WINNER IS: KINGDOM HEARTS!"

Axel turned to Mitchie and she hugged him tightly, both of them pulling away with a blush.

"C-congratulations…" she muttered.

"Y-yeah… Thanks…"

"We did it!" Sora bounced up and down.

"That we did," Cloud smiled at Leon, taking his hand.

Roxas watched from the corner, out of sight as tears of what he knew was jealousy ran down his cheeks. Why? Why was he so jealous of Mitchie hugging Axel? It was just a hug, and Roxas WASN'T in love with Axel. Maybe it was just the expression on their faces when they wrapped their arms around each other, excitement and joy bubbling over…

Axel was free to date whomever he chose, but a passing thought in Roxas' mind told him that he didn't want Axel to date anyone. He didn't want Axel to leave him. This thought made Roxas cry harder. Was he really that clingy and desperate?

"Roxas?" a soft voice said from beside him. He looked up at the source of the voice. It was Mitchie. "How are you feeling? Does your throat still hurt a lot?"

He nodded slowly and silently, wanting to glare at her, to despise her, but he could bring himself to. She was too sincere.

"Don't cry, okay?" (he had completely forgot he was crying) "You'll be better soon. I told Axel to take good care of you until you feel better. If you're lucky, you'll be able to sing at the ball. Make sure Axel gives you a lot of attention, okay?"

It was okay to want Axel to pay attention to him?

"It's never a bad thing to want to be cared for, alright? I understand how you feel, Roxas, I really do. Everyone wants to be wanted, and it's okay to feel that way. Don't forget that."

Roxas nodded with a small smile, wiping his eyes and turning to look at Axel, who was sitting in the far corner, listening to Sora talk.

"Go get him," Mitchie smiled.

The blond looked at her in silent thanks before running over to Axel and hugging him, silently wishing to tell him everything but knowing he couldn't. So he simply looked up at his best friend, meeting his gaze and hoping his silent words could be heard. When Axel smiled and embraced him back, Roxas knew he had understood.

'I'm proud of you, congratulations, you're my best friend, I'm so happy to see you, hold me tighter, don't let me go…' all that and more was said between their eyes.


Songs:

Passion (Sanctuary) – Utada Hikaru

We Rock! – Camp Rock

Show Me Love – t.A.T.u.

This Is Me – Camp Rock

Viva i Pokémon – Italian Pokemon S1 Theme

Play My Music – The Jonas Brothers (From Camp Rock)


The ending makes me smile. The next chapter is the actual Dance of Falling Stars!